Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

Chapter Nine- Death, Camping, and Flying 101

"What?" My voice sqeaked out. Death or 95% chance death?! "Will....will I...do you think I'll survive?"

Maio let out a breathe, his anger dissapating. "No. No, I don't."

I stared at him. My brain starts whirlling at a million miles per hour, trying to find a way out.

Jasiana looked back and forth between me and her brother, her eyes narrowing.

"What about the other mirrors? D-didn't you say there were seven?! Why can't I use one of the other six?!" I hated it when I stuttered.

Maio shook his head. "You can't. Dad just told me. I thought of that, too, but he said that all the others had been broken."

Jasiana grabbed her brother's arm. "Broken? What do you mean, BROKEN?!" She was about to say something else, but Maio slapped his hand to her mouth.

"I'll tell you everything, Jasi, I promise, but we don't have the time right now." He lowered his hand and turned to me, saying urgently,"there is another option, but it's almost as dangerous. And stupid."

I hesitated, but only for a second. "What is it?"

"One of the Trans mirrors survived." Maio paused. He glanced at Jasiana.

She seemed to understand what Maio was talking about doing. Jasiana's eyes turned to slits.

"You're joking, brother. That is a suicide mission. I would expect such a harebrained idea from a foolish child, but not you."

"There's no other option."

"I will not have you risk your life for a human!" Jasiana shouted, pointing at me, her face just inches from her brother's.

Maio shouted back,"And I won't let her die!"

They glared at each other, saying nothing for about five seconds. Then, without breaking her stare, Jasiana said,"Then I'm going with you."

Maio took a step back fron her, running a hand through his hair, making it stand up from his head like it was jelled. "You said it yourself, it's a suicide mission."

"I don't care. Besides," Jasiana said, half-smiling, "Who else have you got to watch your back and oversized brain at the same time?"

Maio returned the smile with a crooked grin of his own."I knew you'd go for it."

"Don't give yourself more credit than you deserve. I don't want her blood on my hands, either." Jasiana said, crossing her arms and blowing strands of hair put of her face.

"Hey!" I said, jarring the two elves from their conversation. "Sort on time? Trying to save my life? Ring any bells?"

"Sorry, Rose." Maio said, as Jasiana rushed down the hall with a 'I'll be right back!' "Short version: Not all of the mirrors were destroyed, dad recieved word that one mirror was still active: The goblin's mirror is still connected and would still be safe for you to use. Well," he amended himself, " safe-er. Not entirely safe, but it would definatly be safer than experimenting with your life with a method that has been unproven to work. USING the mirror would be safer, it's the getting there that's the issue.' Maio realised he was rambling and stopped talking.

There was an awkward silence as I tried to sort through what he said.

"But, that's good, right? I can still get home. How far away is the mirror?" Then I REALLY understood what he said."GOBLINS?!"

He winced. "Not so loud. Yes.There are many different races living on Dreswade. Goblins are one of the six."

Now I don't know about you, but for me, my brain makes connections at entirely random moments; which apparently include being on a blue-blooded elf-inhabited paralall universe, in danger of my life from my sort-a elf-friend's dad.

"You said that there were seven Trans mirrors." I said slowly.

Maio frowned."Yeah."

"And that one mirror was with each of the SEVEN races." I stressed.

Just then Jasiana rushed past us, dumping two ginormous hiker-sized backpacks stuffed to the brim at our feet; She was running really fast with what looked like an empty bag, down the hall where I had almost died from dehydration.

"OH, Good!" said Maio. It was only later that I realised he might have been changing the subject on purpose. He picked one up, twisting it to place on his back. "Put that on, Rose. We're going to need it."

I zipped my pack open: It was packed so full stuff tried to escape. I crammed all of the things back into place, noticing as I did so that it all looked suspiously like camping supplies; Matches, cleansing-water tablets, clothes, blankets, and a colapsable tent. There were weapons there, too, knives like Jasiana's and arrows for a fold-up bow. As I struggled to zip the backpack back up, I grunted,"Just how far are we going?!?"

Maio helped me with the zipper. "Across the continent." He slung the pack over my shoulder. It was lighter than I expected. In fact, if I wasn't grabbing the straps, I would've sworn I wasn't wearing it at all.

I was confused. "What?"

He seemed not to hear me. He looked down the way Jasiana had run, worried."We've waited to long. Jasi, please hurry up."

At that moment, the elf in question ran around the corner, the now full backpack on her back. When she reached us, she wasn't even breathing hard. Maio wasn't kidding, then, when he said they could move faster than humans for longer.

"Have you explained it all to her?" she asked, looking behind her, like she expected she was being followed.

Maio looked sheepish. "Enough."

"Great."

What happened next seemed like a blur. Jasiana twisted, grabbed the straps of my backpack, and dragged me over to the window in a second.

"What are you-"I tried to ask.

Jasiana smiled in a way that sent chills down my spine."Have a nice flight."

Then she pushed me out of the window.