The Bastion stirred awake before dawn, not with horns or gongs, but with movement. Doors opened softly. Beasts padded across stone floors. The lights dimmed overhead, replaced by a warm, golden haze that flowed down from the highest windows. Tavian rose slowly. His ribs still ached, but the sharpest pain had dulled to a throb.
Dustpaw stretched beside his bed with a yawn like grinding gravel. Nyx was already lacing her boots again. Jun, as usual, was gone.
"First class is today," Nyx said without looking up. "Beasts and bonding. No glyphwork yet. That's next week."
Tavian nodded, still bleary.
As they crossed the bridges and tiered walkways of the Bastion, Tavian tried to absorb what he could. Not just the architecture, but the rhythm of the place. Students trained in open courtyards, weapons clashing lightly or pulsing with Pulse flickers. Beasts lounged on balconies or trailed behind their bonded companions. Many were larger than anything Tavian had seen in Kaltrava, and more varied. Feathered wolves. Bark-skinned lions. Even a scaled deer whose antlers left faint frost marks on the stone.
"Everyone here has at least two beasts," Nyx said. "One Common and one Lord-class, minimum. You'll see more as we head deeper in. Most of the teachers have three or four."
Tavian looked down at his empty side. The bondmark on his wrist glowed faintly, but Raijara had still not taken form.
"Why hasn't she come out?" he asked quietly.
Nyx hesitated, then gave a small shrug. "She's Veil-aligned. That type isn't like the others. They don't always have stable physical forms in this world. They cross between places. They get caught between meanings. It's not about strength. It's about presence. If she's still inside you, she's protecting you and herself."
He looked at his wrist again. The warmth there wasn't pain anymore. Just weight.
"She's not hiding," Nyx added. "She's choosing when to be seen."
They entered a curved amphitheater classroom built into one of the outer Bastion tiers. The ceiling opened to a patch of pale blue sky, and the walls were layered with living moss and chalk-lined diagrams of beast anatomy. Students filtered in and took seats in staggered rows. Most were flanked by their bonded creatures.
Tavian sat between Nyx and a quiet girl with a three-tailed fox that seemed to stare directly through him.
At the center of the room stood their instructor.
She was tall, her hair pulled back into braids wrapped in green cord. Her robes were layered but practical, stitched with dull silver thread that caught the light without gleaming. Four beasts waited around her: a moss-colored serpent in a shallow water basin, a one-eyed fox with shimmering fur, a wingless drake with claws like polished stone, and a Hart that stood taller than her shoulders, its antlers traced with amber veins.
"I am Serah Lorne," she said. "Instructor of Beast Classification and the Living Bond."
The noise of the room faded.
"You are all Initiates. That means you are not ready yet. Your Pulse is still unstable, your knowledge limited, and your bond, in many cases, untested."
She began to pace slowly.
"Some of you will become Paladins, warrior-scholars who guard memory sanctums, enforce truth trials, hunt daemons and restore balance to the Veil. Others will be sorted into the Arcane Lyceum, where you will study and research glyphs, Ith, beast evolution, and further our advancements in knowledge. But for now, you are the same. And you begin here."
She gestured to the Hart beside her.
"There are four confirmed beast classifications. You will memorize them before nightfall."
The Hart stepped forward. Its hooves rang faintly on the floor.
"Common-class beasts are the most plentiful. They bond early. They do not grow beyond their initial form, but they are loyal, capable, and emotionally responsive. Most folk in Suzox will only ever meet these. Yet they should not be underestimated. Like all beasts, the weakest Common beast has the potential to become a mighty Highborn."
She moved to the fox.
"Lord-class beasts are rarer. They are the leaders of the beast kingdom. They develop memory depth. They speak, often fluently aloud in our language and their own. They have the possibility to evolve even further as your bond strengthens. There connection to Kuros is stronger than Common Beasts allowing those who sees bonded with them to cast glyphs and draw upon more Kuros to enhance their own abilities. Some can rewrite their form over time. They are partners, not pets."
Then she gestured toward the basin.
"Highborn-class beasts are myth and truth at once. They bond rarely and burn brightly. They do not serve. They choose. Their names shape politics, and their presence rewrites Pulse lines. Out of the millions of beasts in the world, there only exists a few hundred. They are more than just leaders, but are known to dominate the Veil as well in ways we will never understand."
She turned back to the students. "And then there are the Titans. We do not teach them because no one survives long enough to write them down."
She paused. "Now, go around. State your name and your bonded beasts. Include Pulse types. Speak clearly."
One by one, the students did so.
Jun named his moth Velrix, Echo–Hollow. He said nothing else.
Nyx introduced Dustpaw as a Verdant-aligned Stonecarver. She didn't claim a second beast yet.
Others followed, names, shapes, combinations. Most had one Lord-class beast and one Common. A few already had two. Four people even had three beasts already, though two of them were common.
Then it was Tavian's turn.
He stood slowly. "Tavian Ke'Meira. I'm bonded to Raijara. She's… Veil and Storm. Highborn."
The class went quiet.
One student muttered. Another flinched as their beast pressed closer.
Serah's voice didn't change.
"Where is she?"
Tavian hesitated. "She hasn't taken form. Not yet. She's still inside me. To protect me. And herself."
Serah stepped forward. "That's possible. Veil-aligned beasts don't move the way others do. Sometimes they speak before they step. Sometimes they never step at all."
Tavian nodded once.
Serah tilted her head. "Is she listening now?"
The bondmark on Tavian's wrist pulsed, then quieted.
"She is," Tavian said.
"Good," Serah said. "Then she'll hear this too: if she's truly Highborn, then she knows the stakes. You both will be held to them."
The Hart turned toward Tavian, meeting his gaze with steady gold eyes. Then it turned away without a word.
"Class dismissed," Serah said. "Study your classifications. Glyphwork begins tomorrow. You'll need a steady hand."
As the students filed out, Jun passed Tavian without comment, but his shoulder brushed Tavian's harder than it needed to.
Nyx waited for him by the door.
"You did fine," she said. "They're just scared."
"Of me?" Tavian asked.
"Of her," Nyx replied. "And what it means that she chose you."
They walked back through the Bastion, slower this time. Tavian could feel Raijara at his shoulder. Not outside him, but close.
Waiting.