Birgit

  Birgit breathed a sigh of relief when the strange being agreed to negotiate. She did not know what a hu was, but it had to be powerful. Two pristine, medium crystals powered Crochel’s lighting wand. She had been bragging about it since her parents bought it for her, and from the size of the bolt, she must have fully discharged both crystals. That this creature had not even been knocked off his feet by the blast was amazing. If she could convince him to agree to a familiar contract, he might be even better than the sylph she had meant to summon.

  She still could not understand what had gone wrong with her spell, though. Birgit had triple-checked everything. It should have been a very targeted request to the sylph’s home plane. How had this hu answered instead, and what had made the protection she’d embedded in the diagram fail so quickly? It should have held for over an hour with the crystals she’d used to power it. Each had been pristine grade, and they represented more than a year’s worth of saving every copper she could make. That meant she had to make this work. She did not have time to save up enough to try this again. There probably was not even time to save up enough for the crystals to summon a simple elemental spirit powerful enough to act as her guardian familiar before graduation now, much less by the mid-year tournament. No matter what, she simply had to make this work.

  “Very good,” Professor Spinner commended Birgit before turning to the rest of the class. “Alright, everyone, please exit the summoning chamber. Be careful not to touch the spell design. I will need to investigate just how this unexpected summoning took place. Make sure you have your reports ready by our next class, and those of you who have not yet completed your guardian familiar summoning, remember, the clock is ticking.”

  As the class started toward the exit, the arachni professor turned back to Birgit. “Why don’t you take your new hu to one of the practice rooms for your negotiation, while I look over your spell design. This is a most unusual summons. Even I am unfamiliar with the hu.”

  Birgit turned to the tall, imposing creature she had summoned. He was so big and dressed so immodestly that she could clearly see how strong he had to be. He could probably snap her in half if he wanted to. She would have to proceed with great caution. He had agreed to negotiate peacefully, though, and the summoning spell should enforce the pact. But the visual indicator she had worked into the spell had indicated that it was nearly spent when he finally agreed. The translation aspect of the spell had obviously worked, though, and even with the protective diagram completely faded now, the creature was not making any hostile moves, despite what Crochel had done. Hopefully, his demands would not be too great, and they could reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

  “Will you please come with me?” Birgit asked, trying not to show any fear. “And please try not to step on the diagram.”

  The hu carefully stepped over her spell diagram as directed and followed her to the side of the large casting chamber, where three doors led to the smaller rooms set aside for spell practice. Birgit pushed the door to one of the rooms open and stepped aside for the hu to enter. He looked at her, his small, oval eyes narrowing even more, before he walked in. He only took a single step in and moved to the side, holding the door open with one arm, as if he thought she might close the door on him. This forced Birgit to walk very close to him to enter the room. She suppressed a shudder as she walked past the brute, walking quickly to the far side of the room.

  “Close the door, please,” Birgit directed. “I assume you would prefer to discuss this in private.”

  The hu looked back out into the larger room before complying, and Birgit suppressed a feeling of dread as the door shut, trapping her in the room with the intimidating creature. He stood between her and the door, looking slowly around, studying the small, circular stone room. Was he looking for danger, another way out, active spells, or something else? She took a moment to study him while he studied the room. Aside from his size. He really did look rather like an elf. He had the light skin of a lunar elf, though it was perhaps a shade less pale. His hair was a light brown, though, closer to the color of a solar elf. The hair was short enough that it clearly showed that his ears were smaller than an elves’ and rounded rather than pointed, and his facial features lacked the sharp angles of an elf.

  As the hu turned his gaze back to her, Birgit straightened to her full height and took a deep, calming breath before speaking. “I am Lady Birgit of Hazzerbog, daughter of Baron Birtrum of Hazzerbog. Will you give me your name?”

  “I’m Niles Creshaw,” the hu answered. “Just what is going on here? Is this supposed to be some kind of wizard school?”

  His tone was rather demanding, almost harsh, but he had given her his name. Birgit had not expected him to give that up so easily. Her hope rose as she considered her response.

  “This is the Royal Magic Academy of Deca,” Birgit announced proudly. “I am a fifth-year student here.”

  “What is Deca?”

  It did not surprise Birgit that he knew so little of her world. It was not uncommon for other-planar entities to know little of the politics of other planes. She would have to educate him on that aspect of her world if he were to spend time here, but for now, she would just give him the basics.

