Book One – Chapter 6

Heavy rain mixed with the stench of mud and the metallic tang that marked the territories of various beasts. The air was charged with the disturbing energy emanating from the living wades of black mountain that were the Vicha.

Midnight ran, a living shadow against the violent backdrop. As a Midnight Stalker pathera, she wielded great speed and agility, which allowed her to traverse swiftly across the treacherous terrain. Her senses were attuned to the unseen, discerning the subtle movements that occurred beneath the surface of the desolation, where myriad beasts of all sizes stirred and scattered in the aftermath of the Vicha’s emergence.

Her wizard would face it. Without her. Midnight’s purpose was to run and to deliver two messages. Yet, her thoughts remained entwined in the bond she shared with Yves. In the midst of the ferocious storm and the gruesome landscape and the lurking beasts surrounding her, her feelings began to weave their own challenges. They unravelled discerning observations about how different her wizard had become since she had sought him out, and how difficult it had been for her to recognise him when he had send her away.

Of course, Midnight had been different back then, too. While she did not remember that there had ever been a time when she had not been all that she was, with all her strength and all her senses, she understood from observation that this all expanded with every day. It had been obvious when they had lived amongst many other familiars and wizards. The longer they had been at Emery Thurm, the smaller and weaker the new familiars that arrived every year had seemed in comparison to her. Back when Yves first entered as a novice, Midnight’s all had been smaller and weaker, too. With every day of her life, she had grown, and she had grown stronger.