Marlow felt off. He was used to working with animals, but it was strange to a chicken, an almost mindless bird. Follow him around like a puppy expecting a treat. Sure he had the spare bird follow him for a bit while eating a sandwich, but they usually left once the meal was gone.

“COME ON, LAD, PICK UP THE PACE!” Benson called as he marched onto a distant acre of land. This far-out field was filled with twisted trees with little to no leaves. Which failed to shade the rows of red and orange flowers.

Marlow rolled his eyes and smiled. Despite Benson’s grandfatherly figure, he was pretty fit. Mr. bones had a blast keeping up with his human. Opal was tucked under Marlow’s arm, cooing at the new sights they ran past.

“Why didn’t we take the cart with us?” Marlow huffed as Benson hucked the rubber ball further out.

“BECAUSE WE'RE NOT HERE TO HARVEST THESE FLOWERS YET. WE’RE HERE SO THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR NEXT COMPANION.”

“Next companion, I haven’t even finished Opal her second trick.” Marlow panted as his legs wobbled from the two-mile surprise marathon.

“IT’S BEST TO GET YOUR COMPANIONS IN SETS. IT IS LIKE RAISING CATS AND DOGS. SURE THEY FIGHT. BUT IF YOU GET BOTH OF THEM WHILE THEY'RE STILL YOUNG, THEY’LL GROW UP TOGETHER AND LEARN TO WORK TOGETHER. SO SINCE YOU TOOK EGG-PERT AS YOUR FIST ABILITY, LET’S MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU CAN USE TO DEFEND YOURSELF.”

Benson answered as he walked up and yanked a branch from one of the trees. Before Marlow could get another word in, Benson riffled around in his pockets, pulling out a leather envelope.

“SO TELL ME, WHAT’S A DEFENSIVE BEAST YOU’D LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BACK TO? A BIRD? A FROG? OR A SNAKE?”

“What are you doing with that wood?”

“OH, RIGHT, YOU’VE NEVER SEEN MY MAGIC BEFORE. WELL, WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING THAT WE’RE CONNECTED TO. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU AND ME ARE BOTH CONNECTED TO BEAST-KEEPING MAGIC, YEAH? WHILE A MAGE WOULD BE MORE CONNECTED TO WHATEVER ELEMENT OR CONCEPT THEY'RE MOST ALIGNED WITH. MAGIC HAS NUMEROUS WAYS OF EXPRESSING ITSELF. WHETHER IT BE IN THOUGHT SUMMONING, ENCHANTMENTS, HEALING, CONTRACTS, TRANSMUTATIONS, RITUALS, OR WHATEVER METHOD MOST SUITS YOU. NOW SINCE I HAVE BEAST-KEEPING MAGIC. MY OPTIONS ARE LIMITED TO WHAT BEASTS I HAD DOMAIN OVER. SAME AS YOU.” Benson explained as he unfolded the leather envelope to reveal wood carving tools.

“SO I CHOOSE ENCHANTING AS MY PREFERRED METHOD. THIS UNIQUE COMBINATION ALLOWED ME TO LEARN SPIRIT CARVING. WHERE I CAN TAKE THE ESSENCE OF ONE OF MY BEASTIES THAT HAS MOVED ON AND MIX IT IN WITH MY ENCHANTING TO CREATE A CONSTRUCT THAT LATER EVOLVES INTO A FAMILIAR. SO, LAD, DO YOU WANT A BIRD, FROG, OR SNAKE? AT YOUR BACK.”

“Can you teach me magic!” Marlow smiled. Thoughts of gathering hay into a wagon with a few simple words would make working so much easier.

“OF COURSE, I CAN TEACH YA MAGIC ONCE YOU HIT LEVEL TEN. UNTIL THEN, BIRD, FROG, OR SNAKE?”

“Oh, I guess a snake? I already got a bird.” Marlow gestured at Opal, pecking the ground.

“GOOD! YOU BETTER TEACH OPAL A NEW TRICK BEFORE I FINISH CARVING. ELSE I’LL PUT YOU TO WORK PULLING UP CARROTS. ALONE!” Benson grumbled as he picked out a blade and began to stripe the wood.

Marlow turned to Opal frowning, yesterday, it took him half the day to teach Opal her name, and now he had less than that to teach her a new trick. Wonderful. Marlow calmed himself. This attitude wasn’t gonna help him find his family. Once everything Benson had asked of him was done, he’d go out prepared and see his family. Until then, he’d just have to bear with it. And that was something a Stedfaster could do.

