Page 77 of Eternal Thorns

“I know.” Silas checked his own preparations one final time. The key hung cold against his chest, stripped of its usual warmth since Thorne's sacrificed himself.

The corrupted forest stretched before them like a nightmare version of the realm he'd come to love. Ancient trees that had once welcomed him now twisted in shapes that defied nature. The very air felt wrong, heavy with power that whispered seductive darkness.

“The path will try to turn you around,” Agnes warned, pressing another charm into his hand. This one hummed with magic that felt older than the forest itself. “Trust your heart over your eyes. The shadow entity excels at creating illusions that prey on hope.”

Silas caught glimpses of familiar places turned wrong. The ancient oak where they'd shared their first kiss, its bark bleeding shadows instead of sap.

“You really love him, don't you?” Kai asked quietly, watching Silas study the twisted landscape. “Like, enough to walk into actual nightmare forest and fight shadow monsters.”

“Yes.” The simple truth of it burned in Silas's chest, stronger than any magic.

Agnes touched his shoulder gently. “Then remember this - true feeling threatens the entity precisely because it cannot corrupt it completely.”

The bracelet pulsed once, weakly, as if responding to this truth. Through their damaged connection came something that felt like Thorne - distant and distorted, but still somehow himself. The sensation carried warning and love both

Don't trust what you see, trust what you feel.

“Right then.” Kai shouldered his pack with determined cheerfulness. “Into corrupted death-forest we go. Try not to get us killed by romantic tragedy, yeah?”

Silas touched the key one last time, remembering how it used to warm with shared power. The metal remained cold, but something deeper than magic burned in his heart.

Some connections ran too deep for even darkness to break.

The first step across corruption's boundary felt like breaking a seal. Power rushed around them, hungry and wrong, seeking any weakness in their protections. But Silas faced it without flinching. Somewhere in this twisted nightmare, Thorne waited - changed and corrupted but still somehow his.

The moment they crossed into corrupted territory, darkness rushed to meet them like a living thing. It recognized Silas instantly, reaching with terrible familiarity born from Thorne's stolen memories.

“Well this is horrific,” Kai muttered, gripping his protective charms tighter.

The corruption responded by sending the first vision. Silas watched his love's crown of branches blacken, his luminous skin turn dark as starless night. But something unexpected happened when the vision tried to touch his heart.

It slid off like water from glass, unable to find purchase against the pure truth of what he felt.

The shadow entity's retaliation was immediate. The ground beneath their feet turned treacherous, paths splitting and reforming with nightmare logic. Roots that should have guided them now reached with hungry purpose, trying to drag them deeper into darkness.

“Left,” Silas commanded, feeling the bracelet's weak pulse guide him. “The corruption's trying to turn us around.”

“You sure about that?” Kai's voice held uncharacteristic strain. “Because I could swear the manor's that way.”

“That's what it wants you to think.” Silas caught his friend's arm before he could step onto a particularly convincing false path.

The deeper they ventured, the more personal the shadow's attacks became. Thorne's voice called from the darkness, mixing truth with lies so subtle they were almost impossible to detect.

“Silas.” The sound carried perfect memory of how Thorne said his name during their lessons. “Why do you fight so hard against what I've become?”

The words hurt precisely because they carried traces of Thorne's actual voice, his genuine fears about love and corruption. But through their weakened bond came pulses of his true essence.

“Your friend will betray you,” the shadow whispered, turning its attention to Kai. “Just as everyone eventually betrays those they claim to love. Look deeper into his heart, see the resentment hidden there.”

Kai's step faltered. “I… something feels wrong.”

“It's lying,” Silas said firmly, but he saw how the corruption worked on his friend's insecurities. Old fears about their different social classes, buried resentment about kept secrets, all being twisted into weapon.

When Kai suddenly lunged toward what looked like a safe path home, Silas had to physically restrain him. “It's not real,” he insisted, wrestling his friend back from the edge of a disguised pit. “None of what you're seeing is real.”

“But it feels real.” Kai's voice cracked. “All those times I watched you move through higher society, knowing I'd never really belong...”

“Stop.” Silas grabbed his friend's shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. “You want to know what I remember about all those fancy parties? Looking for you in the crowd. Wishing Icould just hang out in the kitchen with my best friend instead of playing perfect heir.”

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