Disposable buddy

This is the third chapter of the 10 I am preparing before I start releasing chapters again, they are flowing out nicely, this is the second day since I started writing again, with a bit of luck I won't run out of juice anytime soon.

Have a good one and remember, if the novel gets like 100 pps by Friday I will do a triple release on the weekend.

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My boots are soaked. This really is not the ideal time for my boots to fail me, they are pretty decent winter boots so water doesn't get in easily, well, it didn't get in easily.

All this running through the snowfields must have brought them to their limit and beyond.

Also, I should really stop my mind from wandering, I've run all the way back to the city gate while thinking of the most random stuff possible.

Sigh, hopefully, none of my toes fall off.

Behind me, my trusty pirate asks. ''Boss is there something wrong?''. I turn to Ubam and look at him questioningly.

''No, why do you ask''. His gaze goes from my face down to my feet, then at the gate, and back to my face.

''You've been staring at the ground without saying anything all this time Boss''. He pauses before lifting his large hand and scratching his beard, some snow falls off as he does so.

''Don't worry about it, I'm just planning the next step as carefully as I can''. Kinda.

''Oh, that's good then, what do we do next''. Good question, haven't thought about it yet man.

Looking around the gate the only people visible are the guards, there are barely any civilians in sight, understandable, after hearing that there's a potential deathly danger right outside this gate everyone's using the other ones to get out of the city, all the people here are coming from outside and only because they don't know what's going on.

''Ubam, go get Van and let's meet up at the workshop, I will try to start a fire in the large warehouse''. Let's get warm first, I really can't feel my toes at this point.

''Alright Boss, I'm going''. He turns around and starts walking away before stopping and asking me another question I don't yet have the answer for.

''What do I tell the other lads?''. Oh, those guys, I've sent Vun and the six extra giants to return the carts together with the empty barrels, they should still be on the way there.

''Tell them that ill pay them double if they are willing to head back out again, if not, tell them they can come looking for me in a few days, I will pay them then''.

He nods and keeps walking, I turn and also start heading towards the warehouse, I guess I might as well inspect it while I'm at it, didn't quite take a good look last time.

It doesn't take long to reach the large compound, it is right next to the gate after all, its the same way I remember it, a little more snow is all that changed.

Pushing open the wooden door to the fence I notice there's no lock, maybe I should get one, well not like this small wall will really stop anyone, should I install a larger wall too, maybe turn this into some sort of fortified compound for the laughs.

Taking a better look inside there I realize yet again that there is not much to look at.

Let us see, there's the small shed with the still broken door from last time, the large barn-looking building that I guess they used to store the logs, and that's about it.

Scratch that, there's a small bathroom to the side, I call it a bathroom but it's just a hole in the ground where people go and do their business, got one of those at home.

Walking up to the door to the warehouse I try to push it open, it is stuck, this place really has a problem with broken doors, I swear I'll change all the hinges.

A few kicks later it moves just enough to let me pass, looking at the drag marks that it left on the ground I guess you have to lift and push at the same time, I will let my guards deal with this.

The inside is just what I expected, empty, there are wooden supports everywhere, probably used to hold the piles of wood, those are almost fully empty.

Walking up to one of them I place my hand and lean on it, it doesn't budge, seems to be stuck deep in the ground. Bending down I grab a small piece of dry wood, a few more of these, and ill have enough for a fire.

It doesn't take long until my hands are full of broken pieces of wood, too uneven to be sold or worth carrying away. In the back there are several fire pits, large holes surrounded by blackened rocks, I guess this is where they kept warm.

Following the usual routine, I drop the wood inside the hole before looking around the area, there are several benches arranged around the fire, solid log halves stuck in the ground, next to one of them is a small sack of what I assume to be kindling, people don't always carry kindling around, they just leave them by the fire area for anyone to use, myself included.

Moments later there is a small fire lighting up the area, staring at the embers for a second I let out another sigh, then I lift my head up and find myself unable to see the sidewalls of the closed-off barn, the fire ruined my night vision.

''Oh well''. I say out loud. ''Let's get on with this, it better work, or all this effort was in vain''.

First thing first I take off my boots and place my naked feet on the blackened stones by the fire, they seem fine, I won't be losing my toes at least, that's a positive.

The thing I need to do now is to create a new and improved summon, the bigger the better, it still won't be able to take a hit from a normal human not to mention one of those things but it should be fine as long as it's big and gaudy, it is bait after all.

Yes, my master plan is to fly around the woods until I catch the attention of one of the Vulnogs, then I will try my hardest to guide it to the trap area and hopefully, it will see the body, get distracted and jump jaws first towards it, breaking the cover and falling right in.

It's not a good plan, mostly because it's based on hoping for the enemy to make a mistake, those are never good plans, but it's all I have got.

With my body now nice and warm I concentrate and create an image in my mind, it is that of a classical bird, one that everyone knows, you could even call it iconic, my boy, the bald eagle.

These bad boys are several times the size of the usual crows I make, and I don't really understand their body structure that well, but I've seen enough documentaries to figure something out.

Slowly the vague image I had in my mind becomes clearer and clearer, suing my so-called mind's eye to stare at the image I push my magic out, I feel like I have a bad case of indigestion, the only part missing is the growling stomach.

Pushing a bit harder I feel the ball of power that is the mana flow outside my body with its usual burp figure followed by the darkness of my closed eyes going purple.

I think I got it, opening my eyes what lies before me is two things, first, not an eagle, like at all, it doesn't even look similar, well it's a bird alright but.. just no.

Second, its much too small, the image of an eagle I had is way bigger than this thing, it would be more accurate to call it a falcon, baby steps I guess, it's still bigger than the ravens I usually make and even those are bigger and plumper than the usual wild bird.

My guess is that I'm too weak to make something as big as an eagle so it just kinda become something I between, namely a falcon-looking thing, or I just know nothing about eagles and messed it up, also possible.

Oh well, it will do for now.

The summon was just standing on the ground as I gave it no command yet. It's now too big to get on my shoulder so I stretch out my arm sideways, push my cape out of the way, and give a simple command, 'Come'.

The falcon that a second ago looked like a sculpture starts moving, it twitches a bit then jumps without even moving its wings, accurately landing on my outstretched arm, it weighed almost nothing, a kilo at most. Not to mention I don't think birds can dry jump half a meter into the air...

Here I am in a corner of a dark warehouse sitting by a fire dressed while wearing my oh so beautiful burgundy cape with a brown leather jerkin underneath, together with my grey cargo pants and feathered cap while holding a shining purple bird on my arm, oh how life changes, to think a few months ago I was wearing a suit daily, lowkey miss it really.

Without getting up I feel the connection with my summon, letting out a long sigh I tell my flying friend.

''It's all up to you buddy, hope you don't fail me, for you own good''