The Familiar

Part 1: The Mountains

Over the years, the raw wound inflicted upon him after Seren's death had scabbed over, and there it still sat, right over his heart. And he had spent more time than grieving rather than doing anything else. Aster had wandered in and out of the Human world, with no real purpose. His only goal was to continue to survive. Even then, it wasn't really his goal. It just seemed like something he had to do.

Aster could perform plenty of magic, and even turn himself into a Human for a while. What Aster could not do, was stay in one place for more than one day. If anyone ever saw him changing between forms, or casting spells, then he would be burned like the Witches.

Humans.

They were evil.

Well, maybe not all of them. But the ones that weren't witches, were very evil. All over Dratun, the Witches were being incinerated, mutilated, strangled, drowned, impaled, and any other creative way for Humans to kill Witches. If he had a piece of Human currency for every Witch he's seen killed, all the Humans would bow to him and his huge pile of gold and silver.

Aster had wandered aimlessly until he had heard whispers from the treefolk. Somewhere in the North, beyond the mountains, Witches were gathering. Beyond the mountains, were the Wildlands. Aster could understand why they would gather there. Nature was a Witch's home.

Which brought Aster to the northernmost town, Bravenwood. He was in his natural state, huddling in an empty stall Humans kept Horses in. In the morning, Aster would definitely remind himself to free them. He would do it now, but he still needed a place to sleep.

That night, Aster did not sleep well. Between the chill, and nightmares, he ended up grumbling half-awake a lot more than he did actual snoring. Which, he didn't snore, but that wasn't the point. His nightmares were only brief glimpses, which were even now quickly fading from the Familiar's memories. Mostly, it was him running through a forest, with a wildfire burning through the trees right behind him. Sure, the running aspect of the dream gave him plenty of adrenaline, but being chased just made him feel horrible. Even more so, that it was a forest fire chasing him.

Nevertheless, Aster tapped into a magical planes, and focused on his chosen Human shape. He would need thumbs for what he had in mind. In his mind's eye, there was a tall, pale, black-haired human. His hair was fairly shaggy, and he wore those things that Humans called clothes. Scratchy, they were.

By simply channeling magical energy into the thoughts, he became the human. Aster didn't think he'd ever get used to walking on two legs, even after years of practicing.

There were only two horses. A black stallion, and a pinto. Aster connected his mind to both of them, which was how he communicated with all things living except for Humans. To connect minds with a Human would spell out his death.

What are your names? He asked.

I am Tasan, the stallion stated. The beautiful pinto over there is Lenore. Lenore snorted at Tasan.

I can introduce myself, she snapped.

I know that, my dear. But I take pleasure in being the ich in the middle of your back, Tasan responded just as quickly, as if that was something very clever and he was proud of it.

I'm Aster. A pleasure to meet you two... He wasn't exactly sure it was a pleasure, but he kept that thought to himself. These two were like a cat and a dog. It was sort of amusing.

Indeed. Is there anything we can help you with, Aster? Lenore asked.

No, no. I'm just here to free you. On a second thought... Maybe these two knew something about how to get by the mountains? He shared his question with them, as he opened the doors to each of their stalls.