Page 56 of Empire of Wrath and Ruin
The words hit me like a slap, even though I knew they were true. I'd felt it myself—that moment when something else hadbeen looking out through Taveth's eyes, something that wanted to hurt me in ways that went beyond physical pain.
"But he didn't do it," I said firmly. "He stopped. He came back."
"This time," Marcus said quietly. "But what about next time? What happens when you're not there to pull him back?"
"He's losing himself," Antonius said softly. "Whatever this darkness is, it's consuming him piece by piece. And we're powerless to stop it."
"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "We are not powerless. There has to be something we can do."
"Like what?" Tarshi's voice cracked. "He's my twin brother, and I couldn’t reach him. When I touched him, when I felt even a fraction of what he's carrying..." He shuddered. "It was like staring into an abyss. How is he even still sane?"
"He's not," Marcus said bluntly. "That's the point. The man we know, the man you love—he's disappearing. And what's taking his place is dangerous."
"Don't you think I don't know that?" I snapped, my own fear and frustration finally boiling over. "Don't you think I felt every moment of his madness through our bond? Don't you think I know how close he came to..." I couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't say the words out loud.
"Then you understand why we can't let this continue," Antonius said gently. "We need to find a way to help him, or..."
"Or what?" I demanded. "You'll what, exactly? Lock him up? Kill him? He's one of us. He's family."
“Yes,” snapped Septimus. “If it protects you, then yes. We’ll kill him.”
“Septimus,” I pleaded, knowing the anger in him came only from the pain and frustration he felt at not being able to protect me from this. Or Tarshi either.
"He's a threat," Marcus said, and I could hear the pain in his voice. "We know you care about Taveth, and he’s Tarshi’s brother, and both of those things make him family, makes him part of this. But our first responsibility is to you. And if he's becoming something that could hurt you..."
"He won't hurt me," I said, but the words sounded hollow even to my own ears.
"He almost did," Septimus pointed out. "If you hadn't been able to reach him, if that connection between him and Tarshi hadn't somehow helped..."
I looked at Tarshi, remembering that strange moment when the shadows had flickered toward him. "What was that? What happened when you touched him?"
Tarshi shook his head, looking confused and shaken. "I don't know. I felt... pulled toward him. Like I could take some of his burden. But it was too much. Whatever's inside him, it's bigger than anything I can handle."
"But you helped," I pressed. "You eased the pressure somehow."
"Barely," he said. "And I couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds. He's carrying something massive, Livia. Something that's eating him alive from the inside."
The weight of helplessness crashed over me. Here was this man I loved more than life itself, slowly being consumed by darkness, and there was nothing any of us could do to save him. The healers couldn't help. Magic couldn't touch it. We were all just standing by, watching him disappear piece by piece.
"There has to be something," I said desperately. "Some answer, some cure, something."
"The elders," Marcus said quietly, and something in his tone made me look up. "Taveth told you that they've been researching this for generations. Maybe they've found something new."
"They would have told him," I said, but even as I spoke, doubt crept in. Would they? Or would they keep potential solutions to themselves if it meant risking their most powerful weapon?
"Would they?" Antonius echoed my thoughts. "Think about it, Livia. Taveth is their strongest shadow mage. In a war like this, losing him would be devastating to their cause."
"So they'd let him suffer?" The idea made my stomach turn.
"Let him fight until couldn't," Sirrax said grimly. "Seen it. Powerful assets used until they break."
I felt sick. Was that all Taveth was to them? A weapon to be wielded until it shattered? But then I thought of Aytara, of the genuine affection I'd seen in her eyes when she looked at him. Surely, she wouldn't...
"We need to talk to them," I said firmly. "Demand answers. If there's even a chance of helping him—"
"And if there isn't?" Marcus asked gently. "If this is truly inevitable, what then?"
The question hung in the air like a blade. I couldn't answer it because I couldn't accept it.
