Enlmoon

Sorry it's so long...couldn't sum it up with the same effect...
*~*~*~*~*~

Will Robin stared at the grobdenite chains around his ankles. His face was smudged with dirt and mud from the wooden planks he had been sleeping on for the past few days. His bedraggled hair felt like it had grown half an inch longer and his clothes had multiple tears and rips in them from being rubbed across the rough, wooden floor. The cell that he shared with Levi and Render seemed more and more like an in-escapable prison that was only good for locking them up until they were sentenced to death. They had all realized it by now. Once Flint and Slyth were done with them, all three riders would likely be disposed of. The villains would have no further use of them, and the riders would probably be the only ones able to stop them. Why should the cruel men let them live? Question was: what were they to be used for?

Will glanced up from the grime on the floor and stared at Levi. Levi didn’t look any better off than Will. His clothes were also dirty and ripped, a bit less than Will’s simply because they were Elven-made. He whispered words continually to himself, muttering and shaking in the cold.
Will turned away from Levi and observed Render. His hood was drawn over his face, as he was prone to do as of late. The days had been trying on all of them, and they had each become silent and sincere. His black clothes and boots hardly had any noticeable flaws, but that was because he never lay down to sleep, and he hardly moved at all. Will frowned and wondered if Render even slept at all.

“Render?” Will whispered. His voice had become rough from not being used. They were all so consumed by despair that they had nothing to say to each other. The shadows were long and clung to every wall, and a particularly long shadow fell over Render’s form that was huddled against the door. His hood swung in the direction of Will’s voice, but the manner in which he did it made Will shiver.

“Yes?” rasped Render’s hoarse voice. Levi looked up for a moment, ceasing his chanting but continuing to shiver and rock back and forth.

“Can you tell us what you know of Enlmoon?” requested Will. Render sighed. He shifted his position and removed the hood from his face. Will tried not to change his expression as he noted Render’s eyes were darker than they used to be. Dark circles were apparent under his them, showing a definite lack of sleep. Levi saw his brother was going to launch into a story and crawled over to sit next to Will, facing the storyteller.

Render began to speak in a low, hoarse voice. It only made the words he had to say seem more alive and haunting than if he had spoken normally. “Enlmoon is a forest of mirrors on an island,” he began, “And it has stood on the surface of the earth for as long as time itself has been in existence. No one really knows what it looks like on the inside because no one has ever gone into it and come out alive. The few that have journeyed there, gazed upon it, and returned say the most terrible, awful things about noises – shrieks, screaming, pleas for mercy. It might have been grown, like trees and vines would. The mirrors themselves are arranged in strange, twisted shapes. I have heard rumors…stories…that some kind of ancient temple or shrine has been hidden in the heart of Enlmoon. I’m not sure where the stories came from, or how true they are. It is said that the legendary army of the dead sleeps there, waiting to be awakened.”
Here Render paused and glanced up. All three prisoners cast fearful eyes toward the doorknob of the brig that was being rattled. The door opened and Flint strode in. His green-ish eyes had a menacing gleam in them, and he clenched the Delkanis stone in his fist. He grinned at the riders as he motioned the guards aside.

Will crawled over to the bars and shouted, “Let me out! Please, Flint, tell us what’s going on.”
Flint smiled and raised the stone above his head. All three riders tilted their heads back while their eyes rolled back into their sockets. When they rolled back forward, they were the all same milky white. Flint’s grin widened and he laughed, turning to the dragons in their cage. Ancalagon snorted and reared his head back, but slowly he grew still. Clesseath attempted to blow fire, but he soon was also under the influence of the stone. Baladon was the last to go, and he used the last of his free will to let out a bellowing roar that shook the ship. Once all of the prisoners had been subdued, Flint’s laughter increased and rang about the brig like water rushes into a hole and fills empty space.

“Now come, puppets. Let’s see what treasures lay in store for me,” he said, licking his lips and walking out of the room, not waiting for the train of dragons and their riders he knew would follow him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“She’s sprung a leak! She’s going down!” Screams. Shouts. Someone’s shoulders shaking nearby. Strangled cries. Bodies moving all too quickly. Darkness clouding the very edges of a vision regrettably real. A short, inhaled breath. Something lurching underneath and sending everyone tumbling to the floor.

“Where’s Bonnie? We have to swim! Cless said it was a five-minute’s swim to the closest shore!” Marina? A flash of black cloth whizzed by amongst the many people trying to abandon ship. The scrambled mind failed to combine the feelings and impulses – to bind them together into common sense.

