The Baby Owl of Death

Iatus flopped backwards like he had been stung, he rolled over as best he could to try and avoid the birdman, covering his head in his arms.

The birdman however, stopped in mid-air, the tip of his beak grazing the edge of the circle, causing little orange sparks to fly off it, and started laughing.

"Oh, dear, that is funny, love doing that. No, you've done an exceptional job," it chuckled.

It took a second for Iatus to realise he was not being eaten and sat up again.

"Okay then, I suppose it is time for formal introductions. I am Aelith the wise, Stormcaller, Kingmaker and lord of the night sky. And you are?"

Iatus was still trying to process everything that was happening and his brain wouldn't put forward a response.

"It's not a hard question," the demon said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

A thought broke through the fog clouding Iatus' brain; this demon is really quite pleased with himself.

"Iatus," he mumbled.

"There we go, aren't we getting along well," the demon smiled good naturedly, if slightly superciliously.

The skinny man in the corner had too got over the shock of the demon and made his way towards it. He muttered to himself as he began examining it, furiously taking notes. Aelith looked back at him with curiosity then astonishment as the man poked him with the end of his quill. The demon didn't look angry, just confused, clearly he had never been poked before.

"Umm, you do realise I am shedu, don't you? And I presume you know shedu don't appreciate being poked," Aelith said, taken aback.

"Astounding, astounding," the man ignored Aelith and kept on investigating the demon.

The man kept on prodding until the demon gave a shrill cry and flapped its wings, lifting itself off the ground a bit. The man jumped back in fright, sending his notes sprawling from his grip.

"That's better. How about showing the great and powerful shedu some respect," stated Aelith indignantly.

"So you are what was causing our legions so much trouble, how did you manage to destroy the fifth so easily?" the mage asked after picking up his papers.

"Ummm, I have no idea what the fifth is, but a couple of years ago I did send a band of invaders in fancy outfits to the afterlife..."

"That's them, how did you do it?" the little man said excitedly.

"I posed as an old traveller and when the idiot of a commander asked me for directions I pointed them up into the Alps," Aelith said matter-of-factly, "I never saw them again, but if they never came back I presume they froze to death, or starved."

The little man's mouth fell open in surprise and horror, "No. No. That's not possible, no Roman would be that stupid, you lie, tell me the truth!"

Aelith just shrugged and Iatus thought he saw a hint of a sly smile, but it was difficult to tell with the beak and all.

"How did you defeat them!" the man shouted at the birdman.

"Oh very well, I waited until they were crossing a rather large river, then whipped up a storm to drown them all. Happy?"

"Only if that is the truth."

"Okay, get your little lamb to dismiss me permanently and I'll tell you the truth on the way out." Iatus definitely saw a cunning smile this time.

"Very well then. Boy, repeat after me," the man said, slightly disconcerted but he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

He uttered a burst of syllables and Iatus repeated as best he could. The demon gave one last look at Iatus, as if asking why he was listening to this guy at all, then winked at him.

"I did trick them into the mountains," the demon cackled.

The demon returned to his ball form and popped out of existence, leaving the little man infuriated and cursing the demon. Eventually, after much ranting, he calmed down and began to smile.

He turned to Iatus, "Very good. I guess it wasn't a complete waste, I did learn a lot about the type of demon the Gauls are able to summon. You have been of infinite help to me today, that demon is just one of many powerful beings the Gaul's have used against us and this knowledge will help us with our final victory, and it may just be enough to get back on the Senate's good side. And congratulations on your freedom, you have earned the right to join the ranks of magi."

Iatus remained fixed in place and said nothing but the man continued regardless.

"I will make the appropriate arrangements. The next academic year starts in a little under a month, you will start then, it should be a full year, probably, from the amount of noble children of age, going by the senate parties," the man buzzed about like a wasp, pulling parchment from under piles of books.

He scribbled something down, rolled up the parchment and gave it to Iatus, "This is your letter of recommendation from me. You will need to present this to the academy when you get there. Now, let's go get you a carriage. I see great things in your future boy, great things."

Iatus wasn't really listening but he followed the man out of the room blindly, a thousand thoughts whizzing through his head.

I'm alive, I've just summoned a shedu that can destroy whole legions and this guy changed his tune quick, now that I'm all powerful and everything.

