As consciousness slowly returned to Ozzy he gained a vague sense of movement, the movement was smooth and fluid to the point of being nearly imperceptible. He could only just barely sense it with his face and ear pressed against the hard grainy surface of what he was certain was the wagon’s floor. It was like they were gliding over ice and the subtle vibrations nearly lulled him back to the brink of unconsciousness. For a moment, he was just comfortable enough to slip into what might have been the worlds most well deserved nap, until a boot acquainted itself with his ribs.

  “Gah!” Ozzy’s eyes shot open and he scrambled up off of the wagons wooden floor, earning himself a few splinters for the trouble. “What the hell!” Ozzy shouted, glaring down at Emil, who’s stoic expression remained fixed save for an infuriatingly agile waggled his eyebrows.

  “You’re finally awake. I was starting to think you’d gone and run off into the after.” Emil snorted, fluttering his mustache.

  Allowing himself a moment to really stew in his collective emotions at having been woken up Ozzy took a deep breath and exhaled. This was not the first time he’d been kicked awake and with how things were looking it probably wouldn’t be the last. So he let it go, mostly, and plopped onto the bench across from Emil.

  “I know, I know, you looked cozier than a Jervint in June but we need to talk-”

  “A what?”

  “A Jervint, don’t interrupt.” Ozzy threw his hands up in a whatever motion as Emil continued. “You’ve got some strange going’s on and as your newest friend I wanted to prevent what happened with you picking a fight with the rat core and all from happening again.” Emil’s leaned forward, his voice lowering as he got down to the subject matter.

  Ignoring the fact that Emil knew what June was Ozzy decided this was important enough to not ask anything off topic. “All I did was absorb it?”

  “That’s really what I want to keep you from doing again. In your defense, you shouldn’t have been able to do that. The rest of us normal folk need a mediator between wild magic and the soul. Since you don’t need that I guess you just have to duke it out with the wild magic in a core to absorb it.” Emil looked Ozzy up and down. “I wouldn’t really say you won that fight.”

  Ozzy just harrumphed in acknowledgment of the point and continued listening.

  “The other thing is that, well, you ate a rat core… and don’t get me wrong nothing wrong with someone having a rat core but-” His stoic expression broke as he gave Ozzy a pitying look. “It’s a rat core. No man of means ever goes for something like that.”

  Ozzy dropped his face into his palm. “Did I just screw myself over?”

  “Ehh, nothing super serious,” Emile placated. “Cores of that rarity and caliber are just kinda looked down on. No one’s gonna take a pigeon core when they could get an eagle core unless they have to.”

  “Well shoot.” Ozzy frowned. “So what do I do?”

  “You get the best core money can buy you for your last one. Or you hunt down one that money can’t, and sell everything else. That is if you’re wanting to hunt like I do.” Emil shrugged. “If you don’t want to fight then it doesn’t matter as much.

  “Good shards’ll help offset the normal harmlessness and bottom feeding nature of rats. Even if someone had a broom core, I bet if they got a shard of wrath they’d get a power to sweep away monsters or something.” As he spoke Emil pulled a bundle out from a pile of wrapped items beside him and sat it on the ground between them.

  Wrapped in a worn oilskin were the three shards they had looted. Each of the shards varied slightly from one another, one was a light bluish, another a gentle green, and the final was a dull white. The more Ozzy scrutinized them the more he realized how distinct they were, and he could even surmise that the dull white one was probably the claw shard he had identified earlier. It was by far the most curved of the three and its crystal tip ended with a wicked point.

  Without comment he lifted his arm and activated the scanner on his watch. The two of them waited in silence as the scanner did its business, red lasers dancing across the shards.

  *BEEP BEEP*

  Affinity shard identified. — Claw Shard

  Contains the attuned powers of claws.

  Rarity — uncommon

  Absorb? Yes/No

  *BEEP BEEP*

  Affinity shard identified. — Murk Shard

  Contains the attuned powers of the Murk.

  Rarity — rare

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Absorb? Yes/No

  *BEEP BEEP*

  Affinity shard identified. — Shard of the pack

  Contains the attuned powers of the pack.

  Rarity — rare

  Absorb? Yes/No

  Ozzy shared the results of the scan with Emil who after reading over the screens contents grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Now that’s not half bad! That shard of the pack can go for good money. Armies and mercenary bands buy these kinds of shards up whenever they’re recruiting. The murk shard’s alright and the claw shard’s pretty common but not bad finds by any means.” He nodded to himself, “A pretty good haul for a rat pack, even if they were vicious bastards.”

  As Ozzy looked over the shards however he remembered something that until now had sat forgotten in his watches notifications. By absorbing the rat core he would have unlocked a power. At least his suffering might have been worth something he mused.

  *BEEP BEEP*

  Rat Core absorbed

  Cores 2/3

  Unlocked Rat Core ability — Furry Friend — Old One Eye is a summoned ether rat. Beauty is found in the eye of the beholder.

  The power instantly piqued Ozzy’s interest. Not only was he going to get a cute summonable rat buddy but potentially his own little spy. He could already envision a Ratatuille situation just with guns and monster hunting instead of cooking. He had to summon him right now.

