Chapter 6

As Anna, Jane, Mum and Ben watched, Emily started to remove symbols from the seal placing new ones in their place, as she did this she was chanting magical charms with every symbol removed and every new symbol placed. Even Mum, a human who could do everyday magic, could not fail to notice the levels of magical charge in the room.

Only Mum heard Ben say in a quiet voice. "Emily, I hope you know what you are doing."

It took Emily the better part of 40 minutes to complete the work on the seal.

"Right," Emily declared. "Now to test it."

"How are you going to test it?" Jane asked.

"Ha? Oh right, there is a simple calibration spell we use to test that a seal is working, normally we use it just after, A, moving a seal. Or B, the first time you drew your own seal."

"It is also one hell of a good idea for you three to get the hell out of the room. Where I believe I can keep Emily safe if all goes to hell, there is no one to keep you safe." Ben said.

"Alright, we will be waiting for you in the kitchen." Mum said.

Anna, Jane and Mum left the room.

Once it was just Ben and Emily in the room, Ben said. "You're mad, you know that, right? What makes you think you know how to draw a seal for three Bloodlines."

"No idea, but it feels right, I don't know quite how to say this, but I think my colour magic is helping me. It's like the colour magic knows what to do. Ben, did you ever ask yourself how was the first seal made? How did each Bloodline come by their seal? I think I now know how, the magic told them how to draw their seals." Emily explained.

"Ask myself? No, I did not because I know how. But you did not cast a 'Request Magical Help spell'. And I would have notice a..." Ben stopped in mid flow. "Emily, when did you cast a 'Request Magical Help spell' on yourself, better still, why is it so hard for me to tell it is there. It is almost completely invisible to me. If I had not been thinking about one, I would have never noticed it."

"Ben, what are you talking about, what is a 'Request Magical Help spell', I have never cast that spell on myself, or on anyone for that matter. I do not even know what that spell is or how to cast It."

"Then how can it have been cast on you. Who cast it?" Ben cocked his head to one side. "No matter how I try I cannot get who cast it, it is like there was never a caster. Ok, so how long has it been there for?" Ben cocked his head to the other side. "What! Emily it showed up at the completion of the 'Age spell', it is like it is a by-product of the casting of the 'Age spell'. How! How can this be?"

"You got me there! I have no idea, I don't even know what it does, I know we weaved a lot of independent thought into the 'Age spell' so that it could cover all the bases. What does it do, anyhow?" Emily asked.

"It is a very, very old spell, it predates the seals, the first familiars, and it even predates the order its self. It is how the elves of the time found new ways to use magic. And that is about all us familiars were ever told about it." Ben replied.

"So it's ancient magic. The 'Age spell' must have felt I needed it for some reason."

"That reminds me, have you noticed the link between your cover name and the Walker's?" Ben asked.

"Link?" Emily asked back.

"Emily, what is your full cover name?" Ben returned.

"Why! It is Emily Jane Starwalker..." Emily's voice trailed off as she had said walker.

"The cover name was part of the list of items given to the independent thought part of the spell, right?" Ben asked.

"Yes, quite a lot of the details, almost all of the details, were in that part of the spell. I am being guided by magic, from the time we had finished casting the 'Age spell' I have been guided by magic. It was not just luck that we found Anna and Jane, I think I was guided to them by the magic." Emily pondered.

"It is looking that way."

"I'd better test this seal. But I now have greater confidence that it will work." Emily walked over to the middle of the seal.

She started to chant the spell, as she did so the ward lit up the room with a slow steady pulse of yellow light. Ben looked on, a 'Shall Shield spell' at the ready, so that if the pulsing light started to become irregular he could place it around Emily to protect her from the magical explosion that would be about to engulf the room.

The yellow light pulsed faster and faster, increasing speed at a steady but regular pace. Ben knew that now was the key point, if the seal was going to work the light had to peak in a bright glow for ten seconds, then it would begin to slow its pulsing until it faded away.

Only, when it peaked, it lasted for fifteen seconds not ten. Yet somehow Ben knew that all was ok, he just did not know how he knew this. The light began to slow its pulsing, getting slower and slower until it was at the same speed as it had started, then it faded away.

Emily looked over at Ben. "It felt more controlled than the old seal did." Emily commented.

"Fifteen!" was all Ben said.

"Fifteen, fifteen what's Ben?" Emily asked.

"Seconds, fifteen seconds and not ten." Ben said.

"Ben, will you please explain to me what you are going on about."

"The peak lasted for fifteen seconds, Emily, not ten seconds, but fifteen seconds. Yet I knew you were ok, that all was well. Emily, I may be a familiar, a creature of magic, but even I think something odd is going on now."

Emily looked over at Ben. Emily knew that the 'soul of a familiar' was old. That it had been summoned to a master many times over the centuries, so a familiar had seen it all. Or! So Emily had thought.

"Are you telling me that with all your centuries of knowledge, you are stumped as to what is going on?" Emily asked.

"Yep, pretty much."

"Great, just great!" Emily said.

Ben and Emily found Anna, Jane and Mum in the kitchen. Mum was cooking food for an Army.

"We don't need all that food, do we?" Emily asked.

"Of course we do. I got four people and one bird to feed." Mum replied.

"So you're staying for supper?" Emily asked Anna and Jane.

"Yes we are."/"You bet." came Anna's and Jane's replies.

"Nice, well, I finished the seal testing spell and it works." Emily decided right now was not the time to go into how oddly the test had turned out, the seal had worked and that was all that was needed.

"Sweet, so what is next?" Jane asked.

"Next is me teaching you two how to cast the 'Familiar Summoning Ritual'. And we are going to have to do this in the magic room, and Mum, you cannot be in the Room for this. Only members of the order can know this ritual, I am sorry." Emily apologised to Mum.

"No problem, dear. And grub is up, come and get it." Mum said.

After eating, Emily, Anna, Jane and Ben went back down to the magic room, where they spent the next two hours going over the ritual to summon a familiar.

Emily had explained to them that the first part of the ritual was to make a body for the familiar. She told them that a familiar's body was formed from the 'colour magic' of the one performing the ritual, but was just an empty shell. She then told them that the second part of the ritual was to call forth a 'soul of a familiar' to fill the shell. She then went on to tell them the 'soul of a familiar' came from some place unknown to even elves, and that the summoning was a pact with a 'soul of a familiar'. The pact itself was to allow the 'soul of a familiar' use of the empty shell, allowing the familiar into our world, in exchange, the 'soul of a familiar' would pledge itself to the one performing the summons. The pledge was to always look after its master and to see that its master lived a long life. It worked both ways, the longer the master lived, the longer the 'soul of a familiar' could stay in our world.