Soul Guardian

The Forgotten Familiars sanctuary for magical pets had started out as one of Lucy’s little side projects, something to keep her busy while the centuries rolled by. But it had quickly become much more than that. As someone who had been cast out of heaven, she had a soft spot for the unwanted and neglected. Though of course Lucy would have denied all involvement if anyone were to ask. (She was the Devil, after all.)

Sitting behind the front desk at the sanctuary was a short woman with thick round glasses and a tendency to stare off into the middle distance when boring people tried to talk to her. Her name was Beth, and she looked to be around thirty years old. However, something about the way the woman carried herself suggested that she had been “around thirty” for a very long time.

Beth was also a witch, though not a very patient one. She was, however, incredibly good at taking long afternoon naps, drinking tea, and coming up with creative curses to cast on anyone stupid enough to waste her time. As someone who worked in customer service, she regularly indulged in all three. It was the only way to stay sane. (Or at least, sane-ish. You could work in customer service, or maintain your sanity. But not both.)

Things had been slow at the sanctuary that day, which was to be expected. Witches were getting rarer as the centuries went by, and very few of them could be bothered to seek out a second hand familiar. Not when the forests were full of rabbits and frogs leaping at the chance to bond with any witch that showed even a sliver of talent.

It had also begun to rain, which usually reduced the foot traffic even further. “Young witches these days…” muttered Beth as she dunked a cookie in her tea, “Too afraid of ruining their hair to hop on a broom if there is even a drizzle of rain on the horizon. Why, back in my day-”

Beth’s monologue cut off when she spotted a pair of soulful brown eyes peering at her from over the desk. The eyes themselves weren’t particularly worrying. However, they were attached to a massive hellhound, which was definitely cause for alarm. He also happened to be her parole officer.

“HELLO, BETH,” rumbled Titan in a voice like cracking stone, “HOW ARE THINGS?”

“Fine!” sputtered the witch as she tried to collect her wits, “Never better!”

“WONDERFUL. I’M GLAD TO HEAR THAT.” Titan padded around the desk to get a better look at her. “HAVE YOU BEEN STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE?”

The hellhound watched as a whole range of emotions played across Beth’s face. She always had a reason for cursing people. Sometimes that reason was that they were people, and she was a witch. But at least she usually made sure that the punishment fit the crime.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Titan decided against digging into Beth’s recent misdeeds, for now. He had a much more pressing problem to deal with first. “A YOUNG WITCH UNDER MY PROTECTION REQUIRES A FAMILIAR,” he said.

Beth’s eyes lit up, her prior terror immediately forgotten. “Oooh! A new witch! I can’t wait to meet her.”

“OF COURSE, SHE’S RIGHT-” Titan froze mid sentence as he realized they were alone in the lobby. He turned to look at the door to the inner sanctuary. It was covered with warnings and protective wards. But most importantly, it was slightly ajar, almost as if a young girl had gotten tired of waiting and decided to go on without him.

“PLEASE TELL ME THAT DOOR DOESN’T GO WHERE I THINK IT GOES,” he said.

The witch winced. “I’m afraid it does.” She pointed toward a different, less heavily reinforced door on the other side of the lobby. It was covered in brightly colored stickers and had a much less ominous feel to it. “That’s the one for visitors.”

Titan swore under his breath and stalked off to find Six before she could get into too much trouble. Once he was gone; Beth shrugged and took a sip of her tea, which had gone cold while they were talking (as was the nature of all tea left unattended for more than five seconds).

Beth tapped her nails on the desk absentmindedly as she stared at the door. There were a lot of hungry creatures in the inner sanctum, and not all of them were friendly. Or particularly well behaved. But on the bright side, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Titan bothering her anymore.

***

The beast lay in wait, carefully camouflaged to avoid alerting his prey. The humans had tried to keep him caged, but he was far too clever for them. The beast always found a way to escape. There was no crack or crevice too small for him to slip through. The whole facility was his to roam.

Other creatures in the inner sanctum were content to sit in their cages and wait and be fed. But the beast was an apex predator, descended from the dragons of old. It would not wait for the humans to feed it. It would hunt, and it would kill. That was the nature of things.

The beast coiled its long thin body, preparing to deal the killing blow. The tiny human had been foolish to come into his territory alone. They had underestimated the great beast. And now, they would pay the price. The time had come to strike!

***

The little girl watched as a small bluish green snake gnawed harmlessly at her ankle. It didn’t have any teeth, and definitely wasn’t big enough to swallow her whole, so she wasn’t sure what it was trying to accomplish. But at least it seemed to be having fun, which was all that really mattered.

Six picked up the harmless reptile and tucked it into her pocket for safe keeping. She didn’t want someone to come along and accidentally step on it.

“Don’t worry,” she told the creature, “I’ll make sure you get home safe and sound.”

***

The beast had failed to bring down the tiny human. It would be returned to captivity, again. But such was life.

He could not let minor setbacks trouble one so great as him. He was the great beast, the serpent that would devour the world. And soon his day would come.

The beast decided to accept its fate for now, and went to sleep. It could always try again tomorrow.