Worries of a First-time Werewolf

As a magician, Graham had worked with wands, staffs, and other accessories of telanium-silver, but only now did he actually think to try sniffing at the alloy--he raised his wrist to his nose and sniffed at one of the bracelets, to discover that it smelled faintly like lightning. Meanwhile Sticks experimentally tried biting on the bracelets that was around Graham's ankles, which gave him an idea.

"Curious about that, are you? Maybe just to play it safe..." Reaching up to his neck, Graham removed the necklace. It was a small belt made from soft leather, with small flat studs of telanium-silver alloy inlaid into the material. Sticks sniffed at his fingers, then at the accessory, but she didn't object as he carefully put it around her neck such that it resembled a collar. "Why don't you wear this thing? You don't mind, right?"

Sticks lowered her nose to nudge at the belt now affixed around her neck, then she licked her snout and looked back up at Graham.

Raising his hand, Graham showed Sticks the telanium-silver bracelet he was wearing, which matched with the collar around her neck. "See? We're both the same now. I'm wearing this to try and keep me in human form. Now you're probably not a werewolf, but juuust in case, at least you won't transform."

"Ruff," said the wolf casually, and her tail gave a slight wag. Except this time, the noise sounded too clear and coherent, almost like she was saying the word instead of barking.

"Hmm..." Graham made an uncertain sound.

Sticks rolled about in the snow, then she tried to jump at Graham to pull him down so he would play around with her. Graham patted her on the head and rubbed her belly, but then he frowned again.

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EPILOGUE

Graham was in the tent, lying on his front on the sleeping bag and using a pencil to sketch snowflake shapes in his notebook. Right around late afternoon, he heard Sticks bark once, and then came the sound of voices.

"He's really turned!"

"Oh, by the emperor! Graham, is that you? You're so fuzzy! And so fluffy! Awww, look at you!!"

Pushing to his feet, Graham pushed open the tent flap and stepped out into the snow to see two friendly faces--it was Cray and Lilly, his two fellow senior apprentice magicians and roommates. Wearing their own thick winter coats, the two magicians had apparently just arrived at the campsite and met Sticks.

Lilly was standing back, holding onto her wand with both hands and keeping it pointed forward at Sticks. On the other hand, Cray had instantly dropped into a crouch and was trying to give the wolf pets on her head and back. On her part, Sticks was just sitting still and tolerating the pats, but also looking very confused. She glanced at Graham immediately when he came out of the tent, and her baffled gaze simply said, help me.

"Cray? Lilly!" Graham called, and his two friends spun around.

"Graham! It's you! You're not a werewolf!" Cray beamed happily on seeing Graham, but then he frowned and cautiously withdrew his hand from Sticks. "Uh... who is this, then? Is that not...? Oh, I just assumed... ehhh..."

Lilly pointed her wand at Graham, then at Sticks, then she finally lowed her magical tool. "You seem normal. How was the full moon? Did you transform? I assume you did, since..." Lilly waved vaguely at Sticks. "...you made a friend."

"I did transform. Being a werewolf is quite an experience. It's a long story, honestly." Graham strolled over and extended an arm to pull Cray up to his feet, and then his friend pulled him to a quick hug.

"Damn, I was worried about you! Good to see you're safe, and you don't look too worse for wear!" Cray slapped Graham on the back, then he pointed towards Sticks. "So, who's this? You found a dog in the woods? He's so fluffy and adorable! Or is it a she?"

"It's obviously a female, and that's not a dog, that's a wolf," Lilly noted. She nodded at Graham. "I thought you dropped out of arcane zoology in first year? How in the otherworldly plane did you manage to tame a wolf as a familiar?"

"I... Her name is Sticks, and... hmm..." Graham was briefly lost for words as he thought about how to explain this predicament to his friends.

"Oh, that's a bonded familiar?" Cray said. "I thought it was just a friendly wolf pet that Graham had made! That's cool. Very impressive."

"Pfft. No one finds a wild animal in the woods and befriends them," Lilly said with an amused, if misinformed, chuckle. "Can't you sense it? There's a magical bond." Bending down, Lilly scooped up a handful of snow and then she threw it forward with an exhalation of breath that carried a whispered spell phrase. "Germina Lox!"

Summoned by Lilly's magic, a gust caught the snow and swept it forward in a powdery cloud, where it swirled around the camp, forming fractal patterns above the smooth snowy ground. Lilly had cast a simple but useful piece of spellcraft that visualized ley lines in the aethereal flux, essentially highlighting the presence of magic. The swirling, constantly shifting patterns in the snow were concentrated around the three magicians, each with a unique shape as the snowflakes danced around them. However there was also a distinct smaller pattern around Sticks--her pattern was most similar to Graham's, and there was even a faint lines stretching between the two of them, indicating a magical connection.

Standing up, Sticks stared down with an intrigued look, watching as lines of snowflakes continued to spin and swirl. She was even more impressed when she tried moving around and saw that her pattern was following her about. The wolf scampered around in the snow, then spun around and playfully chased her tail, watching as the magical patterns also dance about. She was clearly having fun.

