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Chapter 6 ♕ Corvan's Familiar

Valeriana and Corvan swam through the sea of bodies as quickly as they could, although Corvan soon found it irritating and chose that the roofs of the house were a better route for them to take. He pulled Valeriana with him like a rag doll, never minding that the girl felt as if her arm was being yanked off of its socket. He jumped into the air before landing gracefully on top of a flat-roofed house. Valeriana, however, ended straight on her butt in opposite to Corvan's elegant landing.

"Can you be gentler when handling a girl? Thoughtless bastard!" She exclaimed, struggling to get on her feet and find her balance. "That freaking hurts!"

"And you call yourself the fifth-ranker?" He huffed.

"I never asked for the title anyway!" She snapped.

"Insolence."

He turned and started running. Valeriana practically tripped on her own foot trying to catch up. "H-hey! Don't leave without me! You know I can't keep up with you! Jerk!"

Struggling, Valeriana decided to increase the pace of her jog, watching as Corvan skillfully shot off from his toes and landed on the roof of the next building. Shocked, she stopped just before the roof came to an end as well.

She peered over the tip of where she stood and stared at the dark alley down by the house which roof she currently stood on. The ground was a far trip, and it wasn't something Valeriana wanted to take—one certain reason was because it's one-way.

Taking a deep breath, she looked to the other side and saw Corvan raising a brow at her in challenge. He crossed his arms and just stood casually, aggravating her further. She puffed out her cheeks in frustration before blowing away the stray lock that fell on her nose.

She did a short examination of the place around her, especially the deep fall she would be taking if she ever failed, before taking another deep breath and walking back a few steps. She bent her knees in a running pose before shooting off and jumping over the edge.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion just then as she saw herself hovering over the other side. Corvan looked more than amused at her stupid attempt since instead of landing safely where intended, she ended up clinging to the edge with her arms while screaming.

"Oh my god! I'm gonna die!" She cried, feeling her feet dangle. She wanted the ground under her feet—no doubt it would be on her back or front or wherever she might land soon.

"Useless, stupid witch." The first-ranker muttered before be crouched on one knee and stared at the girl with a smirk, seeming to have no intention of helping her out of her current dilemma. "You look like someone from a comedy show, you know."

Valeriana angrily glowered at him. "Don't . . ." She breathed. "Freaking tell me. I know."

"Should I help you?" The sadistic grin got even wider the girl wanted to slap it off his face.

"Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!" She screamed. "I freaking hate you! I swear if I get out of this, I'll kill you!" She began muttering an endless stream of curses under her breath.

"Then I don't think I should help you." He stood up.

"Corvan von freaking Vaushna de la goddamned Wylden!" She cried, feet helplessly swinging.

The young lord looked over his shoulder while confidently cocking a brow. "I never knew my name was that long."

"You get me out of this . . . this . . . right now! Or . . . or I'll . . ." She trailed off, struggling to keep herself from falling.

"Or you'll what?" He taunted.

"I'll . . . tell the whole Twelve you peed your pants!" She threatened.

"Pfft." He snorted. "You think they'll believe you?"

"I'll tell them!" She said. "I swear I'll tell them!" She repeated desperately.

Her arms were slacking and she started to slide off the edge where she hung. She started squealing while desperately trying to tighten her grip on the very corner of the flat roofed house, feeling her heart starting to palpitate from the sight of death's door.

Slowly, her hold weakened. She desperately clawed against the surface that her nails were chipped, but it was hopeless. She could already feel the wound on her palms reopening, causing blood to make a visible mark on the bandages.

She hissed slightly from the pain, feeling her hold weaken further. "Ah!"

Hands clamped around her arms and pulled her up. The grip was so tight that it hurt but she was grateful for it. She desperately clung to her savior, wrapping her arms around his neck as she was hauled from her 'dangling show'. Strong fingers gripped her waist, reaching around her lower back. One of her foot slipped against the sides, but her support managed to keep her safe.

First, she was on her knees and the next, she was finally standing.

Breathing heavily, she looked up. "Whew."

At last she was hanging no more.

That was when she locked gazes with him and realized their position.

His strong arms held her around the waist, and it was weird how she started to feel conscious of his presence all of a sudden. The closeness of their faces made her face heat up and for a moment, both of them stared into each other's eyes with the tip of their noses touching.

Blue to green. Green to blue.

