The Familiars: Animal Wizardry. Adam Epstein

to be.

      “Illusions are one of the most underrated circles of magic,” continued Sklyar. “I can make things appear that are not really there. And oft times the appearance of something can be more powerful than the thing itself.”

      “It’s kinda lame, if you ask me,” chimed in Gilbert.

      “Said the frog who thought he saw the future in the bottom of a pickle barrel,” Skylar snapped.

      “I had a premonition of being attacked by little hippopotamuses!”

      “I think we’ve all agreed those were a handful of floating gherkins,” said Skylar, rolling her eyes.

      After a frustrated sigh, she turned back to Aldwyn. “I just hope what they say about you cats from Maidenmere is true. I mean, I assume that is where you’re from. Maidenmere. Given your size and colouring.”

      “They say a lot of things about us Maidenmere cats,” he replied, bluffing the best he could. “What exactly are you referring to?”

      “You know, that your telekinetic powers can rival even those of the Gordian Mindcasters.”

      “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “But reading somebody else’s mind is a nifty talent,” he added, digging himself deeper still into a hole.

      “Mind reading—that’s telepathy,” said Skylar. “Telekinesis is moving things with your mind.”

      “Right. That, too.”

      “You can do both?” Gilbert said excitedly. “Tell me what I’m thinking of right now.”

      “Uh… um…”

      Skylar looked at Aldwyn sceptically. He swallowed hard, his paws moistening with sweat.

      “A fly?” he guessed.

      “No way! That’s incredible,” said Gilbert. Almost against her will, Skylar seemed impressed too.

      Aldwyn had, for the moment at least, escaped without having his true identity revealed—that he was not a familiar but a lowly alley cat. He was spared any further questioning by the group’s arrival in a beautiful, moss-covered clearing, in the middle of which stood the biggest tree he had ever seen.

      “Can anyone tell me what kind of tree this is?” asked Kalstaff, stopping.

      “A colossus tree,” answered Dalton.

      “That’s right.”

      Kalstaff used his thumbnail to puncture the soft bark of the tree. Crimson-coloured sap began to leak out of the hole.

      “Who can tell me what this sap is used for?” asked Kalstaff. “Jack, do you want to make a guess?”

      Jack nervously hummed and hawed, unsure of the answer.

      Skylar leaned over to Aldywn and Gilbert and whispered, “When mixed with lava spice, it creates a serum that, even if you swallow only a single drop, can cause you to grow up to double your size.”

      Kalstaff looked to his other students. “Marianne, Dalton?”

      They too were stumped.

      “Well, then you’ll have to look it up,” said Kalstaff. “I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with enlargement.”

      “You are such a show-off,” said Gilbert to Skylar, annoyed and impressed in equal measure.

      “Dalton, collect a sample for further study,” instructed Kalstaff. The young wizard pulled a vial from his bag and began filling it with the colossus sap.

      Gilbert poked his green elbow into Aldwyn’s fur: “Hey, Aldwyn, what am I thinking about now?” he asked.

      “Um, another fly?”

      “That is insane! Get out of my head.”

      Kalstaff declared it was time for a short break and Jack wandered off to explore the clearing, with Aldwyn tagging along behind him. Between two rocks, glistening in the sun, Aldwyn spotted an elaborate web and in it a nimble creature with pearly white skin and wings that appeared too delicate to touch. “What’s this?” Aldwyn whispered to Jack, afraid to disturb the creature. “It’s a spider nymph,” Jack whispered back excitedly. “They’re incredibly rare.” The two stood gazing at the winged arachnid, which proceeded to weave hypnotic patterns into its silk net. Soon the colourful web was drawing Jack and Aldwyn into some kind of trance.

      “Don’t stare too long,” Marianne shouted from across the clearing. “Otherwise you won’t be able to snap out of it.”

      Jack quickly blinked and turned away, but Aldwyn remained transfixed, the dizzying rainbow patterns reflecting in his eyes. The spider nymph began to move towards him, having successfully dazed its prey. Then, suddenly, the seemingly innocuous arachnid revealed a mouthful of venom-dripping fangs. Before the eight-legged predator could strike, Jack gave a tug on Aldwyn’s fur and pulled him away. Disappointed, the spider returned to its web.