The Familiar Academy

Briar was lead to a room with a sliding door. Inside was another guard and what looked like a Mage?

The mage was a handsome man. He had creamy brown skin and hair that curled in every direction. He looked like he should have been in a Bollywood musical and smelled like smoke. Behind him was a large predatory looking bird nested on the counter. She swore that she heard a tinkling of a bell, distant and faint, but definitely a bell under the hum of the florescent lights.

The bird ruffled it's brown and white feathers, this did not go unnoticed by the men in the room. It's eyes wide and sharp, she felt the energy shift in the room.

"Hello Briar." Purred the mage, waving at her to sit down on chair in front of them. The nurse quietly bowed out of the room as the birthday girl took her seat in the interrogation room.

She sat their looking dumbly at her hands.

"Thank you for coming when called."

She nodded like an idiot.

"Do you know much about mages?" She shifted in her seat, feeling uncomfortable. Growing up, she heard all the horror stories. People being kidnapped by the government. They were spirited away to the Familiar Academy. A fortress heavily guarded, and equal in surveillance. The people trapped inside had their souls painfully ripped out of them so they could never lie again.

"Um, I've heard stories." Briar said meekly, catching a glance up at the threatening bird and down at her hands again.

He nodded. "There are a lot of stories." He chuckled.

"The academy isn't.. the worst thing. It's like a college, for everyone, no matter how old you are. You never stop learning. You get to meet wonderful people, from all over the country. You'll also never have to worry about money again, or.." he trailed off on all the perks of being a government slave, but she couldn't hear him anymore. She could only hear the sound of a bell growing louder and louder.

She looked to the direction it might be coming from, tilting her head to scan every corner for the source until she landed on the bird. They never broke eye contact.

"Hello." Asked a voice that sounded like it was coming from the feathered familiar, never breaking eye contact as it stood up looming a bit straighter.

Her meek voice politely responded with a whispered;

"H-hello."

The mage stopped in rantings and looked sympathetically at Briar, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes.

"You just answered the call."