The Gembound: The Price of Keeping Chapter 115: Bonus Content - The Enhanced

Read chapter 115 of The Gembound: The Price of Keeping by Taliorn on NovelPedia.

Bonus Content - The Enhanced MARA STONEBACK — The Steadied Guard Tier 3 Enhanced. Bond: Threaded through Harry (Theodric Corruption Cleansed). Northern Watch Sergeant. Broad, strong woman who could carry two grain sacks up ladder without breaking stride. Volunteered first when Theodric started experimenting—thought she was guarding the city. Corrupted by shard—limbs didn't agree with themselves, patches of skin glowed sickly violet like bruises lit from inside. Felt Theodric die, felt something tear loose. Sacrificed iron wedding ring (husband died three winters ago, kept it anyway—unadorned, rubbed smooth). Harry ground down Theodric's rough jagged shortcuts, rewrote them with shard understanding. Grief and loyalty spun into fiber binding new work to old scars. Emerged solid, strong, "more held together." ATTRIBUTES: MIGHT 16 — Broad strength properly channeled now GRACE 13 — Limbs agree with themselves again FORCE 11 — Moderate magical output WILL 16 — Volunteered first, survived corruption, chose cleansing HUNGER 10 — Standard Enhanced dependency (through Harry) PRESENCE 14 — Sergeant authority, northern watch competence Traits: Properly Integrated : Theodric carved rough shortcuts through nerves, jagged sigils into marrow. Harry ground them down, rewrote with brute shard understanding. No longer fighting herself—limbs move together, strength flows correctly. "More held together." Ring-Bound Loyalty : Wedding ring held grief, commitment, promises kept and broken and kept anyway. That thread woven around heart during cleansing. Will keep oaths obsessively—cannot break sworn protection. Husband's memory lives as strength. Northern Watch Training : Sergeant experience intact—knows patrol routes, checkpoint procedures, threat assessment. Theodric's corruption didn't erase skills, just made them unusable. Now functional again. Violet Light Gone : Sickly glow under skin completely removed. Harry's cleansing burned out Theodric's pattern, replaced with stable enhancement. No more phase-shifting, no more internal conflict. Thread to Harry : First contaminated Enhanced Harry saved after the initial three. He feels her in his mind—not loud, not consuming, but there. Another voice in small chorus that began when he swallowed second fragment. Eldania First : "Always did" serve Eldania. Now serves Princess Meredith through Harry and Yaradom. The binding formalized what she already chose. Physical Form: Broad, strong build (properly functional now) Limbs that move in agreement No violet glow (cleansed completely) Dust-streaked from search work Thin scabbed cut on cheek Bears Harry's mark (green-gold thread) Looks exhausted but steady Bond Notes: Theodric took her first when experimenting. She volunteered—thought she was protecting city. Corruption made limbs disagree, skin glow violet, strength sit wrong. Felt Theodric die, felt tear. Brought wedding ring—iron, unadorned, rubbed smooth. Husband died three winters ago. Kept it anyway. Harry pressed hands to shoulders, Yara laid palm against ring then to sternum. Green-gold and violet collided. She screamed raw animal sound. Back arched. Theodric's wrong light surged, met Harry's new pattern. He felt Crown Mage's shortcuts—rough sigils in marrow, carved nerves, fastest paths ignoring consequences. Harry ground them down, rewrote them. Ring melted into memory-thread Yara pushed around heart. Grief and loyalty spun into fiber binding new to old scars. Violet faded to nothing. Emerged panting, hands solid and strong. "I still feel like me. Just more held together." Uses: Northern watch sergeant for Eldania under Harry's binding. Provides patrol expertise, checkpoint management, threat assessment. First contaminated Enhanced Harry saved after initial three—demonstrates his growing skill at cleansing Theodric's work. Makes Eldania's garrison functional by preserving experienced sergeants rather than losing them to corruption. Cost: Bound to Harry permanently—green-gold thread connects them. He