《Riders - Silver streaks》 Chapter 1 - I finally got my familiar and we did things. It was a normal day. I was walking back home with a basket full of supplies for the winter. The serene village of Sapline was even calmer during the night. The only noises belonged to the long river and the riders above my head, their gentle wingbeats reaching even my ears, which are on the ground. *Sigh.* I watched the riders with subtle admiration and envy. It must be nice flying in the sky like that. I hope my familiar has wings. I smile sadly. Then I heard someone call my name, rather her nickname for me¡­ ¡°Selly!¡± Rushing behind me came the liveliest girl you would ever see. Her breasts boun- I mean her smile spreading across her face rapidly. A small bird perched on her shoulder. ¡°I told you not to call me that Emi, it makes me sound like a girl¡­¡± I shake my head in disappointment. I must have told her hundreds of times now. The villagers don¡¯t even react to that name now. She smiled in response. ¡°I can¡¯t stop calling you your name! If not Selly, what should I call you?¡± ¡°How about my real name, Setrialon?¡± She started to say my name. ¡°Se- setr, setiol¡­ ARGH. This is too hard. I¡¯m just going to keep calling you Selly. Your name is too weird.¡± Her bird chirps in agreement. I groan and continue walking. I¡¯ve known Emi since we were children. Being the only two children in the village at the same age, we played together a lot. Now that were older I hear whispers from the elders about our future. Specifically about us getting married. Emi didn¡¯t seem to notice or maybe she¡¯s just pretending but I would get annoyed when the elders joked about us behind our backs. There is no way me and Emi could get married, we¡¯re just friends. I hope. *Tweet! Tweet!* Pamila started to tweet. Her eyes looking at me with concern. I guess I went too deep into thought. I smile at the bird and it turns back around. I¡¯m still amazed with that bird¡¯s wisdom. Emi is way too carefree, with Pamila she could get lost in the forest, fall down a waterfall or worse. Emi and Pamila are almost like sisters. They were born on the same day, at the exact same time. Emi''s mother, MissFoti¨¢ and MissFoti¨¢''s familiar Paema both gave birth to two healthy girls. Ever since then, they had been together. *Tweet* Pamila tweeted again, pulling me out of my thoughts. Emi was far ahead of me now. Seems like even thinking for a mere second leaves a giant gap between us. I rushed back to join them. ¡°Are we going to your place Selly?¡± I hold up the bag of supplies. Emi nods and keeps whistling. ¡°You don¡¯t need to keep me company Emi¡­¡± Emi looked at me and frowned. ¡°That¡¯s no good Selly, wandering the streets at night is dangerous you know? Especially if you don¡¯t have a familiar yet! Don¡¯t worry though, me and Pamila will keep you safe, right Pamila?¡± "Our village is extremely safe, the most dangerous thing that''s happened here was when Mirr fell into that cauldron. Even then, he was completely fine after some healing magic!" ¡°Nope, its too dangerous. Without a familiar, you can getreally hurt. Even Mirr had a familiar. Come on, lets go." Oooh, oww. That was a huge hit to my pride as a man. I can feel the manly image I had of myself in my head slowly start to cripple. But Emi¡¯s right. It¡¯s way too dangerous to be walking alone at night especially without a familiar. Without your familiar, your weak. Even with my pride being crippled I¡¯m still very grateful for Emi to be walking back with me. I heard rumors of people kidnapping children who hadn¡¯t got their familiar yet¡­ Emi and I walked for a bit more time before we reached the bridge. Long river had a bridge going over it, separating half the village. Emi stopped here. My house was right across from the bridge anyway. She smiled, ¡°See you tomorrow Selly!¡± I nodded. ¡°Yeah, tomorrow¡­¡± I walked back home. It was a simple construct, like most of the buildings here except it was way smaller. Masonry for the base, a wood skeleton and some weird white material that could also be wood or something else. I don¡¯t know. I opened the door. ¡°I¡¯m home¡­¡± I say it even though I won¡¯t get a response. I sigh. How many times has Emi¡¯s family tried to convince me to stay with them? I really don¡¯t want to though. I like the freedom my own house gives me. I remember when I used to live with the village chief. It always smelled of onions and various sick familiars. Chuckle when I think about the old guy. He always was one to help anyone and everyone. I should visit some time soon. I¡¯m the closest thing he has to a son as he is the closest thing I have a father. I walk to the kitchen and start a fire under the stove. It took a few attempts but after some time, the stove lit. The once wood, burned 5 times still works, the charcoal wood makes really is the best. Looks like I can save a few more jems today. I set down my supplies beside the stove and get ready to make a stew. I grabbed an apple, an onion and crushed them