The voices of the those gathered behind him could be heard, but Faelan wasn't listening to them. His gilded gaze was focused on the still, dark waters of the pools. They were unnaturally still, unmoved by either air or movement from within. No water ran to them, so they must be fed from somewhere inside, and yet there was no evidence of any current whatsoever.
Darkness edged in on the lion's vision, until a wave of water droplets flying through the air could be seen. Water surged up, around something that was splashing in the dark waters. The churning waves sucked him -them?- under, but he felt no moisture, no cold. Only the thudding of his heart pounding against his chest.
A scream ripped through his ears, even though he was supposed to be underwater. He felt his -their?- claws digging into the stone, holding him -them?- up from whatever wanted to drag them under. It was strong, it might win.
But he was angry.
Fury the likes of which he had never experienced before blasted through Faelan. It consumed him, for a moment. Blood-boiling, blinding rage, the byproduct and companion of betrayal, made him begin to quiver. Then darkness fell, as sudden as it had before, and the feelings that were not his own began to dissipate.
They did not let go easily though. Faelan was left violently shaking, both from fury and fear. He knew that the emotions were not his, and yet, they felt so real it was hard to tell the difference.
Something, or rather, someone, had apparently been dragged into the Eyes. They had been afraid, of course, but their anger....the sting of betrayal...that was unexpected. The lion tried to focus on the visions, but the ache in his chest made it difficult. He hadn't been betrayed, he thought, but his heart was having a hard time believing it.
In order to banish the feeling of betrayal that had rooted inside of him, Faelan thought of Mercurius.
Despite their short time together, he was certain that the other lion would not betray him. Mercurius was a healer, and he strived to help those in need. He wasn't selfish enough to ever do something to harm, or betray, anyone, Faelan thought.
The memory of Mercurius healing him pushed the last vestiges of fear and doubt from Faelan's mind. The one Gembound that mattered the most to him wouldn't betray him, he could be certain of that at least.
Faelan wasn't sure if he could say the same for his potential new allies. In fact, he had momentarily forgotten about the ragtag group of Gembounds until one of them screeched in pain. The lion's massive crown snapped up and around in alarm just before the sound was suddenly cut off.
He watched with wide eyes as an eagle came limping up to the group a couple moments later.
Whenever the group continued to speak among themselves, and pay him no mind, Faelan turned to look at the Eyes again.
He wasn't certain if it his spell that had gone awry or if the Eyes themselves had done something to his magicka. Faelan had probed into the memories of the stone before, but he had never seen or felt anything to such an extent. He wondered, fleetingly, if this was another example of his growing power and capabilities. He pushed the possibility to the back of his mind though, and instead focused on the feel of the cool stone beneath his pads.
His magic had always come from the stone before, and so he trusted it to do so again. Whatever had happened before, Faelan decided to think about it later. Whether it was an anomaly, or something more, didn't matter. All that mattered was the rush of magic that flared through him now. It was faint, but he felt it as surely as he felt the cavern floor beneath him.
Faelan felt like there were answers here too. He wasn't certain if they were the ones he sought for himself, but he was confident that there was something important here.
He wanted to help other Gembounds like Mercurius did, but he wasn't a healer. He was...a seeker, perhaps.
He had always searched for knowledge, and for answers, about one thing or another. In doing so, he had found himself in more than one strange, and dangerous, situation. This was just another one. He realized that he could either do something about it by trying to help, or he could stand by and wait and wonder.
Since the group behind him wasn't doing anything, Faelan decided that he would. He had told Dragon that he could find answers in the stone. Now was his chance to help by actually doing so.