"It's time to go." He said while breathing heavily, chasing a man around wasn't at all fun when you were the one being toyed with. Corvan then loosened his hold around her waist, turning his back on the girl.

Valeriana stared at his broad shoulders with wide eyes, hands shooting up to her chest. She flattened her palm just above her left breast, willing to calm the erratically beating heart inside her ribcage.

She didn't know if she was tired or excited from what just happened . . . or if it was something else entirely.

One thing was it felt weird.

"Are you coming or not?" Corvan asked.

Valeriana snapped out of her reverie and reluctantly began to run after the young lord. "Uh—y-yeah!" She started to jog beside him, trying to match his pace. "Thank you, by the way."

"I can't say you're welcome."

She blew out a sigh in frustration. "Why must you be a jerk?"

On the other side, she was contemplating why she was thinking that way. She really didn't understand him.

They continued to travel from above for a few minutes. Valeriana noticed Corvan keeping an eye out for a hooded figure, but nothing seemed to come to sight. The girl hopelessly stumbled through the numerous obstacles they met on the way, clumsily tripping on things which undoubtedly slowed them down. This seemed to infuriate Corvan more than Valeriana, and all she could do was grin at him sheepishly in response to his intimidating glowers he often shot to her direction. Either that or she would huff at him and scoff at his behavior, but she could not risk him denying to lend his help when she once again found herself in a very . . . dangerous position.

Even so, she could not help being like this. Corvan effortlessly weaved through the things which hindered their paths—whether it was jumping over an overwhelming gap between two buildings, scaling walls and swinging from one place to another, he never seemed to have a problem. She felt jealous of his ability.

Corvan growled when Valeriana tripped over her own foot after trying to catch up to his well-maintained—and not to mention fast—pace. Her legs were growing weary since she didn't have the same kind of stamina the first-ranker obviously had.

"This is frustrating." He hissed.

As cruel as it might be, Valeriana wasn't as good as the rest of the Twelve. She knew she was being a burden being likes this. She found her annoyance about her incapability of keeping up with the other rankers growing by the minute, and it did not help when she found herself covered in minor scrapes and scratches that throbbed with dull pain from the seemingly endless stream of mishaps she encountered.

"I know! I'm sorry!" She struggled to find balance from her trembling legs.

"Sorry does not remove the fact that you're slowing us down!"

"Well, it's not my fault! I'm not like you people, alright?!" She clenched her fists in anger. She already felt bad enough as it was. She began to walk but fell again, much to her embarrassment. She sobbed under her breath, but didn't—couldn't—really cry. "I have no dignity left."

"If you're going to continue like this the whole way through . . ." Corvan sighed problematically. "It seems I have no other choice. I didn't want to end up using this."

Valeriana raised her head from the ground, curious of what he was about to do. "Hm?"

"By the name of Arland, revered god of fire," he started muttering, his eyes fluttering close while he began tracing some knife's sharp edge across his palms which the girl didn't notice he took out.

Valeriana gasped as she saw blood running down his hands, pushing herself to her feet as quickly as she could. "The heck are you doing?!"

Corvan said nothing and held out his wounded palm, squeezing it hard so that his blood swelled quicker and dropped to the floor they stood on with a sickening 'plop'. "I call upon the mighty beast of flames, guardian of the element of the roaring fire. Heed my plea and appear before me."

She recognized the familiar words and gaped. "You're summoning you're familiar?"

She wasn't stupid. Lessons regarding the relationship of Valemnians with familiars were not foreign. The concept was taught in class, specifically her Power Control. Everyone possessed the ability to call upon a beast that matched the amount of raw power they had.

She might have been weaker compared to their athletic prowess, but she was educated enough that she wouldn't be taken as a fool.

It was a rare occurrence for her though. She hadn't seen anyone summon their familiars for all she cared. They had yet to make a contract with their corresponding 'partners', or so Lady Agatha had said, for they weren't in the proper year to do it as of yet. Summoning a familiar and establishing a contract needed a lot of time and preparation—it wasn't something that could be done prematurely. One could only form a contract once during their entire life, so mistakes were something they couldn't afford.

Familiars were used as a last resort in fights. They weren't normally used in the earlier stages of a battle. One could consider them the strongest card of a person seeing as they bring the greatest potential out of their masters, but, as a price to pay, they drain much of their energy afterwards, leaving the user in a vulnerable state.

