Mirror

Sleeping Soul

"Contrary to the popular belief which is reinforced by the over-simplified common legend, Avril's life did not fade with her desperate attempt restore the river Life. Though, there is little reason to doubt that only Arvil's soul would have been strong enough, so filled with hope for a better world as she was, to remove the shadow's taint or that she did, in fact, bestow a portion of herself to Life as a more sustainable source for the river to draw from than the bitter efforts of her beloved Cantery. Nonetheless, if she had spent herself completely how can we account for the orbs? Those, too, draw from Arvil's enduring hope for peace and love for the creatures. While the orbs offered a safe place for all creatures to survive protected from the touch of shadows, their power faded with Cantery's death. This points to his passing as the true reason for Avril's disappearance, not that fateful evening on the winter solstice."

So began the fifth chapter of Danny's book. I reread it multiple times. Having never heard any mention of these protective orbs, I was hesitant to even hope, but what if there truly were remnants of Avril's power that could be used to protect people from the shadows?

I propped myself up on my elbows from my place on my straw mat and looked up at Danny who sat at the little table. He was slicing through little fruits called maosh and placing them in a wooden bowl. I had mentioned the first time I had them that they were my favorite, being much like strawberries, of all of the foods I had eaten since coming to Mirror. Since then a bowl had been dedicated to their keeping and had never run dry.

I smiled at Danny's deep concentration despite the simplicity of the task at hand and imagined he was exploring his mental archives, tackling the mysteries of Mirror in the quiet space of his own mind. By chance he glanced in my general direction and noticed I was staring at him. "What?" he asked.

I shrugged. "You're lovely," I said simply.

Danny's cheeks colored slightly. "Not half so much as you," he murmured.

I laughed and stood up to plant a kiss on his forehead, which, surprisingly, he leaned into. I pulled out the chair opposite of him and sat down. "What happened to Avril's orbs after her disappearance?" I asked.

Danny glanced at the book I had left on my mat, understanding where the question came from. "It's explained later in the book," he said, "but since Avril likely vanished after Cantery's death, the river Life was also already missing. With both sources of power gone from the world, the orbs lost their function and exist only as useless stones now. I don't know where they are though. I'm sure someone has kept track of them. They serve no purpose now, regardless."

I nodded, unsurprised and snatched a few pieces of fruit. "Tomorrow's a weekend," I said, which was my usual way of asking if he wanted to make any special plans.

Danny smacked my hand with the back of the knife he used and smiled wryly at me. "Cecilia wants to take me to visit her sister. I won't be home until Monday and we're leaving early tomorrow."

For whatever reason Danny always called his mother by name. "Well it's good for you to visit your aunt. She has a dog for you to play with doesn't she?" I said through a laugh.

Danny snorted. "Yeah, there's always Ren. I can play with her. I guess you're on your own tomorrow."