Mirror

Grief

Golden fields stretched out far beyond my line of sight behind me. Those same fields came to an abrupt halt at a deep rift in the ground in front of me. The river Life roared as it rushed through the gorge, cutting it ever deeper. Impossible to circumvent without tacking on another three or four days to my journey, I had come to the only bridge left standing that spanned the chasm.

Shora was on the other side of that bridge, hidden somewhere within the dense woods. Danny and May would be there too.

I tapped my foot on one of the first stones supporting the great arch. A tremor rattled along stones from the other side. "A warning," I murmured quietly. "I'm on the wrong side. I won't be able to cross." I planted my foot on a stone and watched as the arch vibrated. I tapped the stone a few more times and finally a cloaked figure emerged from the trees on the other side. His great claw was relaxed by his right side. Around his wrist, on a thick coil of twine, hung three charms.

"I'm here to take Shora home," I called across the bridge.

The cloaked figure remained quiet. I tapped the stone bridge again, but after the arch finished its shaking I realized I had only shown him that I could not cross.

The boy in the cloak turned to look over his shoulder as Danny emerged side-by-side with May.

The crystal ball rolled steadily toward the door. I clamped my hands together, but they wouldn't cease their shaking. I had watched them through the tiny window Kylee's power and the crystal ball afforded me nearly every day since losing them, but this- seeing through Kylee's eyes as if I was really there, as if I could almost walk over and touch them- was different.

I struggled to stand. Shimi pushed a hand against my chest. "Sit down, Tazmia," she demanded. She wouldn't look at me. She and Geera hadn't left my side for two full days. They'd barely let me lift a finger.

I relaxed back against the frame of the window while Geera retrieved the ball. She hesitated for a moment before returning it to my hands. The household was stone silent.

"She's found him," I said to Geera because she was the only one whose desire to comfort me was stronger than her anger. Nonetheless, no one had ignored my request to let Kylee go alone.

Geera knelt in front of me and beside Shimi, who had turned her back on me. She covered my hands with her own to steady them. "Please, tell us what is happening?"

I nodded.

"The river Life will inevitably fade away," Danny was saying. "Shora offered himself to us. He's here of his own will."

"Can't you see that what you're doing is wrong, Danny?" I cried.

"What I'm doing is necessary," he replied. "Leave, Kylee, or you won't be standing at the top of that cliff very long." Danny turned his back and the wind picked up as if in warning. I tightened the scarf around my head.

"Danny!" I called over the wind. He didn't hear me or he was ignoring me. "Danny, Tazmia is dying." Danny stopped walking, but he didn't turn around or say anything. "You know what she wanted. Stop this for her sake. Don't you love her?"

Danny turned on his heels and met my eyes. Even at a distance I could see the flare of precariously controlled anger in his deep red irises. "Don't act like you know anything. It is because I love Tazmia that this world needs a new start. Why can't you understand that?"