"I thought only fourth years were allowed to form a contract with familiars." She muttered. "Why the hell do you have one?"

He smirked. "I do things in my own pace."

"Alright. I get it." Valeriana huffed. "You're awesome, you're great, yadah, yadah, yadah." She rolled her eyes.

From where the drops of his blood landed, a fire appeared and started to burn wildly. The loud crackling and roaring made the fifth-ranker scream and jump back, startled by its sudden appearance. Valeriana felt a stir in her surroundings. She shielded her ears from the bone-chilling sound, knowing that this fire wasn't at all ordinary. Its flames were hotter and it burned brighter. It wasn't like any other fire that Corvan conjured before. This fire was blue.

The flames then parted like doors and paws stepped out. Valeriana's eyes widened as big as saucers as a majestic beast in form of a lion appeared.

She couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped from her parting lips as she slowly brought her hands down to her side, looking at the creature in awe and admiration.

She never saw a lion with plumed white wings attached on its back. The hair that grew around its neck looked fluffier than anything with fur she ever laid her eyes on, and the twin tails that twitched behind it was even more unusual.

What was more shocking was that it had the color of pure, white snow. The blue fire reflected off of its piercing eyes and it stared straight at Valeriana, holding her in place.

"Wow." She whispered as the flames vanished.

"Avaro." Corvan said, and the beast turned to look at him with grace only felines could possess. "Please carry the stupid witch on your back. She's slowing me down." He then took a handkerchief from his pocket and started wiping away the blood that stained his hands.

"You didn't really have to put it that way!" She scowled.

The beast craned its neck and eyed the girl with its burning blue eyes. He then made his way towards her, eyes not leaving hers. Valeriana stared back at him, captivated by the light that glowed within those mysterious, blue orbs.

Her fingers twitched as her muscles registered the urge to pet the beast on the nose. She wanted to, although she felt hesitant since the air that Avaro carried was heavily intimidating. He oozed with an aura of danger and pure power, glowing like the unearthly beast he was.

Despite it all, she realized that her hand was already making its way to the beast's head. Avaro didn't seem to mind and instead closed his eyes, positioning himself right under Valeriana's fingers.

The contact made the fifth-ranker gasp as soft and warm fur brushed the smooth skin of the palm of her good hand—seeing as the other was still wrapped in bandages and stung like hell every time she tried to move it. This show of closeness and the fact that Avaro seemed to trust the girl made Corvan raise a brow.

"Odd." He murmured, wrapping the handkerchief around his wounded hand. He tightly bound it with the piece of cloth. "He usually never acts like this around other people than me. I never expected him to acquiesce to my request easily."

Despite this, the girl didn't seem to hear what the first-ranker said and continued to stroke the beast. She looked engrossed doing so, her fingers weaving through his soft coat before reaching behind his ears.

Avaro purred, a throaty rumble echoing inside his chest and sending a wave of vibration that lightly shook his fur.

"I never really liked cats but . . ." Valeriana trailed off. "You're beautiful."

Avaro softly growled at her in response. 'This one is flattered."

Valeriana looked up from the beast to Corvan. "Did you say anything?"

Corvan gave her an inquiring look. "I did not."

The beast opened its eyes and eyed the girl. 'Lheuim ansur, 'tis I.'

Valeriana glanced between the lion and its master in confusion. "Lum what?"

Corvan's brows furrowed. "Do not tell me you can hear him."

"You mean . . ." She stared at the winged lion in shock. "Holy mother of all cows! You can talk! This is awesome!" Excitement bubbled in her stomach. Though she could hear him talking, she couldn't see him actually opening his mouth to talk.

'It seems the girl possess ability to hear this one's words.' Avaro turned to Corvan. 'Thou hast found a rare child, heilm juaire. I have not encountered a person who can understand the words of a Vileamis Niemu as old as myself since the ancient times.'

"Hem what? What's he talking about?"

"He speaks the Ancient Language." Corvan said. "The original language of Valemnia. It is odd how you can understand him, nonetheless."

"So what if I can? You can too."

"It does not work that way." He sighed. "Like I expect someone like you to understand."

He didn't sound like he was teasing. In fact, that dead seriousness he had coating his voice did a great job on grating the girl's nerves.

"Hey! Stop underestimating my intelligence! I may not be the best in keeping up with the chase, but I'm NOT stupid!" She roared.

