Chapter 3: No Longer Alone

I wake up wrapped in bandages in a room. I look outside and see large buildings and listen to the hum of the street. I'm in my room aren't i. Yep I'm in my room.

I sit up and everything hurts, like I stand and I feel my toenails hurt, I didn't even know your nails could even feel pain, why does everything hurt? I walk out my door and see my dad drinking on the couch. I…. hate my dad. I truly do.

When I was a kid my mother died saving me from people who burned our house down, chanting "burn Demon burn" because they blamed me for the years of bad harvests, lack of water, and disappearance of the town folks. They broke our windows and doused it in oil, then tossed their torches into my home. Tossing it as if I was actually a monster. Tossing it not even realizing they are trying to kill a boy and his family. My mom trying to get us out before the fire took us, realized that they were going to check the rumble to find my corpse, so she decided to pushed me out of the second story window and landed on the backside of the hill and rolled to the bottom next to what's left of our towns river. And I look up. My home, my mother, my life and everything I hold close to my heart burned up into ash. I walked to the next town to find my dad drinking in a bar, not realizing what happened. I cried myself to sleep that night in the back of our wagon to Afron to escape the mobs. It's his fault my mom died. He acts like nothing even happened. Thinking of him makes me want to punch a brick wall.

" Hey sport"

" Hey steaming pile of bear shit, how long was I out?"

"2 weeks, I don't know I don't pay attention" so drunk on his bubbles, he hiccups and closes his eyes and passes out on the couch

"2 weeks? Who took care of me?"

"I've been"

"Dad shut up there's no way, wait how are you talking in your sleep?"

"No loser, me?"

Sitting in my window seal is sol, with his bird on his arm

" How do you know where I live?"

Puzzled as my old best friend is acting like everything is normal

"Okay. 1, how are you so dumb, you brought me here first. 2 don't stand up, your injured bird brains. And 3, what are you?"

"Well for youuuuu sol, Im not dumb, I knew that I brought you here, just wanted to be funny. 2. I feel perfectly fine. 3. I'm Zeph"

" On Uher, I wanna hit you so bad."

" What did I do? And what do you mean?"

"I mean the attack at the tournament, how did someone with no Familiar defeat that phoenix? Was it your Familiar, did you attack the arena?"

"We know the phoenix was the refs, I guess the explosion killed the ref and it got upset. I don't know what happened though or why the explosion happened"

"That doesn't answer my question, how did you defeat the phoenix?"

Silent.

His eyes are staring me down, as if he could see everything I was thinking about. I was scared he was about to pull out an arrow and hold it against my head.

"Fine be that way, but I can't help if the knights target you."

I forgot about the knights, our city is protected by the knights of Afron is our kingdom's police force, they do basic stuff like protect the people from familial rampages, theft, homicides, any issue present really. But recently a lot hasn't happened except a lot of immigrants moving here, so the knights have been hunting down the ones that are causing trouble. Most people dream of becoming a knight because of the high pay and traveling over the kingdom. But some want to become knights because they love to fight, as if they are brutes who want nothing but the destruction of their enemies.

" What did I do?"

" Someone attacked a large public event, the knights are obviously going to get involved, and somehow you defeated the monster, they are either going to try AND will find out what happened, or they're gonna hunt down the main suspect and lock them up. I'm not telling them anything but if they find your name in the crowd, good luck."

Come on man, really, I stop the monster and they might arrest me for what???? This is so stupid.

" Also one more thing, when you brought me here, I woke up and sensed… Something. I don't know what it is but it was coming from you."

" What does that even mean? Oh I get it, you sensed my amazing strength and awesomeness didn't you."

Now looking like he just saw a kid bomb a presentation and not trying to laugh, walks towards the window and said" I'll be watching you" and next thing I know he vanished.

I put on some clothes over my bandage and started walking in a park located towards the edge of the city. As I was walking I noticed every time I walked past a creature I had this sensation that something was behind me. I kept checking and nothing was there, but the creatures ran away as if they sensed something too.

I sit down on a bench under a tree, I haven't seen anyone here for a few hours now. I try to think about what happened at the event, what caused the explosion, what was that black *Thonk*

I woke up again but now it's night. Thankfully I'm still at the park but not thankful for being knocked out, that's like really bad for you. I stand up and see a rock next to me and look for who threw it, I move a bush and I hear it again

Chomping and growling like a wild animal. I see a goblins body being eaten by the black flame, I fall back as the bush is shaking violently. I'm crawling as fast as I can and then the bush stops. I pause to see what comes out of the bush.

BURRRRRRRP

a bone flies out from the push and lands next to me.

" What are you?"

Is all I could say as the creature moved out. I couldn't see any hands or legs. How did it eat that goblin? Why is it so small?Am I next? It looks at me, tiny in size but with an overwhelming pressure around it, looking at me, I can't tell if it was scared, wanted to eat me, it just froze there, me and it wouldn't move.

I said "hey" for a joke but then I heard it back, but the creature didn't move it's mouth.

