“That’s me,” I said aloud, voice wobbling dangerously. “I’m—I’m El—Elliot—“ Barely catching my fatal mistake in time, I clutched her tighter, a gasp of pain parting my lips a second time as the edge of Scylla’s shell dug into my wound.
”Don’t cry.” Her voice was sweet, childish. ”I don’t want to make you sad..”
I frowned.
“Talk to her in your head,” I instructed gently, reaching out towards the wound on his arm. “You’ll feel a small barrier at first, but it’ll be easier to prob. Think about your connection with your bondmate. Then think what you want to say.”
My eyebrows furrowed when I noticed his arm caked with blood. Without waiting for a response, I began to drag him over to the healer.
I stumbled as Cole pulled me away from the room, away from the onlookers, but my eyes never left Scylla, beautiful, amazing Scylla.
Can you hear me? I tried, but I physically felt my words bounce against a barrier. I tried again, this time envisioning that the barrier was made out of water, and my words easily slipped through.
”I can hear you—Why are you crying?”
Elliot was still lost when the healer healed his arm. He didn’t even know we were back in the dorm, that I’d pushed him on the couch so he was sitting. His eyes never left his bondmate.
I felt pleased. This is how these creatures should be treated. With love, care and awe. They are not tools. They are not things. They are living beings and they deserve love and respect from their partner.
“Oh my god….” My wide, watery eyes found Colton’s, overflowing with more emotion than I’d ever shown to him before. “Colton, I have a bondmate. I bonded.”
I nodded, trying to keep the smile off of my face.
“You did,” I answered gently. “You bonded. Congratulations, Elliot. You passed the Oath.”
“I never… I never thought that I would make it this far…” I whispered, turning my full attention back to Scylla, who was curled up in my lap. “I never imagined…”
“Nobody knows for sure,” I leaned back against the couch. “But you had potential. You used it and got this far. You have your own bondmate now. What’s her name?”
“Scylla..” I almost choked on the name. “Her name is Scylla.. Colton, I think I’m in love… is this what it feels like to be in love?”
I chuckled, shaking my head.
“I wouldn’t know,” I answered back softly. “That’s a beautiful name. And you know what’s next, don’t you? Now that you’ve bonded successfully?”
“More training?” I guessed, though my mind was far away. “Building trust? Learning how to be a Defender?” As soon as the words had left my mouth, it struck me. I’d known all along—I was a Defender.
“Well, yes, that much is clear,” I ran a hand through my hair before sighing. “But no. It means I no longer have to train you. Our mentor-student relationship ends the second the Oath is over.”
Suddenly snapped out of my daze, I turned to face him, blinking rapidly. “It… is? Does that mean….”
I looked away from him, shrugging.
“Yes,” I answered. “You might be assigned someone else to teach you magic, but I highly doubt it would be me.”
In my mind, Scylla spoke.
”Ask him, Elle. He won’t be upset,” she urged me to speak what was on my mind, and, drunk on too many emotions, I did.
“Does that mean we can just be…. classmates?” What I really wanted to say was ’friends’, but I refrained from doing so in case I scared him off.
I quirked an eyebrow.
“We’re not classmates, Elliot,” I pointed out. “I’m a year ahead of you. But if you’re searching for the word ‘friends’, then yes.”
Scylla, clambered unsteadily up my arm and ink my shoulder, spreading her tiny wings for balance. Meanwhile, I was struggling to close my gaping mouth. “Really?”
“I suppose,” I shrugged. “I do need to keep an eye on you in case you work yourself too hard. And I don’t trust anyone to teach you properly. If you aren’t assigned to anyone, I’ll just keep you as mine. If you are… well, my father and I will have a nice talk.”
Mine.
The word cut straight through me, leaving me even more of a shivering wreck than before.
But I was rescued from further mortification when the door came crashing open. I jerked back in surprise, just as an extremely heady object collided with me.
I looked in surprise as Andreas pulled Elliot into a deep-crushing hug right before the door slammed open again and Kaden burst in.
His eyes fell on Elliot and Andreas’s forms and he teared up immediately, jumping on both of them, sobbing.
“You’re alive,” he cried. “You passed! We passed!”
And I was sobbing again, clutching the two boys with my face buried in Andreas’s shirt. “Oh my god—“ I gasped, hugging them even tighter. “Oh my god—“
I watched the three of them cling to each other and cry, nostalgia hitting me full force. Shaking my head, I decided to give them some space and moved to walk out of the dorm.
Andreas turned his head, peering tearfully from the tangle of arms and legs. “Oh, no,” he told Colton, voice trembling with emotion. “Don’t go anywhere.”
A tiny, adorable dragon was perched in his ginger hair, its smooth, round scales the colour of orange and bronze.
“Please,” Kaden added, his voice breaking. A small creature, akin to a fox, poked through his collar. It was a mix of orange and red, sporting three tails.
I obliged, removing my hand from the door knob and walking back wards them.
“You three did good,” I told them. “Extremely.”
I never remembered being this happy, not in all my seventeen and-a-half years of living. Three of us disentangled from our pile, and Scylla hopped back into my arms, mewling softly.
“I’m a level 4 healer,” Kaden hiccuped as he cradled his bondmate. “Her name is Hope.”
Key was looking down, surprisingly quiet. Perhaps it was because the were all new.
Andreas cupped a tiny dragon in his palms, holding it up to his flushed face. “His name is Copper…” he murmured quietly, almost to himself. “Level five, but I honestly couldn’t care less.”
Scylla let out a tiny hiccup and clambered over the back of the sofa, headed towards none other than Key.
Key responded almost immediately, jumping out of my hair to land on the sofa, taking slow steps towards Scylla before he tilted his head.
My gaze turned towards the other two boys and I patted them on the head.
“Treat your bondmates with care,” I said to them quietly. “Look after them. No matter what their level is, they should always be strong for you.”
Scylla’s tiny beak opened to let through a series of soft, musical hoots. She took an unsteady step forward, spreading her wings for balance, and butted her head lightly against Key’s chest.
My face split into a watery smile at her actions, and a little voice in the back of my head urged me to rest my own forehead against Colton, a voice that I paid no heed.
Andreas nodded shakily at Colton’s words.
Key tilted his head again before resting his paw on Scylla’s head, patting it like I would Elliot’s. He purred before he nuzzled her head. I shook my head at their antics. We would have continued if it wasn’t for the knock on the door.
“Prince Colton, the King requests your presence!”
I heard Key’s tiny whine in my head as he patted Scylla’s head, bidding her goodbye right after he clapped his wings and took his place in my hair.
“Tell him I’m on my way,” I answered, my voice going back to the original cold tone. “I suggest you eat to regain the energy you lost during the Oath. Get to know your bondmates.”
I walked out with that.