Marlow looked at Opal, who pecked at the ground and had an idea. He held his hand up and made the ‘come’ motion. While saying ‘come,’ this didn’t provoke a reaction. He then decided to try it again, with the same results.

“Opal, come.” Marlow beckoned, and Opal stopped, then looked at Marlow. Her curious gaze saw that her master had no food, so she went back to scavenging the ground.

“Come here, Opal!” Marlow called excited, this time getting Opal to take a step forward before getting distracted again. Marlow decided to shorten the distance to not make it not as difficult.

“Opal, come!” Marlow cheered, this time getting Opal to take a few steps closer to him. Before getting distracted again. It was good I was making Headway, not much, but soon would have his very own chicken follower. Sure it wasn't Rusty from back home, but…

Marlow’s heart sank thinking of his family dog. But that train of thought, I had to stop there. He could not lose himself. He had to keep pushing forward. People who got caught in the past never progressed. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he tried again to call Opal to his side. All the while, Benson chipped away at the stick he picked.

After a time, leading Opal to the opposite side of the field. He’d finally got Opal to consistently come when her name is called. Two or three feet in his direction before losing interest. He even got within five feet to try and make it easier, but the results were still the same.

Despite all this, Marlow couldn't help but feel something else was out there. But since Mr. bones are acting out of the norm, Marlow fooled himself into Thinking That it can't be that bad. That was until a giant brown and gray rat crawled from under a bush.

Marlow didn't pay it any mind and called Opal to come. Opel, of course, turned her head and began clucking as she walked towards her master. Just as she got within two feet of Marlow, she got distracted again, swerving off course to pluck at some grass. Marlow signed with a smile on his face. He took a few steps back and crouched down, getting on the same eye level as Opal could call her again.

“Opal, come.” As he said those words, he noticed something now that he was closer to the ground. The grass rustled as a giant black rat scurried toward him. On a crash course directly for his legs.

Just as Marlow took a step back, Benson had lifted a leg up and ripped off a boot. Like a Mexican mother disciplining her own child. He hucked his boot across the field, nailing the large rat. Unfortunately for Marlow, a stinky boot wasn’t going to slow this determined rat down.

“SICK EM MR. BONES!” Benson yelled while Marlow stumbled backward. Landing on his elbow with a thud, he noticed something. The rat had stopped moving. Once, it had gotten within a foot of him.

Mr. Bones dashed into the field, trampling crops as he locked on to the disturbance. That had disrupted his playtime barking all the while. Marlow glanced at the waving flowers, then over at the giant rat.

“DID YA GIT HIM MR. BONES! HAHA!- ER LAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Benson had gotten off of his stump and had followed his dog. Only to find Mr. Bones circling his apprentice with the rat above his head.

“I’m not sure…”

“LAD, YOU'RE NOT KEEPING THAT RAT.” Benson signed as if he’d been through this before.

“IT’S A RAT ONCE YOU LET ONE IN THE REST OF THE PACK WILL FOLLOW. THEY’LL EAT THE HARVEST AND MULTIPLE. LEAVING US HIGH AND DRY.”

“What if we feed it things other than what you grow?” Marlow asked as Mr. Bones nipped at the aloft rat.

“SO HOW DO YOU PLAN ON KEEPING THIS VERMIN OF YOURS WELL FEED?”

“I’ll buy rat food!” Marlow proclaimed as he fended off another jump from Mr. Bones.

“REALLY YOU’RE GOING TO BUY RAT FOOD! BAHA!” Benson laughed bending over to keep himself from falling. While Opal finally ran over to Marlow’s side. Flapping her wings in an attempt to scare off Mr. Bones, who ignored her.

“ALRIGHT, HE-HE! I’LL GIVE YOU SOME COIN. BUT IF YOU CAN’T FIND RAT FOOD THEN ITS MR. BONE’S DINNER. DO WE HAVE A DEAL?” Benson giggled as he reached out a hand.

Marlow hesitated for a moment before clasping the callused hand. A few moments later Marlow’s pocket was heavy with silver coins. As he left the flower field he could still hear Benson laughing.

