The Ring of Resolve

The trees were a blur. The minutes felt so long. Trembling in the seat, S’re’s thoughts raced like her captors. They were in a hurry to be rid of her, but they weren’t going in the direction of the border. Among all the worry and fear, another dread crept into her the further they headed into Mardarow.

A crackling sound startled her for a second until she realized it was a radio on the dash. The voice that came through was just barely clear enough to hear.

“Hey! Hey, boss! Drawger’s got a flat.”

Growling under his breath, Garold relented on the gas, using a hand unit to respond. “Fuck it. Fine. We’ll stop for a moment. Get it fixed fast!”

Once stopped, he glared at her in warning, holding up a finger. “You sit there like a good girl, or you won’t like what we do when we catch you.”

Not daring to look at him, she nodded hurriedly.

He left his door open when he got out as if tempting her with the chance. He even stepped away, his back to her while he watched his men. She knew he did it just to feel insulting. She had to sit there, willingly, with escape only inches away. A trap just to have a justification to hurt her.

When she squirmed uncomfortably, wincing at the biting edge of the tight zip tie into her wrists, he stepped back into view of the door. While there was fun in tempting her, he clearly didn’t want to risk the chance.

While watching his men, the dread in S’re’s mind got worse and worse. Maybe, she thought, if she at least knew, she could formulate some kind of plan. “Um, wh-where are you taking me?”

He bent down to glare in at her, making her sink further into the seat. His pressed lips were sour. “To the highest bidder, and Mardarow’s got the highest bounty for a Tamer. Sucks for you. Danny asked we drop you off at the border, but the offer on this side is a good thousand more and that pays off what Danny owes us.”

Smirking with a cruel thought, he put his hands on the roof and leaned into the car, staring hard at her face.

“Try to compel me,” he dared sweetly. “It’ll be easy, I promise. I’d rather take you to Academy, too. I always heard they treated their Tamers like royalty, and I’d sleep better at night knowing a pretty thing like you was living it up. Just look me in the eyes and tell me. I won’t fight your command.

“Oh, c’mon, sweetheart,” he goaded when she shook her head. “You were so willing to snap at me earlier. I won’t retaliate this time, I swear. Hands to myself. Promise. Surely you want to get away more than I want money.”

The idea seemed sound. After all, everyone knew a Tamer controlled through superior will. While she wasn’t foolish enough to believe she wanted escape more than his desire for riches, she really, really did not want to end up in the hands of this nation’s government.

Steeling herself, she could not have prepared herself even if she had known what she would see. Meeting his eyes, she felt every muscle in her body freeze. Her will was channeled, directed, forced into a scene she could not break away from.

“I severe your Bond,” a flat, lifeless voice she did not know spoke within her. “Kill your Rider.”

The monster turned wide, deadened eyes upon his Rider. She saw the man’s face clearly in the glassy sheen, saw the oozing Bond rent by unnatural means, could see the dragon’s own reflection in the horrified eyes of his most beloved Rider.

“Fandell,” the man whispered, staring up at fangs so fearsome that they cut him near cleanly in half.

The anguished screech came from the dragon’s soul. Shaking its head, the beast turned those bloodied fangs upon itself, tearing at its limbs as if trying to feed an unending hunger. When at last it had taken off all that it could reach, all that it could stand, it lay and labored in an ocean of blood until the last of its agonized breaths sent its spirit through the ring, sucked away from his Bonded, forever to know he belonged somewhere. Belonged at some time– at the moment before the Tamer had spoken, to repeat the sin eternally.

S’re’s eyes were wide. Haunted. So distant that Garold actually did not know if she was of this world anymore. Scarcely did she breathe in shallow gasps. So pale did she become that she might as well have been of the spirits she saw in his eyes. Every bit of her knew that what she saw was the ultimate violation of a Tamer’s powers and every hair stood on her body.

Garold’s face grew uglier with his sadistic smile. “I’m glad to see this little treasure actually works.” Finally breaking contact- which had really only been seconds but had felt like a lifetime- he looked down at the ring on his finger, an ugly piss-yellow stone inset to a plain iron band. “See, it’s called a Ring of Resolve. Such an unassuming name. I picked it up on the Black Market a while back. I was told it carries the soul of some tortured dragon or something and that a Tamer can’t control you when you wear it. Seems it works just fine. And it’s about to pay for itself.”

When he looked at her again, she looked down at anything else, making him chuckle. “I already like this thing! Now, you be a good girl, keep your mouth shut and do as you’re told, and I won’t make you look at it again.”

Swallowing hard, she still trembled from the experience. “How can you wear that?” she breathed.