Book One – Chapter 9

Their minuscule size posed the exact problem Yves had faced when bound to the limitations of his first sight. If you broke it all down, he learned to guess the structures, sizes and shapes of light fragments from their phantom presences. He had started a blind boy stabbing his needle into the ground at random, breaking a thousand beads for every one that he pinned correctly. Handling the void itself would be no different. He handled something that, to him, was not there, something which was just not there anymore since his youth — which is why perceiving light fragments in the Mirror Dimension had been such an overwhelming experience. The nets of light had been so rich in numbers, so perfect in their structure, and so, so beautiful.

Well, with years of adapting to such an unconventional method, Yves’ break-to-pin ratio had shifted for the better. As he studied and trained fiercely to compensate for his affliction, he eventually caught up to his commilita. From there, he began to experiment. He invented creations that combined shards and light. Shards infused with light became his most versatile resources ever since. From them, he crafted potent weapons and vast constructions such as the Vicha dome.

His advancing blindness would eventually rob him of all of these abilities, his innovations and nuanced skills — anything that set him apart from the novice with the crippled eyes.

What had started with light fragments continued ever since. With the deterioration of his second sight, Yves was losing his grasp on the Alladharian dimension as a whole. His tether to world energies, to magic itself, frayed with each passing moment.

Yet, it was in the lighthouse, upon his return from the mirror plane, that he had faced an abrupt and drastic decline of his vision. Ever since, the process had accelerated significantly. Days later, with his return to the crater, his ability to recognise energies had again deteriorated with sudden ferocity. He was losing his eyesight much too fast. Just a month ago, he had anticipated at least five or six more years. Now, it felt compressed to mere months, perhaps just a few weeks.

Now, it was not just his second sight anymore.

As of today, the moons and stars were lost to him.