Book One – Chapter 8

This was the path she embraced, a covenant for the entirety of their existence. Deep within, an intuition grew and whispered ever louder that both Midnight and her wizard craved this enveloping darkness. She was not the companion to a wizard who lost and longed and lived for light. Midnight was the companion to a wizard who could take like only the shadows could. He delved into forbidden realms and exploited secret knowledge. He harnessed forces like the other one and the poison mirror energies to become more. Like shadows, he shifted out of this world to gain many forms. Her wizard traversed the unseen, the same as her.

Midnight realised she had made this choice days ago, descending into the stygian depths of the mountain instead of ascending its sunlit peaks. The darkness had beckoned, and in that call, she found her purpose. Light, she could only give, but through darkness, she could take. And from what she took, right here and now, she would become more.

The creatures of utter darkness had imparted their venom to her, and from that, she seized their essence. She did not expel it, despite instincts compelling her to vomit, her body long reduced to a frantic, cramping mass. Instead, she embraced and wielded it with intention.

Her actions were not framed in the arcane language of wizards; it was visceral understanding — she fractured, split, and assimilated the venom with her energy. She cleaved the fragments that so much heightened her awareness from the parts that sought to destroy her body. The former transmuted into an eldritch energy that surged through her being, leaving her body to fight through the broken venom remains.

Midnight did not acquire this ability from instinct or reason, nor were the explanations from her wizard sufficient to instigate her transformation. She could not articulate parallels between her changes and his experiences with raw energy, light fragments, and shards. Yet, she knew this ability came from Yves. This was the essence of sharing a bond with a wizard. He had learned to alter his essence, to split poison energy, and through their bond, he had passed the potential for this arcane transformation onto her.