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Rael turned the smooth stone over in his palm, running a finger along all six sides before adding it to the basket in front of him. He groaned as the blue runes from his enchantment started to fade. Damn these incantations. It wasn't the magic so much as his inability to sleep when so many within the surrounding city were in need of his services. Services he wasn't willing to give away in person, but gladly able to hand off through a bit of granite.

The day had been long, and like many before it, Rael spent most of his time focused on Kelrick instead of the work that continued to pile up in front of him. As headmaster to the college and head of the house, Kelrick was a common sight on and off campus. And his constant attendance was hard to ignore.

Rael released a heavy sigh, added yet another stone to the slowly growing collection, then leaned back in his chair. His heart skipped when Kelrick's door clicked, shutting out the night completely. He'd be asleep soon, something Rael should've shared, but the piling need to service the rest of the city was of the utmost importance.

As a familiar unbound to any single mage, he could do as he wished. But what he really wanted had nothing to do with the mages or the stones in front of him and everything to do with the man sleeping down the hall.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. A tension headache. That's all it was, but it made it even more impossible for him to finish his work. Keep going like this, and you'll look as old as Kelrick does.

At one time, Master Kelrick was a stunning man in his prime. But his selflessness and lack of a familiar caused him to age faster than any man ever should. Salt and peppered hair framed his face, which was just as lived in as the rest of his body. He walked with a heavy gait, sometimes not quite sure of his footing, and while he'd never admit it, Rael had caught him losing his balance countless times in the past.

Without a familiar, the mage would quickly age, then perish. Unless Rael could find a way to slow the process or, better yet, stop it completely.

His heart skipped when he caught the sound of Kelrick's voice mumbling something under his breath. It may have been a whisper to most, but Rael's keen senses made sure he heard every creak, every sound and every footstep within the college.

And that's why you're still awake while he sleeps. It wasn't entirely true, of course, but it put his mind at ease as the walls settled into themselves.

Not too much later, the sky grew dark, and not even the dwindling flame of his oil lamp was enough to see by.

"Call it a night, Rael," a gruff voice came from down the hall. "I know you're awake. I can see your light."

Rael exhaled, counted the stones he'd managed to enchant, then blew out the lamp. He rose to his feet, but froze when he caught the slight halo of light growing even brighter as it neared his bedchambers.

"Headmaster Kelrick." Rael pushed in his chair before meeting the old mage's gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you if--"

Kelrick waved his hand dismissively. "You did not wake me, drake. Though you do worry me." He neared Rael's desk where he'd been working. "Have you been at this all night?" He furrowed his brow. "Not good practice. Not good at all. And for the last time, get rid of that horrid disguise. You have nothing to hide here."

Rael bobbed his head obediently and, closing his eyes, forced the illusion of his human form away to reveal the dragon underneath. His long tail bumped one of the bedposts, and he held it close to his body to keep it from possibly breaking anything else. Like that salve you dropped on the floor the other day.

He groaned. He tried to keep his real appearance hidden and out of the way, as much from the other mages as to avoid crashing into nearby furniture. But Master Kelrick preferred his true form over the other, so once the college was free of outsiders, Rael was expected to let the illusions go.

But you can't sit in a chair and enchant the runes as a dragon. Not comfortably, at least. Crouching for hours at a time wasn't becoming of a dragon, either.

Kelrick smiled triumphantly, took another step, then caught himself before he lost his footing.

Rael closed the gap between them and set a hand on his shoulder. "You're not well." You haven't been well for a long time. Rael bit his tongue and bowed his head, leaving his long ivory horns to reach up toward the ceiling. "If you would just let me help."

"Help?" Kelrick smiled, and damn him if that smile didn't reach all the way to his silver eyes. "You've done more than enough for the mages of his city."

Rael guided him over to the bed and, very carefully, lowered him onto it. "It's not the other mages that concern me. You're the master of this house and these walls. If not for you, where would I live? You took me in when no one else wanted me, long before we had to worry about this draining power supply or hiding my true form. Not once have you asked anything from me--"

"And that's because you aren't bound to me."

"It's true I'm not bound to any one mage, but shouldn't I be the one to decide who I offer my strength to? Look at you. You don't even use the stones I've been making." Rael went to grab one of the runes from his basket, but a weak hand around his scaled wrist kept him in place.

"Leave them. They're meant for others--"

"That are far better off than you."

When Kelrick released him, Rael headed over to his desk, took one of the depleting stones between a set of talons, and quickly mumbled an incantation under his breath. The stone warmed and glowed before dimming again. This isn't going to be enough.

Rael met Kelrick's gaze and studied the weariness in his eyes. He won't last the night unless I find some way to help him.

Swallowing a breath, Rael returned to the headmaster's side and set the stone in his hand. Kelrick's breath caught from the brief contact with Rael, and his eyes widened when the power from the stone quickly filtered into his body.

A slight tingling teased Rael's clawtips from the tentative connection, and he smiled when the mage's aura grew a little brighter.

"That...isn't the stone," Kelrick said, glancing down at the glow around his hand.

"You're right, it's not."

Kelrick jerked his hand away and held it close to his chest. "I refuse to steal from you."

Taken aback, Rael didn't reach for him again. He didn't move an inch. We aren't done yet. "You aren't stealing. I'm offering it to you."

"For a price I can't afford. You tell me to look at myself, but what about you? You're drained, and I won't have that on my coincidence. Not now. Not ever."

