The earth you know was no longer the same after the coming of magic, the first thing was the evolution of humans in the year 2020, though the new humans weren't many, we had powers that could take down mountains. The United Nations didn't know what to do with us because they were threatened by our very existence, normal humans feared us, called freaks and discrimination became a worldwide phenomenon. This all lasted a year until the European governments chose to give the new humans two countries that were renamed the two new human capitals, Pretoria and Mayfair. We advanced so fast because labor work was easier when you can shift nature itself. The two cities had one fault though. And that was class, upper-class citizens lived n Mayfair and the lower class stayed in Pretoria.
Every time I watched the news I would see the headlines focusing on the constant riots centered on equality among the new humans, but that wasn't the people's choice to make, it was up to the Magic Parliament that governed the two cities.
Being occupied by lower-class citizens, the place was also one of the best places to go to if you were looking for illegal things, like magic boosters and lost items forged by humans e.g wands which were sticks infused with artificial magic, I heard they cost a fortune.
I and my mom chose to take the train since it was the fastest way to get to Pretoria. The sun wasn't even up yet but we were already on the train heading to Pretoria because it was a five-hour ride a train. She had instructed me to come with only my watch and to leave my phone and school bracelet behind to avoid any chances of being tracked down by anyone, she had also suggested that I say nothing to anyone when we reach Pretoria and that she's the only one who had the permission to speak.
The train's wheels screeched when it stopped and the conductor's voice sounded over the speaker right above us, "Passengers heading to Pretoria, we have arrived."
We stood up and stepped out of the train. And we were immediately welcomed by an old woman who seemed to have been expecting us, mom looked thrilled to see the woman. They hugged and then my mom remembered to introduce me,
"This is the one I told you about over the phone last night," she said.
The old woman stared at me for a few seconds then turned to my mom and muttered, "He's so young, are you sure he can handle a familiar?"
"We don't have time nana," my mom answered, " They want him."
The old woman stalled for a minute or two before she said anything else. She looked at me with her piercing bright green eyes and with a face that showed pity. She had white hair and was shorter than me, her skin was pale, maybe due to old age.
"Then let us go," she said and a green ring of light appeared right behind her, I have heard about this type of spatial magic. The kind that linked a person to any place they wish to go to. The caster must use a magical ring to go a place, it was advanced magic because it required a lot of concentration. This one, in particular, led to the living room of a house.
The old woman turned and then walked through the ring and into the living room with a wooden floor.
My mom followed and so did I.
The ring closed and we finally stepped into a cabin. From the sounds of chirping birds outside I could easily tell that we were in a forest or near one.
The cabin was that big with brick walls. There were shelves attached to them that carried cages containing multiple creatures and plants, some I had never seen and some I could recognize like cats, bats spiders, and snakes. The rest I couldn't because they were either mutated or something was very wrong with their appearances.
Though the one that caught my eye was a big caged bird with red feathers and an orange beak, it had three feathers standing out from the rest on its head on its head that looked like a Mohawk when I stared at then a bit longer.
The bird squawked after seeing me glare at it, it was so loud that my mom and the old woman rushed from the other room to come and see what was going on.
The old woman called the bird with so much anger, "Atreigon!" she yelled and the bird instantly stopped. "Phoenixes can mean to give me a headache sometimes," she said.
"Wait, this is a phoenix?" I pointed at the cage,
"Of course boy, and that's the last one in this world who hasn't been taken in as a familiar," she answered with a very fed up and nasty tone,
I gave my mom the begging eyes after hearing that, "Can I have the phoenix, please," I begged.
She looked at the bird, then turned to me, "Only if it accepts the master and servant bond," she said.
The old woman chuckled, "Phoenixes are also proud, so you have to be powerful to tame this creature," The woman warned.
I nodded and then glared at the phoenix, I could tell from its birds eye that it was understanding whatever that we were saying.
"Then let's begin," the old woman said then snapped her fingers and the entire living room was cleared, she faced the ceiling and then raised both her arms with the hands also stretching for the ceiling, it's not like she was trying to touch the roof.
She started chanting out words of magic and a green flaming circle drew itself on the floor in front of us with an upside-down triangle in the middle of it. The triangle also appeared on the top of my right hand.
"Step into the circle boy," she said, now with her eyes glowing green.
I was a bit worried but when I turned to my mom, she smiled then nodded and that was enough to melt all my fear.
I walked straight into the circle.
"You have until the symbol in your hand vanishes, if you fail the familiar will take your magic ad you will become the servant,"
I was then engulfed by the green flames and was transported to a black void. The entire place was dark and misty, I could barely see anything at all with my eyes.
The mist behind me suddenly shifted when something cut through it at a very high speed.
I turned then activated a magic circle on both my hands and prepared myself to shoot anything that moves, I wasn't planning on relying on my abilities as a fey I had stronger on my own in three days.
"You think that you can tame, the greatest phoenix to ever live," it bragged while flying even faster so that I fail tracking it down. It was buying time for my symbol to vanish so that it becomes my master.
I put my hands together, chanted a few magic words, and made a ball of air that I released and it expanded, clearing all the mist that was surrounding us.
The bird paused in the air with its wings still flapping. it looked at me like it wasn't sure about me, "I am Atreigon," it said.
I also introduced myself, "I am Ralph."
I rushed to cast another spell that released a couple of burning chains from the magic circles. The chains flew through the air and grabbed the phoenix before it even escape.
Once I got hold of it, we were both instantly returned to reality and the flames around me were extinguished.
The woman was shocked to see me return suddenly, the symbol on my right hadn't even started fading, "It takes intensive training and power to tame a phoenix, and you have tamed one in two minutes," she croaked with emotion. "Now I know what you meant when you said he powerful," she said to my mom.
We then heard a man's voice call from the corridor, "Special delivery for Nana,"
"Let me get that," I said, then ran to the front door.
I just about to open it when I sensed something sinister on the other side, I hesitated to turn doorknob and the was door knocked open with a force that sent me flying through the stone wall and into the kitchen