The Familiar's Pact

I carried my name before I carried this body, and I always knew it wouldn't be forever. Long ago, Magda summoned me to this plane for a singular purpose — to link my master to her magic. Our time together has seen many triumphs and failures. Seen many moons pass and many spells conjured. Though our time drew to a close, I did not fear it. There was a warm welcome to leaving this body. To return home where I would fuse these memories into whatever new vessel called me forth.

From my perch in the window, I watched as my master's breath labored. It was a cold and dreary night, made colder by the chill of death clinging to the air. My own reflection was wan as it stared back at me from the glass. My once-bright green eyes were all but a milky haze. My luxurious fur spread more across the floor of our small cabin than clung to my skin.

Much time had passed, and you could see evidence of it in every inch of our home. Dried herbs and flowers hung from the rafters. Cabinets held curiosities collected over years of perfecting her craft. A lifetime of magic rippled around us, but there was no magic that could stave off what was to come.

My darling Magda was a mere babe of thirteen when she first called my name. Her bright red hair flowed as she used the ancient magic her mother gave her to summon me from the shadows. I obeyed her call and slithered from the darkness. After some time, I settled into the lifeless black body centered in the runed pentacle. Candles flickered in the demon wind my coming forth brought, and they too settled as I did.

The first night in my familiar body was a spectacle to behold, for Magda had much to celebrate. It was every witch’s rite to call forth her demon as the clock struck her thirteenth year. She was not only successful but also called forth a more ancient demon than most. I lived out her days trapped in this body and was the key to her growing magic

I recalled our first conjuring. A small but dark spell. A lover scorned hoping that revenge would sate her hunger for him. But it required a great sacrifice. Ritual magic that took her no time to cast. Magda's magic sank deep into her womb. It severed ties to the growing child and linked its death to its creators. News of his demise spread far and fast, and it wasn’t long before more showed up at our door hoping for the same.

There was darkness around us everywhere we went. Side by side, we stalked through the village. There were always stares of fear, a turn of a shoulder, and gasps of surprise. We got used to it, she and I. No one dared to bother us. If they did, they had to pay the price. The stronger we grew, the steeper the price. Some came for our shadow murders; others for simple elixirs to bid away their illnesses.

It wasn’t long before her true magical prowess elevated her to Elder of the coven. In all their history, no one so young had ever held that great seat, so once captured, she would never let it go. Even as her end drew closer, she refused to name a successor. This meant it would fall to whomever could claim it before the rest. A dangerous game, but one often played in covens where great power flowed with little penchant for letting it go.

In later years, we had moved to this cabin away from the village and further still from the coven. Magda knew it was the only place she could hone her magic and bide her time. She found clever ways to prolong her last breaths, at least for a while. A few extra years of borrowed time, but she missed one thing in her time of toiling. Magic held a price, and that price was different for every witch. The mind’s descent into madness was often overlooked, yet it affected all. Magda was no different.

Each spell cast, each conjured soul, all took a piece of your mind with them. The fact that she was still understood and walked among others was a testament to her strength. Magda's frail condition made her vulnerable. Young Yelena noticed this and thought Magda's end was near. She readied herself for it.

Yelena hunched over our cauldron. The walking stick stirred on its own as she recited spell after spell. She knew death drew close and felt its icy tendrils snaking through the cottage toward its prize. The spell she was preparing would secure her as Elder. If she timed it right, it would be before anyone else felt the snap of magic echo through the coven’s lineage.

For this, she was strong, stronger than her kindred spirits. She looked at me with a lazy eye and snickered. I stretched my claws, tapped the windowsill, and then jumped down. I paid her little mind as my bones ached, knowing what lay ahead. The time was drawing near.

I circled the magic pentacle drawn in chalk. It brought fond memories of my first day back on Earth in ages. With each step at the corners, the corresponding candle sparked to life. I glanced at my master and counted the rise and fall of her chest. The sweat clinging to her white hair on her brow signaled the beginning of the end.

Finding a small opening on the table’s top clear enough for me to sit, I hopped up and purred at the young Yelena. The rat on the table's edge alerted to my presence and stirred in its cage. Yelena released it and whispered low in its ear before snapping its neck. She dropped the lifeless body before me and reached for a bowl high on a shelf.

I stared at the poor creature, its life having moved on so quickly, and wondered what that must be like. To live such short lives, never to come back or relive existence once more. I thought then of my dear brethren demons. How they lived many lives in many creatures, carrying all that knowledge from being to being. Magic was a wondrous phenomenon.

The wooden bowl spun in circles on the uneven table, echoing a melodic rhythm through the space. Yelena stilled it with the tip of a blade before dragging the length of it through the rat's abdomen. Crimson flowed from its belly, dripping from her fingers into the bowl below. Once no drips remained, she tossed the body into the fire beneath the cauldron. With a hiss, the flames licked at its fur, and the cauldron began to boil.

One last meow signaled my readiness, and Yelena pulled me close to her chest. Whispering in my ear, she carried me to my master’s bed and set me by her side. She fetched the bowl of blood and shimmied toward us while I settled on top of Magda’s chest beneath her chin. My tail whipped across her belly as I tucked each of my limbs in tight beneath my body.

With one stroke of her thumb, Yelena smeared blood on my forehead before marking Magda’s own. Once all was in place, Yelena moved to the summoning circle and knelt to a basket beside it. She retrieved a small kitten and readied it for her own ritual.

Her desire was to call me forth as her own familiar once my pact ended with Magda’s last breath. She wanted to enable herself as the coven’s new leader without having done the work to get there. By calling forth a strong demon to siphon from, she hoped it would save her the time and effort needed.

I studied my master’s breaths as they grew shallow beneath me. A faint crunch sounded as Yelena snapped the kitten’s neck and placed it in the center of her spell circle. Death was coming, and I had to be ready to fulfill the pact. If I missed her last breath, I risked being stuck in a masterless body, never to return or access my power again. I perked my chin toward Magda’s and waited.

A chill crept through her body beneath mine, leaving me alert and ready. I opened my mouth to catch her spirit leaving her body. As death anchored in, the faint wisp of her soul traveled from her lips, and I breathed deeply, taking her soul into me. Bringing her death into myself released me from my pact. It allowed me to drift back into the shadows, back into waiting to hear my name called once more.

Little time passed before my eyes opened again. As they adjusted to my new home, it was not the eyes of Yelena staring back at me but those of another. I recalled my time with Magda and all the knowledge I could provide to this new witch. A purr bellowed from deep within me at the thought of Yelena still waiting for me. My new master smiled down at me, wicked and delighted, and I knew our time together had just begun.