The village of Erville is located on the wildlands, near the eastern border of the kingdom. One could say it's a pretty unremarkable location, given that there's only around 50 houses, and its denizen's main occupation was farming. The village is surrounded by its farmlands, and around that there's a moderately sized forest consisting of oaks and birches. The fauna doesn't really concern the locals either: deer, rabbis, hummingbirds… sometimes a small pack of wolves, but those are rare…
In fact, nobody would really heard about to village of Erville if not for one person. A particular arch mage who saved the kingdom not once but twice. One who had been through many adventures and empires, and is regarded is the most talented wielder of ice, fire and storm. And who's currently looking at her birthplace, where two figures, one elder, one quite young are waiting for her arrival.
As she approached them the older one greeted her:
"Welcome home Kaith! It's good to see you home"
"It's good to see you father! I missed you" she hugged the elder, balding man, then faced the younger one "Greetings! The name is Io."
"Hey Kaith! Long time no see." Greeted her the lad, as Io got confused about the thought as seeing him before.
"I don't recall you… Who are you if I can ask?"
"Wow, you don't remember your old bestie… I'm hurt."
"Aaron? Is that you?"
"Too late. I'm mad at you now… humph" Pouted Aaron, but the grin on his face was visible
"Come on, the last time I saw you I was 9, and you were just a 12 year old boy who ran around with a stick in his hand…"
"And the last time I saw you, you were zapping critters and running to your mom showing off"
Io got red and a bit angry at the young lad "Well… It's good to see you Aaron… Anyway, one thing I want to say that since I have my certificate of arcane mastery my name became Io, and I would like you to call me by that name. Many thanks!" Pouted the little angry arch mage.
"I'll see what I can do about that. Now then… It's nearly dusk… Your father was worried about you, where have you been?"
"Ahem… I was… well… I kind of woke up in the middle of the day… I had to attend this banquet they made me because I saved the kingdom and stuff… you know… Arch mage things…"
Aaron gave her a face that shown he saw through the lies of Io "Well then… I got to go now… I'll let your dad escort you to your house…"
"Alright. Bye" said her farewells, as she was still a bit mad how disrespectful this young man was to her, the great arch mage Io, savior of Kdach, Bane of Tyrants.
"Well then Kaith, lets head home." Said the elderly man
"Yeah… I'm kind of tired because the travel…"
Io and her father made their way through the village of Erville. People around doing their thing as the sun almost faded, greeted them in their way home.
"Quite the boy isn't he?" asked Io's father…
"Aaron?"
"Yes, yes… He helps around the farmlands quite a bit… Besides that he works as a courier for the village, and also manages the horses…"
"Eh… I guess, yeah… Why do you ask?"
"Nothing particular…"
They almost reached Io's house. "Well, I guess I can leave you unpack your belongings. I'm have some things to do myself, then I'm heading home. Tomorrow I'll have a long day…" Said his farewells the elder.
"You don't live in this house anymore?"
"No. It's too painful"
"Ah… Yeah… It's because of mom…"
"A heath of an old geezer can only take so much…"
"Father… I'm sorry I couldn't come…"
"It's alright, my dear. I can imagine a mage being busy all the time. She was proud of you, you know, I'm proud of you."
"Thank you."
"Well now, I shall head to the blacksmith because we need to plan out how to fix the Hummy family's house. It nearly collapsed today…"
"Yes, yes… Good night dad."
"Good night Kaith"
With that, she welcomed herself in her old house. It wasn't much, three rooms, one her parent's, a smaller one of her, and a kitchen. But it was enough for a mage that was retiring for a while…
"Mage light" Snapped Io, and low and behold, a small light appeared that illuminated her old room. "All right, let's begin…" She put her bag on the bed and began unpacking. First, she pulled out her robe. Then a couple of potions that she put atop a shelf near the desk. Then a couple of books, which ended up below the potions. She then got some shiny gems and rings that straight up landed in one of the drawers. Another robe, this one a bit less extravagant than the previous one. A pair of boots… Four more pairs of boots… Some more potions. A dozen more books, who knows what's in them… There wasn't really any more room for the rest of the things. "I need to find some space for the reagents… Maybe the kitchen? No, I don't want to accidentally drink basilisk venom… Eh I guess I'll keep 'em in the bag…" As she finished the sun was already long gone. The sky was full of stars and the second moon proudly hurled around its parent moon.
The skies of the realm was blessed with two moons. One that circled around the planet itself, appearing in the middle of the summer, and going far away in the winter season, the second one orbiting the first moon, doing a full rotation in every month of the year.