  With a little willpower Ozzy felt a surge of energy expend itself and form into a little rat that plopped down into his palm. As Ozzy got a good look at the rat his powers weaknesses became instantly evident. The image of the cute little rat he’d imagined was unapologetically and ruthlessly shattered by the grizzled form of the toughest looking rat he’d ever seen.

  At a glance one might see a scruffy little grey rat. On a second glance you might just think it was old timeworn little rodent. Things changed after a serious look however.

  Old One Eye looked like he ate cats for breakfast and falcons for lunch, Ozzy didn’t even want to think about what was on his dinner menu. The rats fur was mangy and his ears looked like they’d had multiple bad run ins with a cheese grater. His whiskers were all crooked and singed and they surrounded a scarred mouth where a decidedly unratlike fang jutted over its bottom lip.

  Most captivating of all the rats bombed out features were its eyes. Its left eye was a dead white color with a scar starting just above its brow and ending right before its nose. The right eye however was something else entirely, Ozzy found a deep intelligence staring back at him through an impossibly complex green iris. It was like staring out at space through the eye of a needle, captivating, enlightening, and very small.

  “The hell are you staring at greenblood.” The spell was instantly broken as rather than the series of cute squeaks Ozzy was expecting the rat let out a torrent of heavily accented English, it seemed Ozzy had met a rather posh rodent.

  “Well? Why’d you summon me? What’s needin’ a beatin’? What’s askin’ for a smacken?’” The rat hopped around in his palm, giving Ozzy the vague imitation of a boxer shaking off their nerves. Then the rat saw Emil

  “Oh hello patsy.” The rat said with just way too much glee. “Oi! Summoner! Am I siccing this guy or what?” Old One Eye shouted, stretching his little rat form out like a pro wrestler as he waited for the kill order.

  “Who the hell are you calling patsy.” Emil looked completely unbothered as he gave the freshly summoned rat this worlds equivalent of a southern stare down. “Rat bastard.” He added, completely unnecessarily, freezing the rat mid stretch.

  The rat looked from Emil, to Ozzy, and back to Emil, the three of them sitting under a silence so heavy, it could’ve gotten up and grabbed seconds.

  “I’m gonna kill this guy boss.”

  The rat didn’t hesitate to leap at Emil, a green aura encasing it as it moved much faster than a normal rat could ever hope to. In turn, Emil used one of his own abilities and a red barrier appeared directly in front of him. With a squeak of defiance Old One Eye crashed directly into the barrier, and fell to the floor of the wagon. It was a less than impressive display from his new ability.

  “Oi! That ain’t fair! Face me like a man you shield wielding coward!”

  Emil’s barrier dispersed into nothingness as he watched with raised eyebrows as the rat hopped around in anger.

  “But you’re a rat?” Emil said.

  “What? I bloody well know I’m a rat! What’s that got to do with anything?” The rat asked, pausing his angry hops.

  “Well, can’t fight something like a man if you’re not a man. Just don’t work that way.” Emil offered, proving to be a bright beacon of reason within the wagons roiling ocean of confusion.

  The rat paused as it considered Emil’s words, genuinely taking a moment to think about what had been said. Old One Eye then of course abandoned his peaceful course of action to pursue a strategic and highly unanticipated sneak attack on Emil. He launched himself at the unaware fool, sheathing himself in a layer of caustic energies as he flew, opening his toothy maw wide in anticipation of—

  Emil summoned a second barrier, stopping the rats sneak attack with a hollow thud and muffled squeak.

  “Long time between summoners?” Emil asked, as the rat shook the hit off.

  Pausing for only a moment the rat let out a sigh as it plopped onto its butt. Chuckling and scratching its head it spoke up. “Just a couple hundred years, it’s not showing is it?”

  Emil winced, apparently more concerned about hurting the rats feelings than letting it slam repeatedly into a metal shield. “Only a little bit.” He held his hand up leaving just a bit of space between his fingers for emphasis. “He’s new to all of this though, so I wouldn’t worry about it.” Emil winked at the rat.

  “This got weirdly wholesome unusually fast.” Ozzy commented, putting his hands up defensively when his wagon mates leveled glares at him. “Not that I’m complaining about it! Just surprised is all. Nice to meet you though, Old One Eye, my names Ozzy. It’s a pleasure to have you aboard.” Ozzy nodded his greeting towards the rat, figuring it was probably best to start off on the right foot with the angry little rat.

  In turn the rat began to look him over, appraising his new summoner like a sergeant at an early morning muster. Seconds began to tick by as the rat paced left and then right, taking in as much of Ozzy as he could. Finally, after what felt like a minute Old One Eye stopped.

  Returning Ozzy’s earlier gesture the rat nodded up at him. “Pleasures all mine Ozzy, call me Frank.”

  “Name’s Emil, nice to meet you Frank. I’ve never met a rat named Frank before, Frank-ly I’m rather surprised, if I might be Frank I’d even say this’s a once in a lifetime kinda thing. Granted if I were Frank I’d also be a rat, and that’d just make the whole thing a little less novel.” Emil’s poker face might as well have been etched out of stone for all it wavered, and he just stared on at his two wagon mates casually as if he hadn’t just dropped the atom bomb of all dad jokes.

  “Frank.”

  “Yes Boss?”

  “Sicc em’.”