  “Deca is the name of this kingdom. Its founding was just over two hundred years ago, when the ten non-elven races declared their independence from the elven kingdoms of Lunaria and Solaria. Though our history is not long, our honor and pride are strong. This academy is located just outside the capital city.”

  “Ten non-elven races?” Niles asked, latching onto that portion of her answer. “What are they, and are they all friendly?”

  Birgit wanted to get to the negotiations, but hoped sating his curiosity would make him more amenable. “There are kappa like me, arachni, like Professor Spinner, the instructor from the class we were just in, plus naga, rakshasa, gnolls, goblins, trolls, satyrs, cyclopes, and gorgons. We have all lived and worked together peacefully for over two hundred years now, for the most part anyway, though back in the time before that, the elves often pitted the races against each other as proxies in their millennia-old war. Currently, we are even at peace with both of the elven kingdoms as well. There are even a few elven students at this academy.”

  “Hmm,” Niles mused. “Do gorgons turn people to stone?”

  “What?” Brigit had no idea why he would ask such a bizarre question, but answered anyway. “I suppose a powerful enough gorgon mage could cover a person with stone, but a mage of any race could do so just as easily.”

  “They’re the ones with snakes for hair, though, right? Are the snakes poisonous?”

  “I suppose their hair could be considered snake-like, but it is not poisonous.”

  “Do trolls turn to stone in sunlight?”

  “No.”

  “Do any of them eat people?”

  “What? Why would you even ask such things?” Birgit had to rein in her frustration. He had to be testing her.

  Niles still must have sensed her frustration, because he held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. “We have legends of most of the races you listed back in my world, but most of them are pretty dark. They’re obviously not completely accurate, because kappa are supposed to look more like turtles than frogs.”

  “Ah, that explains… Wait, you think I look like a frog?” Birgit had heard that some other-planar entities had odd senses of humor, but this hu had to be purposefully antagonizing her.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It looks good on you,” Niles said hastily again, holding his hands up again.

  He was acting genuinely apologetic. Had it just been an innocent observation? Birgit was aware that other races sometimes made that connection. Could it be that hu were summoned here before and had unpleasant experiences? Brigit knew that there were some unscrupulous mages who would summon other-planar entities and bind them against their will. That was illegal in Deca now, but before the founding of the kingdom, things were far less civilized. That might explain why neither she nor Professor Spinner had ever heard of the hu. They might have not responded to calls, fearing poor treatment. It would explain the suspicion she’d sensed from Niles as well.

  “So, you have ten different races in your country, and they all get along?” Niles asked, pulling Birgit out of her thoughts.

  “Yes, you sound like you find that hard to believe.”

  Niles shrugged, acting almost embarrassed. “Back in my world, we only have humans, and we have a hard time just getting over differences in skin color.”

  “You only have men among the hu, no women?” Birgit knew nymphs were always female, but as far as she knew, this would be the first all-male race anyone had encountered.

  Niles laughed. “No, ‘human’ is what we call ourselves, not hu, and we have both men and women.”

  “So, you have both hu man men and hu man women?” Birgit asked, unsure if he was serious or if he was again testing her.

  “Exactly,” Niles said with a smile. “So, tell me about this contract you want me to agree to.”

  Good, he had come around to the topic she wanted on his own. “I would like to form a guardian familiar contract with you for the remainder of this school year, at least, though I would be open to a longer contract if you are willing.”

  “Ah, what’s that?” Niles suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening.

  Birgit cringed, shocked by the unexpected reaction until she realized Ruby had slipped out from under her dreadlocks and was now sitting on her shoulder. “Oh, this is just Ruby, my companion familiar.” She scratched the little creature’s scaled head to show it was harmless.

  “So it’s like a tiny dragon of some kind?” Niles asked, his posture relaxing as he took a step toward her.

  “No, she is a lesser life elemental spirit,” Birgit explained. “This is just the form she prefers to take.”

  Looking down, Birgit saw Ruby stretching out towards Niles as far as she could while still clinging to Birgit’s back and shoulder with six of her eight paws. Her front two paws stretched out towards Niles, and her long, blood-red, serpentine body strained forward as if she were trying to reach him. That was decidedly unusual. Normally, the little elemental was quite timid around strangers. Perhaps the hu man had a strong life affinity. That would explain how he had healed so quickly.

  “If you already have a familiar, why did you bring me here?” Niles asked, his eyes narrowing again.

  “Ruby is just a simple companion familiar,” Birgit explained. “In order to graduate, all students at the academy must summon at least one companion familiar, one mount familiar, and one guardian familiar. I currently have the first two and hope you will be my third.”

