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I have to place my hand on a nearby tree while I catch my breath.

“You are… This is…”Unbelievable. Extraordinary.

And most of all,unexpected.

Really, really unexpected.

Despite how desperate I was to find my familiar, I hadn’t truly believed it would happen on this trip.

Tentatively, I step forward and stroke my panther’s fur, still half expecting him to bite my hand off. But he lets me pet him, even closing his eyes and leaning into my touch.

“What should I name you?” I ask him.

The big cat says nothing, just continues to lean into me.

“Phantom?” I try the name out. I mean, heisscary.

No reaction. I think that might be a no.

Goddess above, I’m trying to read the thoughts of a wild cat.

“Onyx?” That one’s pretty literal.

No reaction from my familiar.

“Ebenezer?” I throw out.

Now he gives me a look, and it’s not a nice one.

“I’mkidding,” I say. I take in the panther all over again. “Hmmm…you’re a serious guy.” Serious enough to deserve a powerful name, one of a ruler.

From the foggy wisps of my memory, I drag a name forth. “Nero.”

The big cat turns his head and licks my palm with that abrasive tongue of his.

“Do you like that?”

The panther butts his head against my hand, and I think that’s a yes.

I pet his fur. “Yeah, I bet you get a thrill being likened to some ruthless Roman emperor.”

It’s as I’m straightening that movement above me catches my eye. I glance up in time to see that line of indigo magic twisting in the air. It snakes through the trees, toward what looks to be a body of water.

My queen… Find me… Claim me… Save me…

The deep-blue magic reaches for my arm, wrapping itself around my wrist as though it were a hand and tugging me forward.

I stare at it, momentarily confused. I think I assumed finding Nero was the driving force behind the plane crash and this very literal magic quest I’m now on. But, of course, that’s not the case. Familiars don’t actually put out any magic of their own; they simply amplify and conduct it. The voice and the insistent power pulling me toward the murky water ahead of us are something else entirely.

The magic tugs on my hand again, and I feel compelled once again to find the source of it.

Empress…

“You better not be some swamp monster set on devouring me,” I call out, “because now I have a badass familiar who looks like he would happily eat swamp monsters for breakfast.”

I glance at Nero, who doesn’t look like he’s on board with eating swamp monsters at all.

“I’m obviously bluffing,” I whisper. “Just go along with it.”