Through the Mirror - Chapter Three

Strips of color flicker on and off through my vision.  I’m trying my best not to let my eyes follow the light off to the left, but in they end the do, falling into a rhythmic pattern where I follow them until they are out of my line of vision and then jump back to meet the new one off to the right somewhere.  My body doesn’t want to move, and my mind is completely numb and foggy, so that not even my neck can summon the energy or willpower to let me follow the lights more effectively.  For some reason the thought of moving my neck to see the lights is a ridiculous thought anyway, it can’t be done; for if I tried the lights would simply vanish.  Eventually all other thoughts exit from my mind, and I am left with only the lights, following them from one end of my vision to the other until they vanish, my neck slowly rotating as though on a ball, unable to escape the monotonous cycle.

Finally, I am able to escape the thoughts of the lights, and my vision slowly begins slipping from it.  As soon as my mind completely escapes the reality of the lights, a mind numbing darkness folds over the world and I am plunged into a hellish nightmare with no remorse.  All of my senses are suddenly gone, including the sound of my own breath and the feel of my own heart beating in my chest.  I feel like I could move in normal circumstances, but something is holding me back.

A room is spread before me.  Everything in it is out of focus or otherwise completely black except than the corner directly opposing me.  For some reason it makes sense to try and get there, but I can’t do anything.  My body is completely useless… and with a shock I realize it seems as though I’m not actually in my body.  I have come to this realization because I cannot see my nose.  Usually there is at least a faded area right in the middle of my vision where is.  I come to the conclusion that my eyes are closed; except for the fact I can’t open them no matter how much I struggle within myself.  Suddenly I feel as though something large is chasing after me.  I feel the instinctive pull to escape, and I begin rushing though the elaborate labyrinth of different forms of walls, eluding my inevitable death the only thought of my mind.  I struggle to get away from it, and the only available way is to the mirror, which has appeared in the opposite corner.  Panic retches at my very being and just as I think I’m going to make it to the light, there’s a flash and a form appears in front of me, laughing maniacally.  

I stumble backwards into one of the strange walls, and sink down below the person, who has unveiled itself to me.  It’s a wiry man with flowing long silver hair, and bright white tight fitting robes about his body.  At his side is a transparent sword, which beauty is only beaten by the glorious pendant about his neck.  If it were not for the mans eyes, he would not be very frightening at all.  His eyes were a deep red, which were certainly the epitome of evil.

The man then drew his blade, and with another bout of maniacal laughter, he brought the swords back in an arc which could surely slice my skull in two and…

***

“AUGHHHH!”  I awoke to an inescapable searing pain penetrating my entire body.  Apparently the venom from the creatures wasn’t deadly; it must just knock the victim unconscious so it can feast in peace.  I tried to lurch forward, but was only able to lean forward a few inches before my body fell back in the sand again, exhausted.  Not able to move, I simply sat there screaming in anguish, mental and physical.  For a full year I had longed for Amber, and now she was surely a horrible creature’s dinner.  I cried then, for I don’t know how long, for Amber, for confusion, for how screwed up my life had gotten in the past year.  And when I was done, I sighed deeply and thrust my body into an upright position.  There I sat for quite a while more, assessing my situation.  

The flashlight, when it fell from my hand, it had landed handle first, so that the rays of light penetrated the sky.  I was certain that that had been the only reason another beast had not finished me off.  I shuddered as I recalled the skin coming off the creature’s face where the flashlight had shined.    As I recovered some of my strength, I sat up and looked around me.  It was the dead of night, and I could hardly see a thing.  All I could see all around me as far as my eyes allowed was sand dunes and darkness.  

I picked up the flashlight and pointed it into the sky to make sure none of those creatures were around.  The good news was I didn’t see any of them within eyesight, but I noticed something very odd.  There was what appeared to be a moon in the sky, with clouds rushing past it at high rates of speed.  It looked like a large glowing orb that barely cast any light down upon the world.  But that wasn’t the strange thing; I had seen that happen before.  What was weird was, there were three of them, forming a triangle in the night sky.  I shook my head slowly in disbelief, and clicked the flashlight off sticking it into my pocket.  At the moment, it seemed that it was a more valuable weapon than light source, and I didn’t need it dying on me if there was another encounter.

