Book One – Chapter 13

It needed to be her essence, not merely her darkness. The essence was her, after all, and in the weaver tunnel, she had directed the poison. Still, it was an idea born of reason, not certainty or truth. Back then, she had been a midnight stalker, with midnight stalker essence. Then again —

I am change.

Midnight felt compelled to accept this revelation, but as she attempted to change him, no intuition guided her. No impulse. No sense of right or wrong. She searched within herself for words that might instruct her, but found none. Almost none. A quiet part within her remembered how the DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ had bestowed upon her the darkness essence — the core of her new existence, which she had allowed to consume her midnight stalker essence. This act of giving essence was something Midnight had not yet attempted. Though she understood that gifting it to the wizard might sustain his existence, perhaps even enable him to transform as she had, she did not want to. Even if she could, Midnight would not diminish herself to give essence to a stranger wizard, just as she would not do so for another beast. She would not lessen her all. There were many wizards in this world, but there was only one her.

Midnight saw all her attempts exhausted. She could not change him, she could not direct him to change, and she would not give him change. The issue remained that she failed to touch upon anything material — The thought broke off. She could. In one singular way.

They had all fought. They had all understood that at least one of them needed to survive. If his suffering held any purpose, it was to warn others and to see those still trapped within the witches’ mountain rescued.

They had suffered for too long. Twelve years of torment had stretched endlessly, each day eclipsing the life he had known before. But against all odds, they had broken free. After what felt like centuries, Salgier had felt the wind on his face, the snow beneath his feet. He had embraced the cold with tears of both joy and desperation. They had escaped the mountain in the darkest of nights, a night cold and uncaring, yet alive with swirling energy.