Contents
25. Bonding with Protectors
Overview
In brutal December cold, initiates are ordered to bond with protectors. After animals avoid Alexis, Titus taunts her until the scarred pup defends her. Alexis forges a fierce domus bond with Fluffy Jr., surviving an overwhelming connection. Augustus reacts with anger and mental pressure, signaling escalating control and conflict.
Summary
In late December, the remaining six initiates endure a freezing, dim classroom. Alexis struggles to stay warm while noticing Augustus’s unnerving attention during lectures. General Cleandro and Pine arrive with Augustus to announce the day’s task: each initiate must bond with a protector.
Inside the barren, snowy menagerie, other initiates quickly attract birds and celebrate their bonds, deepening Alexis’s anxiety as creatures continue to flee her. Titus, newly bonded to a striking eagle, mocks Alexis and predicts punishment if she fails to bond.
When Titus approaches, the misshapen pup who once followed Alexis—Fluffy Jr.—charges and bites Titus’s leg. Facing Titus’s demand for retribution, Alexis claims the pup as her protector and initiates the bond. On the word “Domus,” she is overwhelmed by a scorching, violent strand of connection—loyalty, aggression, and protectiveness—that drops her to her knees before stabilizing.
Recovering, Alexis notes Fluffy Jr.’s mismatched eyes and renewed size, and she withdraws from Titus with newfound resolve. Cleandro ends the session and sends the initiates to study.
At the library door, Augustus confronts Alexis about the pup. His eyes blood with fury, he spikes pressure in her skull, attempting to breach her mind, while Poco bristles. After a tense moment, Augustus steps aside with a strained address of her name. Alexis brushes past him, shaken by their incendiary contact and wary that this fixation may doom her.
Who Appears
- AlexisInitiate narrator; struggles in the cold, fails to attract animals, bonds powerfully with Fluffy Jr., and endures Augustus’s mental pressure.
- AugustusProfessor and Chthonic heir; fixated on Alexis, furious at her pup bond, briefly assaults her mind, then grudgingly lets her pass.
- Fluffy Jr.Scarred, mismatched-eyed pup; defends Alexis by biting Titus, then bonds with her in an intense domus connection.
- TitusInitiate; taunts Alexis with his eagle protector, is bitten by Fluffy Jr., threatens retribution, and is stunned by her successful bond.
- General CleandroInstructor who oversees the bonding trial, enforces time limits, and returns initiates to study.
- PineProfessor accompanying Cleandro and Augustus during the bonding announcement and oversight.
- PocoAugustus’s companion creature; reacts aggressively to Fluffy Jr. and to Alexis near the library door.
- DrexInitiate ally; bonds with a golden toucan and checks on Alexis during the trial.
- MaximumInitiate; chatters through the cold, teases and awkwardly offers help to Alexis.
- CassiusInitiate; proudly bonds with a long-tailed silver falcon.
- AlessanderInitiate; bonds with a squat two-headed purple bird.
- NyxSerpent companion around Alexis’s waist; remains asleep and icy throughout events.