I couldn’t believe what was going on.  First I get mail from some strange shadow, and then we tumble through a mirror into a strange world seemingly full of deadly creatures and not much else.  If this is where Marc had fallen the previous year, I did not hold much faith for his survival.  

A familiar deafening screech rattled me from my thoughts, and had my heart in my throat once again.  In one motion I yanked the flashlight from my pocket and turned, catching sight of the foul beast which intended to feed on me.  I held the flashlight out in front of me and clicked it on, pointing its rays towards my enemy.  It wasn’t working!  It must be too far away.

I then watched as the beast did something I had never seen it do.  It landed on its scissor like arms and the tail swiveled upwards until it greatly resembled a monstrously large mutation of a winged scorpion.  It held its wings close to its back and came at me, ready to strike with its over-sized stinger.  I held the flashlight as far as I could reach, while the beast advanced upon me until its face was directly in front of its rays.  Nothing happened.  No skin melted and fell away, no bones were exposed, not even the slightest sign of discomfort was shown on the monsters part; I was screwed.

The creature began slowly advancing on me.  I had no idea what to do, running would be no use, seeing as there was absolutely no cover, and if I ran it would just attack me quicker.  So I just sat there bewildered like a deer in headlights, waiting for the inevitable to happen.  It seemed content that it had just scored such an easy meal, and raised its upper lips, exposing several layers of triangular razor sharp teeth.  I closed my eyes, hoping that this would all just end and I would wake up in my bed, Halloween morning.

That’s not what happened though.  I heard the all too familiar screeching noise, and looked up in shock to realize there was an arrow protruding from the beast’s eye.  At that time, while it was occupied, I turned and ran as fast as I could, slamming right into a man that had about two feet on me.  In the split second it took me to realize I had even made contact with the ground, the man had my hands and feet tied up, and a bag put over my head.

“Hey!  What the hell is going on!  Who are you guys?  Where am I?  What in the world is that thing?”  I said, thrashing about much like a fish on land.

“Shut up.”  A deep weathered voice stated bluntly, not offering any other acknowledgment to my questions.  I could then hear the clank of metal and the continued shriek of the beast, as I imagined several men fighting it off.  Finally, after several minutes, there was one final bellow from a man, and an odd squawking noise from the beast, and all was silent.

After a moment, I was able to hear their weapons being placed back into their holders, and a voice I had not yet heard yet began to talk.  

“Damn, I hate Valxmera…  Doesn’t matter if their Vein’s pawns or not, they’re all the same.”

Another person grunted in agreement, and I heard their footsteps quietly approach where I lay.  

“What’s going on?”  I asked, as I was sure they stood directly in front of me.  Again, they failed to acknowledge my question and began talking among themselves.

“Nat, you didn’t knock him out?”  Mr. Deep Voice said, with an air of authority.

“Naw…  You think we should?”  Nat inquired, without a hint of sympathy entering her strong voice.

“Hmm… might as well, I’m already sick of his mouth.”  Mr. Deep Voice said, walking slowly away without really caring if she would comply.  

I started to shout in protest, but the woman had the cloth off my head and in my mouth before I could even form words.  These people seemed incredibly fast when they wanted to be.  The entire area was incredibly bright, and I realized there was some sort of large white bright orb hovering above our heads.  The light was brighter than the standard lamp post by far, and the thought of the effect that would have on the “Valxmera” almost made me puke.  

The woman who had gagged me was stunningly beautiful.  She had nearly white hair, with yellow and blue highlights spread within.  Her curvy pale body was clothed with tight fitting tan clothing, which matched the earth around us particularly well.  The woman leaned forward, a spiral pendant wrapped about her neck.  

“Sorry about this,” She whispered in my ear, so quietly it was surely inaudible to everyone but me.  “Protocol is pretty strict about people who come through this particular portal.”  