"And just as you have every right to deny me, I can, and will, give to you whatever I must to keep you well. Even if it means revealing my true self to the other mages. I don't need my illusions. I could help so long as you let me."

Kelrick sighed and let the stone fall to the floor with a heavy thud. "Taking scraps is no way to live."

Rael gently swished his tail across the floor, curling the end around the depleted rune. "So you'll just starve yourself and let the other mages take what they don't need. If I skip a day of runes, they'll live. But you--"

The smile that played on Kelrick's lips returned. "You worry far too much for a familiar. For a dragon, even."

"Dragons have wings, and I'm far too small " Rael pointed out, dropping the stone in his hand.

"A drake, then. Still, I'm not your Master. I'm not even family."

"No, but you're all I've got, and that has to mean something."

"With the other mages so depleted, why should I take such a favor?"

"Because, you aren't foolish. You've barely used your magic at all."

"My magic isn't the kind one wishes to use."

Rael nodded and knelt in front of him so he could meet the headmaster's gaze. "And if you can barely stand, what does that say about your will to hold back the one thing you fear to release? You and I both know that...darkness must be contained. If not with a cage, then maybe some irons and chain."

"Necromancy is not--"

"Who you are, but it will be who you'll become unless we do something about it." Rael took Kelrick's hand in his, gently closing his talons around it. This time, Kelrick didn't draw back. "Even now, I can feel it reaching for me. Draining me. If you let it starve, it'll kill you, but you and I both know this demon can't be imprisoned, even if you cease to exist. It will find another, stronger host."

Kelrick scoffed. "In a city full of dying mages? I doubt that." He paused, and the slight glimmer in his eyes surprised Rael. "The other mages, they don't know. They can't know."

Rael shook his head. "I've known the entire time I've been here, and I've never once spoken a word of it to anyone." When Kelrick's eyes widened, Rael continued. "Dragons tend to know these things. Even so, I hear you mumbling in your sleep. You fight with it constantly, but if it were to feed--"

"It would be like everyone else."

Rael tried to argue, but Master Kelrick would hear none of it. He pushed a hand against the drake's chest, stood from the bed, then turned to leave.

He stopped halfway across the room to face Rael again. "It's not a hunger that simply goes away."

"But look at what it's done to you. What it's still doing."

He might not have looked it, but Kelrick wasn't any older than most of the other mages that pranced inside the school. However, given his salt and peppered hair and aging face...He can't keep doing this.

Rael grabbed a handful of stones from the basket and followed Kelrick down the hall. Once they reached his room, Rael stood in the doorway. "I won't let you walk away from this."

Kelrick gestured to a faint blue line just inside the door. "That mark isn't meant to ward off other demons."

Rael nodded, but didn't leave. "I know what it is, but I'll cross it if I have to. Please, Kelrick, at least take the stones for one night. I can replenish them tomorrow before the mages return."

Kelrick stepped toward the doorway, and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the runes on the floor completely. "Set them wherever you like, then I want you back in your own bedchambers and fast asleep before I turn off my lamp. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. Of course." Rael hurried over to Kelrick's bed and set the stones beneath it. "This should help, if only for tonight."

"Tonight is all I need."

Rael bowed his head and went to leave.

"Oh, and Rael? If I hear you mumbling again, with or without the light of your lamp, I'll dismiss you from my house. Straight to bed with you. Understand?"

Rael bobbed his head, then turned for his bedchambers. His head throbbed with fatigue, and his joints ached from his overuse of reserves, but it wasn't anything a little sleep couldn't fix. I'll be good as new in the morning.

Without offering the mage a final glance, Rael stepped back into the hall and headed for his room. His senses heightened, he listened as the mage lowered onto his bedsprings, gingerly rolling onto his side. Rael winced as much from the sound of bones creaking as the groans coming from the bed as he stepped back inside his room.

The remaining stones called to him, demanding his much needed attention. Remembering Kelrick's last request, Rael blew out his lamp and, with a bit of hesitation, settled onto his bed. The furs were comforting and smooth against his scaled hide, but there was a chill in the air not even this familiar could shake.

You've done all you can. He wasn't so sure. Using the stones to recharge the mage were a temporary fix, and while Rael knew the mage would never accept it, he'd offer his services up to the headmaster if it meant keeping him in his house.

Staring at the wall alongside his bed, Rael thought back to when they first met. Back then, things were easier. Kelrick's body matched his age. He was more daring--willing to give in to reason. But these days, the other mages always came first. Even the familiar's needs came before the head mage, and that simply didn't sit right with Rael.

Rael curled his tail around his legs and closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep. Much like the many nights before this one, sleep evaded him, and when it finally did come, he was faced with nightmares. Dark demons would climb the walls of the collage. Mages would storm the doors, demanding his services, for them and them alone.

Worst of all were the ones when Kelrick wouldn't wake, his body fading to ash as Rael tried to break into the room.

The mage was no fool. On the floor were a series of runes meant to keep evil spirits away. However, that same ward kept out the drake, searing fire into his wrists if he tried to cross over to the other side.

He wasn't lying when he told Kelrick he'd challenge the ward. If it ever came down to it, he'd risk injury to himself to save the mage, and while he'd never admit it, the familiar had a particular liking to the headmaster. Not as a friend or even as the fatherly figure he'd most assuredly become, but something more.