Chapter 14: Finding a companion

I rocked Ash in her cradle and watched Melody trying to color on the slat I had bought her. I cleared my throat when she started to use magic and she stopped and looked at me, “But...”

I shook my head, “What is your mother’s rule?”

She sighed, “No magic without her.”

I smiled, “And what happens if you do?”

She pouted and I shook my head. She had gone from simple babbling to speech in weeks. I glanced at Dragon as she lifted her head over the side of the cradle, “No playing with Dragon and the others.”

Melody sighed and reached for a piece of colored chalk. I looked at the door when Silver and Jasmine walked in and smiled, “Finished your spells already?”

They nodded and Jasmine gestured, “And you have been letting Melody...”

She stepped closer, “What is she drawing?”

I checked Ash as she shifted in her sleep, “I asked her to draw a horse.”

Silver shook his head, “A mistake Sinclair.”

I looked at him as Jasmine crossed to our daughter, “Did she do any magic?”

I hesitated, “She started to but stopped.”

Melody smiled up at her mother before turning and reaching for the slat with magic surging up inside her. I stood, “NO!”

Melody froze and looked at me with wide eyes as Jasmine turned and dispelled the magic in her, “You need to know what you want the magic to do sweetie.”

I looked at Silver as he cleared his throat, “She is getting much stronger.”

I nodded as Jasmine comforted her. She looked at me and then at her father, “We need a companion.”

He nodded and I cleared my throat, “Companion?”

Silver gestured and I left the room with him, “I have already been checking and there are no available companions in the city.”

I looked at him, “What is a companion?”

He sighed, “A companion is a creature that will bond with and help a young mage control her magic.”

I turned to look out the kitchen window, “But there are none in the city.”

He shook his head and I glanced at the three cats as they strolled in. I smiled, “Would the three of you know where or how I might find a companion?”

They sat and looked at each other before the Ruby cat nodded. I stood, “Can you lead me?”

They turned for the door and I started following, “Tell Jasmine I am hunting for a companion.”

The three led me through the city and into the narrower streets. They stopped at one that seemed darker and I glanced at them before heading to the door and knocking. It was a minute before I heard something and then the door slowly creaked open. It almost looked like ancient crone looking back at me, “Yes?”

I smiled, “My name is...”

She gestured, “I know your name Sinclair.”

I blinked and glanced back at the three cats sitting in the street watching us and back at her. I took a breath, “My daughter is a mage and she is young. She needs a companion but we have been told there are none in the city.”

She looked at me carefully, “And you think one is here.”

I gestured to the cats, “They think there is or that you can direct me to one.”

She shifted and slowly leaned to look around me before smiling, “So you belong to them.”

I grinned, “Something like that.”

She nodded and looked into my eyes, “In the noble quarter is an unseen manor. It is warded and has many traps to keep people out. In the tower is a chest guarded by a gargoyle. Inside the chest is a companion bound in sleep. There is also a vial of what looks like frozen fire. Take both and bring me the vial.”

She nodded and shuffled back as the door began to close. I turned to look at the cats before shaking my head and heading down the street. I was thinking of how to find an unseen manor. I had been in the noble quarter many times but nothing came to me. I was walking down a wide cobbled street with two city guards in front of me when I hesitated.

Scraps and pieces of magic in and around the noble quarter were common. I looked back at an earl’s estate and ahead to a baron’s. I looked back and forth several times before the strands of magic on the wall between struck me. I moved to the wall and pulled a couple of silver pen knives.

I scraped one along the wall and pulled a strand of magic with it. I worked the knife into a crack and left it before moving the other way to pull a second strand of magic back. I carefully climbed up and peeked over to see another estate. I looked at the top of the wall and the grounds before moving over.

I stood after I dropped to the ground and looked before carefully beginning to walk a drunken line towards the distant manor. The lawn was over grown and probably had not been cut in decades. It took me awhile to reach the manor and spider webs of spell strands spread from each door.

Each of the windows was crisscrossed with strands but I looked at the thickly tall grass almost hiding a basement half window. I moved closer to check it before pulling out a glass cutter. I did not like cutting the glass but knew the wood was so swollen and rotten that I would not be able to open the window.

I cut the whole pane out before tapping it and pulling it out. I set it beside the window before looking in through the open hole. I wiggled in and twisted to drop to the floor before walking across the dusty floor. I checked the door carefully before using a dagger between the jam to lift the locking bar.