Silver Dove

Katlin tapped her fingers lightly on the desk, barely listening to Mr. Bouoski's lecture of how to correctly frost cupcakes. He droned on, walking back and forth. Who cares if the star-nozzles work better than heart-nozzles, she didn't care. All she needed was to get home, and get to practice with Strix.

No, Strix was not her boyfriend, Strix was a dove. Not a peaceful person, but in all reality, a bird. Strix was a soft, silver-toned dove with blue-tipped wings. She was beautiful no doubt, but the real question was how Katlin had ended up as her mage. Every mage had a familiar, usually that represented their looks and personality. Out of all the categories, all the creatures, she had summoned a silver dove. Doves were associated with beauty, peace, and purity. Katlin didn't fall under any of those descriptions.

Black hair slicked back, Katlin with her gray hoodie and bright red converse looked closer to a vampire than an angelic being. Yet for some unknown reason it chose her... It had all started the choosing day, when all the mages received a familiar. 12 year old Katlin had been bursting with excitement, hoping for something cool, like a tiger or wolf of some sort. Yet when she was tested, she had summoned a dove. Doves were considered common, lowly even. Yet the silver dove was spectacular (since it was the first time anyone had ever seen one). While others applauded her success at summoning a new familiar, Katlin had been disappointed. Sachi Miller from next door had summoned a golden dog, Bryan Celiac down the street had gotten a jade deer, and even Arnold Hiltagin the weird guy at school had tamed a bronze eagle. At the time, Katlin was extremely jealous and disappointed, and she still was, in a way.

"Ms. Rinebeck," Bouoski addressed Katlin, his voice dragging on as it usually did. "What aspect does blueberry frosting serve on top a vanilla cupcake?"

"Texture?" Katlin guessed, looking up at her teacher. He frowned.

"That is incorrect, can anyone else tell me the answer?" Mr. Bouoski walked away.

Sighing, Katlin laid her head on her arms. She didn't want to be in this class, but familiars decided everything for you. If you summoned a tiger, you would train to be a knight in the royal army, or something at least similar to that. They would marry another tiger mage, work in tiger mage workplaces, etc. It got tiring after a while. The worst part was: she was the only silver dove out there. She had contacted people all over the globe, yet no silver doves were to be found.

As class ended, students gathered their textbooks and rushed to the door. Katlin eyed the exit. Now was her chance to escape this torture chamber, before Bouoski stopped her to give Katlin a lecture. The coast seemed clear, so she went for it. Scrambling to the door, running at what seemed like the speed of light, Katlin sprinted out of the classroom.

"Rinebeck!" Her teacher called after her, scowling and waving his hands in the air.

Ignoring him, Katlin sped away. What was she going to do, fail her? She couldn't care less about failing a baking class! With a thud she bumped into a body, her textbook flying at least 6 feet into the air before thudding onto the pavement.

"Hey!" The victim turned around, lip curled.

"Oh, sorry." The guy she had ran into appeared to be at least 6 feet tall and had reddish hair. He had a sword attached to his leather belt, with a symbol of a golden lion on it. "Y-you're a lion mage..."

The man arched his brow questioningly. He looked down at his belt, eying the lion. He had a strange countenance, almost as if he had never seen the symbol before.

"Ah, yes. I'm a lion mage."

"Are you training to be a knight?" Katlin blushed, over excited about finally meeting a lion mage. She had only heard of them, never seen one this close! On the choosing day, she had been hoping for a lion. Lion mages got to get all the best jobs. They were also one of the most free to do what they wanted. Mentors, teachers, knights... The possibilities were endless! With doves, not so much. She had the pick between a housemaid and a baker; not exactly her style.

"Yes, but I don't really want to," He blushed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Why not?" Katlin exclaimed. "Who wouldn't want to be a knight?!"

"Are you a knight in training?"

"No..."

"What's your familiar?" He asked curiously.

"A..." Katlin frowned, hiding her silver bracelet, with a dove labeled on it. "Nothing."

"A nothing? I've never heard of that familiar before." He laughed.

"I'M A DOVE MAGE, OKAY?!" Katlin yelled, blushing furiously. The loud sound of her voice scared a few bypassers on the quiet campus. She blushed even more.

"A dove mage? Do you know how to bake?" His eyes lit up.

"Well, yeah."

"Can you teach me how to?"

An idea popped into Katlin's head, making her grin. She pulled out a stray piece of paper and muttered a spell under her breath. Inky black words appeared on the paper, spelling out:

I, hereby promise to teach katlin Rinebeck the ways of offense and defense. In return, she will teach me how to bake. If I break this promise I will owe her my soul.

"Wow," The man blinked, pulling out a pen. "Those are some harsh consequences. Nice name, by the way."

"Well, do you want to learn how to bake? I have a million textbooks in my backpack all about baking galore..."

"I'll sign it," He started to write his name out, before stopping and looking up at Katlin. "Wait, just baking? Or cooking and grilling too?"

"Fine," Katlin swished her hand in the air, and the contract changed to fit the lion mage's wants. The man finished signing, rather eagerly. Turns out his name was Wallace Berrien.

"Nice name." Katlin smiled, eager and ready to begin training.

"You too."

"I'll see you around then?"

"I guarantee you."

The parted ways, but Katlin knew that it was only for a very short while until they would meet up and she could finally learn what she had been waiting for her entire life. Finally.