Smoke and Mirrors by Jess Haines

black eyes were wide, scanning the rows of several dozen student magi before him.
    “Oh my God,” the familiar said, loud enough to be heard by the whole class. “You breed?”
    Titters sounded from all around the classroom. The mage reddened. “Sam, shut up.”
    The professor stepped in, her sharp ahem doing an excellent job of silencing the laughter. “Class, this is James Gardner of the Commune of the Everglades, and his familiar, a naga.”
    The taller man stared around at all the magi, most of whom were staring back. “So many. I thought you were like natural disasters, not locusts.”
    “Sam. ”
    The naga had spoken like he hadn’t heard a word from his master or the professor, and Kimberly couldn’t help but feel a measure of dismay at the genuine horror in his tone. He obviously didn’t want to be there. The stiff way he shuffled to James’s side spoke volumes for his reluctance to play along.
    “All right, everyone,” the professor said, “that’s enough. Aidan, you’re up first. Come down here.”
    One of the students near the back got up. Kimberly had recognized his voice in the whispers behind her. Judging by the flat stare he was getting from their teacher, maybe the professor wasn’t entirely oblivious to what had been going on.
    He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his slacks and a smarmy grin plastered on his face as he slunk down the stairs. His interest in the familiar was palpable, as was that of most of the other students in the room.
    A mage always had the option to bind a native supernatural creature instead of summoning an ethereal planar being to be their familiar. The trouble was that most earthbound Others worth the effort of making into familiars were well aware of what it meant to be bound to a mage, so it was rare for one to consent. Due to the inherent difficulty in convincing any intelligent earthbound supernatural like the naga to submit to a bond, they were coveted status symbols.
    There was no way for Aidan to take control of the naga, but that wouldn’t stop him from drooling over it like someone else’s brand new Mercedes.
    Once Aidan reached the last step, James made an idle “get on with it” gesture at Sam. The naga shot his master an annoyed look before sidling another few steps along the stage to meet Aiden halfway and shifting into his native form.
    The students gave a collective gasp as his body darkened and stretched, growing well beyond the natural bounds of any typical shapeshifter. It only took moments for the tall, nondescript man to be replaced by a thirty-foot snake, wide as a tree trunk and with the broad, muscled chest and arms of a man. From his lower jaw to the tip of his tail, his underbelly was covered with wide, yellow-white plates. The rest of him was covered in jewel-toned scales varying in shades from blue to green to a dark bronze. There were wide, burnished copper cuffs on his wrists and a matching collar circled his throat. The blunt snout lifted and lidless, golden eyes scanned the room as his forked tongue flickered out, tasting the air.
    Aidan scrambled back, knocking over one of the other students in his haste to get away from the naga. He flushed at the laughter from James, but more so at the sharp reprimand from Professor Reed.
    “Aidan. You’ve been incalculably rude to our guest. Apologize at once.”
    Aidan’s normally borderline pallid features had taken on a ruddy hue by the time he managed to regain his feet and sketch a formal bow to the naga—from a healthy distance away, of course.
    “My apologies, great one,” he said. “I greet you as a representative of Blackhollow Academy and humbly beg… beg… umm…”
    “Your blessing,” Professor Reed said, her tone flat.
    “Your blessing,” he finished.
    The naga cocked his head to one side, then the other.
    “What now?” James demanded.
    “I see no gifts. Where is my tribute in return for the blessing?”
    The voice of the snake was deep, and strangely musical