For a moment I didn’t dare to breathe.

  It had worked?

  It had really, truly worked?

  Trembling, I trated on the now no-longer entment bnk. Slowly, I let my Aetherial Senses poke and prod the devi my hands. During my lesson on Entment, Grey’d had me test my senses on spare entment discs that he had. His reasoning had been that I o be able to tell whenever something had been successfully ented.

  This…item. This thing in my hands was registering as successfully ented to my senses.

  I nearly started hyperventiting.

  Somehow, I’d do. I hadn’t inteo, but I had.

  In my hands was a device that I thought could break a sve bond.

  I chuckled to myself, slightly hysterical. I couldn’t be right, could I? It couldn’t be this simple to free a sve. If I’d actually do, then the design for breaking a sve bond had already existed. I’d just stripped it down until it wouldn’t be strong enough to kill someone.

  As I’d said, the Ward Breaker funed by being ied into a ward stone and then flooding that stoh raw Aether from the monster cores in the hahis Aether ected with entment ihat carried the idea of ‘deactivation’. What I’d doh strip several features from the Ward Breaker entment and massively lower the amount of Aether administered from a press of the activation rune. Normally, a single Ward Breaker only had about two charges to it due to how much Aether it took from the cores, acc to Grey. However, this…thing I’d made probably had enough juice for hundreds of uses.

  I set it down oable with shaking hands. I…I didn’t have time for this. I o finish the Ward Breaker. Once I was doh that…

  Then I guess I’d go downstairs and show it to Grey.

  ………………………………………

  It didn’t take me long to finish the Ward Breaker.

  Maybe it was because I was so keyed up from making…the other thing. Maybe it was from the meditation I’d doher way, I succeeded in yering the entment over the bnk on my very ry.

  I nearly slumped over at the exhaustion that swept over me. I clutched my pounding head with both hands a out a low groan. I’d never pushed myself so many times in such a short period of time. Between all the surgery I’d done i twenty-four hours and making these two items, it almost felt like something was ag inside me. Fumblingly, I reached for a drawer on my desk. Opening it, I took out a bottle that tained a bright yellow potion.

  I eyed it warily.

  Grey had given me a number of these weeks ago. He’d called them energy potions, and told me that I could use them to briefly to bolster myself. Kind of like a super-powered energy drink, from what I could tell. However, he’d cautioned me by saying that the boost would only st about ten hours, and then I was out. Apparently, these things had a tendency to knock you out for days afterward.

  I took a deep breath. Fuck it, I’d take it with me. If Grey said that my Ward Breaker was funal…

  Then I was kig off everything tonight, and chugging this damn potion.

  Bleddyn didn’t have time for me to pussy-foot around.

  Grabbing the Ward Breaker, the potion, and my…project, I exited my room and headed downstairs. ing to Grey’s room, I was surprised to hear low versation eg out from it. I think both Grey and Azarus were still up and in there. Good. That saved some time.

  I knocked on the door strongly and didn’t wait for an answer before I barged in. Grey and Azarus were sitting at the small er table, nursing drinks. They’d turned around to face me with surprised looks on their faces at my entrance. Azarus set his down.

  “Nate!” He said, standing up halfway from his chair. I waved him back down impatiently, causing him to pause. I hustled over to the table, dumping the three items in my arms oable for them to see. Azarus slowly lowered bato his chair. “Are ya…all right?” He asked me.

  “Fine,” I said shortly. I slid the Ward Breaker that I’d made to rest in front of Grey. “Did I do it right? Is it funal enough?”

  Grey blinked down at the rge and oddly proportioned fork before his eyes widened. He looked up at me in astonishment. “Nathan, did you finish the Ward Breaker?” I heard an intake of breath from Azarus, but didn’t turn to face him.

  “That’s what I’m asking you,” I said impatiently, nearly boung on my heels.

  Grey picked up the Ward Breaker and narrowed his eyes in tration. Both Azarus and I held our breaths in anticipation while Grey exami with his senses. After a moment, a smile stole across his aged fad he looked up at me. “You did it, Nathan. You really did it. This is a fully funal Ward Breaker.”

  “Gods damn,” Azarus breathed out.

  “With this,” Grey tinued. “We’re-”

  I interrupted him. “That’s not all,” I said gravely. I was gd that I’d dohe Ward Breaker correctly, but I’d already beey sure I had. I slid the other long fork across the table to Grey.

  He looked down at it, puzzled. “Did you make a sed Breaker, Nathan?” He reached for it.

  “No,” I said. “I think…I made something different.” I stepped away from the table, full of nervous energy. I began to pace bad forth in front of the table uhe fused stares of Grey and Azarus. “I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. But…but that isn’t a Ward Breaker.” I stopped my pag and turo face them. “I think that break a sve bond.”

  Grey and Azarus both froze. In fact, I couldn’t even tell if they were breathing anymore, they were so still. Slowly, I watched their eyes drift down to the item resting in front of Grey. With a shaking hand, Grey slowly reached down to rest a hand oem. I watched as started trating on his are senses again, and begin to i what I’d made.

