Page 81 of Eternal Thorns

Every wave of shadow that crashed through him became another point of light, another chance to reach back through darkness. The entity's desperate attempts to break their connection only made it stronger, purer, more impossible to corrupt. The sword sang with each blow, its light growing brighter as their bond strengthened.

Their eyes met across the maelstrom - storm gray finding forest green beneath layers of shadow. In that shared gaze lay perfect understanding: some bonds couldn't be broken because they chose each other knowing darkness might come.

27

LOVE'S TRIAL

SILAS

Silas had thought he was prepared for what corruption would make of Thorne. He'd steeled himself through nightmare visions and twisted illusions, faced shadow wearing his love's face in a hundred horrible ways. But nothing could have readied him for the reality.

Thorne hung suspended in the corrupted heart of his own forest, transformed into something that defied description. His crown of branches had become living darkness, dripping shadows that moved with terrible purpose. Where luminous patterns had once traced his skin like flowing moonlight, corrupted magic now pulsed in sickly rhythms that hurt to watch.

Yet even twisted by shadow, he was breathtaking. The entity had turned Thorne's ethereal beauty into dark majesty, making him terrible and magnificent at once. Power rolled off him in waves that made the key burn cold against Silas's chest.

“Fuck,” Kai whispered from somewhere behind him. “That's... that's not what I expected.”

Silas couldn't look away from what had become of his lover. The forest guardian's eyes burned with tainted fire as that familiar-yet-wrong gaze fixed on him. When Thorne spoke, his voice carried echoes of seduction and threat both:

“Come to save me, little scholar?” Corrupted magic swirled around him like a dark crown.

Though beneath that cruel precision, through their damaged bond, Silas felt something else - Thorne's true essence screaming in silent agony as the entity used his voice to hurt what he loved most.

“Neither,” Silas managed, though his heart felt like it might shatter. The sword returned back to being a key that hung impossibly cold against his skin, responding to how thoroughly the shadow had corrupted their connection.

Something flickered through those tainted eyes - recognition or manipulation, it was impossible to tell. Thorne's corrupted form shifted with liquid grace as he descended toward them, each movement a twisted echo of his natural ethereal beauty.

“No?” Dark amusement colored that beloved voice. “Then why risk everything to reach this place? What drives you to face what love has made of me?”

Every protective instinct screamed at Silas to retreat as Thorne drew closer. The corruption rolling off him felt wrong on a fundamental level, like reality itself was being poisoned by his presence. Even Kai's strongest charms flickered weakly against such concentrated darkness.

But beneath the shadow's cruel performance, through their nearly-broken bond, Silas felt Thorne fighting. Each word meant to hurt them took tremendous effort to force past his resistance. His true self reached through corruption with desperate determination, trying to warn even as the entity used him as weapon.

The shadow entity seized on this defiance, sending fresh waves of darkness pouring into Thorne's transformed body. The forest guardian's perfect features twisted in agony as corruption tried to drown out his last traces of self.

That sight made something crystallize in Silas's chest. The key blazed suddenly warm against his skin as he stepped forward.

“I came to remind you of who we are together,” he declared, watching corruption recoil slightly from the pure truth in those words. “Not to save you or join you - to choose you, exactly as you are.”

Darkness started lashing out with Thorne's stolen power. But Silas held his ground as shadow crashed around him.

“Bold words,” the corrupted guardian purred, though something uncertain threaded through his voice. “But look what love has made of me.”

“Real love isn't about staying pure or perfect. It's about choosing each other even through darkness.”

Power rolled off Thorne in waves as the entity fought to maintain control. His crown of shadows writhed while corrupted patterns raced across his skin faster. But beneath that terrible display, through their healing bond, came something that felt like sunrise.

“You still don't understand what you face,” Thorne's voice carried equal parts threat and pleading. “This isn't some story where love conquers all. I chose this corruption to protect you. Let me bear it alone.”

“Not a chance.” Silas closed the distance between them, close enough now to see how corruption trembled beneath Thorne's skin. “You don't get to decide that anymore. Not when every moment of pain between us only proves what the shadow entity fears most.”

Silas reached up, fingers hovering just shy of touching Thorne's corrupted face. “I see you,” he said softly. “All of you and I will always choose you.”

The key flared impossibly bright against his chest as truth rang through those words. Through their strengthening bond came Thorne's answering surge of fierce love, his true essence fighting harder against corruption's hold.

THORNE

Through waves of corruption, Thorne watched in helpless horror as Silas approached. The shadow entity's hold on his form felt like drowning in liquid darkness, every attempt to move or speak requiring impossible effort. Yet somehow, seeing his love walk willingly into danger gave him strength to fight harder against the possession.

---