Io stargazed for a while. "I should be going now" she thought. Grabbing her bag, she left her house and headed to a hill near Erville. As she walked she looked around like she was searching for something. "Seeker" she said as she turned her head to where the spell told her. At last she arrived to a pile of arranged rocks near the top. She straightened herself, and became a bit serious. Then she got sad. And after a while, she couldn't hold herself and sat down on the soft grass. She didn't really do anything just sat there, looking at those rocks…
The sky was full of stars and the second moon proudly hurled around its parent. Alas, after a while she reached for her bag, and got a small flask and a small bag out that seemed to contain some seeds in it. "Candle". With some more light around, Io chose one of the seeds out and made a small hole in the dirt under the rocks, where she planted the seed, and then proceeded to pour to content of the flask atop of it. And with that, the shrine became brightened by a small luminescent flower. "Fiola, like your name…" Io smiled. "I'm sorry mom…"
Then she got up, and started heading away, until she reached a larger flat atop the hill. "Now then, let's begin" She grabbed a rugged looking book from her bag. "Open to summons" the book opened in her hands. She read the contents, flipped the pages around for a while, then she finally decided "Open to spirit wolf Fey" and once again the book opened. She read the page, then closed the book, and put it bag in her bag, then proceeded to grab some reagents, some chalk, and began drawing on the grass and placing said reagents atop of it. As she finished preparing, she began chanting in some old gibberish to which the circle beneath her began to glow stronger and stronger. Then a big flash came out and the circle disappeared. Instead its place, a white little wolf appeared.
"You summoned me, mage?" asked the wolf
"Yes. I did. Welcome to my realm"
"I am Fay, son of Odal. Ancient spirit of the eternal plains, state your name and needs"
"The name is Io. And my needs? Well, nothing in particular, I just need a familiar."
"Mage Io. Aye your name sounds like a fool's, now tell me, why in oblivion do you summon an ancient spirit to be your familiar? Do I look like a common imp to you?"
"Well I'm no warlock to summon an imp, I'm an arch mage, and I beg your pardon"
"Hah, arch mage, aye you are an arch mage. Quite a powerful one I can tell. As powerful as foolish…"
"Don't call me a fool, I'm your master"
"Oh wow, you already call yourself my master, HA! You amuse me arch mage. Arrogance!"
"I summoned you wolf, you should obey my commands!"
"Aye, I should do, but will I?"
"You're bound by incantation"
"That I am, and yet, are you powerful enough to hold me in this realm? Or will you fail in your arrogance and foolishness and set loose a terrible force of nature that will destroy you realm and return it to oblivion?"
"I believe I can… And about that force of nature… You're the son of Odal, the spirit of the wilds, you wouldn't hurt this realm"
"What if I go corrupt?"
"I would send you back to where you came from. I summoned you, I can banish you as easily"
"HA! You amuse me arch mage. Very well. I shall now become you 'familiar' Arch mage Io"
"Great! You can call me Io by the way, I don't really like when people remind me what I am every single time they name me. I know it already"
"Hahaha… Then you can call me Fey."
"Good. Well, once again, welcome to my realm Fey. Nice to meet you!"
"Aye-aye"
"Now, let's head home, I'm getting tired"
As Io and fey headed home, the wolf spirit couldn't help but ask: "Why did you chose me? Lesser creatures could had served your needs as well as I do, some even better… Is it because you have a special purpose for me, or foolish seeking of vanity?"
"Speed." Io answered.
"Speed?"
"The book of all magic stated that you are the fastest being in the multiverse. And in the future, I will need that kind of speed around."
"For what exactly?"
"For a horse, the capital is around 1 day away. Given that I know myself and you will get to know me well soon enough, I will have some documents that needs to be delivered faster than one day. And that's where you come in. The added bonus that you are an ancient spirit and won't be troubled by common outlaws doesn't hurt"
"Ah, so I will become your courier…"
"Basically, yes…"
"You got to be kidding me…"
"Hey… look at this as a vacation from the countless bloodshed trough out the millennia you served your other summoners"
"Vacation… I do not need a vacation… I'm an ancient spirit… Reduced to a courier…"
"Oh yeah, you don't even know how it will be, you're getting on my nerve…"
"I am getting on your nerve? HA! You're a funny one!"
"Honestly… Ugh… I thought when I summon something, that something is obedient to my last words…"
"You thought wrong…"
"Whatever… If you're so displeased, I will give you two months. If you don't like serving me in these two months, I will release you"
"If you say so… Better read that book of yours for another summon.And avoid the ancient spirits. We don't really like doing commoner's work…"
"I'll consider it. Now then. We arrived… This is my home."
Io opened the door and illuminated the house again with a simple spell. "Make yourself comfortable, this is your home now for the next two months or so, but now if you excuse me I'm just going to drop dead on my bed and sleep…"
And with that, Io dropped dead on her bed and began to sleep…