Corvan didn't look fazed. "Let us discuss this afterwards. I have no desire to linger knowing I'm being left behind because of some stupid witch who cannot keep up."

"Shut the hell up!"

'Mount, lheuim ansur.' The beast said, offering his back to Valeriana. 'That is what the heilm juaire wishes.'

"What about Corvan?" She asked, throwing her feet over the beast as she took position just a little behind the spot where his wings were connected to his back.

She felt mildly concerned about him having to slide a knife down his own palm just to summon his familiar. The girl wanted to ask about his wound, but Corvan didn't seem to need any help at all. So instead of voicing out her concerns, she kept it to herself instead.

'The weight I can carry is limited. Heilm juaire can handle himself just fine.'

"What's Humli-blah Jar-something?" She asked, feeling her tongue twist uncomfortably at the words.

'Heilm juaire.' He repeated. 'He is a child of Arland, a child of fire.'

"I see."

Avaro eyed Corvan as he leaped towards the next roof. He then ruffled his wings before leaping after his master, gliding smoothly to the other side. Valeriana could feel the beast's muscles flexing under her as he flapped his wing once. He landed safely and began to run.

'So child,' Said Avaro. 'Thou art a child of whom?'

"My parents'." She answered.

He chuckled, a pleasing sound vibrating from his chest. 'Such sarcasm. Who are thy parents?'

"Well, I'm the daughter of Lily and Janus Kerrigan." She told him. "If that's what you wanted to know."

Corvan silently listened to their conversation in the background.

'Kerrigan? This beast never heard of such name before.' Avaro answered. 'Although Janus is a familiar name. The most recent person I have met with the name of Janus is a Celeste. His surname is different, however."

"Who's he?" She asked.

'A very respectable man.' Avaro answered. 'Janus Vermont is his name. Though there is something entirely different about thee.' He chuckled before eventually dropping the subject. 'Dost thou know the meaning of thy name?'

"My name?"

'Kerrigan.' The beast nodded. 'Derived from the ancient words of 'Kerrie' meaning secret, and 'ganus' which meant 'child' in the Valemiuer."

"Valemiuer. Is that the language? I think I heard that word somewhere before."

'Thou art right.' Avaro said. 'Valemiuer. 'Tis what we call Valemnia's language. It means 'Words of the Ancients'.'

"So aside from the Italian and Germanian rubbish about languages, Valemnia has its own language after all?"

'Of course.'

Corvan sighed, but found their conversation highly interesting. Avaro was a beast born even before demons came to be. He was one of the very few immortal beasts that continued to guard the element of fire as one Arland's two guardian beasts. He knew way more than anyone else would and it was a rare sight for him to actually be open with someone, sharing his wisdom and knowledge.

'Thou should be aware.' Avaro told the girl. 'Names hold deeper meanings about a person's identity.'

"What do you mean?"

''Tis only what I can say for now. This one is not entirely certain.'

"There!" Corvan exclaimed, pointing to where he saw the lord. They saw Charles, who was running a little behind the king's brother and Tamara herself coming from around a corner. The whole circle started appearing one after another, each from different directions.

The crowd wasn't as thick as before. The number of people was thinning out as they continued, making it easier to chase Lienhard than before.

"So we all ended up here after all." He muttered.

Lord Lienhard ran casually while nibbling on the meatballs Keelan was eating a few moments ago.

"Get back here, Lord Lienhard! You don't have to right to steal what's mine!" Keelan roared, zooming past Tamara, then Charles.

His determination looked comical, and Valeriana felt amused about how he was running even faster than the rest. Valeriana started wondering what happened when they weren't around.

'That child is amusing. Much like his ancestor.'

Valeriana wanted to ask Avaro about what he said, but before she could even have a chance to do so, the beast ruffled his wings before spreading them open. He turned to Valeriana, tilting his head to the side lightly as if to remind himself of her presence on his back.

'Hold on tight, child.'

"What are you talking about? Wha—"

"Go, Avaro!" Corvan commanded.

Avaro flexed his wings and spread them open. He leaped into the air and soared, flapping them the ground disappeared from below his feet.

Valeriana screamed.

'Calm down, lheuim ansur.' Avaro assured Valeriana, seeing as she was in a state of panic. 'Thou art not going to fall so long as thou holdst on tight.'

"That's not very comforting at all!"