All Creatures Great and Small

JP with D2wintr

The supernatural storm of blue raged outside, terrific bolts of lightning flashing steadily overhead whilst a blazing azure light emanated from the thick low hanging clouds that continued to assail the city of Heiligtum with a torrential onslaught of rain and hail. The fierce precipitation spattered against the skylight of the arcane library where Aggie had retreated to following Aldous's rather abrupt and unexpected departure. Seated at a padded reading bench before a window, the young wizardess stared forlornly out at the besieged city streets, uncertain of what the next day or week or month would bring. With her father dead and Miekrannis College destroyed, she hardly had anyone in her life any more. All alone in the big old house she grew up in, a sense of loneliness started to creep over her grieving soul.

It was then that something drew her attention across the shadowed room. Not so much a sound but an unaccountable feeling that led her eyes to the rows of books that lined the nearby shelves, and there on a high shelf to a book that she had not recalled seeing before. In that instant there was a loud clap of thunder and the leather bound tome seemingly jumped from its place on the shelf, slamming hard against the tabletop below before falling open on the floor at her feet.

For the longest time Aggie sat there stunned. She was uncertain at what had happened, but the child still within her half expected that someone would come storming into the library at any moment to scold her for her carelessness. An imaginary expectation, of course, given that there was none remaining who would care. All these valuable books belonged to no one else but her now.

She sighed softly, her gaze drifting down to the pages of text at her feet, seeing that the tome had opened to what appeared to be a set of instructions for a basic ritual casting. A Summon Companion spell of all things she saw upon reaching down to collect the book. Holding the page with her thumb, she flipped through the book to see what other spells it held before stopping on the name of the author in surprise.

“Mother?”

The word came as a whisper as she read the name written on the inside cover.

…

She gasped sharply, feeling the dagger push deeply into her womb. Her blood flowed freely from the wound and the blade was roughly withdrawn as she fell to her knees.

“My love, you have killed me...”

She spoke the words, but they came from her lips as barely a whisper. In her last moments her eyes sought out the face of the black wizard Umeffaeh. She looked deeply into his hateful orbs knowing that there was no love for her to be found within them, if there had ever been any there at all.

…

Before Aggie quite knew what she was doing, she sketched the seal on the library's parquet floor from the diagram in the book and fetched a brazier and the various spell components listed from her father's vast stores, employing them in the precise order in which the book instructed.

The flames consumed the various items each in turn and as the young wizardress spoke the last word of the summoning spell a small form appeared in a glowing ball of smoke.

For a few seconds it looked like some kind of unholy beast from the netherworld before resolving into the shape of a furry little cat with a deep blue-black coat and large yellow eyes, which were soon peering up at Aggie even as the smoke dissipated and the fire in the brazier went out.

…

For a moment she had to adjust to the change.

She was much smaller then she ever remembered being. Covered in fur and a tail that clearly was feline in aspect

"Oh, how odd." The voice came softly as more of a thought then a whisper.

The cat seemed to examine itself for a moment before doing what all such animals did. Opening its mouth to offer a wide soundless yawn before extending its fore legs outwards as far as it could reach, arching its back before extending its claws from its small black paws into the wooden floor.

After a moment in that position it resumed a seemingly more relaxed and composed stance, turning its bright eyes up to the girl, studying her for a long moment before it spoke again. “Well, hello there.”

…

The speaking voice was surprisingly warm and rich, clearly feminine with an odd accent that was pronounced but hard to place given it was clearly not a local one. It took Aggie off guard and she blinked as if coming out of trance, suddenly realising how reckless she had been performing a summoning ritual without carefully studying it beforehand. What strange impulse had possessed her to do such a thing? The summoning of any being from another plane of existence always carried some dangers. The cat seemed harmless enough though, friendly and even cute, but she knew the creature could be something more than it appeared.

“Hello yourself,” Aggie replied as she knelt down, making sure to keep the wards of the summoning circle between them. “Who are you?”

“I’m a cat… I think?” The creature tilted its head to one side thoughtfully, looking down at its paws. “I mean I have black fur, paws, and a tail.” She paused then, returning her gaze to the girl. “The what, is easy enough it seems, but as for the who… I am a familiar, I think… a knowledgeable spirit given physical shape anew. I say anew because I can remember a great many things and yet the context of these things escapes me.”

“What sort of things do you remember?” Aggie wondered if the familiar was thinking of the last time she was summoned to the material plane, and recalled the author of the spellbook.

The cat’s tail languidly drifted back and forth several times as it reflected on Aggie's question for several long moments before finally speaking again aloud. “I remember working on some potions… There were some other magical items I was working on as well… I remember thinking that I needed to work on an updated version of my spellbook.”

Aggie’s mouth fell open. “Your spellbook?”

“Why yes, it had gotten so messy and cluttered. I remember that I was in the mood for beef stew and fresh baked bread for dinner. That's the easy stuff, the rest is a lot more muddled and messy,” the cat offered thoughtfully. “Life tends to be that way as best I can recall.”

“Do you remember... who you are?” Aggie pressed, having the craziest thought.

“You mean my name? Oh I remember that well enough. You can call me Persia.”