'The male could be lying, couldn't he?.'

Actually, him trying to pry as much as he could out of me was more likely than him helping us. In fact, telling the fire-wielding male all my secrets could make things worse - much worse.

'Could it, though?'

The mind mages he and the other bastards worked for knew what I was made of. There was nothing to hide from them - except that I wasn't actually from Eleaden.

'But if the thugs knew what lay slumbering within me, perhaps it would sow some discord between them.' Just the thought brought a twisted smile to my lips. It was when Rayden heard about the Beast Core hidden in my belly that she made her decision to ensure I wouldn't fall into the hands of the mind mages. Not that she had lived up to her promise yet.

Did I regret my choice to act as bait? Yes, and no - or rather, I wish there'd been another way. There never was, though. Refusing her offer would have meant ending up in a similar cage long ago, with no prospect of rescue.

'So, does that mean I should tell him?’ I had no bloody idea!

"C-Could you... could I ask Elira first?" The stupidity of my question was not lost on me. It felt like a sheep asking a wolf if she could check with the other sheep to see how juicy she looked. Ridiculous, I know, but I had to ask. I had to know...

"You're wondering if you can trust me? Sure. Trust has to be earned, right? That's what Rayden always said, isn't it?"

'Yeah, that's exactly what she said.'

"Oh, okay then - just..."

"Yes?"

"I need to shift back first, and... that might take a while." Like, really, really long. The real question was if I could even pull it off.

"Well, we've got several hours of travel ahead. I'd say you've got plenty of time to try."

I wasn't sure about that. Still, if I hoped to get out of this mess, I had to act - I needed to be able to communicate with others.

"The sooner, the better," he added, pausing for a moment. "Actually, better if you give the ring to Elira for now. Unless, of course, you have something else to say to me."

After mulling it over for a while, but unable to think of anything more related to mind magic, I passed the Union Ring back to Elira. The confusion in her blue eyes was obvious, but she soon got her answers - which only deepened her confusion.

"You want to shift back, but don't know how?"

How much the fire-wielding male could pick up from my words - thoughts - was daunting. But all I could do was nod at her question - it was true.

"Huh? What the…? You don't know how to shift back?" Vara's voice was full of disbelief. "Isn't that the first thing shifters learn? You know... how to change back and forth."

That might very well have been true - for most. Only, I wasn’t a shifter. Not in the way they imagined, anyway. To make her understand, I pointed to the accursed collar around my neck.

Her eyes lit up. "Ah, I see. Your bastard of a master didn't let you."

'What? No! I mean, yes - it was that deranged asshole's fault. But… whatever.’ It seemed like a good enough explanation, so I gave a single nod.

"Son of a bitch," Vara growled,half out of pain, making me grunt in agreement.

»Yeah, he should die.«

"I wish I could help you, but... c-cough I don't know much about shifters. I had one once, and... tss... let me tell you, it was a wild night, but... what, El? Do you have more experience with them?"

"Of course not," Elira barked back in a whisper, red in the face. "S-Sorry, Grey. Maybe some weaves?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"She's a natural shifter."

"I know, but still. You know how General Weaves are."

Vara smirked, wincing in pain. "True, you can get a weave... tss... for pretty much anything. For whatever reason... c-cough... I even have two... fuck, talking hurts... about taking a dump. I've never tried them, of course, but... what? Seriously, El, you can't get awkward... cough... over everything. Not when everyone has to..."

"Not everyone is as open about it as you are," Elira replied, taking a deep breath, trying to force the blush from her cheeks. "Look, Grey, I'm just saying you might want to consider finding some General Weave to help with that."

"But she'd have to swap it for one," Vara pointed out. "The main reason I never tried those..."

"Yeah, me neither, and probably neither did everyone else. Loss of weave - is usually a bit too much. Look, it's up to you, Grey."

'Yeah, I know.'

»Thanks.« Even my inner beast seemed oddly grateful they cared. With a nod of appreciation, I sank into the depths of my mind. The Grid Forge appeared before me, unchanged. The night sky of my mind stretched endlessly, a vast, intricate network of interwoven runes glowing in place of the stars. The Lattice - I assumed - a question I still had for Mr. Sandoval, if I ever got the chance to see him again.

The array, a hexagonal formation of runic lines, hovered above me, its brightness undiminished under the lattice-covered sky, branding me as a slave. And in the very center of the array, large runes stood etched with unwavering clarity, bearing the word that haunted me, with its translation into the Eleaden Standard right below.

[₪]

[SLAVE]

At each point of the hexagon, one of my weaves was then placed. A thought and information about me, written in both runic script and Standard, appeared floating to the left of my array.

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

Name: Korra Grey

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Age: 27

1st Array: Slave

Master: Arlo Rutledge

Sigils: 97 → 98 - ○○○○○○

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

Weaves: 1st Array (6/6)

Eleaden Standard Language (General):.... 23 glyphs - ⦿⦿

Indomitable Will (Slave):.................111 → 112 glyphs - ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

Spatial Domain (General): .................15 → 19 glyphs - ⦿⦿

Equilibrium (General):............................7 → 9 glyphs - ⦿

Never-Dying (General): ........................6 → 11 glyphs - ⦿

Tail of Poison Empress (General): .............11 glyphs - ⦿

─◇────────────────────────────────────────

'Not much has changed.' Wishful thinking - a fucking lie and I knew it. Sure, I was still Korra Grey, 27 years old, supposedly human, and a fucking slave. But that was it - that was where life decided to kick me in the guts and throw my life back into the gutter. I had a fucking master again, and one more sigil on my accursed array.

‘Oh, blessed me.’

On the bright side, most of my weaves had gained one or more glyphs as well.

'A busy day.'

The irony of my thoughts tore at my heart. I would trade it all for a normal day, to be back on Earth.

With a reluctant sigh, gathering my resolve again. 'No time to growl about it.' I know, not a particularly funny remark. Not when I was trying to stop growling instead of talking. But I couldn’t help making light of my plight, taking a jab at the beast slumbering inside me to see if it could reach me here. You see, here in Grid Forge under the Lattice sky, my mind seemed unusually free of my bestial instincts. Something I hadn't noticed before - probably because I had never wandered in here while in my beast form.

'Hello.'

'You there?'

No reply came.

So, with a clarity that still felt strange, I went back to my Grid. Gazing at my weaves - especially [Eleaden], [Never-Dying], and [Tail of Poison Empress] - I could help but wonder, if they were stuck at some sort of threshold of forming another ring, a threshold far from simple to cross.

'No time to ponder on that, Korra.'

Of all the weaves I possessed, only [Equilibrium] and [Never-Dying] seemed eligible for swapping. The first was the weave I had the least glyphs in and the second could easily be replaced by the runes on my chest - or at least, I hoped. Another thought and I found myself surrounded by floating General Weaves. However, the only one that seemed to have anything to do with my shifting into a beast was… well, [Beast].

'Shit. Fuck me!' No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find any other. Sure, after all the shit I've been through, I should have no problem with such a weave. Yet the thought of taking it made my insides writhe.

'What if, instead of shifting back, I lose the last shred of my humanity?'

No, I couldn't risk that.

Resigned, I saw no choice but to try it the old-fashioned way. I needed to get comfortable - as comfortable as I could be on a wagon speeding down a rocky road while locked in a cage with a collar around my neck - to calm my mind, steady my heart, and bring back the human side of me.