Broken Glass - Taekook

44

The Yarolian Plains stretch out before me, a barren expanse of dirt and dried grasses. Only the areas closes to the city walls of Mavathyr seem to have any life remaining, and even those are limited in their vibrancy. The night air is usually cool, out here in the middle of nowhere, but there's no indication of any cold snap tonight. The warmth around my body remains, somehow still enveloping me and encouraging me onward. 

For a moment, a dull thud echoes out behind me, as the small doorway that opened to admit my exit finally shuts properly. Confused, a little regretful, I hug the mirror closer to my chest, so close that the cool glass brushes up against me for a moment, the edges digging into my skin slightly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to properly leave some indented mark if it was left there for long. 

The restlessness that was taking over my entire being is still there, an energy that's unfamiliar, still pooling in every limb, every extremity. My legs, forcefully stopped by my own bafflement and self-doubt, begin to move again as I slowly realise the consequences of my decision. Before I know what's happening, I'm running. Sprinting, almost, across the dry earth, in a random direction. Away from the safety of the city walls. 

Eventually, however, tiredness and sheer force of will makes me stop and reassess the situation. I'm stood underneath a rare living tree, which is beginning to look a little worse-for-wear, bending over slightly in an attempt to catch my breath and fight back the aching pain that has crawled into my stomach as a result of the sudden activity. The mirror sits staring back at me, face-down, on the ground before me. I put it there the moment I managed to stop, so that it wouldn't get dropped if my hands decided to do something stupid like flail about and lose grip. 

And once I've found some form of recovery, some energy again, I find myself sitting cross-legged under the limited shade of this dying tree, reaching for the mirror and placing it into my lap. I breathe in, breathe out, and grip it, staring into the reflective surface. I don't know what I'm looking for, in all honesty. It's too dark for me to make out any of the details of my own face, and even the stars above are faded. 

"What do you want?" I mutter again, out into the wilderness. I'm not scared of waking up my friends anymore, but I'm quiet anyway, because I don't want to draw any more attention to myself. I don't know what lives out here, what creatures roam this savannah at night. I don't know if Karulian Knights sometimes make their way out here, pushing past the boundary of their territory into a kind of no-man's-land to find someone seeking sanctuary. 

Without Aphelia, without my friends, it's hard to find the confidence to relax. It's hard to trust in anything, and that fear hangs over me as I adjust my position, trying to be comfortable, trying to recall the relaxed state that Taehyung explained to me once when he described what it felt like to meditate or go into a trance. 

"Why bring me here, where I am exposed to the world? What do you want to show? What do you want me to see?" The words leave me unbidden, a whispered question that jumps from my mouth into the world around me, searching for answers that I can't find out here. 

The warmth around me remains, but a gentle breeze begins to make itself known. The tree rustles slightly behind me, its remaining leaves drifting slightly. I take a deep breath, steady my nerves, and tighten my grip on the mirror. A voice seems to come through the moving air, a low whisper that reminds me of the pure timbre of the golden river. 

"It is time. You are ready." 

I glance around, startled, the words not making much sense. "What do you mean it's time? What am I ready for? I can't fight the king yet, I don't have the strength. Is that what you're asking me to do?" This time, I speak a little louder, not as worried about my surroundings anymore. There's something protective about that breeze, something that makes me feel like I actually am safe, though I have no way of proving that.