"Yes that's me, why are you looking at me for so long"

It's mouth isn't moving but it's talking, is it speaking…. Is it telepathic?!?!?!? Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

" Are you…what are you?" To be completely honest I'm confused and shocked at this moment right now. All I am thinking about is this small black creature that looks like it's on fire… My Familiar?

"Ya, I am"

So it can read my mind too, that's cool. won't be good when I'm around a girl but cool.

" What are you?" My voice shaking as I say that as if I'm a little kid who just got yelled at by someone

" I truly don't know, I'm trying to figure that out"

After what happened 2 weeks ago I feel the same. What am I. I try to be nice and kind to everyone, but look where that got me, broken bones and a distrust of everyone. All I know is right now, I want to be strong.

"Are you gonna eat me?"

"Depends on how annoying you are"

For such a small looking creature it really is rude. I stand up and I go to touch it, but the flames. Those are gonna hurt aren't they, but I realized when I got closer I didn't feel any heat from them. Actually the closer I look they weren't flames, but an apparition

" Since you are my familiar, I should give you a name I guess."

" Call me…."

" do you not know what you want to be called"

"…"

" do you want me to come up with it"

We go back and forth for 10 minutes. Thinking of names for my strange and new familiar is hard.

" How about….. Man this is hard"

"..."

"God this is frustrating"

We stare at each other silently, waiting for one of us to finally break the silence.

"What is your goal, what do you want?"

It was silent. I think he was thinking.

"I want a lot of things. Food, fame, status and power, I want power.

"How about Greed then since you want so much"

He didn't object to the name, I think he likes it. I look up into the sky and I see the moon above. Shoot I should get home

" Greed, let's head home"

I started to run and so did it. Wait, can a thing with no legs run? Idk but it was fast, it caught up to me but little did he know I was Im alot faster than I see. Kicked it to full gear and Greed ate my dust.

I pull up to the block that my house is on and I hear Greed wheezing and I laugh as he lays on the ground looking at the stars. I pick him up and place him on my shoulder, he's pretty light which is nice. We walk and then I see light coming from my house. I stand next to a wall, peeking at the source and I see knights of Afron, standing on my dad's head

" Where is he, where is your son?"

" I have a son?"

The knight kicks him in the ribs and my dad doesn't yell as if he doesn't feel it. I want to go out there but... They are knights, they have years of experience. I just got my familiar. I look at my dad and even though I hate him I want to help, I was about to take a step when I see my dad eyes open

His eyes meet my gaze and without saying anything, he lifts his hand and points at me. My own dad sold me out to save his skin.

An arrow flies past my face, softly grazing my cheek and I hear a knight's dire wolf howl and multiple appear next to it. I put Greed in my shirt and start running.

Dire wolves are like normal wolves, but larger, red and have teeth that can break steel and bricks. So getting bitten by one's gonna hurt alot.

All I hear is shouting and growling behind me, and the lights of their torches in front of me. I need to get out of here. I jump over a cart and I check behind me, the dire wolves were smaller than the cart but they jumped on the wall and kicked off. And I keep taking left and right into different Ally's trying to lose them. But I can't, I see a broken cart next to some boxes so I run up to it and jump onto a clothes line.

Surprised that the line was holding me up, Greed peeks his head out and hears him blow a raspberry at the dire wolves. One jumps up and bites my right leg, and I almost let go of the line. I kick it in the face and it let's go and I pull myself up, and carry myself to a window. Holding on for dear life I crawl up the wall and is finally on the roof of someone's house.

I sit down and watch the wolves jump and bite at the air, and I laugh as they keep falling back to the ground. Greed looks over the edge of the roof and his beady red eyes looking at them like they are food but not monster's, I pull up my pant leg and see what they did. The damn dog left a tooth in my leg, I pulled it out and almost fainted seeing how long it is, the thing was as big as my finger.

"Hey Greed, fetch"

I toss the tooth in the air and I don't even see him jump out; he's already up there swallowing the tooth like nothing. The more I think about it, I don't think Greed has teeth.

On top of the house's chimney I see a bird sitting on it. The fact that a bird is up this late kinda surprised me. Not as supering as hearing it caw at me and the next thing I know a flaming arrow shoots out my left shoulder.

I didn't even feel the pain yet I still screamed at the sight of it. The bird comes and claws at my arms and back, and it pulls the arrow out from the front. I could feel the feathers scratch and cut the muscles and I wanna scream. I watch the bird carry the arrow behind me and drop it next to a knight, aiming another one at me.

I try to run but my leg, I'm trapped and I can't do anything. I hop to the side of the roof and I see the main road, fully lit and wagons and carts, people dancing and drinking and eating food. Living life and yet mine is about to end I feel like. I jump and I jump and I jump. I'm finally next to the road. I was about to hop down onto the top of a vendor when I heard the same caw again, and an arrow went through my right side. This time through my lung.

I lose feeling in everything and fall off the building. I look up and I see the stars, man they look really beautiful tonight, I lift my right arm and reach out to grab one.

Above me I see Greed. Smiling and growling, he laughed and jumped off the roof. Mouth smiling and opening wide.

" I guess he does have teeth" and everything goes black