together. Then I dumped them in a heating pot full of water. My homemade apple-onion stew! Is it nutritious? Probably not. It does provide sustenance though. I¡¯m grateful that I¡¯m even able to eat something today. My jobs haven¡¯t been going so well¡­ I hobble out of my little house and past the village, deeper in the forest. I have about 20 minutes before most of the water turns into steam, leaving a thick bowlful of watery apples and onions. It¡¯s time to take a bath. I go to my usual spot. A place where long river goes through part of tall mountain. I undress myself and hang my clothes on a low-hanging branch before I jump into the river. The cool waters seem to seep in and take away my pain. I scrub myself of any dirt. Hygiene is important after all. 5 minutes¡¯ pass before my stomach started to hurt. That was strange. I don¡¯t get hungry until after the bath. I decided to ignore the pain, thinking it would just pass. A minute later, the same pain returned except stronger. Worried I might have become sick, I jumped out of the river and put on my clothes. I started to head back before I bent backwards in pain. I could feel my stomach bouncing around in agony. I tried to crawl back to the village but it just hurt too much. I couldn¡¯t keep it in anymore. I threw up, yesterday¡¯s food coming out today, but apparently, I wasn¡¯t done. I kept convulsing, trying to get something else out of me. Eventually, I could feel something very smooth get launched out of my throat. After hurling my guts out, I got up, still woozy but feeling much better. *SNAP* Something snapped a twig. I looked around, but couldn¡¯t find who did it, because the culprit was right in front of me. *Hissss* A snake¡¯s hiss slowly entered my ear. I looked to my pool of vomit, sure enough, there was a snake sitting in the middle of it. Jet-black scales that shimmered in the moonlight, it stared at me with silvery eyes. I stared back. Huh? What just happened? Where did this snake come fro- scratch that. Did that snake just come form inside me? How long has it been there? Why now? We held the world¡¯s longest staring contest before I began to calm down. First things first. I need to take another bath. I took off my clothes and started to undress again.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The snake looked at me curiously. ¡°You too.¡± I grabbed the snake by the head and dragged him with me to the water. We were both covered in vomit. The snake struggled against me but didn¡¯t really put up a fight. I easily dragged it, my clothes and myself into the water. There I started to wash myself and my clothes. The snake seemed reluctant at first, but soon started to enjoy the cool stream and started to swim. I took this time to examine it. It was about as long as my leg and about as thick as my arm. Yeah, I¡¯m no good with lengths. But other than that, I noticed how its scales were completely black, a single colour all the way through, and those silver eyes¡­ I have never, ever seen a snake like this, nevertheless heard of one. Black scales and silver eyes, what is this thing. The snake noticed me looking at it strangely and it hissed at me. I got annoyed and just hissed back, mockingly. It slapped its tail on the river and splashed water on my face. It didn¡¯t seem to understand that I was already wet and splashing me with more water wouldn¡¯t do anything. I already knew the answer, from the moment I saw but do I really have this¡­ thing as a familiar? I jumped out of the river and hung my clothes to dry. The snake slithered out as well and curled around my leg. That was fine, but it started curling UP my leg and all the way to my shoulders where it wrapped itself around my neck and sat there. ¡°Hey, buddy. Uh, can you not wrap around my neck please. Bad things happen when you wrap something around someone¡¯s neck.¡± It stared at me, thinking I was stupid. Wait, how did I know that. The snake shook its head enthusiastically. Not in a yes or no pattern, but sporadically. I looked at it as if it was retarded but soon I could feel my own head becoming woozy. I could feel a pounding on my head that just wouldn¡¯t stop. ¡°Okay, okay enough. I understand now¡­¡± I grab the snake to make it stop. It looks just as mentally exhausted as I did. But wait. This is a mental connection. I grinned widely. Mental connections are extremely rare, and only happen when certain conditions are met. Even having a mental condition can qualify you to become a rider. I looked up through the trees at the sky. Maybe I don¡¯t have to only watch any longer. I smiled at the snake who was still curled up around my neck. ¡°Let¡¯s go to our home.¡± The snake was feeling sleepy. As was I. It was time to end the day. I put on my somewhat soaked clothes and headed back to town. Then we heard it. The roar of a horrible beast that sounded like metal scrapping on ice amplified. I covered my ears with my arms. The snake coiled around even tighter and put its head inside its coil. The beast roared again, only this time the roar was closer. ¡°You don¡¯t think¡­ no. Wrong question to ask. Which way do we go?