Chapter 6: The Mirror's Embrace
The path narrowed into a corridor of glass.
Liora noticed it first in the shine beneath her boots—a slick, reflective surface, too smooth to be stone, too natural to be man-made. Then she looked up and saw her own face, staring back at her from a thousand angles. The trees were mirrored. Their bark shimmered like crystal, reflecting not just light, but something deeper—something internal.
"We're in the Mirror Glade," Kaelen said, his voice quieter than usual.
Liora's reflection shimmered beside her, walking in step, but something about its expression was off. It smiled when she didn't. It blinked too slowly. It watched her even when she turned her head.
"What is this place?" she asked.
Kaelen didn't look at her. "It's where the Grove reveals what you refuse to see."
She frowned. "I've already seen ghosts, lies, illusions. What's left?"
He turned to her then, his eyes dark. "Yourself."
They stepped deeper, and the mirrored corridor twisted. Liora saw more versions of herself—some regal in a crown of fire, others bloodstained, sobbing, lost. The Grove didn't offer one truth. It showed all possibilities.
"Don't speak to them," Kaelen warned. "They'll try to draw you in."
Then the voices started.
You left him to die.
You never wanted the crown. You wanted escape.
You are the shadow.
Each whisper came from a reflection—her own lips moving, her own voice cutting deep. Liora clenched her fists and kept moving. But the images changed. They became scenes from her past: her father's funeral, Renan crying alone in the garden, her own reflection as a child holding her brother's hand and letting go.
She tried to shut it out. To focus. But the Mirror Glade had no mercy.
One reflection caught her eye—a version of herself cloaked in royal blue, standing perfectly still in the center of a frozen pond. Her face was blank. Her eyes—silver and endless—drew Liora forward.
"Kaelen," she whispered, but he wasn't beside her anymore.
The reflection spoke.
"You've come far," it said. "But you still lie to yourself."
"I've lied to no one," Liora said.
The mirror-self tilted its head. "You think this quest is about saving your brother. It isn't."
"I—of course it is. He's in danger."
"He came here because of you," the reflection hissed. "Because you awakened something. He followed your shadow."
Liora stepped back, heart pounding. "You're not real."
The reflection stepped forward, its feet making no sound. "Neither is the person you pretend to be. The loyal sister. The heir who walked away. The truth is—"
"Enough!" Liora shouted.
She turned and ran—but the path spiraled, endlessly mirrored. She could see herself in every direction. Panic clawed at her chest.
Then a hand seized hers. Kaelen.
He pulled her into a narrow side tunnel, the reflections vanishing behind them.
"You let it get too close," he said sharply.
"I didn't mean to—" She was shaking. "It was me. It knew everything."
Kaelen's voice softened. "That's the danger. It reflects not only your choices, but your potential. And your shame."
She steadied herself, grateful for his grip. "How do we get out?"
"Only one way," he said. "We face the core."
He led her forward into a small chamber. In the center stood a single, massive mirror—tall as a tree, silver like moonlight. Its surface was black. Empty.
Kaelen gestured to it. "This is the Embrace."
She approached. The moment her fingers touched the cold glass, it rippled—and pulled her in.
She didn't fall. She dissolved.
She stood in a place of memories.
The palace. Her childhood room. Her mother's song.
But they were all wrong—twisted, decayed, ruined.
She wandered, touching memories like artifacts. Her brother's voice echoed. His laughter. Then his scream.
She turned a corner and found herself staring at Renan. He stood in shadow, reaching toward her—but he was bound by vines of glass, his eyes wide with fear.
"Liora," he gasped. "It's eating me. I can't hold on."
She ran to him, but a wall of mirrors rose between them.
"I'll get you out!" she cried.
He only shook his head. "You don't understand. You brought it."
The scene shattered.
She stood alone again.
A voice—deep, feminine, ancient—spoke within the mirror-world.
Daughter of the bloodline. Your truth sleeps in roots. You must choose: face what lies beneath, or become what others feared.
She clutched her chest. Something inside her stirred—an ember, long buried, burning brighter now.
Then the mirror cracked.
Liora opened her eyes.
She was back in the chamber. Kaelen knelt beside her.
"You survived it," he said softly.
"What did I see?" she whispered.
"A part of you the Grove recognizes," he said. "A sliver of its power lies in your veins. Not borrowed. Born."
Liora stood, unsteady but changed.
"Then I have to know everything," she said. "About my family. About what they did here."
Kaelen nodded solemnly. "Then we go deeper. The shadows are waiting."
And together, they stepped beyond the mirror's embrace—into a forest that no longer saw them as strangers, but as something far more dangerous.
Belonging.
To be continued…