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"BACK!" he shouted, shaking me off as a new sensation flooded through the bond.

Shock shuddered through me as his skin began to twist and shift.

"Fuck!"he groaned through the bond."I'm being torn apart!"

Heart in my throat, I slipped into the Korra Realm, and my stomach sank.

A thick golden bond twisted between us, our korras flooding towards each other in waves across that glowing connection.

But on his side, his body essence was … spasming. It pulsed and writhed … just like his body!

"There's something wrong with your magic!" I shouted, wracking my brain for answers. But I'd never read about anything like this in my books. We were supposed to complete the bond, he'd shift, and then life would be good.

Notthismess!

Fuck, fuck, fuck! His bones made a terrible popping noise, and he let out a loud, inhuman howl as the pain ratcheted up again.

Parts of him rapidly shifted to wolf, then back again, over and over, faster than I could count.

I searched his korra for the source of the problem, one essence after another, until I reached his body essence.

THERE — along the edges, silver metallic strands like wire stretched and twisted across the surface, cutting at his essence as it tried to expand and change.

The tattoos! They were here, too —inhis korra, somehow?

Fuck! I tried to break them, but my korra vanished where I touched them.

I could feel the pain of the failed shifts coursing through him — it was beyond anything I could imagine,and my fear ratcheted higher as pieces of his korra unraveled — his body essence splitting into thousands of strands, ends beginning to dissolve into specks of light with each failure.

"If I can remove these …"he growled in his mind as he extended his claws and began tearing bloody lines across his golden skin.

"Stop!" I screamed, lunging for his arm. "They're covering your entire body. You'll bleed to death before you remove half of them!"

To my relief, those yellow-gold eyes met mine, full of sorrow, and he stopped.

Gods! I had to do something! There had to be some way to fix this!

My hands shook as Tye let out a scream, and I watched more of his body essence dissolve.

FUCK!!!

I'd always been taught there was no way to change someone's korra, but Frexin had done just that with her damn tattoos.

I had to dosomethingto help him …

Gritting my teeth, I worked on instinct, reaching out with my korra, using it to pull the fraying pieces of his back together.

I could hear Tye writhing on the ground as I worked. Gods, I needed more time!

Desperate, I worked by instinct, guiding the loose threads around the silver wires into groups as best I could.

Slowly, it began to come together …

I worked for what felt like hours. Sweat poured down my brow and back, and every part of me ached. But I didn't dare stop.

And I refused to think about how much of his body essence was lost.

Finally, I wove the last grouping into the whole, then stepped back to examine my handiwork.