The next morning, Arlan woke up to something clicking near his face.
It was not a good way to wake up.
Blinking against the dim light filtering into the attic, he turned his head groggily—only to come face-to-face with a skeletal squirrel.
Arlan yelped, nearly falling off the bed.
Bones tilted his head innocently, his bony tail twitching. Then, before Arlan could even process it, the skeletal squirrel morphed back into a rat, his usual form clicking his teeth cheerfully.
Arlan groaned, rubbing his face. "Oh, this is going to be a problem."
Bones, apparently pleased with his own existence, scurried onto Arlan's shoulder and clicked softly.
Arlan did not click back.
Last night's discovery still made his brain hurt. His familiar had evolved—but instead of just getting stronger, he had gained the ability to change forms. And not just useful forms. Oh no.
Because the first thing Bones had turned into was a giant undead chicken.
Arlan still wasn't sure if he should be impressed or concerned.
Definitely both.
Sighing, he dragged himself out of bed, grabbing his cloak and heading downstairs. The group was supposed to meet up at the guild hall today to discuss their next move—and more importantly, to figure out what the hell to do about the crypt.
Or, at least, that should have been their priority.
Instead, Bones was about to make everything worse.
Duskhaven – Guild Hall
Arlan arrived to find the usual morning chaos. Adventurers milled around, checking the quest board, nursing hangovers, or loudly boasting about recent victories. The smell of ale, cheap bread, and burnt meat filled the air.
He spotted his party at their usual table.
Leila was sipping tea, glaring at Tomas, who looked far too smug about something. Beren sat beside them, rolling his injured shoulder from last night's fight. Mira, as usual, was reviewing some notes.
Arlan dropped into his seat. "Morning."
"Finally awake?" Tomas grinned. "What, busy raising more skeleton chickens?"
Leila groaned. "Don't remind me."
Arlan rolled his eyes. "Very funny."
Tomas grinned. "I thought so."
Beren smirked. "You have to admit, the giant chicken was hilarious."
"No," Leila said flatly. "I refuse."
Arlan sighed, deciding to let them have their fun. He turned to Mira instead. "Did you get anything from the guild about the crypt?"
Mira nodded, but her face was troubled. "The guild's worried. The last party that went down there before us reported nothing strange. No ghouls, no magic, no signs of necromancy."
Arlan tensed. "Then why was that thing down there when we arrived?"
Mira shook her head. "That's what they want to know. The guildmaster is putting a temporary ban on crypt expeditions until they investigate."
Leila exhaled. "Finally, a good decision."
Tomas frowned. "Which means we're broke."
Mira glared at him. "Which means we're safe."
Tomas shrugged. "Both can be true."
Arlan leaned back, exhaling. The crypt wasn't finished with them yet. If the guild was investigating, that meant more questions—more attention.
More chances for his secret to come out.
He needed to be careful.
But before he could even start worrying about that—
Bones made his next mistake.
The Chaos of a Skeletal Rat
It started small.
Leila had just set her cup down, Mira was still talking, and Tomas had just started bragging about how many goblins he had killed.
Then Bones sneezed.
Which would have been fine. Except that instead of sneezing like a normal skeletal rat, he exploded into a different form.
And suddenly—right in the middle of the table—was a skeletal cat.
A loud, skeletal cat.
"MEOW."
The entire guild hall turned to look.
Arlan froze.
Tomas stared. "Oh. Oh no."
Leila just sighed and covered her face. "I'm done."
Beren, to his credit, just slowly sipped his drink, pretending this wasn't happening.
Arlan, panicking, snatched Bones off the table before anyone could process the horror.
"Uh," he said weakly. "Nothing to see here."
Mira was not buying it. "Arlan."
"Everything's fine," Arlan said quickly.
"Arlan."
"I'll handle it."
"Arlan."
The skeletal cat morphed again.
And this time?
It turned into a skeletal fish.
A flopping, undead fish.
Tomas snorted so hard he nearly choked.
Leila lost it.
Mira stood up so fast she knocked over her chair. "NOPE. No, absolutely not."
Beren finally broke and laughed so hard he slammed his fist on the table. "This—this is the best thing I've ever seen."
The guild hall was staring. Some adventurers looked horrified. Others were laughing. One guy near the back looked genuinely concerned for his sanity.
Arlan, sweating bullets, grabbed Bones—who was still flopping around uselessly—and stuffed him into his cloak.
"Nothing to see here," he repeated weakly.
Mira looked like she wanted to throw him into the sun.
Tomas, crying with laughter, wiped his face. "Oh gods, I love this rat."
Leila was still wheezing. "You—you have to get him under control."
Arlan sank into his chair, mortified. "I know."
Mira pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay. So let's sum this up."
She pointed at Arlan. "Your familiar can evolve."
"Apparently."
She pointed again. "And now he can randomly change forms?"
"Yeah."
Mira inhaled. "And you have zero control over it?"
Arlan buried his face in his hands. "I don't wanna talk about it."
Leila patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, bud. You'll figure it out."
Tomas, still grinning, leaned back. "Or he won't. Which is funnier."
Arlan groaned.
Bones clicked cheerfully from inside his cloak.
This was his life now.