Faze

As a newly named pup, Faze has fluffy, feather-soft fur, a nearly white belly, violet eyes that are becoming less cloudy, pale pink coloring that will later form stripes, and only four narrow rows of hard but flexible scales instead of the full armor of an adult tarkin.

Faze grows to about the size of a fat house cat while still taking milk from a bottle. His white fangs show when he yawns, the scales along his spine begin to harden, and his canines become longer and sharper.

After two more weeks in Odessa’s care, Faze’s scales are larger than Odessa’s thumbnail, harder, and thicker. Faint stripes also begin to appear along his ribs.

During the flight from Ellder, two new rows of red-and-orange scales form along Faze’s spine, bringing the visible rows from four to six. His pink fur darkens, and the stripes along his ribs become more pronounced.

While traveling through Ozarth, Faze’s lower fangs protrude above his lip, his stripes deepen, and Odessa feels another row of scales developing along his spine.

Faze remains dependent on human feeding and transport early in Odessa’s care. He drinks from a bottle, sleeps outside his crate, curls against Odessa’s chest, and travels in a carrier she makes from an old gray dress.

As Faze grows, his play with Evangeline carries practical danger because he sometimes nips her fingers. Odessa corrects him by tapping his nose and understands that a bite breaking Evangeline’s skin would end their play and the arrangement that lets him sleep on his pillow.

Faze is strongly drawn to Odessa and responsive enough for her to treat his behavior as more than ordinary animal instinct. He finds Evangeline’s hiding places, responds to Odessa’s command to search for her, and Odessa believes he understands commands and human moods such as joy, anger, and heartache.

Faze shows unusual gentleness toward Evangeline even when confinement and hunger make him irritable with Odessa. He stays near the child, winds around her legs, tolerates being pulled into her arms, and lets her bury her face in his fur while Odessa believes he may be perceiving her pain.

Faze’s claws and destructive behavior create practical problems as he grows. After reaching Damon and Sally’s cabin, he is released wobbly from the journey, then Odessa collects him before bed so he will not shred the cabin’s armchair.

Faze responds to the birdsong-like call Evangeline uses. He bounds over the log when she summons him, follows her through the grove, accepts dried meat from her, and is carried by her when the group departs.

Faze repeatedly reacts to approaching monsters before the humans fully see the danger. He squirms at the approach of bariwolves, hisses toward the water before the alligasks strike, becomes alert at distant bariwolf clicks, and growls at the start of the skeleton forest attack.

Aboard the ship, Faze resists confinement in the slatted crate and scratches Ransom’s forearm when Ransom tries to carry him. Ransom has promised to leash him during the day and lock him in the crate at night.

Faze’s attachments extend beyond Odessa to Evangeline and Ransom, while his distrust of Jodhi and Mae is plain. He hisses at Jodhi and runs to wind around Ransom’s ankles after the forest attack, and in Roslo he bares his teeth and snarls when Mae tries to take him from Evangeline.

In the Quentis garden, Evangeline’s birdsong call makes Faze pause after a guard lures him away with meat. Odessa and Ransom also discuss releasing him after the migration because he was born to roam free and would hate months of confinement in a migration shelter.

Faze comes from a tarkin den before Odessa and Evangeline keep him with them.

Odessa considers releasing Faze in Ozarth because it has more tarkins than any other kingdom and might give him a safer return to the wild. She decides he is still too young and vulnerable to survive alone.

Odessa and Ransom discuss releasing Faze after the migration because he was born to roam free and would hate months of confinement in a migration shelter.

During the crux attack on Ellder, Faze hides beneath Odessa’s bed with Evangeline and Merry, then goes into his carrier for the evacuation. He trembles while the crux hunts through the streets, and Evangeline holds his paw during the escape on Freya.

The alligask attack nearly kills Faze after he is thrown from Odessa’s hold and knocked aside by a tail while trying to escape across the trail. An alligask is ready to devour him before a Mavin warrior kills it, and a black-clad Mavin briefly seizes Faze as a potentially valuable pet until Odessa orders him returned.

Faze reaches Roslo only after Ransom pays a fisherman and agrees to strict control aboard the ship. He spends the voyage confined in a slatted crate, protests through the night, and enters Roslo in Odessa’s carrier before King Cross examines him.

Alore borrows Faze from the nursery to collect saliva for Lyssa experiments, then returns him unharmed. After he chews through his rope leash, he is restrained in the training center with a metal collar clamped around his throat and chained to the wall until Odessa obtains the key and Evangeline frees him.

In the Quentis garden ambush, guards try to seize Faze because they believe a tarkin will sell for more than castle work could earn them. Odessa throws him aside to give him a chance to escape, but he outruns the men, returns, and leaps onto the guard holding Odessa, distracting the man long enough for Odessa to kill him.