Mirror Me

29: If Flowers Could Talk

The familiar shifting and pulling of the Mirror Passages brushed across my sides. The multitude of exits swished passed me in a blur. It was like being everywhere but nowhere at the same time. I glimpsed one exit to be a peaceful seaside harbor with lamp-lights gleaming over a calm bay. Small boats docked at the piers rocked in the steady waves. Another image showed a raging battle and an ember filled sky. The image moved as if caught in reflection of a warrior's sword. I had no idea where this Mirror Passage was going or how far we would end up from where we once were. Martha did warn of scrying while distressed and unfocused. There was no telling where I would end up now. The thought occurred to me that Owen and I might end up on the top of an icy mountain or thrown into the heat of battle. I possessed only one certainty. We would be lost wherever we landed.

I held Owen's unconscious body close. His satchel flapped in the void; its mysterious contents banging about inside. Owen's face was sullen, trapped in a sleep that no fairy tale kiss could break. I had done this to him. Sucked him dry of all his energy, and for what, so I could launch some boulders at Shadows. At least he was safe, we were safe, or so I thought.

Another presence entered the Mirror Passage. That same dark sensation from before, that feeling of being watched by foul, dreadful eyes. I looked around. A most evil laugh echoed in my ear. A face appeared in the swirl of images, a face of a horned monster with purple glowing eyes.

"So we meet again, Mirrorbender Hope," said the monster with a devilish smile.

"Back off, Half-Life," I called out. "Don't make me hurt you."

"You think I'm one of those creatures," mocked the monster. "How very wrong you are. Tsk. Tsk."

"Then what are you, if not a Half-Life?"

"Questions. Questions. Just call me your guide across this sea of many doors. Oh look." The monster shifted forward dragging behind itself ribbons of black tentacle arms. "Your exit approaches."

I clutched Owen's arm tighter seeing a dull moonlit image form ahead of us. We twisted inside and with a loud crack and a flash of light we landed on a soft red-velvet interior.

Shivering and shaking I glanced all around. The area we had landed was small, empty, worn down, and sideways. Old curtains rained down from the ceiling and above me rested a door. The place was an old horse drawn carriage that had apparently fallen over and left to rot. The dust we had disturbed tickled my nose. I looked by my feet to see the last remnants of the Mirror Passage ripple and fade. This pane of glass from the old carriage door window must have been our exit. I touched it with my foot only to have it shatter under my weight.

"Well," I said. "No going back that way. I know for one thing, I am not going to scry ever again if that creature is waiting for me there. No sir." I looked over at Owen. He was still unconscious. His chest steadily rose and fell with each breath. "What am I going to do with you...with us? Or better question, where did we end up?" I glanced upward at the door above me. The night sky glittered through the broken glass window. Leaning Owen against the sideways seat, I stood up and pushed on the door above me. It opened. Slowly I peeked out cautiously.

The landscape no longer held tall pines or the inclination of fire. Instead it beheld a parched desert with small shriveled plants and jagged rocks jutting up from the cracked soil. From what I could tell in the dim light and the silence, there was not a soul anywhere nearby.

The carriage we had come to inhabit had a broken wheel and axle. It must have been unrepairable and abandoned by its owner long ago. The tell signs of decay and splintered wood covered its faded surface. The only evidence of the carriage's lost owner was painted on the side. THE GREAT BEATRICE, said the words. I looked down at Owen still passed out on the velvet seats.