The staff at the Tristain Academy of Magic had encountered a great many things in their time. Some had seen wars and others had taken great journeys and seen some very strange things in those journeys. They had seen the familiars of their students, from humble mice and insects and great and proud mythical beast like dragons and sphinxes.
But a familiar being summoned on the brink of death? That was a new one.
Louise and Colbert stood before the Academy physician, whose robes where stained with blood and brow was coated in sweat. Her tired eyes met theirs and she sighed softly, "He will live... though how he managed to cling to life long enough for you to bring him to me I will never know."
"Whatever do you mean Professor Sauveterre?" the balding man asked curiously.
"Excuse me..." Louise interrupted as she stepped past the adults to stand by her newly summoned familiar's bedside. She had finally succeeded, sort of, and she was already at risk of losing that one success.
'The least I can do...' She thought, 'Is be at his side so it isn't alone should he...'
"Well..." the older woman spoke, making sure her voice was loud enough for Louise to hear, "He lost a lot of blood. So much so I had to measure how much I was putting back in in litres." She sighed, "Eight litres in all, he lost two after I started putting it into him and stitching his wounds shut. That's the first thing that should have killed him. Then there was the sheer number, and severity of the wounds. Various lacerations and other scrapes. At least five puncture founds, all of them with exit wounds on his back. Both lungs, the intestine and the liver all punctured..."
She shook her head, "The shock of the wounds should have killed him. Yet he lived and his organs responded to healing charms and recovered to a point natural healing will fix the remaining damage." She rubbed her eyes slowly, "And then there are the pre-existing injuries like that scar on his face..." She trailed off.
"The one from his left forehead to right chin?" queried Colbert.
Sauveterre nodded in accent, "Yes, it's an injury from a sword of some kind. Not only is the length of the scar unusual, so is the depth... the strike hit bone." Colbert winced as he realised the kind of force that must have been behind that kind of blow.
"But wouldn't his skull have shattered from the impact?"
"It should have... yet all it did was carve out a gouge in the skull, he is either very lucky or is something not entirely human..." The physician speculated.
The fire mage blinked, "I suppose you have a reason other then just miraculous survival skills to back up that line of thought?"
The medic smiled and tapped her chin, "I do... but I'd like to keep it to myself for now." She took a few steps towards her desk, "Oh, and I'd advise against finishing the summoning ceremony right now. He may be stable and recovering, but the shock of the runes may tip him over the edge..."
Colbert nodded in understanding and turned to the pinkette, "Louise? Did you hear that?"
"Yes, Professor." Came the soft reply.
Nodding his head in satisfaction he turned on his heel to leave the infirmary, "I have to transcribe these familiar runes into the archives and prepare lesson plans for the first years. Louise, will you join me?"
"N-no Professor..." the young girl shook her head slowly, "if I may, I would like to remain by his side...?"
"I understand." Colbert replied and with a nod he left and the room grew quiet except for the scratching of the medic's quill.
Minutes ticked by, then hours. The sun set and Louise didn't move, not even when Sauveterre had the servants bring the young girl food. The girl's mind was just far too awash with conflicting thoughts and emotions.
At long last, after so many humiliations and years of insults and teasing one of her spells had actually succeeded! She had summoned a familiar despite the fact absolutely no one had faith she could manage it!It may not have been the dragon she wanted but a success was still a success...
And yet...
Her familiar was barely alive, beaten, battered, bruised and bloodied. The very act of sealing the contract could kill him. Without the contract runes there was no guarantee he would remain, and if he didn't she would be right back to square one.
His injuries where so severe... it was as if he hadn't cared at all for his well being when he was receiving them. Had he fought with suicidal abandon despite being not much older then her? What maddening fury could drive someone to act in such an insane fashion?
Her life would have been so much simpler if she had summoned a commoner; she could have handled that. Even if the commoner had been an insubordinate, disrespectful knave at least she would have known what she was handling.
But this slumbering boy she sat beside was something different. Those crimson eyes, the very ones he had looked at her with in the brief moment he was concious after she summoned him. Those strange eyes, those alien eyes that had no right to be in the head of a human.
She shivered.
Whatever... no... whoever she had summoned was bound to be like nothing else Halkegenia had ever seen.
The next morning felt herself slowly drift awake from a surprisingly restful sleep, given her dark thoughts prior to falling asleep, through she found herself wondering why she was resting her head against a bed rather then being in the bed. Then she remembered it all; the summoning, her familiar and spending the night silently watching over him.
