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--Kova's Bond--
When bound, Kova is largely free to do as he pleases, though he must remain in close proximity to his binder. He can be commanded with a specific phrase, and he is compelled to comply to the speaker's intent. There was a time where he would try (and occasionally succeeded) at having his binder killed, but he's long since found that to be pointless, as most of the mages who would bind him have the foresight to add a clause that he can't harm them anyway, and even if they do die, another will take their place soon enough.
Kova's bond can be broken two ways: The binder dies, or a specified amount of time passes. The amount of time is purely determined by the magical power of the person creating the bond at the time of making it. A bond can be transferred via magical means, but both parties must be willing to give and receive the bond. A weak mage will bind him for a year, the most powerful can manage up to 15. Dragons can manage several hundred. This has only happened once. The binder cannot choose to rescind the bond, nor can Kova break it. Kova's "death" does not break the bond.
If Kova's physical form is killed, he retreats to the shadow of his binder. Depending on the level of trust between him and his Binder, he can also take refuge in their body to recover faster. Depending on the severity of the "death", he can spend anywhere from a few hours to several weeks recovering. When he's able to maintain a physical form, he appears as a small, pup-like version of his fox form, about the size of a large housecat, which he's stuck in until he can maintain his human one, which takes roughly a week from his physical reappearance. While in this form, he's prone to suddenly falling asleep if he gets too worked up over anything.
While he rarely chooses to do so, Kova can also choose to inhabit the body of his binder in one of two ways: He can assert control, and use the body as he pleases, or remain dormant, often only sharing emotions or vague thoughts. The former is the most useful if his Binder is very injured - Much like Kova can recover quickly by using his Binder's energy, he can encourage recovery in them with his own. He has never done this without consent, and only ever with people he trusts completely (to date, only Penelope.) The latter he also does rarely, but more often. Hiding in a shadow takes some emount of effort, cohabiting his Bonder's body does not. To some extent he does enjoy it, and he and Penelope often spend time this way simply because they can.