Page 79 of Eternal Thorns

The key remained cold.

In every true interaction between them, the key had responded to Thorne's presence with instant warmth. Even corrupted, their connection had generated some reaction. But now it hung lifeless against Silas's chest.

This wasn't restoration. The shadow entity had pulled their combined memories to craft a perfect illusion, weaponizing their deepest wish for things to simply be fixed.

“No,” Silas said quietly, letting his hand fall. “This isn't real.”

The false Thorne's expression shifted subtly, something hungry bleeding through his gentle smile. “It could be. Accept this gift and-”

“And what? Live in a beautiful lie while corruption spreads?” Silas squared his shoulders, feeling the key's dead weight like armor. “The real Thorne would never offer that. He'd rather face darkness honestly than hide in false light.”

The sacred grove shattered like broken glass. Sunlight turned to shadow as the shadow entity's rage manifested, twisting their precious space into nightmare. The false Thorne's form corrupted in fast-forward, crown of branches blackening as his skin turned dark as starless night.

“You could have had perfection,” it snarled, still using Thorne's voice. “Could have kept him exactly as you remembered, unmarred by pain or change.”

“I don't want perfection.” Silas stood his ground as corruption raced toward him. “I want him - exactly as he is, shadow and light both. You don't understand anything at all if you think we need to be flawless to be worth choosing.”

The entity's scream of rage echoed through twisted trees, but something else threaded through it. Through their damaged bond came a pulse of Thorne's true essence, fiercer than before, responding to this simple truth.

“You're learning,” Kai said, rejoining him as the illusion fully collapsed. “How did you know?”

“The key.” Silas touched the cold metal. “Real connection leaves traces that can't be faked. The shadow entity can only twist what already exists.”

The corruption fought this understanding, throwing fresh horrors at them as they pressed deeper into its heart. But each attack revealed more about its fundamental nature. It could only corrupt existing bonds, could only poison connections that already held meaning.

When another phantom of Thorne appeared, this one wearing his face from centuries ago, Silas recognized the entity's strategy. The scene played out Marcus's betrayal from the guardian's perspective, every moment of trust turning to poison, every shared joy becoming weapon.

“See how it always ends?” The shadow wearing young Thorne's form gestured at the unfolding tragedy. “Love corrupts. Connection breaks. Why fight the natural order?”

But Silas saw past the surface manipulation to what this reveal actually meant. “You're afraid,” he realized, watching the entity flinch.

The phantom's borrowed features twisted with rage, but beneath that expression lay something that felt like validation.

“We're close,” Silas told Kai, feeling the bracelet pulse stronger despite corruption's screaming presence. “His real essence responds every time we understand something about what we're fighting.”

“Great.” Kai managed a shaky grin as he readied another protective charm. “Just figure out the psychological nature of darkness itself while we walk through literal nightmare.”

The shadow entity's attacks grew more desperate as they pushed forward, but each one revealed more of its limitations. It could only work with existing emotions, could only corrupt genuine feelings.

Eventually, they reached what had once been the forest's heart. The corruption here felt different. Silas's protective charms vibrated with constant warning while the bracelet burned ice-cold against his wrist.

“Is that...” Kai breathed, stumbling to a halt beside him.

The words died in his throat as they took in the scene before them. A vast vortex of corrupted magic swirled in the grove's center, darkness moving with terrible purpose. But it was what floated at its core that made Silas's heart stop.

Thorne.

The forest guardian hung suspended in shadow's embrace, transformed into something that hurt to witness. His crown of branches dripped darkness like liquid night, while corrupted patterns pulsed across his skin in sickly phosphorescence. Where luminous beauty had once made him ethereal, twisted magic now turned his form into living nightmare.

“No,” Silas whispered, the key growing impossibly cold against his chest.

Corrupted magic filled the air like poison gas, making every breath burn. But Silas couldn't look away from Thorne's transformed face. Those eyes that had once held forests now swirled with unnatural darkness. Yet when their gazes met across the corrupted space, something sparked through their weakened connection.

Recognition. Warning. Love.

“Silas, don't!” Thorne's voice emerged twisted but unmistakably his own. The effort of fighting the entity's control made dark veins stand out across his corrupted skin. “Get out - it's using me to-”

Shadow slammed through him, cutting off the warning. The entity seized control of Thorne's form, making him arch in agony as fresh waves of corruption poured into his essence. But that brief moment of connection had changed something fundamental.

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