Book One – Chapter 7

In the midst of this transformation, Yves assumed an unprecedented form. In a dimension that held minimal traces of matter, Yves had begun as a fragmented existence. Incorporating ever-growing layers of light, he gradually altered his matter-energy ratio, turning himself into a less and less substantial being. Growing within the rotten mass that had engulfed him, he evolved from a dark ashen being to an entity of almost pure ethereal light.

As he expanded to rival the Vicha in size, defying the ties between matter and energy that defined his existence, Yves dared to direct the light that was now him inwards, painfully weaving it into his core. He sensed the transformative threshold — becoming light, fully ethereal, beyond the grasp of the Vicha and at the brink of separating the gateway key from himself.

Yves felt it, he felt it emerge, the “Breath of the Light” that silenced the distorted screams emerging from his form. It was an extraordinary sensation that he thought he knew, he thought he experienced once before amongst soldiers in the heart of battle, where each breath encapsulated their entire existence. Past, future, and identity faded, replaced by an all-encompassing focus on the singular moment, living the battle one breath at a time, each breath the embodiment, the singularity of life. This profound connection was often associated with elemental magic, where Worldbenders felt their element as an intrinsic part of themselves, transcending ordinary senses. What Yves felt was so much more.

 Weaving light into his core did not just feel like a controlled or easy or natural act akin to “breathing”, no, there was a shift where the light became breath, where it became life, where it became his consciousness.

It was a heightened awareness of his being and the shifting structures within him. It unfolded and expanded as Yves outgrew the Vicha, the curse engulfing him no more, as it became ever easier to amass more energy and light to keep the Vicha at bay. He made light his core and fought to force out the last impurity that was the gateway key. Yves felt that he could beat the curse, that he could do it all at once — discard the last ashen shards within his being and the key. The Vicha would touch the gateway key the same second it became unable to hold onto Yves anymore and so shift dimensions by itself.

And then everything shifted, everything spiralled out of control.