Book One – Chapter 9

Whatever the Jabarrah had intended, the masters acknowledged that his impact on Yves had been profound and transformative. The healers went so far as to credit the familiar with Yves’ survival, suggesting that he had played an active role in keeping Yves alive until the masters found him.

Yves’ tutors perceived the Rothar of the Jabarrah within him and observed his influence on Yves’ magic. His shards exhibited greater strength and potency compared to his commilita, coupled with an element of unpredictability in their design. As of today, the illusions that came most naturally to Yves were not copies of Midnight, but birds, particularly those that took after the Jabarrah, with his curved beak, grand wingspan, and imposing talons. While his second sight continued to decline, Yves demonstrated exceptional resilience against the intrusion of Transcender wanderers from a young age, a defence far surpassing the expected protection offered by a young familiar like Midnight.

Throughout his student years, academy healers relentlessly attended to his eyes, but their efforts only slowed the degeneration temporarily. Many had tried, but not even renowned masters could halt, let alone reverse the continuing degeneration.

The impending loss of his second sight cast Yves into a bleak future where he faced the prospect of severance from all world energies. Adhar and Rothar will be lost to him. The healers warned him that even his first sight would eventually fade, leaving him completely blind. Once blind, Yves might still cobble together meagre glass shards and rudimentary illusions, borne out of sheer routine, guesswork, and luck — creations as crippled as he would be, despairing and humiliating. You would never dignify them as magic, unless you took great pity on him.