Graham bit his lip. Those patterns in the snow were clear evidence. Every living being, even trees and plants, had some amount of magic within them, yet a regular wild wolf wouldn't normally have enough arcane power to make a noticeable effect on the aethereal flux lines. Even a regular human would barely have a noticeable pattern, and Sticks wasn't a human, yet it seemed like neither was she just a wolf anymore. Nervously Graham fidgeted with the telanium-silver bracelet around his wrist, before snapping his fingers and muttered, "Venatare." A flare of fiery magic flickered from his fingertips, wiping away the miniscule patterns in the snow as he cast a dispersal spell.

Lilly and Cray both looked impressed--not at the dispersal spell, but because they thought Sticks was a familiar. "Graham, how do you manage that?" Lilly asked. "Arcane zoology is my second major, and bonding with an animal to make it your companion familiar is considered a final year project. Most people go with rats, frogs, or lizards, and the extra ambitious kids try for cats or owls. I was planning on a raven, myself. And I have to say, a wolf is quite an accomplishment."

Cray turned to Lilly. "I thought it's just casting a spell to bond with an animal and make it into your familiar? Though I've never taken more than the basic introduction course for arcane zoology. Is the spell harder for a wolf than a rat?"

"The larger the creature and the more significant their mind, the harder it is to create a familiar bond. It's far, far more complex than just storing a load of mana and spending it all to force an animal into submission," Lilly explained. "You can't dominate a familiar--you have to respect it, and it return it respects you, and then the spell links your minds so you can try and give the familiar commands." She shook her head as she stared at Sticks, then glanced at Graham. "How did you do it?"

Graham hadn't turned Sticks into a familiar. What he had done to her was something else entirely. "I... to be honest, I'm not quite sure how it happened either," he finally admitted, after some thought. "When I was a werewolf, I just looked entirely like a proper wolf, so I guess that's how I made a friend? It's complicated."

Cray chuckled. "Hahaha. That's hilarious. I suppose being a werewolf does have its perks, doesn't it?" Stepping closer and bending down, Cray let Sticks sniff at his fingers and then resumed patting her on the head. "Look at you! Cute, friendly, fluffy wolfy familiar! And Graham's even given you a collar. That's adorable. You're going to be the talk of the academy when the other apprentices see you, yes you are! Good wolfy."

"With the full moon over, you can return to the academy now?" Lilly asked. "I'm sure you must be missing home already."

"You have no idea," Graham agreed.

"Let's get this campsite packed up then," Cray said.

Lilly started scattering the campfire and making sure the embers were all properly extinguished, while Cray took down the tent and folded it up again. Meanwhile Graham helped to roll up the sleeping bag and squeeze it back into one of the backpacks. Sticks went over to his side and stuck beside him--she couldn't help him pack up, but she did bump her nose against his waist. "Ruff."

Still mostly focused on packing up, Graham nodded his head and gave her a quick scratch behind the ears. "Yes, yes."

"Ruff," Sticks said again, but this time she got Graham's attention because instead of a bark, the sound seemed to come from inside his head "I like it when you scratch there."

The sleeping bag tumbled from Graham's hands and it unrolled into the snow. Just as Sticks' body was right beside his side, he could now feel a presence in his mind as new, foreign thoughts and emotions brushed his consciousness. It felt like hearing a gramophone recording of his own voice--intimately familiar yet clearly different, in a strange way. "Did you just...?" he hissed, turning to stare at Sticks.

Snapping his mouth shut, Graham let his thoughts push outwards instead. "What?! Why am I hearing you in my head? You're actually a familiar?!!"

Sticks opened her mouth and let out her tongue in a pant, looking perfectly innocent as she stared up at him. "What's a familiar?"

Graham's mouth opened and closed a few times. "Hmmm... Ok, so it seems like in addition to turning you into a werewolf, we might also have created a mind link because I'm a magician. I don't know how to feel about this, Sticks." He could feel a gentle pressure as Sticks peered into his thoughts, curiously trying to decipher what he was telling her.

"I know how I feel, packmate," Sticks replied, and then Graham got a flash of unfocused, unfiltered emotions from the wolf's mind.

There was one main emotion that stood out. "Yeah, I'm hungry too." Graham took a deep breath. "Just... don't worry about it. It seems you're my familiar, or maybe I'm you're familiar? I'm sure everything will be fine," he mentally replied. Then he sighed aloud and ran a hand though his hair.

Cray had finished packing up the tent, and now he strolled over to pick up the sleeping bag. "Are you ok?" he asked Graham.

"I've fine. I just have a lot on my mind," Graham said.

"You sound tired." Holding the rolled up sleeping bag with one arm, Cray patted Graham on the shoulder. "I bet you could use a warm bed and a warm meal. Once you're well rested and well fed, you'll feel better."

Bending down, Cray reached out to pat Sticks on the head. "How about you, you big friendly wolfy familiar? How are you doing?"

Sticks wagged her tail. "Ruff," she said. "Hun-gry," she added.

The sleeping bag tumbled from Cray's grip, and it unrolled into the snow. He cautiously withdrew his hand. "Uh, did you wolf familiar just...?" Cray asked.

Lilly had spun around to stare at the wolf too--the werewolf. "Familiars, don't, talk!"

Graham patted Sticks on the side, and he shook his head. Even without looking, he could feel the curious gaze of his friends. "So about that... I'm going to need your help with another secret..."

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END