Marlow, Opal, and the large bat rat trekked their way back to civilization. Finally, realizing how wealthy Benson really was. To own a farm so large you couldn’t see signs of a city in any direction. Was quite interesting. All of were planted, watered, grew, and harvested. All by one man! It made Marlow wonder what other possibilities were there in this new world.

The black rat lightly chewed at Marlow’s hand. With its tiny stomach loudly making its self known. Marlow smiled as the rat noticed it biting his hand and stopped.

“I guess you need a name then, since calling you large black rat. Is just too long. How about? Plague? No, that’s too, dark. Remy? No, you don’t seem like a chef.” The rat gnawed Marlow’s hand.

“I think I’ll call you, Gwaner.” As soon as the words left Marlow’s mouth. An unpleasant familiar thrum of lightening ran through his body. Then into his hand and into Gwaner. Marlow toppled over feeling drained. While Gwaner nibbled at his new master’s hand.

“How about a five-minute break?” Marlow mumbled as Opal pecked at his prone fingers.

Minutes later the three of them resumed their journey to pick up some rat food. A half an hour later they’d finally made it to Benson’s house. After word finding an easy path towards the city was a breeze.

They passed through the official gate to Benson’s farm they made their way back into the city. Suddenly a horrible smell wafted passed Marlow. Nearly causing him to hurl.

There were so many unwashed bodies. Packed so close together. It was unbearable. Shuffling as fast as he was comfortable with, Marlow buried down the hobo streets.

But as he moved further into the city the streets became denser with people. At one point he was pretty sure someone was laying there, only covering himself with garbage. Marlow pressed on. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he’d get back to the nice spacious farm.

As he wandered he realized two things. First he had no idea where a pet store would be located. And second what did rats eat in this world. He knew what they ate on Earth, but what about here? Then again that would probably be answered when he’d asked the store clerk a few questions.

Hustling into an alleyway he decided to catch his breath. He’d been getting quite a few stairs carrying Opal and Gwaner. But he wasn’t gonna let them wander off, in such a public place. Something awful might happen to them.

“So this was the ‘other rumor’ you were talking about? Why did we even snag a scrying orb in the first place. If the mage’s college is dulling them out to every guard in the city!” A feminine voice echoed through the tiny alleyway. Marlow scanned the alley find no one around.

“No, they’ve given each barracks a scrying orb. Along with an accompanying mage. Meaning that no one can steal a scrying orb, unless there will to get blasted by the elements.” A gruff voice rumbled through the alley. Marlow wanted to leave, but this sounded, interesting. Marlow slowly walked down the alley way eventually finding a murky basement window slightly ajar.

“That still not answering my question, CARVER! What was the point of having me get the scrying orb! Unless you really were trying to find your lost looks?” A woman in a forest green cloak teased from her perch on a wooden desk.

“FINE! To answer your question. It’s because sooner or later the city will begin charging for use of the scrying orb. The King and Queen certainly don’t want a billion bodies lazing about. After they’ve just won the war against the beast men. Because if there is no one working. Most society will collapse. Just as people are being put to the wheel, we’ll strike. We’ll begin to collect favors, goods, and coin, since the majority of people still want to find someone close to them.” Carver proudly tolled the woman.

“So we just wait until then? Why not start now? I know a few people who wouldn’t mind spreading the rumor around for a small fee of course?”

“We are not starting now! Do you know how hard it is to find bribe-able guards to get up and move to this part of town! Most of them don’t have the best reputation! Let alone the foresight to set up this entire operation! If the King or Queen get wind of this they’ll come down on us. Making sure that no one ever sees the light of day again! No more warm meals, no more nice beds, no more hugs from little brothers.”

Carver snarled, as he stomped forward. For a brief instant the cloaked woman coiled away from the large hair man. Before composing herself. Marlow held his breath not wanting to be heard by these mobsters.

“Fine, but we can’t just keep it here. We should at least move it to our main base. Can just have some hobo, waltz right in and try and palm off our hard work.” The woman remarked, causing Carver hummed to himself before answering.

“I guess you make a good point for a lackey. I’ll take it to warehouse. But I want you and grunts to go on patrol. Can’t have these streets overflowing with hobos when this operation starts running.” The woman growled before signing.

“When?”

“How about five minutes”

“Fine, I’m going on break til then.” The cloaked woman stormed towards a wall. A wall that Marlow was behind. Marlow looked further down the alleyway and found several back doors. The door nearest to him jittered as it was yanked open.