The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[12] Steel Wolf Familiar

Freja could sit up without help for the first time in three days. Things had been progressing like she had hoped but the smell of the rotting troll corpse was starting to get to her. She had been successfully creating herbal healing potions and had to take them once every few hours. The added benefit to these were the fact they also numbed the pain. She was in the process of creating what felt like her hundredth potion and infusing a bit of mana into the boiling brew over the bunsen burner. 

“By this time tomorrow I should be able to walk.” Freja said to herself as she gagged. “For the Forest Father's sake that smell. I can’t wait until we can leave this place.”

While waiting for the potion to brew she decided to take another look at the changes made to her magic by the familiar contract. As she did the strange mental projection screen materialized in her vision again. The mental projection magic was unusual but not unheard of. It is mainly a trait of a starlight magic caster, same with illusion and even holy magic. 

Familiar bonds do sometimes impart some of the magic of their companions on eachother but she has never heard of such a complex magic being imparted before the familiar reached Iota stage. At most their bond is a Delta but even that is questionable. The magic seemed to be a self diagnostic of some kind which was interesting but not particularly helpful. She already knew what she could do and having a status menu didn’t change that. All in all it just left her with more questions. If this was something she got from her bond now what would she get once Bjorn became an Delta class familiar in a few months or an Iota in five years?

Bjorn was watching the area from his favorite perch atop a rock near the cave entrance. He was getting ready to go on his daily walk to the bayou for more water and hunt a few more small prey. However, something about today seemed off and his instincts told him he needed to be here. The smell of the death and decay from the troll made it difficult for him to pick out any other scent or tastes in the air. So he had to rely on his vision for the most part. 

That was until he tasted a familiar magic in the air which was nearly bleached by the taste of death. Failsafe, who inhabited his other head also seemed to be more alert as he flicked his tongue. The two headed lizard stood up looking for any signs of the shadow wolves nearby. The taste was faint but he was not sure if that was because it was being overpowered by the corpse or if they were actually far away.

“We need to get out of sight.” Bjorn stated as he hurriedly stood up and ran to the cave mouth. 

“Yeah. This will be bad if they corner us here.” Failsafe stated.

Inside Freja was standing with the assistance of her wind hands. She could walk but needed to hold onto them as a sort of floating crutch. Her recovery had been going smoothly but she would not be ready to leave until tomorrow from what Bjorn could deduce. Since she seemed to be fine he squawked to get her attention and hunkered down in the cave near the entrance. He pressed himself against the wall so he could not be spotted from the outside.

His hope is that the strong musk of the troll in the cave would dissuade any shadow wolf from investigating. Freja seemed to notice his tense body language and also got down after positioning herself in a space that would allow her to see out without being seen. The cave still had the fire which should also make the space less appetizing for any beast.

Between the musk, the smoke and the rotten body, Bjorn and Failsafe were completely blind to any changes in taste or smell. It didn’t take long however before they saw a wolf peek out from the grasslands. Freja gasped when she saw two more follow behind the first, then three, then four as the numbers kept growing until eight wolves were visible.  

Bjorn could finally see why they were able to sneak up on him so easily before. The grass barely moved, almost shifting silently out of their way. The shadows seemed to twist around them curving unnaturally in the air and hiding them in a way that made them almost appear translucent. It was a trick of the shadow magic manipulation they were known and feared for. 

“Shadow wolves?” Freja questioned then covered her mouth.

A ninth wolf stepped out of the grassland, this one far too large to be hidden by the tall grass or the shadows. Instead of having the grayish translucence of the other wolves, this one had almost shiny and metallic fur. The other wolves seemed to be submissive to the large wolf which was nearly twice the size. The pack ran up to the carcass, scaring away the vultures and claiming their prize. 

After the large wolf took a large piece of meat from the dead troll the others ripped into the remains of the fallen beast. It seemed to be less of a challenge for them to rip and tear than the vultures. Lucky for Bjorn and Freja they hadn’t seemed to notice or care for the cave although Freja was several shades lighter as the color drained from her face.

“Any idea what that big one is?” Bjorn said mentally.

“I have no idea but we are dead if it sees us.” Failsafe responded at a whisper despite speaking directly into Bjorn’s mind.

“I figured as much.” Bjorn thought back.

As the wolves ate their fill some started looking around the area. Bjorn pulled himself back from the mouth of the cave a few more feet. One of the wolves  walked up to the cave and sniffed around the entrance. Either the smell of the troll’s musk or the fire or a combination caused the wolf to back up and continue its meandering elsewhere. Bjorn breathed a sigh of relief from a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. 

