The ties that bind

I take the mug in my good hand and sip.

The tea is earthy and bitter, like boiled roots with a hint of ash not pleasant, but grounding. It settles in my stomach like warm stone. The pain dulls. My mind clears. Everything feels… quieter now.

Alric sits across from me, sipping from his own mug, eyes never straying far from the bandages wrapped around what's no longer there.

Neither of us speaks for a while.

But something stirs inside me, not discomfort. A pull. A presence. Familiar, but not yet known. It pulses beneath my ribs like a heartbeat not quite my own.

I set the mug down.

"I think," I murmur, "it's time I met them."

Alric looks up. "Them?"

"My second blessing," I say. "Companion of Many Faces. She said I could summon a familiar. Shaped by my needs. Drawn from her magic."

His gaze sharpens. "That's advanced binding magic, even by divine standards. Most mages don't earn familiars until the sixth circle. And even then, they're limited in form. Yours… will be different."

"I know."

Because I can feel it now, waiting. Just beyond the veil. A whisper curled behind the bones of the world, breathing with my breath.

I close my eye.

The spectral magic comes without force. I reach inward, not like calling out to something, but like uncovering it. The bond was already made the moment I accepted the blessing. All I have to do is release it.

I speak a single word.

"Come."

The temperature in the temple drops.

The candle flames flicker. The shadows stretch like they're being pulled into a vortex.

And then… it emerges.

A shape flows from the floor beside me in the form of liquid darkness at first, then solidifying as it rises. I feel the magic link click into place between us like a thread woven through soul and spell. A piece of me, but other.

The form is small at first vaguely feline. A sleek, dark creature with a fox-like face, long curling tail, and glowing violet eyes that mirror my own reflection in Deyinara's gaze.

Its body shifts as feathers bloom where fur had been. Claws retract, talons extend. It changes fluidly, like a creature made of thought given form.

Alric leans forward, awe in his eyes.

"I've never seen one like it…"

The familiar pads over to me, head tilting as it examines me, like it's checking the damage it already knows is there.

Then, wordlessly, it jumps onto the table beside my tea and curls up, tail flicking.

I feel its name form in my mind, not in words but in intent.

Not a command.

A partnership.

I let out a shaky breath. "Looks like I'm not alone anymore."

Alric hums. "Companion of Many Faces indeed. A rare bond. Not just shaped by your need… but by your potential."

I glance down at the creature. No, my companion and it blinks once in silent agreement.

The warmth between us hums again.

The creature sits there on the table beside my tea, flicking its tail, eyes glowing with quiet curiosity and something more. Intelligence. Not just magical instinct, but thought.

I can feel it in the bond like a thread humming between our minds, pulsing gently with awareness.

"I should probably call you something," I murmur.

It tilts its head, unblinking.

I sort through names in my mind one too grand, another too silly. But then one word floats up, simple and clear. It doesn't come from me, exactly. It emerges from the space between us, like a name that had always been waiting to be remembered.

"Nyx."

The creature lets out a low, contented sound. Not quite a purr, but something close.

"Right," I say, shifting in the chair. "Nyx it is."

It stretches once, unnaturally fluid, body rippling like ink in water. I focus on the shape I want something small, manageable, less conspicuous.

"A black cat," I say softly. "Take that form."

Nyx blinks, once. Then its body begins to shift, not violently, but with an elegant smoothness, like the air is folding inward around it. Feathers dissolve into fur. The tail thins. The ears sharpen. In seconds, a sleek black cat sits on the table, its coat like polished onyx, eyes gleaming with residual violet light.

It licks its paw once and hops gracefully into my lap.

I almost laugh. "You really are full of surprises."

Alric, watching from across the room, shakes his head slowly. "You command it with ease."

"I'm not commanding it," I say, stroking Nyx's head with my good hand. "I'm just asking."

Nyx purrs and settles against me like it's been there all its life.

The warmth between us grows stronger.

Alric leans back in his chair. "You're forming a bond most mages spend decades chasing. That familiar will be more than a companion. It will be your anchor, your mirror. Guard it well."

"I will."

And I mean it.

Because in this world of gods, power, and impossible wars, I'll need more than strength.

I'll need something to keep me human.

And for now, that something curls softly in my lap, content just to be near me, a creature born from magic and named in trust.

Nyx.