She looked me up and down, probably noting how different my clothes were, and how tan my skin was.  After what seemed like an eternity, she frowned and waved her hand in front of my face, starting at my forehead and quickly bringing it down past my neck.  My eyes felt as though a tight pressure was being pressed down on them.  I blinked lazily several times until she waved her hands in front of my face once more, and then they were shut for good.  I heard her mumble some incoherent words and press lightly on my temple, and I was out for the count.  

***

I sighed and walked to join Xerif, who was knelt beside the Valxmera’s mutilated corpse.  My name is Natili, but many call me Nat for short.  I had lived as a member of the Reflection all of my life, and had fought the Refraction with every fiber of my being ever since I was able to wield daggers.  I was a rogue; stealth and archery were what I was all about.  The Banx I was with on this run was naturally a warrior, and a great one at that.  “Banx” was the name of a very rare gifted human with the ability to shift into a gruesome form.  Their form was a muscular feral catlike beast, with bone like spiked armor peeking out from their skin in various places.  They could stand, but generally ran on all fours.  It’s safe to say you wouldn’t want one on your bad side.  

We were on our way back from our Lix run when we saw the boy fall from the forbidden portal.  There were many mirror portals spread out all over the lands, but this was the only one forbidden from us.  Legend has it that it’s a portal by the name of Samada Mirror, and that the first bearer of the Celestial Pendant had been gifted to us through it.  Nobody knows where it leads, and only the bearer of the pendant holds the ability to go through it.  

Some many months ago, a boy was taken from the portal and transformed into a shade by Vein.  Shades, much like the red eyed Valxmera’s, were animals that were forced into doing Veins bidding.  When he takes over the Valxmera’s, their eyes simply change color.  As humans are more difficult to break, when they finally do, they are affected slightly more than other beasts are.  Instead of their eyes simply becoming hollow red pits, their bodies are also transformed.  It is said that he has all his human pawns held in a cell, and that the shades we see are actually their corrupted souls.  The boy was Veins favorite pawn, and he used him on his most important missions.  After that night, when the portal betrayed us, anything or anybody that comes through it is under great suspicion.  

I had begun assisting Xerif in removing key parts of the Valxmera.  Its teeth and other small bone fragments were very useful in many health elixirs.  Sort of ironic if you think about it, the same beast that hurts us on a daily basis also helps us.  We also sliced the eight bladed arms away from the corpse.  Our people were able to work these into glorious weaponry.  The very daggers at my waist were Valxmerian backstabbers, as we liked to call them.

Xerif and I then quietly assembled the pieces we were able to gather into our knapsacks, and assisted each other in making a fire, which I roasted some tough meat of the unfortunate Valxmera upon.  Instead of cooking it, Xerif shifted into the form of the Banx, and devoured his meal right from the bone.  I had found him to be quite repulsing in the time we had spent with each other, and we rarely found reason to speak. Once we were done, we quickly packed and put our gear on the cart with the Lix.  

Lix was a plant that once sliced open, secreted a foul smelling liquid.  As humans we never would have thought that this plant would hold any value, but at the beginning of the dark rein, we discovered that the Valxmera steered clear of any place which smelled as it did.  We then began constant farming and gathering of the plant, for use as a creature repellant and other numerous products.  

You see, sooner or later somebody was bound to taste it, and they discovered it was actually a quite delicious fruit.  Its awful stench was simply the only way of defense as a plant.  The man brewed liquor out of the fruit, and “Diuqil” was born, soon to become a huge it.  Not only was it quite intoxicating, it was said to be very good for the user.  People use it on wounds and to ward of sickness, and the plant itself is mixed with the cement that holds together the city.  Yes, we may smell horrid, but that is the price for survival.

Once everything was packed and ready Xerif threw the unconscious boy in the back of the cart.  He then transformed into his Banx form once again and while grabbing the handles of the cart, he began running.  Finally, we were off; heading rapidly towards the city once more.

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Thats great.... loved it