The man bustled him along and placed him in a carriage and closed the door. He tapped the side and shouted up to the driver.

"Take him to the academy, don't stop for anything."

The driver nodded and whipped the horse into action. Iatus had never been in a carriage before and it was one of the most unpleasant experiences he had ever had. The ride was terrible and Iatus was bumped and jostled about horribly, at one point he thought his brain would be shaken right out of his head.

Mercifully the ride eventually settled down and he could look about at the interior of the cart. It was magnificently done, engraved wood with gold leaf, silk curtains and plush seats. He marvelled at the elegance and imagined the wealth stored in this little carriage.

The shock slowly passed and he began to wonder about all that had happened. He had a thousand questions and very little answers. He wondered what an academy was and what they did there and what would happen to him now.

He hadn't noticed that it was getting late, he looked out of the window and was shocked to see the light of the full moon twinkling across the river, fields of grain spanned for miles and in the background Rome itself shone like a giant torch, it was quite beautiful from this distance. He reached across and drew the curtains, hoping to get some sleep, he had no idea how long the journey would take and he felt completely drained after his encounter with Aelith.

He felt lonely and enclosed in the little pod, he wished he could talk to Libby again and he hoped that he was as elusive to catch as he had made out. They hadn't really known each other that well, and he had ran off and left him, but the boy's sense of fun had been infectious and he wondered what he would have done if he had just been on his own. His thoughts also turned to the girl in the opposite cell, he had never caught her name but he still felt sorry for her, she had seemed so completely resigned to her fate.

Although he had been alone for as long as he could remember he had somehow become accustomed to company. He thought about talking to the driver but ruled that out, he probably wasn't going to talk to him, seeing as he was now apparently a mage. The magi were revered throughout the known world and were the only people who were ever elected to office. Any commoner who tried was either defeated miserably or suspiciously disappeared before the election. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in a particularly shiny gold plated jug, it wasn't anything like what he had imagined the mages to look like with their flowing togas and neat, close cropped hair. He was small and had hair almost down to his shoulders that wasn't anything close to being neat. He looked down at the floor and saw that the paint was slightly peeling off in some places. He knelt down and scratched at it. It peeled off easily and an idea formed.

He scratched out a circle and the strange interlocking triangles he had seen, he couldn't remember what the runes looked like but he hoped they weren't that important, and started with the summoning spell. Nothing happened again until he started the last verse, adding the name. The ball of dark lightning appeared in the circle again and then the demon unfurled from it. Gently coming to rest on the floor. Iatus began the binding spell but the demon cut him off.

"Relax kid, you only need to bind a spirit once. I cannot bring you harm as long as you live. I wouldn't kill you anyway; I have my reputation to protect. It appears you messed up the permanent side of the dismissal, but I bet you did that on purpose, sneaky, I like sneaky."

"You appear smaller," Iatus said dumbly.

"Oh, so you're a smart one. Anyone would think that you had never summoned a demon before."

"I haven't."

Aelith looked stunned and the feathers on his brow stood out again.

"What, you have never summoned a demon before? But, that's not possible, only advanced summoners would dare to summon me. I knew you were stupid, just for attempting the summons at your age, but I didn't think you would be suicidal! Why would you do that?"

"I didn't have a choice, the magistrate at the court demanded that I be given the most powerful demon available, so that I would fail and be killed."

The demon's eyes widened, causing his eyebrows, or eye feathers, to stick out the other way. "That's a bit mean, what did you do? Insult his mother? Nest in his chimney? Kill his cat? If it is the cat scenario, I completely sympathise and say well done, good show and all that. I suppose it would explain why you managed to mess up the permanent part of the dismissal."

"Why would I nest in his chimney?" Iatus said, confused.

"That's beside the point, fess up, what did you do?"

Iatus frowned but continued anyway, "I stole a loaf of bread, and then they found me with a silver denarii that a noble had given me and presumed that I stolen that too. So, here I am."

"That is definitely revenge worthy, I could slip in undetected and slit his throat, or maybe his cat's."

"Okay, you're a giant bird monster, how would you slip in undetected, and what have you got against cats."

