The Seven Kings [On Hold]

Familiars

Alic and I have been walking for a while now. It's starting to get dark.

"Ugh...where is he? It's starting to get dark," I said. "Are you sure he went this way."

"Yes...maybe...uh...I kinda lost his tracks a while back," Alic admits. "But don't worry I got some back up coming soon."

"Back up?" I ask.

"Yeah, my familiar. She knows this entire forest. She'll lead us to Solaris," Alic said.

"Alright," I said. "When will she be here." Alic stops when he here's something.

"She's here," Alic said. "Come on out Brave." I hear rustling of leaves and bushes. Heavy footsteps made the ground rumble. The familiar walks out into our path. Alic's familiar is a big brown bear. "Hello Brave, it's nice to see you again. How's the forest treating ya?" Alic ask.

"It's been nice, thank you for letting me stay in my natural habitat," Brave said. They seemed so serious. I thought they'd be closer then that, like a pet and its owner. We all stood in silence for a little while. It was very awkward. Before I could blink, Alic jumped towards Brave. He tackle the giant bear. They were laughing. Alic had brave in a head lock. My jaw dropped.

"Haha! I missed you so much Brave!" Alic said laughing.

"I missed you as well!" Brave said.

"Ahem" I coughed as Alic and Brave turned to me. "Not to ruin the mood but I would like to find Solaris before it gets to dark." Alic nods and let's go of Brave.

"You're right Astaya, we should find him soon," Alic said. "Brave we're gonna need a ride." Brave nods and gets to her feet.

"Hop on you two," Brace says. Alic gets on as I fallow. I held onto him tightly. Without warning, Brave starts to run along the path we were walking on. "Solaris lives in the farthest end of the forest. So it'll take us a while to get there," Brave explained.

"That's fine with me, how about you Astaya?" Alic asks.

"Well, I guess it is as long as I get to see him," I said. Brave nods and continues to run.

~Time Skip~

We've been on Braves back for almost an hour. My butt was numb.

"I got it!" Alic said out of nowhere. It kinda frightened me at first.

"What is it exactly that you 'got'?" I ask.

"I think I might know the answer to one of you questions," Alic explains.

"Really then let's hear it," I said.

"Well, that connection that you felt with Solaris, maybe he is your untamed familiar," Alic said. "Think about, All the kings have familiars and the last queen had a familiar. And usually when they come in contact with each other, the two feel a connection greater then any pet and owner relationship. After that nether of them can think of anything else but that person or animal."

"Hm...you might be right. That sounds like a reasonable explanation. So all the kings have familiars? That means Jade is Liam's familiar," I said.

"Yeah that's right?" He said.

"What about Griffin I haven't seen him with any kind of animal. I've only seen him as an animal," I said.

"Oh yeah, Griffins familiar has a similar power like Griffins. It changes forms too. It's usually in a weapon form like an axe or a bow. That's a special power unique to Griffin and his familiar alone," Alic explained.

"Oh that's cool" I said. "Do you have a power like that?"

"Yeah I do, I have a cool one," Alic said. "I have the power to levitate objects, watch."
Alic grabs a flower from a bush that we passed. He makes it float in front of me. It wasn't effected by the wind that was rushing past us. Using his powers he puts the follower in my hair. I blush slightly.

"Stop hitting on every girl, you flirt," Brave said. Alic's eyes widen as he blushes. He gives me a nervous smile as he hits Brave repeatedly over the head. I giggle quietly. Suddenly I hear a howl.

"Did you hear that?" I ask looking around.  Alic stops hitting Brave and turns to me.

"Hear what?" Alic asks. I hop off of Braves back. I hear a howl again. When I found the direction it was coming from, I bolted in towards it. "Astaya where are you going?!" Alic calls out to me. I just ignored him and continued towards the howling. My feet were uncontrollable.

I entered a clearing that had a big rock in the middle. On top was Solaris. He was howling in pain. I rush over to him.

"Solaris!" I yelled. He wasn't in any physical pain. He was experiencing mental pain. Sadness to be exact. He turned to me.

"A-Astaya! You answered my howls!" Solaris said exited. He jumps down from the rock.

"Why where you howling Solaris?" I ask. Solaris' ears dropped at my question.

"I was howling to see if you'd come. I didn't mean to in off like that," Solaris explained. "It's just...that king hates me. He wants me dead."

"Why does he want you dead?" I ask as I place my hand on his head.

"I uh...I was walking around the town interested with all the new things there. I never left the forest till then. When I everyone was scared of me like I was some monster. Soon after there was this little girl. She was playing on some swings," Solaris explained. "She was several feet off the ground when the chain of the swing broke. I quickly rushed in to help the little girl. When I caught her everyone ran away in fright yelling 'that monster tried to eat that little girl. After that I hurried back into the forest feeling like I was unwanted." My heart began to ache. "Not long after people began to go missing. Everyone accused me of doing it when really it was the slave traders. I didn't do anything. The king over there thought I killed his sister when really she was taken by a very well known slave trader," Solaris said. "And then I'm the one blamed for it all." I close my eyes taking in a deep breath. When I opened them I look back to where I came from the forest. Alic stood there with Brave. Brave looked down with guilt. Alic was starring at me with a confused look. I have an idea. I gesture for him to come over to me. He willingly grants my request. When he made it to me, I feel Solaris shake in fear.

"Shh...calm down. I just want him to hear this," I said reassuring Solaris. He slowly calms down. I take Alic's hand. "Go ahead Solaris," I said. He hesitated.

"I...I didn't do it. I didn't kill those people, nor was I planing to eat that girl," Solaris explained. Alic's face turned to shock.

"How I'm I able to hear him?" Alic asks. I let go of Alic's hand.

"I think it's because of me," I said. "You could never hear him till I connected you to his spirit. Heh, to be honest I didn't think it would work." I turn to Solaris.

"What do we do now?" Solaris asks.

"I can still hear him?!" Alic yells conflicted. I smile at him.

"Well I have a great idea," I said.

"What is it?" Solaris asks.

I smiled big. "You should become my familiar."