The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein Read Free Book Online Page A

to life. Then the creature charged. Skylar instantly took to the air, as the reborn elk galloped blindly forward.
    It was only then that Aldwyn realized that the creature was heading straight toward him. He braced himself as the skeleton collided with the trunk of the tree behind which he was hiding. When it hit, its bones shattered; rib cage, vertebrae, and antlers split apart once more, dropping back down to the ground in a lifeless heap. Skylar, rather unbothered by it all, returned to the book and her beetle, but Aldwyn had no intention of sticking around to see what spell she would castnext. He high-tailed it out of there before he was spotted, thankful to still have his limbs intact.
    Aldwyn ran for the cottage without looking back and took to the orange tree he had spotted earlier, effortlessly climbing up the bark and across the branch to the safety of the rooftop. Heart still beating rapidly, he sat himself down next to the weather vane, took a deep breath, and peered out over the Aridifian Plains. Far, far away in the distance, he thought he could make out the light at the top of Bridgetower’s spired watchtower. As he stared at it, Aldwyn thought of what this night would have been like back home: sleeping with one eye open, his paw clutching the scraps of food he had scrounged that day, guarding them against other alley strays who would attack him for even the smallest morsel of fish. It had been the only life he’d ever known, orphaned as a kitten, with no memories of his mother or father or what kind of alley cats they must have been. But here in Stone Runlet he would walk a very different path, one that was dangerous and unpredictable but also filled with a sense of purpose, of something larger than himself.

    Aldwyn’s eyes began to close. Both of them. So here he would stay. He would learn to be Jack’s familiar, magic skills or no magic skills. Familiar. How strange that word sounded in his head, when in fact there was nothing familiar about this world to him at all.

5
    WALKABOUT
    “A ldwyn?!” cried Jack. “Aldwyn, where are you?”
    Aldwyn stretched his paws as far as he could, still half asleep on the roof of the cottage.
    “Aldwyn?!” called Jack again, his voice growing more concerned.
    Aldwyn’s eyes opened wide, and he quickly got his bearings. Giant puffy clouds were racing across the sky, swallowing up the sun for a moment, but burning off just as quickly as they had come. The autumn scent of falling leaves floated in the air,an unaccustomed smell to a cat who had spent his life in the city. He peered over the edge of the roof and saw Jack searching the yard frantically, barefoot and still dressed in his cotton sleeping shirt.
    “I’m up here,” said Aldwyn.
    When Jack saw his familiar, his face flooded with relief.
    “What are you doing up there?” he asked. “I thought you’d run away.”
    “Sorry. I’m just used to sleeping under the stars.”
    “Well, come on. We have to get ready for our walkabout.”
    Aldwyn scurried across the roof to the tree branch and back down to the ground, walking up alongside Jack and rubbing his head against the boy’s ankles.
    “I better get changed,” said Jack, bending down to scratch Aldwyn’s ear. The alley cat’s tail curled happily. “You should head over to the runlet and drink some water. It’s going to be a long day.”
    “I’m not that thirsty,” replied Aldwyn, wanting to avoid another run-in with the swimming eyeballs.

    Jack ran back into the cottage and almost collided with Dalton and Skylar as they were stepping out into the sunshine.
    “Be sure to check your boots before you put them on,” Dalton warned Jack. “I saw your sister carrying a handful of marsh berries.”
    “Hey, why do you have to ruin all my fun?” Marianne asked Dalton as she and Gilbert came outside right behind him. She gave Dalton a playful push, the kind fourteen-year-old girls give fourteen-year-old boys they like.
    It wasn’t long before