"You're not compatible with any abilities are you?" I lowered my head so I wasn't looming over the poor kid.
"Why does that matter?" he gripped his wheels tightly.
"Because if my instincts are right, and they usually are," I paused for effect, "That means you should be able to use magic."
"Yeah right," he scoffed at me as if I'd just lied to him, "If you're not just pulling my leg then why would you want to teach a paralyzed kid magic?"
"Nothing in life is free kid," I snorted sparks, "I will expect something from you. A favor of sorts." I shoved my nose closer, "And I will not be teaching you anything. My way of using magic is different than a human's way." I wrapped the length of my tail around the base of his wheelchair, "I can however open your mana pathways. Allowing you to sense, and use magic on your own. In exchange you'll owe me."
"Why would I agree to anything?" his voice trembled as he tried to sound brave, "You're a lair that's been pretending to be dumber than you actually are. I'd be willing to bet that you're the one in charge in this group, and not that Ethan guy. How do I know that you're telling me the truth, and that's all you want? For all I know I'll be selling my soul to you in exchange for some literal magic fantasy power to pop up out of nowhere. Maybe you won't even give me any magic power. Maybe it's just some sort of slave contract that you need me to willingly sign away my free will."
"I don't have to do anything," I tightened my grip around the base of his wheelchair, "If I really wanted to force you to do anything all I'd have to do is threaten your mom. You may pretend that she's just an annoyance, but I know what it feels like to be alone, and broken. When you feel like that all the time you cling to any tiny thread of a connection that you can, and your mother isn't just a tiny thread of connection." I loosened my grip on his chair, "I would trade anything just to know what my mother looked like."
My eyes shot to the warehouse door when I heard a noise outside. Picking up the kids wheelchair, and pulling him under my wing to hide him from prying eyes as I curled up to look like I was asleep. Mentally cursing myself for not paying enough attention to my surroundings. In came Vernon with his usual cocky stride.
"Finally found something that'll bring Calen out of his little office," Vernon smirked at his personal magic user, "What do you think about terminating this things contract?"
"If I can get ahold of it then it should be pretty easy," magic guy stayed next to the door where they'd come in.
"That'll be easy," Vernon leaned into the wall, "Calen will want it kept in his office for safe keeping while their team will be coming with us."
"What about him?" the mage looked over to where I was pretending to sleep, "What makes you think they'll lave such a big beast here?"
"Do you really need an answer for that question?" Vernon chuckled, "That thing doesn't like me. Ethan said so himself. Once we break the contract this thing will go out of control. Right in the middle of the guild." he paused to let the mage think it over a few seconds, "Calen isn't going to leave one of the strongest ability users behind in exchange for some beast just because it's behaved for now. Not after what he sees on this video feed."
Vernon tossed the young mage a tablet of sorts that he pulled out of his pocket. The mage watched the video with intense interest.
"Holy Fuck!" he exclaimed quietly while eyeing me, "There's a spiders nest that close to the guild. That's only a day out by Humvee."
"Calen won't be able to leave it alone," Vernon smirked, "Those 'spiders' will only spread if they're not taken care of. They'll overrun the perimeter in two or three weeks if we're not careful."
"I hate fucking spiders," the mage handed the tablet back to Vernon, "Why did there have to be a magical creature that looks just like a fucking spider?"
"Giant oversized spiders," Vernon chuckled, "Every squeamish kids nightmare. Get over yourself. They're our ticket to the top of this stupid guild. Plus that nest will be a huge payday if we can keep its size down."
"If we can keep its size down?" the mage frowned, "We're better off just wiping them all out in one go. It's not worth the risk to keep the nest around. Even if we're paid good for the cores."
"More money means more people," Vernon smirked, "Once Calen is out of the way, and I'm calling the shots we'll be bringing in a lot more money, and any useless slack will be kicked to the curb. No more of the worthless friends, and family bullshit we keep losing money on. No more support payments, and you can pay me back next week leniency. This guild needs to make more money, and all the support Calen's been dishing out has kept weak members in our guild for years."
"Look man," the mage guy frowned, "I know that being on top of the guild has always been the goal, but that doesn't mean we'll turn a profit right away, and you still need to gain the trust of the few strong team members we do have."
"That's the easy part," Vernon sniggered, " Once we come back, and kill the big flying lizard..."
A quiet growl reverberated across the empty space between us. I'd growled on an impulse when he'd called me a flying lizard. I rolled over slowly to play it off as sleeping. All while keeping the kid coddled up in a few loops of my tail so I wouldn't hurt him by moving. Still keeping him hidden beneath my wing where he wouldn't be seen.