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"Please, friend." Liam's mental voice was soothing. "Let's focus on this miracle, for now. Dragon and rider speaking for the first time since the Twisting. This is —"
"— DANGEROUS!" Stryek boomed, shifting from foot to foot anxiously as he lifted his head to stare at the large opening across from us. "It's too dangerous!"
The dragon's fear struck me in a wave, and a chill ran down my spine, leaving me unable to breathe, let alone think.
It was too much, and I stumbled backward, falling to my knees. The buzzing and voices immediately stopped, along with the memories and the fear.
But my body was reeling.
Someone yelled, and I looked up to see Stryek shake his head, almost hitting Eli as he stood on all fours. He backed away, those golden eyes spinning wildly as they stared directly at me.
"Damnit!" Liam yelled, looking over at me with cold green eyes, my familiar friend Eli gone once again. "What happened? I can't hear him anymore!"
The dragon backed up more, his nostrils flaring, sides heaving.
"Everyone, stay calm and still," Mirrim said, holding up her hands. "He's just startled."
My mind raced as I gripped the ring more tightly. What had I done?
The dragon shook his head again, golden eyes swirling faster as he stared at me, then Liam. Letting out another frantic huff, he turned to the ledge and stumbled toward it. With a single leap, he dove off the platform and soared away from us, out toward the horizon.
I stared after him; the wind swirling around me as shock twisted in my chest.
What in the seven hells just happened?
Slowly, the agitated voices behind me filtered through my brain fog. Liam was talking, and I turned to see an anxious, irritated expression on his face as Jaiel stood between us, hands raised, keeping the angry man away.
Mirrim stared after the dragon, hands loose at her sides.
"Liam, give her some space," Jaiel said, voice soothing, as he gestured to me. "Not everyone can just turn off their emotions like you. She needs a minute."
"I need answers, Jaiel," Liam said, face and voice stony as he attempted to glare a hole in my skull. "We haven't been able to speak to dragons for hundreds of years. Then she — well, I don't know what she did — but somehow Stryek and I could talk for the first time in CENTURIES!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you know how big that is?"
Jaiel nodded.
"But that dragon wasn't happy to talk with me!" Eli continued. "He was fucking terrified, and I must know why. If they're in danger, I —" His voice cracked, but he recovered quickly, replacing that stoic mask from earlier. "I have a meeting with the council today and they need to know. This may change things — but they're going to have questions." His gaze slide to mine, hard and insistent. "I MUST understand what she did!"
Rising to my feet, I swallowed and held up the slim wooden band. "I didn't do anything. But my ring mutes the korra and bonds of anything it touches. So, when I touched it to Stryek, it muted whatever 'wall' prevents mind-speak. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that issue has something to do with his hive-like soul bonds — or maybe the corruption coating them."
"What corruption?" Liam hissed.
"I'm not sure." I shook my head. "But if I got to see Stryek with the ring again, perhaps I could give you more details."
Liam's face paled, and he stepped closer, staring down at the ring pinched between my fingers. "The ring?" He reached out and grasped my hands, pulling the ring up so he could examine it closer. I ignored the familiar warmth of his touch. "And you can see corruption on his bonds?"
I swallowed the knot in my throat and nodded.
"What is this? Stone — or metal?" he held it up to the sunlight shining into the cave. "It looks black and porous … yet somehow it's also reflective. Not like anything I've seen before." His voice had dropped to barely a mumble as I tugged back my hand. "And it is what mutes the magic?"
"Yes, it mutes korras and bonds," I repeated, looking at Liam, then Jaiel, then finally back down to the little stone. "That night you left Gleyma — Lynk cut it from the scar in my back … just before you got there and dove in front of that knife." My voice broke, but I pushed through. "I don't know what it is or how it got there, but it's what kept me hidden from the Seekers growing up. And it's why my powers didn't work correctly when we were together in Gleyma."
Liam's expression tightened, shifting between confusion, surprise, and irritation as he looked between me and the ring. But he held his tongue, waiting for me to finish.
"Lady Frexin found me that night," I continued. "And when she came to recruit me for the Science Division, she handed me my wooden ring back, but it had been modified so that stone could be embedded inside. It's how I've shielded my powers for so long in the Capital."
Liam's green eyes lifted to meet mine, wide with surprise. "You still haven't mastered shielding your magic?"
"Well, I tried." I winced. "But learning to control my powers from books is harder than it sounds, and it's not like I can just walk up to one of the collared mages and ask them to train me. Plus, the ring has worked well enough." I gritted my teeth. "It's the only one, though — I've never seen or heard of another like it."