The demon buried his head in his wing. "Okay, A, I'm a BIRD, cats eat birds, you idiot, food chains still work in the Ether, and B, demons can change form, some more so than others, it depends on the power of the demon, as a shedu I have many useful and vicious forms I can take. As a demon of the sky I prefer bird forms generally, and squirrels occasionally if I concentrate."

"Why squirrels?"

"It's complicated, but it's to do with my great grandmother on my father's side and a forest spirit."

Iatus looked questioningly at the demon but decided it best not to ask any further.

"So, umm, can you change form now?" Iatus inquired, "Maybe you could try something a little more discreet. Something that won't attract attention of the, 'ahhh it's a giant bird monster' kind."

The demon sighed a little, then he seemed to roll up inside himself and out fell a baby snowy owl.

Iatus blinked a few times and had to suppress a laugh. "Ahhh, aren't you just the cutest."

The snowy owl gave a little ruffle of his feathers.

"Yes, I rather think I am, not all demons are nasty, brutal creatures you know, some of us are quite refined," the demon said, his voice a good deal higher pitched than it was before.

"Okay, now we won't attract attention. Tell me about demons. Give me just a general introduction."

The owlet gave a little indignant ruffle.

"I thought being a shedu and all would exempt me from having to explain everything to amateurs. Oh dear," it said, adopting its schoolteacher tone again, "First thing you need to know is the levels of spirits, the imps have weak magic powers and enough mana to stretch their size and number of forms to about 5, they are usually intelligent enough to speak but don't go looking for an intellectual debate with one; next is the jinni, they are middle ranking demons that rely on their wits and quick thinking more than their magic, they are cunning little beggars as well, if you want something done on the quiet you will be wanting a jinni, they also have the most forms of any of the types of spirits, their ingenuity and flexibility of mana giving them an almost infinite number of forms; the fourth type of demon is the shedu, in my opinion the most fearsome and threatening of all the spirit types..."

"Says the baby owl," Iatus sniggered.

"Well, this baby owl could charm his way into the heart of any of you stupid humans and then send whole armies to their deaths. Anyway, the shedu are generally the smartest of all the spirits, you want advise or counsel, get a shedu. They also have strong magic powers as well, although they generally prefer to out think their enemies if they can, no fun just blowing them up, you have to make sure they know that they were beaten thoroughly and that it was you who beat them."

The bird seemed to like talking about itself and Iatus didn't quite trust its account.

"Lastly come the mara, they would probably be the smartest of us all if they ever bothered to use their brains, you can count on a mara to use its magic and sheer strength and size to solve its problems. You want a city raised or a mountain flattened then you use a mara. Now, there are some other types of spirits that don't fit into these groups, for instance the naiad or dryads, they are spirits of the same power of a jinni but have only two or three forms and use more magical powers. There are also spirits of greater power than that of the mara; they are generally very stupid as their own power drives away their sanity. Let loose one of them and whole empires could fall in days. However no-one has ever had the power or the guts to try and summon one, to the best of my knowledge."

Iatus had sat back on his seat, listening intently. "Tell me more about summoning, what is it, where were you before and why don't I need to bind you more than once?"

"Okay, well, spirits come from a place referred to generally as the Ether, it is like this world in many ways but without any humans or animals, or plants for that matter, just mountains and seas and wide open spaces, the occasional city if enough of the local spirits are so inclined. In a lot of ways it is like what you humans describe your 'afterlife' to be like."

"If there are no plants or animals what do you eat? Other demons?" Iatus put in.

"No, spirits don't need to eat as you humans do, we live entirely off mana, magical energy, but we do enjoy the foods while we are here, anyway, so when a mage summons a demon he uses his magic to pluck the spirit out of his world and pull him into yours. If the summoner is really bad it can hurt and it takes a while, that is generally why spirits come through hating whoever had put them through that experience, hence the need to exact revenge, well done for your summons by the way, wasn't bad at all, some of them feel like you're being dragged along in a noose," the bird subconsciously rubbed its neck with a wing.

"However some spirits resent humans and their summons no matter how well the summons is done, this can come about from being mistreated or kept away from home for too long, so I expect lots of seeds while I'm here, and regular and extended holidays."

"Okay, sure." Iatus said, a little sceptically.

