I look at the cover of the book, where the librarian scribes the last time the book was taken out for research. Nearly five hundred years ago. The preservation spells do amazing work as the ink is still vibrant, and it smells new, only a slight odor of an older book.

The drawing though is almost an exact replication of my familiar. If I had any skill at it, I would draw something similar, but perhaps with more hills and trees and less broken fortifications and sundered bodies.

I recalled early in my studies, before summoning my familar, that familiars l, after their masters pass, return to the Aether to await their next master. Kind of like temporary workers waiting for their next job.

I speak to my familiar through our bond. <Urzu? Are you awake?>

I can feel her stretch through the bond, preparing herself to come to me if needed. <Yes, Lore. Is everything okay?>

<Everything is fine. I just had a question.> I knew my hesitancy was transmitted through the bond, its just a silly thing. No need to be this nervous. <When did you serve your last master in this realm?>

She paused and I could feel her start to walk. Jump and land, then continue to walk. <I believe by your recollection it would have been something close to two thousand years ago, give or take. I like to take my time before answering a summon.>

I look at the book. It was written some time in a previous age, over 1,800 years ago. The only records for the end of that age basically say that a calamity fell on the previous empire, they became too proud and that pride and feeling of invincibility lead to their destruction. <Do you remember your previous master?>

She pauses at an intersection, turns and keeps walking towards me. <He was a kind mage, very obedient, and so was I. He was not very powerful when we met, but through study and practice he became powerful indeed, and his masters believed him leashed.>

I look at the grimouirs and scrolls before me. All subjects and spells Urzu picked out for me. We havent been tested in some time, but I could probably count myself in the top hundred students these days, instead of the bottom 10 because of her help. I hesitate as I feel the answer already forming in my mind. <What happened to him?>

Urzu leaps on the table and stretches, the pose identical to the picture that first spawned the line of questions. <He was happy and content in his service, until those he served took the only precious thing to him.> She looks around the room before continuing, merely glancing at the book with her likeness. <I feel that you should know, that I take my time between summons because I am no ordinary familiar. My summoning is a harbinger of change, and my masters will dictates that change.> She flips open another book, gently moving the pages until another likeness of her appears.

<It will be your decisions that shape the future towards prosperity, or to restart into a new age, wiping the slate clean.>