"The instinct, for both the host and the wolf, is to pull away from it," Maelor continued. "Her wolf is probably doing exactly that and doesn't realize it. But the more her wolf pulls, the tighter it constricts. It's a trap designed to punish resistance. The fighting is what feeds it."
Serena's stomach dropped.
"The roots you're feeling." Maelor's eyes landed on Gavriel. "Are latched around her soul. You cannot extract it in pieces. It's a puzzle. All or nothing. You pull one root and leave another, the remaining root reattaches everything you removed and it comes back worse. Stronger. More entrenched."
"How do you solve it?" Gavriel asked.
"You get to the bottom."
Everyone looked at Dexmon. The dragon king's voice had come out calm, measured, the answer delivered with the certainty of a man who had seen this before and remembered exactly how it worked.
