This first sign that something had changed between Hunter and the hawk was an intangible consciousness that pressed against his own. It felt muted and incomplete but shone with a brilliant golden light to his mind’s eye. He could sense overwhelming pride, supreme confidence that bordered on arrogance, and warm courage that nourished and empowered everything it touched. In short, it was the exact opposite of Hunter’s impression of himself. He felt an indescribable closeness with his companion. If he closed his eyes, he knew he would be able to point in the direction of the bird.

As he was coming to grips with the change in his soul, the eagle started to transform. Liquid shadow spread over the eagle’s feathers until they were a matte black. Even the downy feathers underneath its flight feathers were turned to an inky black. Each feather became hardened and grew jagged edges. Minuscule ridges grew along each feather until they resembled the rifling on Hunter’s staff and throwing spikes. Hunter imagined that at night, the bird would be impossible to see in the sky. It matched his own stealth abilities perfectly. Plus, the feather looked like actual projectiles. When the feathers were finished, the rest of the eagle was altered.

First, its eyes shifted from gold to a brilliant silver that matched Hunter’s own. The silver spread until its beak matched the same hue. Next, its gold scaled feet turned platinum. The tiny scales thickened and sharpened until just touching them would cause damage. Finally, it’s already sharp claws smoothed and transformed until the points looked sharp enough to pierce metal. Hunter did not want to allow the bird on his shoulder under any circumstances.

The last change was the most striking. The eagle ruffled its feathers, and black wind flowed from beneath every feather. The action caused the feathers to rub against each other and produce crackles of black electricity. Each small current left an afterimage in Hunter’s visage that refused to fade away.

Hunter peered at the eagle with his Eye of the Hurricane and was rewarded with more information.

Black Storm Eagle (Lvl 20): This Golden Eagle has been soul-bound to Hunter Gold. Furthermore, it has since been blessed by Hunter Gold’s Black Wind and has evolved. With its blessing, it has gained the ability to disguise its attributes from analysis, and possesses both advanced stealth and evasive capabilities, and can use black lightning in offensive attacks. Black lightning is a variant of black wind. In addition to causing elemental shock damage, it can bypass some of the target’s defense to absorb energy.

Threat Classification: High

Hunter forgot the pain in his chest as he studied his new companion. His eagle was now like a Roc from old stories. As if reveling in its power, it struck a proud pose under Hunter’s awestruck gaze. Hunter shook his head. As awesome as the bird was, he had tried this for a reason.

“Alright first things first, all badass animal companions need a name.” Hunter chewed on the prospect before settling on something he liked.

“I’m going to call you Aquila.”

Hunter waited for some sign that that the eagle understood, but it didn’t respond.

Oh well, I guess I don’t get to have a talking companion.

Hunter sighed before continuing, “Are you alright with that, Aquila?”

The bird merely tilted its head, and then Hunter felt warm acceptance flowing through the bond.

“Okay, I’ll take that as confirmation.”

Hunter wasn’t sure how much the eagle understood, so he wanted to keep his needs simple with a helping of imagery associated with the message.

“I need food, and it needs to be still living.” He explained.

Hunter sent images of the eagle swooping in on small creatures and bringing them back to him along with his words. The young warrior thought it was too difficult to explain that he wanted the animals so he could steal life from them, so he tried to keep his visualization as straightforward as possible.

Aquila sent confusion back to Hunter, and the teenager frowned. He refined his visualization until he could replicate the scene from the fight with the ghorum. He showed the energy coming off of the demon like smoke and being absorbed into Hunter’s body.

The eagle bobbed it’s head and then flapped its wings. The force of the gust it created dislodged the ash-colored snow on the ground, and then it was suddenly airborne. It resembled nothing like the ungainly effort from before. Within seconds, it was circling Hunter’s position in the air and hopefully searching for prey.

Since Hunter had nothing better to do while he was waiting, he gently laid down and tried to calm his mind. Since his bloodline had absorbed the Battle Meditation and Cleanse skills, he wanted to see if there was another ability he could unlock. His bloodline didn’t give him any extra regenerative effects from what he had seen, but the framework for such a skill was still there. At the very least, remaining still and trying to meditate would reduce the strain on his body. It was possible that the drain on his health might be lessened while he was waiting for Aquila to return.

Hunter closed his eyes and slipped into the familiar meditative trance he used while creating the Soul Bond skill. This time, instead of focusing on mana, he just let himself visualize his blood in its entirety. He traced every vein and artery with his mind. The teenager had no formal training in anatomy, but when he let his mind relax, he felt like he could see the entire network of his circulatory system. He latched onto that image and controlled his breathing so that every inhale and exhale was smooth and matched the slowing rhythm of his heartbeat.

He laid on the ground like that for an indeterminable time. Eventually, he was started from his inactive state by a loud thump right next to him. Hunter jumped back in surprise and then hissed at the pain it caused him. He had reason to be surprised. Aquila had delivered a fat beaver to Hunter. The teenager wasn’t even sure how the bird had managed to carry such a large bounty. It was twitching as small sparks of electricity cracked in existence across its flesh. While sympathetic to the animal’s pain, Hunter had more significant concerns.

The warrior summoned a Black Tornado to his palm and then pressed it against the beaver’s form. Hunter maintained tight control over his mana and kept the spinning attack from exploding into a whirlwind. He let the wind whip over the beaver in a controlled fashion, and soon, life-giving energy was trickling into Hunter. Before his eyes, the beaver mummified and died. When the beaver expired, Hunter checked his health pool and saw that it had risen to sixty percent, and the continuous drain had stopped.

Groaning, Hunter reached down to pull up his tunic and saw that his ribs were mostly in the right places now. There were still purple and yellow mottled bruises covering his flesh, but he thought he could at least travel. It would be slow-going, but Hunter wouldn’t be completely defenseless. If he ran into something, he could use more of the black wind to heal himself further.

Hunter carefully placed his hands on the ground and gently pushed up until he looked like a grab. Ever so slowly, he turned his body until he was facing the snow-covered earth. With a wince, he pushed against the ground so that he could stand on his feet. The pain was so overpowering that only sheer force of will kept him from passing out.

He shakily stood for a moment while he allowed the pain to fade. He looked up to see Aquila circling high above him.

‘Thanks, Aquila, let’s get back home so that I can get rested.”

When Hunter felt acceptance coming through his soul bond, he slowly shuffled his way to the shriveled corpse of the ghorum. He reached down to grip his staff and pull it from the drained carcass. Equipped, he leaned on his spire and started the long journey to the Sanctuary.

He had learned a few valuable lessons. First, always sneak up on a ghorum. Even if they’re dead, they can maim you. Second, never leave home without consumables, and third, make friends where you can. He had wished to unlock another aspect of his bloodline, but it seemed that he still had more work to do. When he had been woken from his meditation, he had felt like he was on the cusp of discovery. However, staying alive was a priority over learning more about his bloodline. Hunter was alive, and he had Aquila to thank for it.