  Azarus and I waited with bated breath. This time, Grey seemed to take much loo feel out the device. Several minutes went by as he scruti. At st, he stopped and looked up at me with a furrowed brow. “I…believe I see what you mean, Nathan,” He said cautiously, hopefully. “I see the ges you made to the base Ward Breaker entment, but I don’t know how. I’ve never seen entmeing done in such a way.”

  I reached out and pulled out the third chair resting at the table. With a thump, I sat in it. “We’ve talked about how I weave and yer entments over items before. We’ve even talked about how I perceive them during a Meld. I…tely I’ve just been finding it easier to try and mat entment to its runes before I apply it.” I expihe rest of my process to Grey as he sat there, enraptured. I even told him about what I’d noticed about the endlessly repeating activation entment on my colr.

  When I was done, we sat in silence for a moment. Azarus hadn’t said a word in some time, merely watg our discussion with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening.

  Abruptly, Grey picked up the item and ha to me. In the same instant, he wheeled his chair away from the table. “There’s only one way to know for certain if it works,” He said gravely, meeting my eyes. “You don’t have a bond to test it on. But I do, Nathan.”

  Uedly, Azarus stood up from the table and interrupted us. “Ya ’t be serious,” He said disbelievingly. “Even if this thing works, and I’m not saying it won’t, mind,” He said to me before tinuing. “You’re not who it should be tested on! I don’t know much about entment, but I do know that your bond is bigger, stronger, and more plex than most! Even beyond that, we don’t know what this thing could do to ya if it fails! Hell, it could trigger your colr and then that’s it! You're dead!”

  Grey took a deep breath before nodding. He didn’t turn to face Azarus though, he just kept staring at me. “You’re correct, Azarus,” He said evenly. “But everything that I uand about the principles of Enting and Abjuration is tellihis will work. My bond may be somewhat strohan the average one, but not so much that this couldn’t possibly work. Nathan…” He started to undo the bindings of his pin white tuniir to my own. When he was done, he turned around and lowered it to expose the brand on his left shoulder bde. “Do it.”

  Hesitantly, I approached him with the fork-shaped device clutched in my right hand. I stopped though, when Grey spoke again. “I believe that this might work best,” He said calmly. “If the tongs break the skin. The ritual act of bloodletting, even if only slight, might boost the success rate. You’ll need your skill for that, though. We already know it’s capable of breaking my skin.”

  With a deep breath, I did as he said.

  The Stilnt Bde.

  The long fork in my haed into rainbow-colored fire. The light of my skill overpowered the weak dlelight that was flickering in the dim room, casting multi-colored shadows across its darkened ers. Slowly, I raised the device to hover point first over the rge, dense, and plex brand that dominated Grey’s left shoulder. I paused before tinuing. “Grey…,” I trailed off. “Thank you.” I tried hard to vey the depths of my emotion in those two words. How grateful I was that he and Azarus had rescued me, all those months ago. How grateful I was for his tutege. How much I just appreciated his advid his pany, on long nights.

  Grey must have uood. “No, Nathan,” He said with a smile in his voice, without turning to face me. “Thank you.”

  Forcefully, I stabbed the fork down at the brand, leaning on it with my full weight. Even then, I only mao slightly pierce his skin, leading to two small drops of blood starting to drip down his back. At the same time, I pressed down oivation rune.

  The results were immediate.

  The brand on Grey’s shoulder began to light up rapidly in a dazzling bination of light. I didn’t get a ce to see much more though, as with a bang I was bsted off of my feet a flying. “Nate!” I heard behind me, over the rapid cresdo of light and hat was beginning to fill the room. Before I could hit the wall, I was grabbed by Azarus. I wasn’t paying attention to that though.

  I was watg Grey.

  From where I was leaning against Azarus, I could see the brand on Grey’s back begin to shine ever brighter. It grew sht, in fact, that I was sure the light was leaking through the curtains and lighting up the clearing outside the window. Gradually, I could see the brand begin to break down and dissolve on Grey’s back from the iy of the power assaulting it. I didn’t think it was from the device at that point. I think that was Grey’s phting back against the brand, now that a weakness had formed in it.

  At the same time, all light in the room began to dim. The shadows grew longer and darker, and the light that still existed in the room from the weak dles began to dim. Slowly, it…somehow began to reach frey, indepely of the fme that rodug it. What was left was a still-burning fme that produo light at all. Softly, Grey himself began to glow with ahereal silver light.

  Wordlessly, Grey raised his right arm and made a sweepiure, from his position fag the covered window. The drapes flew open at his and.

  The room exploded into light once more. I cried out, c my eyes at the brightness, aware of Azarus g out behind me as well. Slowly, I tried to opeo see what was making the light. I felt my heart stutter in my chest at what I found.

  It was the moon.

  Looming full and heavy just over the trees outside the window, it was shining brighter than I’d ever seen it oher Vereden or Earth. Somehow, I could physically feel the attention that it was direg onto Grey. It was as if the heavenly body ersonally guiding its full radiao one person. Slowly, he wheeled up to the window and id a longing hand onto it, as if he could reach up into the sky and pluck the luminous moon from the heavens.

  “Elys, my love,” Grey said softly, lovingly. “Let us never be parted again…”