"Now, your third question, binding, you only need to bind a spirit once and then they are connected for their entire life. If you were to die now, it would hurt like hell, for me that is, and if I were to die you would feel a big drop in your mana, you felt how bad it was when you first summoned me, it would feel like that all over again. Of course I wouldn't die as you might, my spirit would shatter and reform in a few years in the Ether. This link makes it easier to summon the same spirit twice, as you just experienced. A spirit cannot have more than one link at a time but a human can for some reason, beyond even my understanding, this means no-one can summon the same spirit as someone else, so therefore no-one can call me until you die, isn't that great for you, knowing that you will never have to face me on the field of battle."

"Yeah, a great comfort," Iatus said with little enthusiasm, "And it wasn't that bad when I summoned you."

Aelith ignored the remark and carried on, "This means that you can also just invoke the link on a moment's notice, you don't need to put the circle down, and the binding prevents me from skinning you alive. Now that's not necessary with me, but some of my brethren would take the first opportunity to put you six foot under so they can go home."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I dislike the pain and I rather enjoy being in this world, with its bird seed and its manageable sized cats. You would not believe the size that the cats can get to!"

Iatus thought back to the night before, "You know what, I think I can imagine just fine."

Aelith raised an eyebrow but didn't question.

"So, you can leave the circle now, without killing me?" Iatus continued.

"Yes, yes, yes, I think I will take that as permission to leave as well." the owl smiled and hopped out the circle and up onto the seat, then up onto Iatus' shoulder.

"Hey, your claws are digging in." Iatus complained.

"1, they aren't claws, they are TALONS, and 2, get used to it kid, I like it up here, saves me flying about."

Suddenly a thought occurred to Iatus, "Aelith, can you find your way back to the place where I summoned you first?"

Aelith just rolled his eyes and tilted his head, Iatus took that as a yes and continued.

"In the basement you will find a girl, locked up, go back and free her then find your way back to me."

"Is she another mage?"

"No."

"Well, that's okay then," he flapped off of his shoulder and through the window.

Iatus at first thought nothing of it but when he looked back he noticed the window was a solid sheet of glass, he stood up and examined it but it was definitely solid.

Wow, he thought, and went back to his seat.

He yawned and put his feet up and was quickly asleep, he hadn't realised how tired he had been.

He slept fitfully, the seat, though grand, was not very comfortable, it was slightly too small for him to lie down so he had to rest his head at an awkward angle against the side wall.

Claws scratched his face and he shot awake.

"You could have told me about the GIANT CAT MONSTER guarding the place! Thankfully it was a lesser jinni but if it had been anything greater I would be tearing your limbs off right now, binding or no binding!"

Iatus held his head and tried to figure out what was happening and where that insufferably high pitched voice was coming from. His eyes eventually focussed on the slightly bedraggled and very angry looking baby owl that was looking down at him.

"Ummm, sorry Aelith, I thought you could handle yourself," he mumbled sleepily, he looked out the now open window and saw that the moon had moved across the sky almost completely, dawn would break soon and he wondered how far the carriage was taking him.

Aelith puffed up his feathers, "Jinni I can handle no problem but when trying to protect a stupid human at the same time, slightly challenging, they run in all the wrong directions, and then the mage had to try and get involved."

"What did you do?" Iatus asked, suddenly more awake.

"I grabbed the girl, blew my way out and collapsed the building on them."

"The girl survived though right?" Iatus asked, slightly worried at the bird's brazen attitude.

"Of course, it's me doing the job, she's running home to daddy right now, but I'm not sure that your mage friend made it though."

Iatus was glad that the girl was free, he had never found out her name but he still felt closer to her than anyone else, it was tough living on the streets, there was no time for friends. Maybe he should feel guilty or upset, knowing that someone was dead because of him but he just couldn't bring himself to.

The carriage suddenly ground to a halt and the door opened up, the driver beckoned him out.

They stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the great palace before them. It was huge with great stone outer walls like a fort but made of thick granite, with beautifully engraved designs adorning the joins. The door was huge and made of heavy looking oak. It was a square structure as far as Iatus could make out with a courtyard in the middle. They could see some of the spires inside jutting out above the wall. They must have been huge, at least five stories high. Iatus stared in wonder for a few moments while the driver closed the door and frowned disapprovingly at the circle scratched in his floor.

"Bloody mages..." he complained under his breath, then as he realised Iatus had heard him he added grandly, "Welcome, to the mage's academy!"