  “So, what sort of contract do you have with Ruby?”

  Again, Birgit was puzzled. Was this hu toying with her again? As frustrating as this was, if he was playing some sort of game, it was still probably best to humor him.

  “As I said, Ruby is just a lesser life elemental spirit,” Birgit restated. “We have no contract. She is more akin to a pet, actually. While in this plane, she feeds on the abundant magical energy, and in exchange, she keeps me company and helps me channel life energy when I need it. I take good care of her, so she always comes when I call. In fact, she stays here most of the time now. The same is true for my mount familiar, Sapphire, though she is a greater elemental spirit with slightly higher intelligence. Unfortunately, her larger size precludes her from remaining by my side all the time. You will be the first familiar I have had to forge a contract with.”

  Niles narrowed his eyes as she spoke. “So, what would the terms of this contract be?”

  “Well, first off, can you tell me a little about yourself?” Birgit asked, giving him a friendly smile.

  “What do you want to know?” Niles asked in return, without smiling.

  “What types of magic can you use?”

  “I can’t use any magic,” the hu claimed.

  “What?” Birgit fought to control her reaction, but this was just too much. Did he think her a fool? “I saw the wound you received heal almost instantly. There is not even a trace of it now.”

  Niles spread his hands to his sides and shrugged. “I don’t know how that happened. I don’t normally heal that fast, but I’ve never been hit by a magic lightning bolt before. What was up with that, anyway?”

  Birgit reined in her frustration, once again deciding her best course was to play along. “Occasionally, summoned creatures can be hostile and very dangerous. When the protective barrier formed by the spell began to fade, I guess Miss Crochel panicked.”

  “Why are you Lady Birgit, but she’s Miss Crochel?” Niles asked, emphasizing the honorifics.

  Brigit’s frustration rose as the hu ran off on another tangent, but at least he did not seem to be angry, so that was good. “I am of the nobility, so it is proper to address me as ‘Lady’, while Miss Crochel is a commoner, so ‘Miss’ is the appropriate honorific for her.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Why did she have a fancier dress then?”

  Birgit suppressed a growl of frustration. “I was raised to be independent and prefer to provide for my own needs, while Miss Crochel spends her parents’ money freely. Her family, the Mudrakers, are quite wealthy merchants.”

  Birgit carefully schooled her tone so as not to let Niles know what a sore subject this was for her. The truth was Hazzerbog was one of the poorest baronies in the kingdom, and as the fourth child, her parents had barely been able to afford her tuition. That meant clothes, school supplies, spell components, and all her other expenses were her responsibility. She hated how Crochel constantly flaunted her wealth.

  “Okay, so back to this contract,” Niles said, as if he were not the one to keep sidetracking their negotiation.

  “Yes, well, you were telling me about the types of magic you can use,” Birgit prompted.

  “I told you I can’t use any,” Niles again claimed, actually rolling his eyes. “My world didn’t even have magic.”

  Brigit ground her teeth. “Then how did you get here?”

  Niles folded his arms. “I have no idea. I wished on a shooting star, but that’s never worked before, and I certainly didn’t ask to come here… exactly.”

  Brigit took a deep breath. If the spell was enforcing his promise to negotiate in good faith, he should not be able to lie. But she knew from her studies that some summoned creatures were clever about twisting words. Still, Niles had quite directly said he could not use magic, so either he was telling the truth and could not, or he was not under the compulsion of the spell. But if the latter were the case, he might not be compelled to be peaceful, either. Birgit wished she had her staff with her. If Crochel’s lightning wand had not stopped this hu, her less powerful force wand certainly would do little against him. It was even more important to humor him if he was free to react in a hostile manner, though. Birgit resolved to act as if she believed his every word. It might not be just the contract in jeopardy, but her very life.

  “If you are not a mage, do you have any combat training?” Birgit asked. “You look quite formidable.”

  Niles smiled and straightened, the move causing his muscles to flex, possibly on purpose. “Well, I took Taekwondo lessons from the time I was eight until I was sixteen, and in college, I took three semesters of Krav Maga.”

  Birgit didn’t know what those terms meant, but she assumed they meant he knew how to fight. She also filed away that flattering his strength seemed to be quite effective, so in that he was not all that different from the men of her world.

  “That is good,” Birgit said with a smile. “Then, in exchange for protecting me, you can absorb the magic of this world while you are here, and I promise not to call on you any more than is necessary.”

