Imagine an eagle with a head the size of a grizzly’s.
Oh, shit!
My heart leapt into my throat, and I forgot about the explosions.
“Do you need assistance, Wanderer?” the creature asked in fluid English.
“W-w-what? What are you?” I stammered.
“I am your familiar. You summoned me.”
The creature’s voice was high pitched and sent shivers through my frame.
“Ah, yes, but what are you?”
“Humans named me hippogriff. You couldn’t pronounce my true name.” The creature knelt beside me. “You appear to need assistance. Would you like a ride away from here?”
“Wait, I have to help Rafe,” I said. My lips felt swollen as I spoke the healing spell. I felt the surge of energy pour into me, amplified by Loki’s amulet. My body warmed. I concentrated on what was happening in my mind and in a few seconds, my vision started to clear. It was working. Whatever effects my PTSD had whenever I was exposed to explosions was fading. In another moment, I was able to get to my feet.
I tapped the ley line and drew energy as fast as I could.
“Okay, I would like a ride,” I said. I safed the Colt I’d almost forgotten about and put it back in its pocket. Grabbing a handful of my familiar’s long neck feathers, I swung a leg over the hippogriff’s back. I focused my shield between the two of us and the clearing.
The hippogriff stood up smoothly and then leapt into the air.
A surge of adrenaline shot through me. This magnificent creature was my familiar. Wow!
We flew upwards, gathering altitude much faster than I would have thought possible. Within a half a minute, we were leveling off close to where Beast glided. Beast eyed my mount with suspicion but said nothing.
I gazed down on the battle from a couple hundred feet up and saw that Rafe had turned from the line of men to the two helicopters, both of which were circling for another pass.
I didn’t have a good offensive weapon, but I did have a shield, and I was still wearing Rafe’s old watch. I triggered the shield etched into its case and formed it into a twenty-foot circle between us and the approaching helicopters. Then I changed the shape of my person shield. I didn’t have much practice doing it, but I had managed a cylinder when I’d been attacked by the rapists. I concentrated on making my shield into as tight a cylinder as I could imagine.
Within a few seconds, it was about as thick as a pencil and around ten feet tall. I pushed as much energy as I could into it and then moved it toward the nearest helicopter. I would have used it like a spear, but I wasn’t at all sure I could aim it well enough to hit anything.
Instead, I moved it into line with the approaching copter and waited.
The spinning rotor met my shield, and I felt the shock of impact in my mind. At the same time, pieces of the main rotor flew off at a tangent to its spin. Instantly, the rotor began to vibrate violently. The craft yawed and then flipped onto its side and nosed into the ground at full speed.
The shock wave reached us a few seconds later as the helicopter’s ammo and fuel went up in a massive fireball.
I pulled the shield back to me and looked for the other helicopter.
It was skirting the treetops, moving away at full speed. I briefly considered trying to stop it with my shield, but at that distance, I wasn’t sure I could be accurate enough to hit it.
I looked down again and saw Rafe staring up at us.
“Take us down, please,” I said.
The hippogriff pulled its wings in and dropped. I gripped its neck feathers and swallowed as my stomach threatened to reject the sandwiches I’d eaten.
Within a few seconds, the hippogriff leveled off a dozen feet above the ground and then landed a short distance from Rafe. A moment later, Beast landed beside him.
“Are you all right?” Rafe asked as he eyed my mount.
“I’m good. I picked up a few more bruises, but that’s about all,” I answered and then threw a leg over my new familiar’s head, brushing a few feathers as I did, and slid to the ground.
“So, your familiar showed up,” Rafe said. “Hippogriff, right?”
“Yes, in your language,” my familiar responded.
I placed a hand on the side of its head and stroked the feathers along its jaw line. “I’m Therese, but everyone calls me Tess. What do I call you?”
“You should call me Maia, my true name cannot be pronounced by your species,” the hippogriff said with a nod of its head.
“Cool. I’m pleased to meet you, Maia.”
“Likewise,” Rafe said.
Beast growled something I didn’t understand and Maia shrieked something that was almost above my range of sound.
“Is your manticore always so rude?” Maia asked, staring at Beast.
“Not always, but he doesn’t make friends easily,” Rafe said. “Beast, be civil, you and Maia are going to be working together for a very long time.
Beast growled, “I can be as civil as the next person.”
“Then act like it,” Rafe scolded.
“Very well. I am pleased to meet you, Maia.”
“Thank you, Beast. I’m sure we’ll become fast friends,” Maia said with a shake of her head.
“How is it you speak English so well?” I asked.
Rafe answered before Maia could. “It’s part of the summoning spell, Tess. A familiar wouldn’t do you much good if you couldn’t communicate with it.”
“Oh. Well, Maia, I’m very happy to have you as my
