The cliffs were silent as death.
They stood at the edge of the realm's spine, jagged stone arching into the clouds like the broken ribs of a giant. Beyond the final ridge, the land fell away into a mist-choked abyss—an expanse untouched by time or war.
And in the center of that abyss was the Gate.
It rose like something pulled from myth, neither entirely real nor entirely stone. The pillars pulsed with shifting hues, blues and violets dancing like oil on water, and the circular center shimmered like a mirror submerged beneath a thousand ripples.
Aeris took a slow step forward. Her hand trembled—just barely. Liam noticed.
"You alright?" he asked under his breath.
"No," she whispered. "But I will be."
Nyra gazed at the Gate in awe. "It's beautiful."
Kael wasn't as impressed. His fingers lingered at the hilt of his sword. "Feels like it's breathing."
"It is," Aeris murmured. "The Mirrorbound Gate isn't just a door. It remembers. It judges."
Liam stepped closer. "You said it demands a toll?"
Aeris nodded. "Not gold. Not blood. Something deeper. It's… different for each of us."
As if hearing them, the Gate pulsed—once—like a heartbeat.
And then the mist stirred.
From the silence rose a figure.
At first, it seemed to be made of fog itself—shifting and formless. But as it approached, details hardened. A tall, featureless being cloaked in threads of shadow and silver. No eyes, no mouth. Just presence.
Kael stepped forward, weapon ready. "Do we fight?"
"No," Aeris said quickly. "Not unless you want to lose everything."
The being stopped before them. A voice entered their minds—not words, but impressions. Emotions.
Remembrance. Worth. Sacrifice.
Each of them staggered slightly.
And then… they were no longer standing together.
Inside the Mirror
Liam blinked.
He was alone.
He stood in the ruins of his childhood street. The houses charred. The sky red. Shadows moved like smoke among the wreckage.
And at the center, standing beneath a flickering lamppost, was his younger self.
The boy turned—eyes wide, broken.
"You left me," he said.
Liam's throat tightened. "I didn't mean to."
"You forgot. You ran into dreams and monsters and magic. And you left me here."
From the wreckage, a hand reached out—black, clawed, smoke-like. It wrapped around the boy.
Liam ran forward. "NO!"
But the hand didn't tighten. It let go.
Instead, it offered itself to Liam.
A voice—not Elira's, not Serene's—echoed in his head.
"Take your pain, or let it devour you."
Nyra's Trial
She stood in a graveyard.
Only there were no names on the headstones—just reflections. Hers.
Hundreds of Nyra's. All staring back.
Some smiling cruelly. Others sobbing. Some bleeding. All watching.
A small voice whispered, "Which of us is the real you?"
She spun—nothing.
"I don't know," Nyra whispered, voice shaking.
The wind howled.
She fell to her knees.
"I don't know."
And then one reflection stepped forward.
A version of her—taller, stronger, eyes blazing with summoning magic.
"You do," the other Nyra said. "You're just afraid."
Kael's Trial
A battlefield.
Corpses littered the ground—every face someone he'd failed to protect.
Kael stood alone, his blade shattered.
Then came the voice—Nytherion's, deep and poisoned.
"You've always been the weapon. Never the hand."
Kael dropped to his knees.
"I don't want to be a blade anymore."
The world trembled.
The corpses rose—not to attack, but to stand behind him.
To reach out.
One of them—his old commander—offered a hand.
"You're more than what they made you."
Kael took it.
Aeris' Trial
She was back in the human world.
But everything was reversed—familiar streets twisted, colors wrong. She saw herself in a window, older, colder, in Nytherion's cloak.
"Was this what you feared?" the reflection asked.
"No," Aeris replied.
"It's what you wanted, once."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Not anymore."
The reflection smiled.
And burned away.
Return
The Gate shimmered.
And one by one, they awoke—trembling, pale, but whole.
The guardian bowed once—and the Gate opened.
Light spilled from within—not blinding, but welcoming. Warm. Golden.
Liam looked back at the realm. Then forward to the unknown.
"To Earth," he said.
They stepped through.
Behind them, the Gate closed silently.
But far above… in the sky between realms…
Two eyes opened.
Watching.
Waiting.