  Niles’ eyes narrowed again. “That seems pretty vague. How often will it be necessary, and just what will I be protecting you from?”

  “The campus is quite safe, so I should only require you on the weekends when I am out hunting for magic crystals. Sometimes, tainted animals or other-planar horrors are drawn to the crystals, so I would expect you to protect me should we run into any of those. Other than that, I should only need you for school tournaments and any duels I’m challenged to.”

  Niles’ eyes widened. “You have dueling here?” For having such small eyes, they certainly were expressive.

  “Yes,” Birgit admitted, “though I have only been in three in the slightly over four years I have attended.”

  She did not mention that if Niles was as formidable as she suspected he was, she would certainly consider accepting more of the challenges she received, and maybe even issuing a few rank challenges herself. In their first year, when rank had been based solely on academic achievement, Birgit had been in the top tenth of her class, but her rank had dropped quickly in her second year, when duels for rank became another means of advancement. She was confident her magical skill was still as good as anyone in her class, and better than most, but her magical reserves were well below average, and she could not afford to spend money on crystals to augment that shortcoming for duels. So, after her first few losses, she had just started forfeiting, knowing that rank really meant little until their fifth year. Ranked 255th out of the remaining 286 students in her class, she had quite a way to go if she was to make a name for herself and her family.

  “So, you want me to risk my life every weekend fighting mutant animals and cosmic horrors, and all I’d get is magic I can’t use?” Niles replied incredulously. “And what am I supposed to do the rest of the time? Where would I live?”

  “When I don’t have need of you, you will be free to return to your home plane, of course,” Birgit explained. “As for not being able to use the magic, I suspect your fast healing was the result of absorbed magic, so perhaps you would find other uses for it as well.”

  “So I wouldn’t be stuck here? You’d send me home in between missions?” Niles asked, his posture relaxing, though his expression remained suspicious.

  Had he thought she meant to trap him here? Maybe that was why he was being so unruly.

  Birgit took a calming breath and tried to speak in a soothing tone. “My apologies if you thought I was attempting to trap you. I have no intention of binding you against your will. I seek only a mutually beneficial arrangement. You are free to leave at any time, but I hope you will stay and continue our negotiation. Is there anything else that I could do or provide you with as compensation for your service?”

  Birgit held her breath as the hu looked at her. After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Do you have gold here?”

  Birgit let out a relieved breath. Gold was not ideal for her, given her financial state, but she was aware of the type of payment nymphs required from male summoners. Most men did not seem to mind, but she was not sure what she’d have done if this big brute had requested something of that nature from her.

  “Yes, we have gold here,” Birgit answered. “It is quite precious, but I am certain I can acquire some to give to you in exchange for your service.”

  Niles folded his arms again. “How much?”

  “Perhaps one gold coin a month,” Birgit suggested. As long as her crystal hunting went well, she hoped she could afford that, and with Niles to protect her, she should be able to hunt in more dangerous, but lucrative, areas.

  “How big of a gold coin?”

  Brigit had not considered that he would have no notion of their currency. Rather embarrassed that she did not have a single gold coin on her, she pulled out a small copper and showed him that.

  “It would be about this size, only a little smaller.”

  Niles stepped closer and held out his hand. Birgit reached out and placed the coin in his upturned palm. Before Niles could bring his hand back to look at the coin more closely, Ruby leapt off Birgit’s shoulder onto Niles. The little elemental landed on his shirt and quickly disappeared through the large hole in the front.

  Birgit gasped, but her surprise was not nearly as great as Niles’. He roared, jumping backward and contorting his body as he tried to swat Ruby.

  “No, please do not hurt her,” Birgit begged. “She is not dangerous. I think she is just curious.”

  To Birgit’s relief, Niles stopped trying to strike the elemental and held still, though his body remained very tense. After a moment, Ruby appeared, crawling up out of the back of Niles’ shirt to wrap her serpentine body around his throat.

  “Gaah, you’re sure this thing is not dangerous?” Niles asked, his eyes wide.

  Ruby worked her way up to rub the side of her head against his cheek, making the trilling noise she did when she was particularly content.

  “She likes you,” Birgit assured the big hu. “I think she wants you to pet her head. Just be gentle and do not rub against her scales.”

  Still looking wary, Niles reached up and scratched Ruby right between her nubby, little horns. He was surprisingly gentle, and the elemental’s trilling increased. Birgit could not recall ever seeing the elemental happier. This was most unusual.