A tense few hours passed as the wolves hung around. It wasn’t until the larger wolf finally decided to return to the forest that the others began dragging the corpse away most likely to wherever their den is located to feed their young. Even after the wolves had vanished from sight no one moved. Bjorn and Freja felt exhausted after being on alert for so long and there was no way to fully know if the threat had passed.

“That was a steel wolf, a druid's familiar.” Freja broke the silence but only barely above a whisper. “What is it doing this far in the country? We have to get out of here, Bjorn, are you okay?” She used the wall to stand up. “I am sure druid soldiers are actually behind the attacks on my fathe… Ulfar’s lands. The troll was a diversion… or happenstance. The war is far to the east, how did they get here?” She thought for a minute. “Sabotage, they want to disrupt the farmers and supplies?” She thinks about if for a second struggling with the decision to tell someone or just leave. “It doesn’t matter, he told me never to return so we are going to do just that.”

“War?” Bjorn thought.

“It is the first I am hearing about it too.” Failsafe responded. “But as it would seem this country is at war with whatever druids are. Freja mentioned her sister died. Do you think this is related to the war?”

“It doesn’t matter for now.” Bjorn said as he stood up. “Freja is right, we gotta get out of here, they come back or their master finds out we killed a few of their pets and we are wolf food.”

“She is still injured. I am not sure how far we can get if she is limping. Let's say they find us then what? She can’t run and she won't be able to create more potions. We can’t use poison puff or the gas may kill her, so we will be reduced to bites and poison scratch. I doubt we will be able to take out eight shadow wolves and a steel wolf half the size of a horse like that.”

“So what do you suggest?” Bjorn asked.

“We somehow convince her to finish her treatment.” Failsafe states seriously. “She can’t have more than a day left at this rate and she has enough water for the last few potions. She heals up and we stand a better chance because I have big doubts you will abandon her if she lags behind.”

“And if they come back tonight?” Bjorn asked.

Failsafe nearly rolled his eyes out of his sockets with that strawman excuse. “It isn’t perfect but here we can funnel the wolves. Out there they can come from anywhere and it's going to be night in a few hours. This cave has only one way in and out. So we get Freja to stand at the far end of the cave and let poison puff go and hope it is enough to drive them away again.”

Bjorn sighed. “Okay, you convinced me but now we need to convince our master.”

Freja was in the middle of using her newly summoned wind hands to collect her belongings when Bjorn ran into the fray. He started taking out the alchemy equipment the hand put up. Hissing and squawking to get her to stop. Freja tried to work around him now that her wind magic control was far better; she could move the hands with far greater speed.  

“Bjorn stop, bad boy. We need to go.” Freja said, panicking at the prospect of staying here any longer. “Those wolves come back, we are dead.”

The hands continued to pack up the equipment only for Bjorn to unpack it just as quickly. Frustration turned into anger as Freja walked over to him towering over the familiar.  Her splint made walking difficult and the pain in her arm and leg was still very much there. 

She felt like she should slap him to get him to understand. It was an intrusive thought she knew was a remnant of her father in her. She buried that thought and decided to try to understand why her familiar was so dead set on unpacking. Staying here was death plain and simple. 

“I know you can understand me. Stop. Just stop.” She started crying and wiping her face with her left hand. “She was the strongest, kindest person I knew and she couldn’t even survive the war with those tree fucking bastards. Helga. She didn’t. What chance do I have? Let me pack up so we can leave. You understand?”

Bjorn was caught off guard by the sudden admission, but it did confirm that her sister was killed in the war. Freja was terrified not only of the wolves but also of the people that killed her sister. Rightfully so, if the Salstars all make familiar contracts with lesser dragons the battle that killed her sister had to be intense. Failsafe reached into the alchemy case with his mouth and took out one of the herbal potions. Bjorn walked over to Freja and placed it at her feet with a huff.

“We don’t have time for that.” Freja screamed. “I can walk.” 

Bjorn simply turned his head to the side and Failsafe mirrored him.

Freja looked down at the pup then to her leg which was ringing with pain in just the short time she had been walking. She took in a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth then again and again until her heart calmed a little. She eased herself to the floor and picked up the potion Bjorn had brought her. 

“Twelve hours and I will be able to run.” She said calmly but Bjorn could taste her apprehension. “You will need to help. I am going to brew a lesser health potion instead of the herbal one and it is going to require much tighter tolerances. If I do that will you let me pack up so we can leave?” 

Bjorn squawked in affirmation, bobbing his head. 

“Then let's get to work.” Freja said while cracking her neck.

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