Third Eye | Sentinel

Reflected - I

It was cold.

The forest was unrecognisable. Everything was covered in a carpet of white snow. A dying image of the long-forgotten spring. A graveyard for the flowers and trees that once grew here. It no longer looked like a forest - more like a skeletal ribcage, the frozen trees jutting out of the ground like shards of bone.

It was always winter here. The sun never shone. Grey clouds of dust and other foul things constantly lingered, choking the land and those living on it. Even the rivers turned black with pollution, plunging the waters into endless darkness.

Aurora held out her hand to catch the falling snowflakes. Her silver hair whipped around her grey fur coat amidst the howling wind. Her bare feet stung from the bitter frost. Her eyes, a light metallic colour, stared at the fading skyline.

She was like any other tree here - beautiful, in a timeless and perfect way, but smothered under layer upon layer of trouble.

In the distance, two shadowy figures emerged from the haze. Aurora quickly ducked behind one of the trees and kept her head low. However, she could afford to take a few peeks, and did so.

In front of her were two men. One was a lot larger than the other, and both had put on as many layers as possible to block the freezing gales. The shorter one had a pistol in his right hand, and the larger one was carrying a backpack.

Inside that backpack was exactly what Aurora wanted.

"...so that's how I got these beauties!" the larger one laughed, his thick voice muffled under his coat. "You don't see precious stones like this at any auction."

"You sure are one lucky guy," said the other. "You're not going to go back on your word, are you?"

"Of course not. You've supported me for all these years as my friend. I'll keep my promise, and give you your share of the money as soon as possible."

Suddenly, the shorter man stopped. "Hey...this place doesn't feel right. It's like we're being watched."

Quick as lightning, Aurora dashed from her cover and launched herself at the two men. She moved so fast that the men had too little time to react, and once they did, the backpack was long gone. However, Aurora knew that this wasn't the end. She halted just a screen of blue light appeared in front of her.

"Stop right there!" the larger man barked, lowering his hand. He had summoned a shield of some sort that blocked anything in its path. "You're not getting away with my stuff. I don't care if you're a robber or bandit, so long as you end up dead. Martin, fire up the pistols."

The man named Martin brought out another pistol to wield in his left hand, and shot at Aurora. The bullets, modified to be like aerodynamic mini-drills, cut through the air, getting ever closer to Aurora...

She snapped her fingers, and the world stopped.

Time came to a standstill around her, the bullets inches away from her head. Ahead of her, she could see the triumphant expression of Martin.

She picked out one bullet, then the other, from their standing positions, and threw them behind her into the ground. Then, she clicked her fingers again and time resumed.

The bullets that had been fired buried themselves into the frozen earth, making a whirring sound as they did so as they lost more and more energy, before finally coming to a stop.

The larger man's jaw dropped. The barrier he had summoned flickered and shattered. He managed, "H-How did you..."

Martin stood there, so surprised that he didn't fire another round of ammunition. "William...what happened?"