¡± The village was far away, so far away that even they wouldn¡¯t hear these roars, and if we can¡¯t get to the village, where do we go? I asked my snake who pointed his head in the direction of the cave. I ran over, and ducked behind the stone wall. The roars kept growing closer, and closer before two gigantic beasts popped into our view. One was a grey tiger with black flames coming off of its claws, its tail and straight down the spine. The other was a humanoid creature that seemed to be made of ice, rock and metal. The tiger was badly hurt whereas the giant seemed unhurt. ¡°Fool. You dared challenge me? Now you face the consequences.¡± The giant brought up its hand and smacked the tiger, who happened to fly right into tall mountain his flames started to flicker and die out. I jumped farther into the cave, but I was still sent flying backwards. The pure force behind that attack knocked everything back. The ceiling above us seemed to shake as pieces of debris fell from the ceiling. ¡°You¡¯re the fool. You¡¯re too old for your throne Argonic. Its been a thousand years. Step down already.¡± The two creatures seemed to be fighting over, ¡°a throne.¡± I could only hypothesize what that was, and no, I didn¡¯t think of a giant throne. The giant walked up and picked up the tiger. ¡°I am the strongest. Therefore, I have the throne. Give up now and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡± The tiger jumped out of his grasp, and with its remaining energy, pounced forward, flames coiling around its body, straight into the giant. They both tumbled backwards into the left-side of the trees. The giant¡¯s ice layers melting rapidly. Bu the tiger wasn¡¯t done yet. It slashed and clawed, and kept clawing at the giant. Shredding the thick, thick ice that protected its rocky insides. Finally the tiger dug out of a huge chunk of pure black metal and the giant started to shake. ¡°Ho-how¡­ I can¡¯t beat beaten yet. I need to¡­¡± The yellow glow in its eyes died out and the giant tiger jumped off. It roared a mighty roar in victory though, I bet it didn¡¯t expect anyone to hear it. The tiger started to walk off, picking up the big black core of the giant. I nodded. That was a good fight and probably the last time I¡¯ll ever see those creatures again. Well, time to¡­ wait. Where is my snake? I looked around looking for the snake, trying to make as little noise as possible. ¡°Hey, snakey, snakey, snakey. Come on out, we need to go now. We really need to go now¡­¡± I was talking nervously, what if the tiger decided that the giant wasn¡¯t enough and wanted more kills? I looked back at the tiger. It majestically walked away, beaten and bruised as it was and that¡¯s when I saw it. The snake, so minuscule compared to the tiger, slowly creeping up its leg. It would be almost impossible to find the snake if it were on one of the tiger¡¯s stripes. Wait, wait. What are you doing. Snake? Hello? I sneaked out of the cave and rushed up to the tiger¡¯s leg. It was walking quite slowly, obviously hurt from the fight. I caught up quickly. ¡°Hey, snake. What are you doing? We need to leave. This is not the time to be playing hide and go seek!¡± The snake kept crawling upwards. I didn¡¯t want to, but I climbed with it. The tiger seemed to badly hurt to notice. The fur was surprisingly thick and easy to hold. Climbing up to the snake was easy enough, the snake hadn¡¯t gone far up anyway. Snakes don¡¯t climb vertical surfaces well. I grabbed the snake. ¡°Okay, time to go home. Curl around my neck or whatever. Let¡¯s go.¡± But the snake shook its head and pointed upwards. It wanted to get up? I looked at the tiger¡¯s head. It didn¡¯t seem to notice. ¡°Fine. Just this once. It seems that we can run even if the tiger finds us.¡± I placed the snake on my shoulders, where it quickly wrapped around my neck. I then started to climb. The thick hairs were easy to hold onto. It wasn¡¯t long before I reached the top. The flames on his back were still lit, but just barely. I didn¡¯t walk close to them. ¡°Okay, now what do you want to do?¡± I asked the snake. There is no way he just wanted to get up on top of the tiger. The sooner I get down with whatever the snake wanted to do, the better. I think my stew has turned into mush, which isn¡¯t bad. The snake pointed its tail towards the head of the tiger. I looked at him in disbelief. ¡°You want us¡­ to go to the head of this gigantic killing machine?¡± The snake nodded its head. I groaned and walked forward, my sense of self-preservation apparently missing. The snake tapped my head and pointed toward my clothes, which were already dry. Then he pointed to the flames on the tigers back, to the tiger¡¯s head and then to himself. ¡°What? What are you trying to say? My clothes got dry?¡± The snake thought I was stupid. In my head I got an image, which was strange, of the snake biting into the tiger¡¯s flames. ¡°You want to eat the flames?