“Most excellent, my furry astral friend!” Master Felbin could not contain the excitement in his voice as his applause finally came to its end. His creation had gone from failure to better than what he had hoped for in a flash. “You’re a clever little one, aren’t you?”

Runt looked up, made eye contact with the large master enchanter and settled back to a seated position on his haunches. Now I must observe. I need to take in all I can to figure out what is going on here.

Salvie burst back into the laboratory upon hearing her master clapping and shouting to see what the matter was. When she arrived, she seemed to be about to interrupt but Felbin held out a hand for her to stop.

“Girl, it would seem that despite your best efforts, we have managed to successfully enchant the rat figurine! Since this is new to you I will explain the process a little and what exactly we have accomplished.”

“When forging an item such as this, one first creates an anchor. In this instance it is the figurine of a rat. The quality and material of the figurine factor heavily into the result as they determine the chance of a successful imbuement as well as the amount of magical power it can ultimately contain. Here, we have taken an Elite level material, ancient rosewood, which was crafted into the statue that you were holding throughout the enchanting process.”

“The ritual you were part of consists of three parts. The first is merely the summoning of power, the building up of magical energies needed to power the entire process. Once critical mass is reached, the next step is The Calling, in essence the use of an arcane phrase to search for a suitable partner for our astral anchor. The final step is not fully understood but is known as binding. Once all three steps are finalized, there still are random factors that alter the chance of success, mitigated but not eliminated by the skill of the person performing the enchantment.”

“Since our final product is also Elite quality, our little friend may be summoned from the astral plane, his home, for up to four hours a day. He,” the mage said, sending a quick glance toward’s undercarriage, “yes, um, he – is sentient but must follow the commands of the bearer of the figurine to the best of his ability. Our little fellow also will always remain friendly to the master of his effigy, as you can plainly see now that he is calmly looking at us; a night and day difference from when he first appeared, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes b. . . “

“Silence, girl, that was rhetorical! As I was about to say, he can stay up to four hours on our plane, which need not all be contiguous. Once the limit is reached, however, he will fade into a mist and then fully disappear as he is returned to his home on the Astral. Mind you, should he become injured to the point where he would normally die, this too will send him home but you will not be able to resummon him until the next dawn.”

“He does not die then?”

“No, you need not fear, for he will reappear the next day completely unharmed. Well, not you, per se, but his future master. Remember, this is for the Duke’s son, remember?”

Not wanting to make her earlier mistake, Salvie remained silent.

“Are you deaf, girl? Do you not remember”

“Yes, Master Felbin, the Duke’s son, Albert, I remember.”

“The why did you not say so?” Felbin shook his head in disappointment. “Stupid, girl,” he mumbled under his breath, but was clearly not quiet enough if her angry expression was any indication. Lucky for her, though, he was thoroughly engrossed with his new rodent toy.

***

So that is what happened, eh? If I had to guess, the summoning process happened right as I was taking a beating, and judging by the short one’s hands, it appears that all my injuries were somehow transferred to her? I suppose I shouldn’t dwell on how close I came to dying as that is the kind of thing that can drive a rodent mad.

“Come here, rat!” the robed man commanded, and Runt had no choice but to comply.

This must be some strong magic; I don’t even feel upset about it, though I know I should be. The implications of this situation are somewhat disturbing, but I can’t stay mad at you, cute giant hideous man-beast! I could never stay mad at a face like that!

The large man held his hand down low with an open palm and indicated for Runt to hop on, which he did without hesitation. “Now crawl up to my shoulder and stay there for a moment as I need to run a few tests, my little friend.” Runt, of course, complied with this request as well and took a position on Master Felbin’s right shoulder.

“All right, everything seems to be in order, let us begin.” The enchanter scratched his chin for a moment in contemplation, before finally smiling and nodding to himself. “This out to do. Rat, I command you to jump to the floor!”

Heh, I would never. . . Runt took a flying leap from his perch and landed hard on the floor on his right side, not quite sticking the landing. “Shite! Why the bloody hell would you want me to do that? Double shite! Why the hell would I actually do it!” This is going to be a problem, I’m afraid.

“Yes! Excellent!” Felbin now had a smug look of satisfaction plastered across his face. He reached for his ink and pen and began taking notes, speaking them aloud while he did so. “The subject followed a command that would obviously end in self-harm. Test one of twenty is successful.”

You crazy old bastard! I have a feeling that the next four hours will feel exceedingly long.

Runt’s observation ultimately proved correct, as Master Felbin issued commands that escalated the amount of danger and pain he would receive from the previous test. The magic was indeed powerful if it could override his own self-preservation instinct. Unfortunately, even if the damage he sustained here would ultimately be healed after his death on his next summon, it still hurt like a son of a doe. Lucky for Runt, they never made it to the twentieth test, as he died most undignified when he was commanded to stand under a garbage can that was tipping over. Who is the jerk that makes garbage cans out of iron? Seriously.