(Opening Scene: Lady Elara Montaigne watches as the two academy practitioners cautiously approach Eclipse, their initial curiosity quickly turning to visible unease as they take in the familiar's unique features – the obsidian scales, the intense golden eyes, the serpentine grace.)
The first practitioner, a wiry man with trembling hands, circled Eclipse cautiously, his diagnostic tools wavering. "This… is an unusual familiar, Lady Montaigne. The energy signature is… potent. And… unsettling." He swallowed hard, avoiding direct eye contact with Eclipse.
The younger practitioner attempted to cast a diagnostic spell, her voice wavering slightly as she incanted the words. The spell flickered erratically and then died out. "It's… resistant to scanning, Lady Montaigne. Almost… shielded."
A palpable fear began to emanate from both practitioners. There was something inherently unnerving about Eclipse's presence, an aura of ancient power that made them instinctively wary.
Then, the first practitioner's eyes widened as a memory surfaced. "Wait… the familiar introductions… the void mage, Zane… when that little winged creature startled him… the uncontrolled burst of dark energy! The training dummy… it was almost completely destroyed!"
The younger practitioner's eyes widened in dawning comprehension. "Yes! And this… familiar… it was with him then, wasn't it? Even then, it had a… presence." She took a hesitant step back. "If Zane's magic reacted that violently to a harmless bat simply because he was startled, what could trigger such a reaction if his familiar… this creature… felt threatened?"
Their professional curiosity vanished, replaced by a growing sense of dread. They remembered the raw, destructive power Zane possessed, and the unsettling aura of his silent, ever-present familiar. The unconscious prince on the floor added a disturbing weight to their fears.
"Lady Montaigne," the first practitioner stammered, his voice barely above a whisper, "with all due respect… this familiar… it's radiating a dangerous energy. And given what we witnessed with its tether… we are not equipped to handle this. It's too unpredictable."
Without offering a thorough examination or a concrete diagnosis, both practitioners began to back away slowly, their eyes fixed on Eclipse with a clear and growing fear. Their desire to analyze the unfamiliar creature had been completely overwhelmed by the unsettling power it exuded and the vivid memory of Zane's volatile magic.
Lady Elara stared after them, her own apprehension deepening. The fear of the academy's practitioners, coupled with their recollection of Zane's volatile reaction during the familiar introductions, painted a far more dangerous picture than she had initially imagined. The presence of this powerful and potentially volatile creature, coupled with her nephew's growing infatuation with Zane, created a complex and unsettling situation that would require careful navigation.