The bond between Magis and contracted partner goes beyond mere magic manipulation.

It’s more accurate to say that our bond is like sharing a core. The connection is so intrinsic that it can be felt no matter the distance. Even now, with my own magic sealed, I can feel the cool flame of my wisp swirling on the horizon. So, she became our beacon, and I, the compass.

Riding Zephyr was much trickier without magic to support my grip, but I managed to cling well enough to his neck not to fall off. It helped that he wasn’t wasting time by trying to make the trip as bumpy or uncomfortable as possible like he usually does. Instead, he shot forward as straight as he could in the body of a snake; on occasion darting over lumps or rocks and launching himself into the air, gliding a short way on winds he stirred up.

Our path took us towards the gate to Gold Port, but it seems they opted to take the road beyond instead of traveling through. They didn’t feel far enough away to be in Golden Port. So, on we raced, southward, faster than most land animals could go. I had never been so thankful for Zephyr’s wind attribute; it hadn’t mattered when I summoned him, but the wind behind us was making our journey now much faster. We weren’t truly flying, but it sure felt like it.

In a matter of hours, we had them in our sights again. The stout berg-beasts that most people use in Arkos to pull wagons or other heavy carts and cargo around are incredibly strong, and can move shockingly fast, but only for short durations. They had made it further than a couple horses could have taken them pulling an iron wagon, but not that far all things considered. Unlike the two guys they’d assigned to watch me, what lay before us was practically a caravan of soldiers.

They had a man on each side of the center wagon up on horseback. It even appeared that they had someone playing lookout on top, in addition to whoever was driving the rig. However, they weren’t being very thorough; they definitely had a hat pulled over their face, and they hadn’t spotted a giant red thirty-foot snake sneaking up behind them. In addition, there was a guy at the very front of everything with familiar shiny armor. The way its polished surface reflected light was uniquely tinted, as if the metal had some slight coloration to it. Where have I…

Ah! Paperwork-knight!

Guess they were letting him out in the field, even though I think he’s technically responsible for not catching a break-in (me) and letting a prisoner escape happen (the Hounds). Maybe he’s trying to restore his honor. Now I feel a little bad about how we’re going to completely ruin that. Too bad for him it’s not my problem.

If I could use my magic I wouldn’t have hesitated to stand on Zephyr’s head and gaze cooly into the distance as the wind blows past my hair, but I don’t trust myself not to fall off.

Thinking further, they have our stuff too, so I suppose we can’t just do a smash and grab for our companions and leave. We might actually need a more sophisticated plan than ‘snake smash’… Hmm…

Well, the first step is the last step. What needs to happen? The transport wagon must stop moving; either we must take control of it or break it open. We should try to avoid any major scuffles, but honestly one tail swipe would take them all out.

Except, all my planning was for naught. You see, Zephyr has his own thoughts and feelings on the matter and did not bother to consult me anymore than I did him. The end result of which is being dumped on the ground while a very angry snake assaults a bunch of helpless soldiers. Honestly. Zephyr just slipped between the horse-riding guards, circling the wagon. He rushed around it faster and faster, creating a torrent of wind that forced everyone on foot back a few steps.

The horses were startled, and clearly would have bolted, if not for whatever training they had received. The riders were less dignified, shrieking about the massive snake monster and how it was back to get them. A couple of the men on foot deserted, running as fast as they could in their stiff leather armor. I winced as Zephyr lifted a tail, bringing it down on them and refusing to let any of them escape without some form of injury.

Under a bright blue sky, the ground was splattered with red as the men were bashed and battered. A couple drew their weapons, lifting shaky arms towards an image painted in nightmares. Truly, the energy of an inverted spirit is fearsome. Even these regular people could see the blotchy red and purple aura of magic manifesting around Zephyr’s body. It has a fuzzy texture, like unspun wool, that gathers weirdly on my senses.

It doesn’t flow, so much as exude wildly out of Zephyr’s core. It’s thick and suffocating. A smothering energy that tangles up any errant magic it comes into contact with. I see now why so many books warn Magis away from messing with inverted spirits. For as wrong as it felt, it had an undeniable pull. I could easily see how that might lure someone young and inexperienced into trying things they weren’t ready to handle.