¡± The snake nodded. It stared at me with those silver eyes. ¡°So why are we going to its head?¡± The snake kept pointing to the head and I kept walking, getting more and more confused. When we reached the neck, the snake jumped off. ¡°Wait, where are you going. Come back here!¡± It kept slithering forward until it reached the very top of the tiger¡¯s head. Again, the tiger didn¡¯t seem to notice, or it didn¡¯t seem to care. Then the snake bit into the tiger¡¯s head. Wait what? The tiger roared and started looking all around it, I could only grab its hairs, and hope it didn¡¯t notice us. Suddenly, its veins started to pop out of its skin, big, black and slowly expanding. The tiger¡¯s eyes turned from yellow, to a pale white and it fell over, breathing rapidly. ¡°Who?! What?! WHO DAR-¡° It was cut short, the snake, who latched on its head by holding its bite, delivered another bite after it fell over. The tiger roared again but didn¡¯t move. Its paws twitching. It tried to speak, but anything that came out was just a garbled mess. Slowly, the eyelids of the beast started to die out and it stopped moving entirely. I looked at the snake in disbelief. What had just happened. The snake coiled up my leg and around my neck, and pointed downward. I guess I¡¯m climbing down then? I don¡¯t really want to not listen to the snake anymore. I climbed down. The snake pointed towards the jaw of the beast. ¡°What?! Are you crazy? You know, sometimes, monsters like this guy still have some energy left even after they die, and they can bite us!¡± The snake kept pointing towards it. I sighed and walked towards the mouth. There I saw the chuck of black metal, about the size of a human, and a tiny black flame, which seemed to come from the tiger. The snake slithered down and swallowed the flame. It lurched and started moving as if it had a seizure before it stopped. When it opened its eyes, a silver flame appeared on its back, a thin line extending from the head to the tail. The body of the tiger slowly started to disappear. I looked at it as its body turned into black flames that flew off in the sky. ¡°What did you do?¡± I asked the snake. ¡°I killed it.¡± I looked around, trying to see who said that. ¡°It was me stupid.¡± I looked back at the snake and pointed at it with a shaking finger. ¡°Yes. Me. Hello. Your familiar?¡± ¡°How did you do that?¡± It looked at the torched ground where the tiger once was. ¡°It was instinct. Something told my to inject my poison into its head. I¡¯m just glad that it worked out fine.¡± So, the snake did that entire thing, just on instinct? He didn¡¯t even know if it would work? ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t. But it did so that¡¯s good. Also. Stop calling me, ¡®snake¡¯. There are thousands of creatures you could call ¡®snake¡¯. I need a name.¡± I started to stutter. Before I realised the danger was gone. ¡°How about we go home first. I would really like to go home now.¡± The snake shaked its head in disappointment. ¡°Fine, fine. How about¡­ scaly?¡± It looked at me with eyes of anger. ¡°Okay, not scaly. How about darky?¡± ¡°Are you even trying human? Or are you trying to make fun of me?¡± ¡°Right, right. How about¡­ Bane?¡± This name perked the snake¡¯s interest. ¡°It¡¯s used another way now but it originally meant something that causes death. That something was usually poison. I saw it in a book once.¡± The snake nodded. ¡°I like that name. Okay. Bane it is. Let¡¯s go now. I¡¯m hungry.¡± The snake coiled around my leg and up to my neck. I almost stopped it before I it pushed my hand away and showed me that the fire it had didn¡¯t burn me. I looked at the big chunk of metal. ¡°What do we do with that?¡± ¡°How would I know? You humans use metal a lot. You should know.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do anything with that gigantic piece!¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s leave it for now. We¡¯ll always know where it is later.¡± I nodded and started to head back home. It was then when I realised something. ¡°Hey, Bane." "Yes, human?" "I hope you like apple-onion mush!¡± Chapter 2 - A quick succession of events Bane: ¡°Human. Human. Human. Human. Human.¡± Selly: ¡°WHAT!?¡± Bane: ¡°¡­where is my food?¡± *sigh* It was the middle of the night when Bane and I returned from that¡­ curious endeavour. I had just started to take the apple-onion mush out of the pot before Bane said he didn¡¯t want any of that. I figured as much but still hoped that he would at least try it. I¡¯ve never heard about snakes that ate plants but I also never heard about Bane¡¯s species so that gave me hope that I could serve him this. I was wrong and now he won¡¯t stop pestering me to get him some food¡­ in the middle of the night. I pleaded with him to just wait till after we sleep but he denied. Eventually I gave up trying, ate me apple-onion mush (which wasn¡¯t half bad) and we went back into the forest, except this time, a little bit closer to the village. My favourite hunting spots were all too close to my bathing spot, which I really didn¡¯t want to come anywhere close by. I went to one of my earliest hunting spots, back when I was just a kid and laid some traps around. Then, I climbed a tree and waited but Bane is impatient and every-so-often he would as- Bane: ¡°Where is my food?