Noyria: A tale of Witches and Demons

Chapter One - The Orange Eyed Familiar

It was a cold autumn day in the town of Venoburough where Serena's adventure truly began. It was October 18th, the anniversary of the first time she used magic. She had recently turned 15, just the right age to gain a familiar.

She stands impatiently in front of the local potion shop, as several other young witches and wizards congregate around her for the same reason. She can hear several people telling each other what kind of familiar they want.
"I want a cat!" One girl exclaims. "They're sleek, mysterious, and strong!"
"Well I want a rat," her friend states. "They're smarter than cats, and can fit into more spaces." Serena just holds her lips tight, as she's  unsure about what she wants. She isn't one to make decisions very quickly. In fact, she'd been up all night thinking about what she would choose. It wasn't a very graceful choosing ceremony, either. As her family told her, everyone rushed into the shop at the same time, where rows and rows of animals sat in cages, waiting to become familiars. As she thinks about this, the doors fly open with a puff of magic, and everyone floods into the shop. Serena barely gets to start moving when someone pushes her over, causing her to fall and get into the shop late. She nearly cries when she sees that every familiar has been taken. The woman in charge of the shop sends her a sympathetic look.
"We're sorry, little lady, you must have gotten here a bit late," She says.
"B-but I was the first one here! I woke up at midnight to get here! I-I just got pushed over, that's all," She says, on the verge of tears. The lady puts her thumb to her lip, and a look of glee fills her round features.
"I know! We've got one more, but no one 'as wanted to claim 'im yet," she says cheerfully. "Follow me to the back of the shop, that's where ye'll find 'em!"
She leads Serena deep into the back of the shop, where piles of empty bottles and strange potion ingredients are strewn about. The lady comes across a brass cage, rusty and small. Serena can't make out what type of animal it is, as it is the same color as the darkness that fills her surroundings. She taps on the bars a few times, and a small, horned head popsup. Two glowing, orange eyes find their way to Serena, and the creature tilts its head. Only when it spread its wings out does Serena figure out what it is.
"An owl?" Serena asks. The lady nods.
"The people who work for me call 'im Citrine, but feel free to call 'im whatever. Say, ye do know how to ask an animal to be yer familiar, yeah?"
"Of course! I stayed up all night memorizing how!" Serena replies, grinning. The owl tilts his head, and she sticks her finger through the bars of the cage. The owl taps it with his beak, but then decides to rub his head against it. Serena giggles, as the feathers tickle her skin.
"Alright then, you can go a'ead and take Citrine as yer familiar, no extra charge!"
"Really?" She says, surprised at the generosity of the strange lady.
"O' course! Anything for a bright young witch such as yerself!"
"How do you know that I'm bright?" She asks, looking at the deep, black eyes of the lady.
"Well, ye were up all night studying on how to get a familiar. None o' the other youngsters 'ere did that. You deserve Citrine, 'e's one of a kind!" The lady looks to her wrist, where a rusty old watch is strapped on.
"Oh my, would ye look at the time? I've best be getting back to work, this is the hour that most o' my customers start shopin'. Hope ye have a good time out in the real witchin' world. Say, I didn't catch yer name, youngin. What would ye be called?"
"I'm Serena," she replies, lifting the brass cage up with one of her recently learned spells.
"Well, I expect to hear great things of ye, Miss Serena. Be careful out in the real world, missy. There's been talk of demons lurking in the forests nearby."
"I will! Thank you!" She says, sprinting out of the shop with the rusting cage in tow. She runs as far as she can, eventually reaching her favorite part of the forest that surrounds Venoburough. She sets the cage down on the ground, and unhinges the gate. The owl immediately pushes it open and flies out, perching on a nearby tree branch and stretching his wings.
"I don't like the name Citrine," she said. The owl screeches, and she takes it as an agreement to her statement.
"I'm guessing that isn't your actual name, so I'll wait until you can talk to find that out."
Serena takes a deep breath in, and slowly breathes out.
"You're gonna have to come down here so I can do the whole familiar thing. You wanna speak, right?" The owl stares down at her with his glowing eyes, and then flies down, landing on her shoulder. He grips her shoulder gently. Serena places her hand over the owl, and begins to recite the spell asking it of its permission to become her familiar.
"By the Moon that shines at night, and the Sun so very bright, I ask you once, I ask you twice, but more than twice would not be nice, with a wag, a croak, or a mew, pray tell me now what you will do. Will you my familiar be? Give your answer unto me!"
The owl screeches, and then bobs his head up and down. Serena slowly takes her wand out of her cloak, and places its tip on the owl's head. It begins to emit a silver fog, surrounding the creature until it is visible no more. After a few minutes, the owl begins coughing like a human, and shoos the fog away with his wings.
"Goodness, I haven't been able to stretch my wings for decades," he says, stretching his wings even farther.
"H-hello!" Serena squeaks, overwhelmed with excitement that she actually gained a familiar on her own.
"Hello there, Serena Allia. I'm sure I wasn't the familiar you were hoping for, but I shall do my best to live up to your needs."
"Woah, don't degrade yourself like that! You're perfect! I couldn't have asked for a more amazing familiar!"
"Really? I was left in that back room because nobody wanted me for years."
"That's horrid! Why wouldn't anyone want you?"
"You weren't alive back then, but creatures with orange eyes are usually possessed by demons, and I was being given as a familiar during a time when witches and wizards were at war against demons. Evidently, nobody wanted a supposedly possessed familiar."
"Really? Well, I don't care what anyone else thinks. I think you're amazing."
"Why thank you, my lady. You flatter me."
"So... I read that all familiars come with something special. May I ask if you know what your special feature is?"
"I have an extensive knowledge of spells and how to cast them, but that's built up over years in the back of a wizardry shop. If memory serves me correctly, my last master said that I was exceptionally fast, so that may be it. If that isn't, though, I haven't a clue. My apologies."
"Aw, no, it's okay! We'll figure it out eventually. For now, we should get going. I've packed all my stuff up for my adventure."
"We're adventuring now?" He says.
"Oh, but of course! Any witch or wizard that gets a familiar goes adventuring immediately!" The bushes beside Serena rustle, and she jumps as far away as she can.
"We may have to push your adventure back a while," The familiar says, jumping off her shoulder and hovering beside her.
"That aura... It doesn't sit well with my stomach," He adds.
"Maybe it's just a bunny," Serena assures, trying to convince herself as well.
"A bunny? You're mistaken," an unknown voice says, coming from the very bush that startled Serena.
"Serena, we need to leave," the familiar demands.
"Wait, someone's there!" Serena says, ignoring her familiar.
"Yes, why don't you want to find out what's in the bushes, owl?" The voice chimes in again.
"We do not want to see what's in there, Serena. I know I'm supposed to listen to you, but listen to me this once; Whatever is in there is not something you want to see."
"Listen, I don't think it's going to hurt us," she says, giving the voice the benefit of the doubt.
"You're right, I can't hurt you without a contract," the voice says. A dark figure lifts itself out of the bush, its orange eyes locking with Serena's.
"A human boy?" She says, studying the figure before her.
"No," the owl says. "He's beyond human at this point in the possession."
"He's possessed? Isn't there a spell for exorcising demons? We could get it out of him, and-"
"An amateur witch such as yourself can't possibly think of exorcising me," the being scoffs.
"What do you even want?" Serena asks.
"I heard you were planning on adventuring," The being says. "Mind if I tag along?"