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I could hear Liam and Holden struggling against each other, but there was nothing left to give him! I just had to hold off long enough …

"Just. Give. In," the mage ground out as the pressure inside my skull grew and grew.

I tried to hold back, but my korra was trembling, and my entire body ached.

He was just too strong …

A cold sensation pierced my mind, slicing through my last reserves, darkness flooding my vision.

"Finally," he sighed, breath shaky. "I have her. The subject should go back to normal now. Tie him down while I begin the binding."

I wanted to scream, but the mage had full control of my body — and my magic. He was already reaching out with it, deftly weaving it with the monster's dark tendrils into a familiar type of bond.

Fuck!He was going to force-bond that monster to Liam! Then he would go away like all the others … and I'd have no memory of any of this!

I couldn't see Liam, but I could feel him through thebond, which was thicker and humming now. On the other end, a storm of emotions raged inside Liam — confusion, anger, fear.

"Please!"I shouted in my mind. "Don't do this!!!"

The monster's korra trembled and surged as memories flooded my mind …

Dozens of faces flashed before me—people crying and begging me to stop as the mage forced me to bind the monster's korra to their own.

They screamed as it locked into place, their bodies going limp in the chair.

Then a strange marking, dark as night and reminiscent of a korra's tendrils, bloomed on their cheeks, spreading over every inch of their body.

Once the last tendril was in place, their eyes turned still and white.

Warm tears fell down my cheeks.

All those people … Gram, Mirrim —they weren't dead, but they would never wake so long as they were bonded to the monster.

And it was all because of me …

"Kaiya! Something's happening." Liam's panicked voice rang out as my bond magic began to dig into his korra.

I railed against the mind magic, but it did nothing. The mage was too strong.

Gods! I had to do something. Anything …

Desperate,I felt for the monster through the contact between our korras."Please,"I begged."Please don't dothis."

But the forced bond kept digging deeper into Liam's korra, like a barbed spear sinking into flesh, as he cried out in pain.

"Please!"I screamed again, pushing harder against the monster. "I don't know if you can hear or even understand me, but please don't do this!!!"

The mage patted my shoulder."It's no use, Kaiya,"he thought to me."It can't even help itself, let alone you."

My heartbeat slammed in my ears.

"He's wrong,"I said, directing all my focus along the bond between me and the monster."You can do something. I can feel it …"

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.