¡± I stared at him, which is quite hard to do when he¡¯s a snake wrapped around your neck. Selly: ¡°Don¡¯t you have the ability to wait? Is that possible?¡± Bane: ¡°I¡¯m hungry. Killing that tiger made me hungry.¡± Selly: ¡°Well, you yelling might scare away your food. So, if your quiet, maybe the food will come faster?¡± Bane turned his head from the foliage bellow us to look directly in my eyes. Bane: ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll stop talking.¡± Selly: ¡°No, you don¡¯t have to stop talking. Just stop being loud, that¡¯s it.¡± Even so, we sat in silence. We waited for a bit before I decided to create some conversation. Selly: ¡°So, Bane. How were you able to speak all of a sudden?¡± He looked at me strangely. Bane: ¡°What do you mean?¡± Selly: ¡°You weren¡¯t able to speak before, but after you ate that fire¡­ thing, you suddenly started speaking.¡± He looked confused for a moment before answering ¨C ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just happened I guess.¡± Selly: ¡°The same thing with the flames on your back?¡± Bane: ¡°I think it was because I ate the flame. I¡¯m not too sure though.¡± Selly: ¡°Right, right¡­¡± We sat in silence again. Before, I, once again, started a conversation. Selly: ¡°You can read my thoughts, right?¡± Bane: ¡°Yes.¡± Selly: ¡°How come I can¡¯t read yours? Isn¡¯t this mental connections work?¡± Bane chuckled. ¡°Maybe its because you¡¯re not smart.¡± Selly: ¡°Funny. You¡¯re a comedian, you know that?¡± *SNAP* From below, I heard one of my traps snap shut, interrupting our conversation. I jumped from the tree and walked over to the trap¡¯s location. Inside the trap laid a bleeding, but not dead rabbit with crystal-like orange eyes. It¡¯s leg had been badly damaged and it seemed that it was unable to move anymore. Even so, it didn¡¯t make a noise. Bane: ¡°Dinner!¡± I pried the trap open and put the rabbit on the ground. Bane bounced off my neck and bit the rabbit once. Like the tiger, but on a much smaller scale, black veins popped out. The eyes didn¡¯t turn pale though, they retained that orange-crystal colour. I thought that was interesting. Selly: ¡°Hey, Bane. Make sure not to eat those eyes. Actually, I think I¡¯ll take them right now.¡± I walked over to the now, definitely dead rabbit and plucked the eyes out. There was nothing attached to them. In my hands, they really looked like gemstones. Maybe I could sell this¡­ Bane had already started to eat. He tore flesh away from the stomach and ate small chunks of meat individually, extremely strange for a snake. At this point, I stopped believing Bane was a snake. He was another type of animal that just had the body of a snake. Bane had popped out of the corpse. ¡°This is good. I need more.¡± Selly: ¡°You¡¯re not even done that one! Finish that and we can go hunting tomorrow. I¡¯m exhausted right now.¡± Bane quickly ate the rest of the corpse as I reset the trap it was in, preparing it for another animal. We got lucky today, that there was a rabbit just wandering around in the middle of the night. I started to head back after I was done. Bane nestled himself on my neck like usual. I could tell that he was quite content. I looked up at the sky. There were a few more stars out today. The three moons shined brighter as well. It was a magnificent sight. We walked back to the village. Most of the lights were out. The only ones on came around the chief¡¯s house and the meeting building. That was strange. They were having a meeting at this time of the night? Well. I guess I might as well see what¡¯s going on. I walked past my house, over the bridge and to the meeting building. The door was open but I just peered in through one of the windows. Man 1: ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± Man 2: ¡°Positive. Imperial soldiers were heading this way.¡± Woman 1: ¡°But why? We haven¡¯t done anything!¡± Woman 2: ¡°It¡¯s not for us they come. You¡¯ve heard rumors about us Padians and the Spordians right? They say that war has been brewing for a long time now, just as it happens, we¡¯re right on the border.¡± Man 2: ¡°So, they¡¯re going to use our village as a military camp? What happens to us?¡± Village Chief: ¡°We¡¯re being moved to the city.¡± I heard a voice I recognized. It was the village chief. The room stayed silent for a moment after he spoke. Before¡­ ¡°You knew about them?¡± Man 1 said. Village Chief: ¡°I did, and I tried to stop them, but they threatened to attack us if we showed resistance. We aren¡¯t considered Padian or Spordian yet.¡± Woman 1: ¡°We¡¯ve been a part of Padia for years! What are they talking about?!