I stared at the spectral dog in confusion. He didn’t seem hostile now so he couldn’t be any kind of hell hound, they were furious all the time and would attack everything with blind rage. I could see intelligence in its glowing red eyes as he continued to lap up the power projected by my wards. It wasn’t exactly an easy thing to siphon power away from an active spell, yet that was exactly what it was doing. Experimentally I touched the stone monument and slowly pushed my flagging power into it. The wards brightened as the dog licked faster. He was definitely taking in more of the power as I fed it into the spell.

“He probably wasn’t going to attack me if I hadn’t attacked first.” I thought as solutions rolled through my brain. “I could probably strengthen the wards and try to switch our positions so he has to eat his way out after I’m gone, or even just see what if an apology works. He is obviously an intelligent spirit. Maybe I could offer him a better deal.”

He stared right at me with obvious interest so I might as well make my pitch. “Hey I’m sorry I attacked you like that. I’ve was attacked twice earlier today and I’m sure they plan to keep coming.” He stopped absorbing the energy and looked at me with a doggy head tilt. “How about you partner up with me?”

He looked away, surely considering. Now was the time to sweeten the deal. “Of course this deal also comes with a Name and I’ll even bundle up my wards as a snack.

He looked at my face, eyes glittering with intelligence. He stared for a long moment before giving a nod.

I took a breath and prepared to work the Old Magic. I sunk down to the place I visualized my power. I could see the swirling torrent of purple and energy. A leather bound book in the center of that storm looked untouched by the forces around it. It opened on a blank page as I worked the spell into my soul. I could feel the wards and I expanded the barrier allowing the spirit inside. I held out my hand and after a moment felt the smoky spirits form against my palm. Dangerous part done wove the power in my palm and felt another power brush against it. “I swear on my soul and mana that I, Fynn Egon Mackinley Dé Danann, offer a partnership and a Name with all privileges and no subservience. Do you accept?” I could feel my power respond to my Name as I waited for the response. A moment passed before I felt the foreign power touch the gather power in my palm. I could feel the affirmative and continued. “I name you Duff Konnor Lorcan.” The power clicked in my mind and I could feel him in my mind. I could feel his smokey presence as I began to know him.

I was a bit lucky to have picked him as I started to communicate or this might have gotten a bit awkward. I knew why he was here, he had been guiding souls off this plane to their respective afterlives. This graveyard had been abandoned for decades and he had been forced to sit and fade away while this place bound him. His job revealed I remembered a bit of the old world lore that told me what he was. He was a church grim, their job was to protect the souls of the people buried in graveyards and guide them to whatever was beyond.

I opened my eyes to examine my new friend. He still stared with his glowing red eyes but I could see the slow swish of a shadowy tail. I plunged my hands into the thick fur. His eyes closed in pleasure and I could hear the thump of his paw after decades without contact with a person. I collected my ward as I gave my partner a scratch, focusing the power into a marble sized sphere. I gave him the treat and turned to enter the tomb. The stone slab slid inward to reveal the small room. Plaques lined the walls each concealing an urn. The tarnished brass didn't reflect much of the outside light in the room but I could feel where my grimoire sat in the center of the room. Joy exploded in my chest as my fingers touched the smooth leather of the book. Power and strength flooded into my body as the cycle flowed once again after years of stagnation. I opened the grimoire to the page I wanted. The contract I had just made was inked into the page. I presented the page to Duff, “I can feel you're fairly weak after decades of abandonment. Hop in and lets get you fed.”

He looked up at me with those huge eyes and dove into the page, his form shifting to smoke as he touched the book. I turned back to the other items I had left. My original coat was the first I picked it up and felt the weight of the heavy leather and the iron plates that had been sewn into it. I replaced my newer coat and fastened the various straps to secure it to my body. I found my old boots next, I had iron plates into the soles. The magics in the coat and boots snapped together as I felt my old protections come back. I reached out my hand and a thick rod of iron, veined with silver smacked into my palm. The familiar leather grip was a comfort as I stowed it in inside my coat. The iron plates i lost during my fight with Duff floated into the room sticking to the plates on my back that curved down over my shoulders inside my coat. I gathered my coat and boots into the back pack I left and turned to leave.

I stopped in my tracks as I saw Nathan Temple watching from a seat on a headstone. His doll like smile more uncanny than normal in the soft moonlight.