The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[10] I Will Survive

Bjorn walked up to her and proceeded to set down the bayou water which of course Freja couldn’t drink as it was, unless she wanted to get sick. Bjorn proceeded to go through her alchemy equipment using his talons to the best of his ability but found that simply using his mouths was far easier and quicker.

“Bjorn what are you doing, baby?” Freja said as she tried to get a better view from her spot without causing too much pain. “Did you bring me water, h-how?”

Failsafe affirmatively squawked in Bjorn's place as he focused on finding the bunsen burner.  Once he did he quickly ran out of the cave leaving Freja confused. She saw the dirty water sitting next to her alchemy case and the majority of her equipment had been taken out and neatly organized. This just left her more confused. How did her familiar know how to do that?

“Is he intelligent enough to know how to boil water? Does he know I would need the water boiled?” Freja questioned out loud to herself. “Our bond isn’t even at the Iota stage yet, there is no way he has seen my memories.”

She continued to question what she was seeing as Bjorn returned with a few sticks in each mouth. Sure she didn’t know what he was but the fact that he was this intelligent meant he might be a True… something. The True were from beyond this world much like the True Dragons, which had power beyond anything a mortal could comprehend unlike the lesser dragons born in this world. If Bjorn was a True then she is very lucky he didn’t kill her and everyone else when he was born. 

“Bjorn.” She whispered. “Can you understand me?”

Bjorn stopped stacking the sticks he brought and turned to face her. He nodded and squawked before running out of the cave again to gather more sticks. She saw he was preparing a campfire and was going to use the bunsen burner as a lighter. That all but told her that he was special, he had knowledge that no regular animal born a few days ago would ever have.

She shifted a little and lifted her right hand to rub her face. The healing potion she drank was only enough to stop the bleeding and reset the bones in her right side ribs, arm and leg. She could feel that they were very much still fractured, possibly still broken in a few places. Bjorn seemed to be trying to keep her alive so she couldn’t just lay there and cry. 

Bjorn returned with more sticks and set them down and meticulously stacked them to start the fire. He held the burner and seemed frustrated. Freja called him so he put the device down and walked over to her. She petted him warmly. 

“To turn on the burner you have to focus mana into the flare jewel.” She pointed at the metal burner. “Can you do it?” Bjorn shook his head no. “It’s okay, bring it to me. It is an older model so it can be tricky. Miss Dimii, Julie and Mat all pitched in to buy it for my birthday two years ago.” Bjorn went and picked up the burner and returned to Freja, placing it next to her. “I was never really all that great at magic, but alchemy… I thought if I got really good then maybe dad or mom would… I don’t know. Like me. We see where that got me huh?”

She placed her hand near the burner and spoke the words of power expecting it to take a few tries as it always did. As she did she felt her magic core within her and stopped. She examined herself internally circulating magic in her core and felt that it had changed. Her magic had always been an unruly mess she couldn’t control. Her magic core was an anomaly no one could explain so they ruled that she must just be a wizard.

When she examined her core she felt the familiar bond had grown significantly and had begun to unravel her magic in a way she had never felt. Normally she would only feel chaos but this time she felt  that beneath that chaos was very pure and very malleable mana. She decided to tap into it even more and felt something click in the core of her being and all of a sudden a screen appeared in front of her.

Status Menu

Name: Freja Thundersky Salstar
Species: Wendigo

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Skills Analysis

Familiar Contract
You are bonded with a named familiar. You gain +3 magic regeneration.

Mystic Wind Hands
Magic cost: 3
Speak the words of power and call forth the mystic hands created from the wind. These hands can interact with the world and will act out the casters will.

Mana Manipulation
Magic cost: Variable
Manipulate the pure mana inside and around your body. Allows you to circulate your mana and use mana dependent tools.

Mana Muscle Saturation
Magic cost: 1
Push your mana into your muscles and bones to temporarily increase your physical attributes. 

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Freja looked at Bjorn who watched her expectantly. She held her hand to the burner again and focused her mana and it flowed at her command in a way she has never felt before. She watched the flare stone ignite instantly and tears came to her eyes again. She had done it with ease like a normal person. Like a mage would have, like Mat or Julie or anyone else.

Bjorn’s two heads watched her for a moment so she reached out her hand and petted him again.

“I am okay, you can start the fire. Be careful not to burn yourself.” She said as a pained smile graced her lips. “Thank you, Bjorn.” 

She watched as Bjorn carefully picked up the burner and stood up rather awkwardly on his hind legs as he waddled over to the sticks and lit them.  He placed the beaker with the water close enough to the fire to heat up. He then returned to Freja laying down beside her and watching the fire as it crackled. They just laid there for a while listening to the sound of the fire.

“Bjorn.” Freja broke the silence. “I can make a healing potion with my alchemy supplies but I will need a few things. Do you think you can get them for me if I show you what I need?”

One of Bjorn’s heads rose and he squawked. She directed him to one of the books which is a florea and contained a large compendium of herbs and other plants. He had to help her sit up against the cave wall which was painful but she needed to endure. She was going to survive this and figure everything else out after. She went over the plants she would need with Bjorn, showing him the pictures. Fleron root, dorma bulbs and shade caps were all she would need for a basic herbal healing potion. It would take many doses over the course of a week to heal completely but she will be able to walk in a few days.

Freja was surprised at how responsive the lizard was; she could tell that there was real intelligence behind his eyes. That made her wonder even more what he could be. The summoning she performed was a basic one that should have only pulled something from their world not reached into the higher planes. If he is a True then why would he help her? He could easily break the familiar contract, kill and eat her then go off to gain power. If he isn't, why had she never heard of his species before?

“Bjorn, do you know what you are? We tried to look up your species in the library but no luck.” Freja asked and Bjorn shook his heads no. “Hmm.” She trembled a little at the next question. “Do you hate me for summoning you here away from wherever you are from?” He shook his heads again and Freja took a breath she didn't know she was holding. “Thank you.”

Shortly after Bjorn left in search of the materials. In the meantime Freja needed to prepare; she reached for the wand she had at her side only to find it missing. She remembered when the troll attacked her she had it in her hand and must have lost it when she was nearly killed. Her wand wasn’t anything special but it was the only gift she ever received from her mother before they found out she was a wizard and not a mage, before they started to treat her differently.

She focused her magic using her left hand to draw out the formula in the air while speaking the words of power for the wind hands spell. Her magic bent to her will far easier than she had ever known and without even trying she had two substantial wind hands floating above her. The mana flowed so easily she barely realized that she cast the spell at all. She examined her mana core again and could feel the framework of the spell. She directed the hands to assemble her alchemy setup properly. 

“I will survive this.” Freja said to herself.