¡± Woman 2: ¡°Yet, we¡¯re the only ones that continue trade with both countries. If I were a military commander, I wouldn¡¯t trust us either. We¡¯re lucky that they¡¯re sending us to the capital with some supplies and jobs. Apparently, many villages have been sent over there already.¡± Man 1: ¡°So, we just pack up and move? We don¡¯t get a say in this?¡± Village Chief: ¡°I told you. I tried and I failed. The army was adamant in their decision of taking this village as a decisive battleground against the Spordians. A mountain and a river, a trade route would be easy to construct and complete, alongside the forest¡­ the defensive values our village gives make it a prime target for both sides. Padia just got here first.¡± Woman 1: ¡°But what about the children! They¡¯re being stripped from they¡¯re homes and sent to some foreign land! What do we do about them?!¡± There was silence before the village chief spoke again. ¡°They¡¯re to not live with us, but in the dormitories of the Imperial Magic Institute of Battle and Combat.¡± Man 2: ¡°They¡¯re what?!¡± Village Chief: ¡°Alongside the supplies the army sent us, they would be sending our young to the Institute. Apparently, the order was given by the Queen herself. Like I said before, even though we¡¯re just a small group of villagers, the defensive properties our village has, increases our strength. Padia doesn¡¯t have as many soldiers as Spordia, so they worried that Spordia would capture us first using sheer numbers. They¡¯re giving us irresistible bribes to secure this spot. This was another reason why I had to give in. Going to the Institute gives our children a great advantage in the future, even if they¡¯re admission was due to bribing.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The adults started whispering amongst themselves, comprehending the information the chief had given them. I too was contemplating my future. Even in this village, so far away from the capital, we had heard rumors of the Institute. A place where children of all ages could train their magical abilities, physical strengths and bonds between their familiars. They learned about politics, war, economics, arithmetic, geometry, the elements, essence, magic and other subjects that I only just heard of. Supposing¡­ saying that I went to that Academy of learning¡­ I could become a state politician just because I had that school under my name and a number of other jobs would be completely open to me! Yes chief! You made the right choice! Man 1: ¡°But still¡­ losing our home because of the whims of the upper class¡­ it doesn¡¯t seem right¡­¡± Silence took over the meeting hall again. Bane: ¡°Human. What are we doing here?¡± Absorbed by the conversation, I forgot that Bane was still wrapped around my neck. Inside, the adults started talking, but much softer. I had to strain my ears to hear what they were saying. Man 2: ¡°Did you hear something?¡± Woman 2: ¡°It sounded like someone was talking.¡± Village Chief: ¡°Someone go check. We don¡¯t want to cause panic for the villagers.¡± They¡¯re coming out?! God damnit Bane, if they find me, I¡¯ll be in lots of trouble! Bane: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can hide us.¡± Selly: ¡°How?!¡± The doors of the meeting hall opened and I could hear footsteps walk over to the right-side of the building, where we were hiding. Bane: ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± I stayed absolutely still and closed my eyes even though they could still see me. Ooh, I¡¯m going to be in so much trouble. I waited for a bit before I heard the footsteps walk away and move to the other side, then back to the front of the building, closing the door behind them. I opened one eye. Bane was laughing at me, quietly. Bane: ¡°Haha, you closed your eyes? That¡¯s hilarious.¡± Selly: ¡°Shut up.¡± Inside the building, they continued their conversation. Woman 1: ¡°Did you find anyone?¡± Man 1: ¡°No, there wasn¡¯t anyone there, I checked both sides.¡± Man 2: ¡°What about the back?¡± Woman 2: ¡°The wall at the back of the building is too thick, plus the document rooms are there. Anyone by there wouldn¡¯t be able to hear our conversation. Either they ran away very quickly, or we were just being paranoid. Either way, we can¡¯t do anything about it.¡± Village Chief: ¡°Sigh. Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s the latter. I wouldn¡¯t want this news to spread so early. I think we should adjourn this meeting for tonight. It¡¯s late. I¡¯ve decided to announce this in a few days. Until then, we keep quiet about it.