After incapacitating any who dared to challenge him, he effortlessly breached his own storm and tossed aside the guards that were still with the iron wagon. May you rest in peace. I try not to make too much of a face as one of them bounces a little. I don’t think people are supposed to bounce.

Clearly, he had entered a more feral mindset; drunk on inverted power. He wasn’t especially careful as he smashed down on the back of the wagon, warping the metal enough to force the door open. Unfortunately, that seemed to be where Zephyr’s consciousness ended as he began circling the outside. He lifted it up into his coils, winding possessively around it, as if he couldn’t even remember why he’d wanted it in the first place except that it was his.

I smacked a palm to my forehead. I really should have been thinking about how much energy he was using. He went too far. So, now there’s an angry and unreasonable giant snake to deal with, and it’s my problem. I watched his eyes burn with excess bruise colored magic. I’d need my partner for this.

Normally, the thing you’d be advised to do in a situation like this is sever the contract. Since it would immediately unsummon the spirit in question, leaving them to wreak their havoc on the sprit realm instead of the physical one. No more contract, no more spirt. Easy.

If you have access to your magic, that is.

It’s a good thing I have a partner, or we’d really be in trouble, because I have to settle this the hard way. I will actually have to calm Zephyr down so he can regain control of himself. Unfortunately, calming spirits down usually amounts to fighting them until they collapse or submit. They’re quite stubborn like that.

“Will-o-wisp, heed my call!” I yell towards the wagon. I invoke the bond to call her, incase the inverted magic rolling off Zephyr has done anything to her or her mind. But I don’t think I had to worry about it; she freed herself from her meager restraints and leapt out the back of the wagon. She used her staff to slow her fall, letting the tip touch down first before sliding to the ground. She returned to my side.

Zephyr hissed, slamming his tail into the ground and causing a minor earthquake. His scales click together, rattling. The inverted energy starts to roll off his body again, and I worry about the lack of sound or movement that should have been coming from the people that I know must be in the wagon.

I send my thoughts to my wisp, conveying the half-plan I’d made.

‘Understood.’

I run around, looking for a way to distract Zephyr from what my partner is doing. That’s when I trip over one of the knocked-out men and see a familiar wooden box. I’d been carrying it just a day ago. I smile. My rock!

I grab it as I go, ripping the lid off and pulling out the greenish ore. That’s when I turn and lob it at Zephyr’s head with all my might. Which isn’t a lot, but I tried. It thunks off the side of his face, causing him to look over at me. I keep moving, zigzagging while trying not to fall over anymore downed people. When my rock finally stops moving after tumbling down to the ground it returns to the palm of my hand. I don’t hesitate to throw it again.

Over and over and over, until my wisp has finished her preparations.

Away from Zephyr’s eye, she has been weaving a giant lantern box from strands of her magic. A special kind of containment spell that I had shown her the pattern for only moments ago. She’s almost done, just one more anchor she tells me. Okay, I’m panting. Running this much is hard, just breathing hurts. I feel a stich forming in my side. But I will keep going, because the alternative is death by snake-golem. I don’t think I’ll look good as a pancake.

‘Done.’ Ohthankgoodness.

“Got it, whenever you’re ready then.” I move back, out of the barrier she had just made.

She slams the tip of her staff down, and ice runs along the ground. It travels up, covering the iron wagon and the poor flailing berg-beast in sheets of ice, creating a protective layer for them. Then she flips her staff over, bashing her lantern into the ground inside the barrier. The wisp fire jumps out, catching on all the magic energy within the box she’d created.

The blue light overwhelms all visible light within the pseudo lantern, burning cold and wild as it devours every ounce of magic it touches. Uncontained, it would have created a flash-blizzard over all of Teleost Lake and the encampment. Instead, we were left with a giant cube of snow, at the center of which should be a pacified and magically drained Zephyr.

But that’s for later, for now I just lay on the ground and clutch my rock to my chest attempting to relearn how to breathe.

Except, while I’m trying to relax, a very rude knight shoves an axe blade just enough into my neck to draw blood.

“Surrender, Magis, come quietly and you will live.” The cold gray eyes of the paperwork-knight demand me to give in.

The audacity of some people.