Page 3 of Exordium

“You know the disgustingness never ends around here!” Pop laughed. No truer words had ever been spoken. My fathers loved Mom and didn’t shy away from showing it. I pretended it grossed me out but secretly I loved the way they felt about each other.

“We’re going to miss you, Tator Tot.” Pop sighed tragically, “Who’s going to help me prank the old man?” He tipped his head Grumpy’s way like I didn’t know who he was talking about.

Grumpy smacked him on the back of the head, dislodging Rubbish who chattered at them in anger then headed to the barn. “I’m only older than you by a few minutes, brother.” I laughed at their antics.

“I’ll miss you too, Pop. It might make you feel better knowing I packed two small daggers and my Smith & Wesson boot knife.”

Pop smiled, “That helps because I know how deadly you are with them.” He frowned, and an intense look came over his face. That expression was so unusual I gave him my full attention. “Reverie, remember everything you’ve learned. The initiation will be viscous, and no holds barred. Use every skill we’ve taught you, and don’t give away your Nexus status until you and Nathan can perform the ritual. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to explain how he became your Faction.” Grumpy nodded his head agreeing with his brother, “Remember always be at the ready, the Academy can take you at any time, day or night. And please don’t let that lunatic you’ve bonded reveal his abilities!”

“I promise he won’t. He may be crazy, but you can’t argue that he’s protective of me.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide my parentage, so the Aurathions would be watching me closely.

Mom had worked to teach me that confidence in yourself was the key to success. I took that advice to heart, and even when I felt unsure, I tried never to show it. "Fake it till you make it" was my motto.

I was a good student, and I always tried to embody what I thought a Nexus should be. It wasn’t hard because I had the best role model. I tried to be kind, but some people confused that with being a pushover, and I was far from that. I couldn’t wait to put everything my parents had taught me to the test, and Emberhold Academy was the place to do it.

“I promise I won’t forget a single lesson, and I plan on showing them I’m not to be fu-”

“Reverie! I’ll wash your mouth out with soap!” Grumpy growled.

I died laughing. “Fudged with. Fudged was all I was going to say!”

“Riiight!” Mom winked and laughed. “Keep that attitude, and remember that if you need us, we’ll come running!”

I kissed and hugged each of my sweet parents and climbed into My Precious, a 1995 baby blue Jeep Wrangler. Grumpy had bought it the summer before. He and I restored it to absolute perfection. Other than my parents, and Nathan, it was the love of my life. I’d caught him giving it the evil eye several times—the Psycho!

The intense training sessions, late-night reading, and relentless practices led to this moment. With the wind in my hair and Creedence singing Bad Moon Rising in the background, my mind drifted to the last few months of preparation.

“Reverie, pick up the pace!" Grumpy yelled as I exited the woods on my second lap around the property. “Conditioning is your friend. It could mean the difference between life and death!”

I groaned but dug deep to increase my speed. I wanted to make my parents proud and wasn’t afraid to put in the work.

“Look at her go!” Nathan yelled proudly.

“Less looking and more running, baby man!” Grumpy growled out. “You still have a lot of work to put in before you’re good enough for my little girl’s Faction.”

“You know I’m a machine Daddy Grump!” Nathen blew Grumpy a kiss.

“Do not call me Daddy! Twenty more laps for you, asshead!” Grumpy growled. He nodded his head in Nathan’s direction, after making eye contact with the solid black jaguar, Samson, lazing on the ground beside him.

“After you get warmed up, I get your candy ass. It’s Krav Maga time baby!” Pop yelled in a gleeful voice.

“If I call you Daddy, will it get me out of it?” Nathan joked, trying to catch his breath.

“Not even if you called me Daddy and meant it!” Pop laughed, “Get your ass in gear.”

“If you kill me, my Nexi will be pissed!” Nathan yelled, laughing as he started running again.

“Don’t call her Nexi!” Grumpy shouted. “You’ll slip up, and everyone will know what she is to you!”

Nathan started running backwards and shot finger guns in Grumpy’s direction giving him a cocky smile. The smiledropped from his face, and he shouted in alarm when he saw Samson coming up behind him.

Grumpy sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself, “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill the boy.” but started laughing his ass off when he opened his eyes and saw Samson holding a piece of Nathan’s shorts in his mouth. Nathan was running in terror into the woods with the ass of his shorts torn out and his crack shining in the sun.

Hearing their banter made me happy. At times, I didn’t think they would ever get to this point. The laughter Nathan had brought into our lives was worth all the pain we had both endured. I thought mom even smiled more when he was around.

Since bonding with him, I felt more powerful physically. That really shouldn’t happen until my Faction was complete. I wasn’t surprised. Nothing about mine and Nathan’s relationship was ordinary.

Aurathions were stronger and faster than humans and lived much longer. The exception to this was if we remained Passive, never finding our Nexus. My parents were powerful, so I’d always been just a little stronger and faster than Aurathions of the same age, even before bonding Nathan.

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