  “So, will that amount of gold be sufficient?” Birgit prompted as Niles continued to pet Ruby. She was glad the human seemed to enjoy it and was visibly relaxing toward her familiar, but they still had a negotiation to conclude.

  “How long are your months?” Niles asked in return.

  “Thirty-two days.”

  Niles gave her a thoughtful look. “How long are your weeks?”

  “Seven days.”

  “Huh, same as ours. Wonder why that is?” Niles mused, but then continued before Birgit could respond. “So, you want me to risk my life four or five times a month for a single coin even smaller than this?”

  The look he gave her made Birgit believe he did not think it was. “I usually go hunting with some other friends who also have guards, so you would not be alone in protecting us. And we stick to relatively safe areas, so on many weekends there is no trouble at all. None of the creatures we have yet encountered would pose any real danger to a warrior of your size and strength.”

  Niles looked at her skeptically. “Even if that’s true, I’m not sure if this is enough to even be worth my time, though it would be cool to explore a new world.”

  The last part of his statement was made under his breath, and Birgit was not sure if he really meant for her to hear it. He seemed to be considering her offer, though, so she tried to sweeten the arrangement.

  “I think I could afford two gold coins a month, but that is all I could guarantee. I rely on selling the crystals I collect on the hunts for my income, so if the hunting goes well, I may be able to pay you more,” Birgit offered. “In fact, if you are as mighty a warrior as you look, we may be able to hunt crystals in more lucrative areas.”

  Niles looked very thoughtful as he continued to pet Ruby, much to her delight. Finally, he spoke again. “How about this? We can try it out for a weekend. If it’s as easy as you say, we can try it for a month for two gold coins. If that goes well, we can talk about maybe trying these more lucrative areas, but with me earning a percentage of the profits instead of a flat rate. We can also discuss my participation in duels then, too, but for now, I just start with one weekend.”

  Brigit studied the hu. “Is there nothing I can offer you that would get you to agree to a contract for the rest of this school year. There are only five months left.”

  Niles paused for a moment, and Birgit held her breath, but then he shook his head. “Sorry, you seem like a nice girl, and I’d like to help you out, but I just got out of a bad relationship with a ‘nice’ girl that took me for everything she could get and left me hanging. I won’t put myself in that kind of position again. But if everything is as you say, then this could still work out for you.”

  Birgit sighed. This was not ideal, but she did not want to anger the big hu by pushing too hard. At least he had not said no. She pulled the contract scroll she had prepared out and unrolled it to show Niles.

  “What’s that?” he asked, examining the diagram Birgit had painstakingly prepared on it.

  “It is a contract spell,” Birgit explained. “You will put your hand here, and I will put my hand here. Once both our hands are in place, we will state the conditions of the contract, and I will channel magic into it to complete the spell and make the contract binding.”

  Niles narrowed his eyes again. “Couldn’t we just shake on it or something?”

  “You seem nice as well, but I think we both want to protect ourselves from betrayal,” Birgit countered.

  Niles narrowed his eyes, but then shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  Unfortunately, the practice room had no furnishings, so Birgit was forced to kneel and spread the scroll out on the floor. Niles joined her, and she placed her palm on the scroll in the center of one half of the contract diagram.

  “Huh,” Niles mumbled, and Birgit gave him a questioning look. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen someone with webbed fingers before.”

  Brigit sighed, ignoring the comment. “Please put your hand in that space there and then state the conditions of the contract as you understand them.”

  Birgit indicated the space for his hand. Niles placed his hand as directed, and Birgit marveled at how large it was compared to hers.

  Niles cleared his throat and began. “Okay, I agree to protect you this weekend, and if it goes well. I agree to help you out for a month, on weekends only, in exchange for two gold coins. If that goes well, I agree to negotiate peacefully and in good faith for an extension to the deal.”

  Birgit smiled and nodded as Niles finished, pleased he had added in a promise to negotiate peacefully and in good faith. “I agree to pay you two gold coins for a month’s service and will not use any form of compulsion on you or in any way detain you beyond your weekends of service. I will also negotiate peacefully and in good faith at the end of the month.”

  After receiving a nod Birgit took to be an acceptance of her words, she began to pour her magic into the scroll to activate the spell. The magic flowed in unimpeded, but something did not feel right. Suffused with powered magic crystal, the ink she used for the contract was easily empowered and Birgit had spent all week preparing the inscribing the necessary diagrams into the specially prepared parchment and infusing them with magic so that it would only need a slight trickle of magic to activate. But her magic kept flowing in, and she did not feel the spell snap into place. With the summoning having already taken most of her magic reserve, she was quickly reaching her limit.