¡± They¡¯re leaving again? At least this time, I¡¯m ready. I dash backwards, careful not to make a sound and hide behind one of the nearby houses, I poked my head out, so I could see who was leaving the building. The first person who came out was Emi¡¯s mother, followed by her father. It makes sense that they would be in the meeting. They own a lot of land nearby and their family has a lot of money. Even if the army took over the village, they would be fine. They could also make a profit from the army just being there. Their familiars, Pama and Paidra flew beside them. They didn¡¯t tell Emi, but her familiar is the daughter of their familiars. I wonder why they didn¡¯t tell her though. Following them was the magician. The magician was very smart but also very mysterious. When she first came to our village a few years back, the villagers were skeptical of her, but she proved useful by curing some illnesses and the village gradually accepted her. Sometimes she teaches the children. Her familiar was a white bat that hung from the underside of her hat. After her came the blacksmith. A muscle man for sure. He helped the village by making various tools for farming and screws for doors. He mines the ore himself from somewhere in tall mountain. He¡¯s a nice guy and I sometimes help him in exchange for a little bit of money. His familiar is a rocky golem. He usually just uses him to carry things. Then the village chief came out. He scanned the area briefly, just to make sure and continued back to his hobble. I chuckled in my head. As careful as ever. His familiar was weird. It was a sentient sword that could fight by itself. I never saw him do much other than float around the chief sometimes. I always wondered why he has a sword for a familiar. They quickly dispersed, leaving the meeting hall empty. I gained a lot of information today. I stretched my arms and walked back home. That was interesting, but something I would have learned eventually. Nothing important now. Bane: ¡°We¡¯re done now?¡± Selly: ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re done.¡± Bane: ¡°Then we¡¯re going to sleep now?¡± Selly: ¡°Not much we can do other than that. I mean, you could tell me how we weren¡¯t found out.¡± Bane: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not sure. I just feel like I could hide.¡± Selly: ¡°So, you went off instinct? Again?¡± Bane: ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it?¡± Selly: ¡°¡­¡± He was right. It did work. Twice. Maybe listening to his instincts is a good idea? Selly: ¡°I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of the village tomorrow. I can finally get back at those older kids who always made fun of me for not having a familiar.¡± Bane: ¡°I rather not. That seems like too much work.¡± Selly: ¡°All you need to do is be wrapped around my neck, like you usually do.¡± Bane: ¡°I really, rather not.¡± Selly: ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll introduce you to only one person then? How does that sound?¡± Bane: ¡°Okay. Why not?¡± We continued our conversation for a bit. I told him a bit about the village before we got back to our house and went to sleep. --- The next morning. Bane: ¡°Human. Human. Human. Human. Human. Human. Human. Human.¡± Selly: ¡°WHAT?!¡± Bane: ¡°There¡¯s a commotion outside.¡± I looked out the window and saw the villagers and their familiars grouping up and moving to the outside of the village. They carried bags and other belongings with them. Wasn¡¯t the village chief going to tell the village next week? I assumed the move would happen after he told them. I got out of bed and quickly packed what little food I had. Apples and onions. Bane wrapped himself around my neck. The rabbit eyes were still in my pocket. I looked back at my little shack. It wasn¡¯t much but it gave me shelter for all these years. I left my home and closed the door behind me. I was sure that I would never come here again. I ran and joined the line, going wherever we were going. ???: ¡°Selly? Selly where are you?¡± A familiar voice rang out, calling me by that stupid name. Farther behind me, in the line was Emi, for sure. I pushed my way through and found Emi looking for me. Emi: ¡°Selly¡­ wait. You have a snake around your neck. Is that your familiar?¡± Selly: ¡°Yeah, it is. Also, can you tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Emi looked down. ¡°Apparently, we¡¯re being moved to the city. I don¡¯t want to go to the city! I liked it here, in Sapline¡­¡± Selly: ¡°So we really are moving¡­¡± Emi: ¡°You knew?¡± Pamila chirped inquisitively. Selly: ¡°Yeah, I knew. I heard the adults talking about it yesterday at night. Didn¡¯t think it would happen so soon.¡± Emi: ¡°The village chief was arguing with the soldiers about that. He asked them to give us more time. They said they couldn¡¯t spare any. Now we¡¯re here.¡± Selly: ¡°It¡¯s not so bad, is it? I mean, the perks that come with mov-¡° Emi: ¡°What perks? All we were told was that we were moving to the city. That¡¯s it.¡± Selly: ¡°Did that soldiers say that?!¡± Emi: ¡°No.., it was the chief. Why would you ask that? Do you know something?¡± I considered my options. I could either lie, which I have no reason to, or I could tell the truth, which I didn¡¯t need to do. So, I did neither. Selly: ¡°I do know a bit more, but not much. If the village chief decided to keep quiet about it, then I he must have a good reason. You know how much I know him, right?¡± Emi: ¡°Still! Why can¡¯t you tell me? Even if the chief has a reason to not tell the village, why not just me?