Sitting up straight she quickly rubbed the sleep from her eyes before looking over at him, dreading what she may find.
Him sitting up at meeting her large, innocent pink eyes with his hard, slitted crimson was quite literally the last thing she was expecting. She reacted accordingly.
One 'EEP!' and a jump later she was on the floor rubbing her painful posterior.
"Have a nice trip?" a masculine voice scratched out before the owner coughed painfully.
"You're awake?" Louise responded in shock, "I thought you would still be unconscious... or dead!"
The young man shrugged as a look of sadness crossed his features, "My people where always hard to kill." he replied scratchily before coughing again.
The pinkette blinked before springing to her feet, "Oh! Let me get you some water!" she declared before running to a nearby sink and pouring a glass of water for her familiar. While she did realise this was usually a task given to a servant or familiar she pushed her pride to the wayside; helping the sick and wounded transcended the bounds of Noble and Commoner and was just something you did if you where a decent human being.
As she returned she offered the glass to the young man who accepted it with shaky hands. The young man gulped it down quickly and sighed. As Louise watched on his shoulders seemed to relax as the pain from his throat was washed away.
After a moment of quiet the young man spoke again, this time with the scratchiness gone, "Are you the one that pulled me out of the Chaosstream?"
Louise blinked in confusion and replied, "If by that you mean 'did I summon you with the summon servant ritual' then yes I did. I'm afraid I don't know what this Chaosstream is..."
"Summon Servant?" The young man shook his head, "I've not heard of that. Does it have some kind of cultural or societal significance?"
Louise glared at the young man first, "Tell me what this 'Chaosstream is and I will answer your question."
"Fair trade." The young man conceded, "My knowledge of the Chaosstream is limited. I'm not even sure if it simply a Realm that exists Outside of our Worlds or if it is in fact a living being in it's own right. What I am certain of is that it is a space of infinite chaos that is constantly flowing, as the name suggests. I am glad the time I spent there I did so either concentrating on a battle or unconscious as what little I saw nearly drove me to madness."
Louise considered the young man's response before asking, "So then my summoning saved you from going mad?"
"That's not how this game works." The young man smirked, "Answer my question, then you may ask another."
The pinkette's eye twitched, the nerve of this familiar, talking back to his rightful Master like he was her equal. If he wasn't laying on a bed in the infirmary she would have been whipping him by now. "Fine!" She grumbled, "The Summon Servant Ritual is the most important moment in a young Noble's life. It is the time that he or she summons their life-long partner and familiar that determines their elemental affinity and future education. It also reflects just how powerful the Noble doing the summoning. Now, when I summoned you did I save you from going mad?"
"No." The young man replied with a smile, "I likely would have died of blood lose long before then, something I was fully expecting when I stepped through the portal to the Chaosstream in the first place. As for what you said about Summon Servant..." He let out an impressed whistle, "Lucky you."
"I don't need your sarcasm!" Louise harrumphed and crossed her arms and looks while looking away pouting, "Just ask your question already!"
"When you said that Nobles cast Summon Servant, what of the commoners? Are they banned from practising magic?"
"That's two questions... but I suppose I can let it slide." She shot him a dirty look, "No, commoners are not banned from practising magic. They simply lack the ability to use magic at all." She thought for a moment, "Though I haven't heard of a common born mage using Summon Servant... they are so rare it may simply have never been an issue before."
She looked him in the eye and asked, "Why did you step into this 'Chaosstream' if you knew you where going to die there?"
Louise realised her error as soon as the words left her lips, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet and she shivered as her skin developed goose bumps. The slightly cheeky demeanour that the young man had carried through the conversation vanished as quickly as the warmth in his eyes.
"That... I am not ready to talk about..." He looked down at his scarred and calloused hands, "It... just... I..." His hands clenched and unclenched as he tried to find the words, the hint of moisture shimmering in his eyes. As he began to open his mouth again Louise cut him off.
"I'm sorry!" She placed a hand on one of his, "You don't have to tell me... ask me a question instead."
The young man looked Loise in the eyes and asked, "...What is your name?"
"Louise Francoise le Blanc de La Vallierre, and what is your name?"
"Jolt Kul'duraan, Fylkir of Triplexia and Last of the Taro."