  “Why is the glow fading?” Niles asked.

  Birgit did not know what he was talking about. There was no glow. Maybe his confusion was caused by the visual component she had built into the summoning spell as a safety measure. But she had not done that with the contract spell, having seen no need for it. There was no time to be distracted by another one of his tangents. Her magic was almost dry, and the spell had still not snapped into place.

  “Ruby, come quickly, I need you,” Birgit gasped.

  For a moment, it seemed the elemental hesitated, but then it unwrapped itself from Niles’ neck and rushed down his arm and up hers. As soon as the little creature touched her, she felt a slight increase in her magic flow as the life aspect of her magic amplified. She continued to push her magic out into the spell, and just as the last dregs of her magic flowed out, she thought she felt the spell snap into place, but her head was growing a bit fuzzy by that point, so she could not be certain.

  “Is that it?” Niles asked, as Birgit lifted her hand.

  “Yes,” Birgit gasped. “It is finished.”

  She reached out to roll the scroll back up and toppled forward as a wave of dizziness overtook her. She had completely exhausted her magic and was paying the price. Birgit was not quite sure what happened after that. The next thing she knew, she was sitting on the floor, leaning against Niles, who had his arms wrapped around her to keep her upright. She did not feel any pain, so he must have caught her before she hit the stone floor.

  “Are you alright?” he asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.

  “Yes,” Birgit answered, badly wanting to pull away from the big hu, but afraid she would only fall again if she did, as the room continued to spin around her. “I just used a little too much magic, is all. I will be alright in a moment.”

  Unfortunately, she had experienced magic deprivation before and knew that it could sometimes take as long as an hour to recover. She would be all but helpless until it did.

  “Do you want me to go get help, or carry you somewhere, or something?” Niles asked. He really did sound concerned.

  “No, I will be fine,” Birgit insisted. “I have experienced this before. I just need to rest and let my magic refresh itself a bit.”

  Niles continued to hold her for a long moment before breaking the uncomfortable silence. “So, how does all this magic stuff work?”

  Birgit jumped at the chance to distract herself from her uncomfortable predicament. “Every person and some creatures have a magical potential. This potential varies from person to person, with some having quite a bit and some very little. It determines how much magical energy a person can store in their bodies and if they have a particular affinity for any of the sixteen magical elements.”

  “Sixteen?” Niles interrupted.

  “Yes,” Birgit continued. “There are four basic elements: earth, air, water, and fire; four common elements: light, dark, life, and death; four advanced elements: ice, lightning, force, and vibration; and four rare elements: time, space, mind, and void. A mage learns to focus their potential through the use of gestures, runes, incantations, and diagrams to affect their environment in a manner consistent with the type of magic expended.”

  “So when that girl blasted me with lightning, she used lightning magic,” Niles said. “But I didn’t hear any incantation or see any diagram. It was just, boom, lightning.”

  “She used a pre-cast spell item.” Birgit explained. “The spell she used had already been prepared and was almost completed on the wand she used. The power of it was also boosted considerably, using a pair of expensive magical crystals. All she had to do was add the final piece of magic to complete the spell, and it activated.”

  “Are these expensive crystals reusable?”

  “No.”

  “Good, serves her right for blasting me like that. It really hurt.”

  Birgit laughed and saw Niles smile in return. She realized she was feeling quite a bit better. Had they been talking that long? It had only seemed like a couple of minutes.

  “I think I am alright now,” Brigit said, pushing away from Niles.

  He kept a gentle grip on her arm and helped her stand, then slowly pulled away, looking ready to catch her again if she started to fall. After a moment, he bent over to pick up the contract and handed it to her. As he did, Birgit noticed Ruby had once again abandoned her and was once again wrapped around his neck.

  Looking over the contract, Birgit saw that the ink on her half of the contract had burned into the parchment as it should, but the ink on Niles’ half had not. She was not sure what that meant. She could ask Professor Spinner, but she needed a guardian familiar. If this made her instructor question if the contract was actually valid, that could ruin her chance of graduating. It was probably fine. Niles had protected her from falling, had he not?

  “Will you come with me to report our contract to Professor Spinner?” Birgit asked. “After that,you can return to your home.”

  “Could you show me around your campus first?” Niles asked. “I’d really like to see it, and if this is all just a dream, I’d like to see as much as I can before I wake up.”