Mirror Majesty

7: Xuxa of the Juprus Army - HOPE

The wind sandblasted my cheeks and tangled my hair. I stood with my feet firmly implanted in a sentient sand dune as it surged across the desert to an unknown point on the horizon. Millions of stars twinkled overhead. I wondered if somehow I had moved beyond them not just to another world, but another galaxy entirely. Tartarus was wonderful and full of magical surprises, but it was not home. Each day that passed I felt myself slip further from any hope I would see it again.

Zeno sat silently next to Hijinx running his fingers through the sand. Owen polished his daggers glancing up occasionally to see if we had arrived. We shifted over the quiet sand all through the night, and in the break of day an edge of tall grass rose up in the distance. At last we had made it out.

"Owen, look," said Zeno peeking past the cloth mask he had made. "I see the edge of the desert. We are free! Oh thimbles and thumbtacks! Vetrus be praised!"

Owen looked wearily at the landscape beyond. The grass grew in tuffs out of the cracks of black rocks. Years of the eroding dark stone caused the soil to appear burnt and unsuitable for life. Small trees struggled to find footing. Their roots curving in the cracks and their twisted trunks hunched over the boulders shading them darker still. Far in the distance a small mountain range with jagged cliffs hugged the outlines of a deep gorge full of the darkest pitch. A wave of fear took hold of Owen as he stared over the cruel landscape.

"We should turn back," he whispered. "We should turn back!"

"Why," I asked as the sand dune approached the edge and stopped.

"We are further from Vetra than we ever were before. This is the heart of the Juprus Nation. Vetra is on the other side of the desert. Ámmos we should move out."

The sand dune shook in frustration.

"I am not your personal chauffeur to order around," said Ámmos. "Even if I had the gull to traverse this desert again, I have little water left to fuel myself. As soon as the sun is high I will dry up and once again be but sand moved by the wind. This is your final stop."

"Owen, we have no more water," I said. "Ámmos is right. We can't go back through the desert. At least here we can find shelter and food, a town maybe."

"The only nearest town to where we are is Blackstone." Owen shuttered at the words he spoke. "I promised myself I would never go back there. It is a deathwish for us all."

"How so," said Zeno.

Hijinx jumped on my head and hissed at the black horizon.

"Blackstone is a place that despises fairies, sevanters, and Mirrorbenders alike. We will not be welcomed."

"Sevanters?" I asked. "What is a sevanter?"

"Me," said Zeno twirling his long sleeves in the air. "Folks who can use powerful magic without the aid of a WEAK or a fairy familiar. Our magic usually takes the form of our obsession. It is a rare breed of magic that many consider to be a perversion of the arts."

"Indeed," said Owen. "Blackstone is not the most accepting of places. They would take one look at us and toss us in jail."

"You've been there before?" I asked. Owen folded his arms.

"Yeah, long ago. No need to ever go back." Owen glanced over his shoulder. "Let's find a nearby spring, get some water, and give it to Ámmos." He turned his head down at the sand. "You will take us across the desert if we give you more water, right?" Ámmos did not answer.

"He's turned back to lifeless sand," said Hijinx observing the spot where a face used to be.

"Darn it," said Owen biting his knuckles. "We will be spotted if we linger around here too long."

"Spotted by who?" said Zeno sliding down the dune. He skipped along beside the boulders. "There is no one around for miles."

Suddenly a large red blade shot from the boulder next to him and landed underneath his neck. In an instant Owen had activated his WEAKs and stood ready to fight.

"Retract your weapons!" came a powerful female voice and the owner of the red blade. "You are surrounded, and if you comply peacefully we promise to do the same."

From all sides men in white robes dissolved from the black rocks each brandishing swords or arrows. On their robes were different numbers of red hearts, much like playing cards. Their hoods came across their eyes coming to a point on their noses.

"Great," said Owen scooting closer to me. "They must have improved their border patrol since last I passed through here."

"Indeed," said the female voice. "Ever since the assassination attempt on our king, we have kept the border under 24 hour guard." The woman appeared from behind the boulder careful to not remove her gaze off of Zeno. To me she looked to be east Asian with olive skin and almond eyes like Owen. Her short black hair was cut at an angle and swooped across one of her eyes. She too wore a large white robe but instead of many hearts a large letter Q hovered above a single red heart.

"I am General Xuxa, Queen of the Red Hearts, leader of the Juprus Army. Our soothsayer said a great power was coming from the west, and by all the accounts, you, girl, must be the Mirrorbender, the great power we sensed." Whispers and curious glances danced among the soldiers.

"Do not answer her," said Owen to me.

"Do not speak for the girl," said Xuxa. She twisted her blade and stared into its reflection. "Hmm. Neither of you have a reflection. Must mean you, boy, are her Glasswalker. Now this certainly is an interesting development."

"I knew we should have turned back." Owen glared at General Xuxa. "I'm taking her to Vetra. She has nothing to do with this nation or your petty squabbles."

"A likely story," said Xuxa. "But even we can not afford such a power falling into enemy hands. These are tough times we live in, and our patience for peace is being tested. You three are coming with us to Blackstone. Now retract your blades and remove your WEAKs."

"And if we refuse."

"Then you will die." Xuxa brought the blade closer to Zeno's throat.

"Owen," I whispered. "Do as she says."

"Hope, they will outnumber us and kill us if we go there. At least here we have a fighting chance."

"We are already outnumbered," I said. "Just do what she says."

"You should really listen to your better half," said Xuxa with a chuckle. Owen sighed unwillingly and flipped his wrists. The yellow light faded and his blades vanished in a pop. He pulled out the laces and in a reluctant throw tossed the wristbands to the ground in front of him.

In an instant he was handcuffed followed by Zeno and myself. As the soldiers led us away from the edge of the desert I looked back. Hijinx was nowhere to be seen.