¡± She reasoned well. I didn¡¯t need to tell her, but there was no dire situation that prevented me from sharing this information. I know she won¡¯t tell anyone else. Selly: ¡°Ok fine. Apparently, the army had sent us supplies to help support our village in the city. Along with that, the King himself gave an order, allowing the children acceptance into the Institute.¡± Emi looked around nervously. Even she can get serious at times. Emi: ¡°Really?¡± Selly: ¡°Yeah, I heard them discuss it last night.¡± Emi looked off in the distance, obviously thinking about something. Emi: ¡°That¡¯s really amazing!¡± Selly: ¡°I know. When I heard it, I was extremely excited myself.¡± Emi: ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. We¡¯re going to the Institute. Both of us!¡± Selly: ¡°Hey, I only heard it from the village chief, and he only heard it from the military. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they lied about that just to get us out of the village. Once we¡¯re out, we can¡¯t do anything much anyway.¡± Emi looked down, hey enthusiasm quickly put out. Emi: ¡°Right¡­ can¡¯t get too excited or I¡¯ll get more hurt¡­¡± I looked at her solemn face. Argh. Selly: ¡°Buttt, I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t lie. Even if we are just a small village. We have about 500 people in population. We could definitely spread some rumors that would sully the military, and even the King¡¯s good name. Double-crossing us would be difficult.¡± Emi perked up after hearing my words. She smiled a small smile. Emi: ¡°Thanks, Selly. I know you¡¯re just saying that to make me feel better, but its fine. I¡¯m fifteen now. I¡¯m old enough to marry. I can handle myself.¡± Damn, she really knows me well. Bane: ¡°Human. Maybe we should start walking. I can see the end of the group.¡± Emi: ¡°Did your snake just talk?!¡± Pamila squawked in surprise. Selly: ¡°Oh, yeah, long story. I¡¯ll tell you when we get closer to the front of the line. Being at the end weirds me out.¡± I grabbed her hand and we made our way through the crowds. I didn¡¯t notice the blush on her face. Once we had reached near the front of the masse, she shook my hand off. Emi: ¡°You didn¡¯t need to hold me hand for so long! Geez, no sense of privacy.¡± Selly: ¡°That was so we didn¡¯t get separated! Did I hold your hand to hard?¡± Emi: ¡°No¡­ its fine.¡± Slowly, without our conversation, I started to pay attention to my surroundings. The villagers weren¡¯t silent. They were clearly voicing their thoughts. Some were scared, others were curious, but I wasn¡¯t really focused on them. Past the mass of people, I could see military soldiers, knights and magicians setting up defenses and doing other activities in and around our homes. Only a small amount of us noticed this though. Those of us that did really couldn¡¯t do anything about it either way. It did feel weird having our homes violated and repurposed, we all knew it was for a good cause. At least we tried to convince ourselves that it was. Emi pointed near the front of the crowd and whispered to me, ¡°Selly, look.¡± I looked at where she was pointing, there we could see many carriages, carts and wagons. The villagers at the front were all ready placing their belongings in the carts while some started to seat themselves in them. The group moved along slowly, probably due to the disorder but when it was our turn, we saw the village chief. Chief: ¡°Setrialon¡­ Emi? What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you travelling with you parents?¡± Selly: ¡°Chief.¡± Emi: ¡°No, being with Selly is much more fun!¡± The chief shook his head. Chief: ¡°Fine. Put your belongings in any of the carts. Then, choose one to ride. Make sure you pick the right cart. A lot of them are uncomfortable and its going to be a long ride.¡± Selly: ¡°Got it Chief.¡± Emi: ¡°Ok!¡± The chief briefly looked at the snake around my neck before going back to conversing with us. Chief: ¡°You kids stay safe alright? You have to take care of each other. Okay?¡± Emi: ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll protect Selly!¡± Selly: ¡°I have my own familiar now¡­¡± Emi: ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Chief: ¡°Haha, get on now you rascals!¡± The chief patted me back and pushed me towards one of the carts. Me and Emi picked a comfortable-looking one and sat down. By the time the line was almost cleared, it was almost dawn. Luckily for us, our cart only had the two of us in it, leaving us with lots of room. A bit of time passed before the sun started to go down and soon, the carts started to move by themselves, using magic. Emi had already gone to sleep, and I figured that I should do the same. I grabbed my bag of apples and onions and rested my head on it and slowly closed my eyes, Yawning. Fatigue forcing my consciousness to disappear. Selly: ¡°Goodnight, Bane. Keep watch for me?¡± Bane nodded. With the knowledge that Bane was watching, I fully closed my eyes, resigning to exhaustion and falling asleep.