A familiar voice answered, “She’s by the wheel! I’ll get her; you get ready to jump first.” Chair. Footsteps. A hand on the right shoulder. “Time to go,” whisper words bound to echo in the mind’s silent contemplation once the horror of the moment stills and quiets to become a lost memory. Jerking, blindly stumbling to clumsy feet. Someone leading quickly.

“We haven’t got much time! Can she swim?” Marina again. Glazed eyes searching for the voice. The body’s unconscious reminder issues to breathe out.

“She has to! It’s sinking, fast! Follow Cless as he and Moss fly in the sky. I’m right behind you. Now, jump!” Splash! The sound of water being disturbed from its tranquil sleep. Two hands on the back. A push. The plunge into icy water. Numbness and disbelief surface, just the necessary movement to survive. Gasping, wheezing, panting. Then the command rises above the white noise in a confused head. “Swim!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Flint Kidd marched triumphantly up to Slyth Brady. The day was just beginning, and the sunrise brought with it a heavy fog that concealed the majority of the island. Slyth seemed annoyed and irritated.

“What makes you so happy?” he asked. “I can’t see the bloody island in this mist.”

Flint held up his index finger. “Reason number one why dragons are so useful…” he pointed toward the South, and the riders mounted their dragons. The great, flying beasts took off in that direction. As they went, their magnificently colored wings blew the fog away and cleared a path. Eventually, land could be seen.

“You fool!” exclaimed Slyth, grabbing the stone from Flint’s hand. The dragons turned around and flew toward the ship again. “You have to be careful when you control them that they don’t get too far away. If they go more than a certain number of feet your hold on them weakens.” Slyth fixed Flint with an icy glare than froze the smile on his face until it gradually melted away.

“Fine,” he mumbled.

Slyth turned away from him and nodded toward the shore. “We’re almost there, but I think I should keep the stone with me for now to make up for your lack of common sense.”

Flint scowled. “Fine. You have the stone but I command all my fighters.”

“Of course,” replied Slyth. “How else do you expect us to get past the undead army of the temple? Did you expect us to just waltz in? Oh, or maybe we could just drop by for a cup of tea. Zombies of the occult love tea, you know.” Flint growled and placed his hand on his sword, but then controlled his temper and decided to storm away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With a gasp, Marina grasped a chunk of grass and hoisted herself up onto the muddy banks of Enlmoon. Charity soon joined her, panting and coughing out water. Marina couldn’t resist giggling at her because her hair was dark and plastered to her face. Cless landed next to them, pulling Moss out of his pocket because the tiny dragon had become exhausted on the way over. Bonnie soon joined them. She had fallen behind because her shoulder hindered her from swimming as fast as them. Once they were all lying on the damp earth at the island’s edge, they decided they were too exhausted to move, so Cless and Marina said a few words and got a nice fire going. Bonnie tried to be helpful but found that she only got in the way, so she sat down next to Chair with a dazed expression, still recovering from a brief stage of shock at the Golden Dawn’s death.

Charity wrinkled her nose and slowly sat up. “Grody,” she remarked, disgusted at the layer of mud caking her clothes. She and Bonnie moved closer to the fire. They took out any small items they had that needed to be dried, like their pistols {the gunpowder was no good wet} and Bonnie’s hat, and set them on flat stones surrounding the fire.

“I’ll clean that up for you, later,” promised Marina as she made a face at the matching stain she had coating her clothes.

“Thanks,” replied Chair. “So…where are the mirrors?” she asked. Cless yawned. “Farther up the island. We can get moving again once you all feel up to it.”

Bonnie stood up. “Can we go now?” Her friends turned to her with puzzled expressions. “The faster we get there, the faster we can find the others and they can make my arm better, right?” she asked after explaining the logic behind her thinking.

Charity walked over to her friend and made her sit back down. “Not if they haven’t gotten there first. Let me look at your shoulder,” she commanded.

“I’m alright,” Bonnie insisted.

“Bon-Bon, I need to see it to make sure it’s not infected,” Charity said softly, rolling up Bonnie’s sleeve. The gauze wrappings were still in place. “Alright…this might sting a bit, if your skin has started to scab up. I don’t think it would have, though, given it hasn’t had enough time,” Charity told Bonnie. She ripped the sleeve to make it easier to work and began slowly unwrapping the layers of red cloth. Old blood stained each layer and Charity found it hard to look at the bindings.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you all,” admitted Cless. He took the opportunity to fill them in on a few details. “These mirrors…they’re enchanted. They display in them many shadowy images of … well, whoever looks into them. I thought you all should know that, before we go in. Nothing you see in the mirror-glass is real. The things in the maze…they get inside your head and mess with your thoughts. It’s kind of the forest’s hunting mechanism. It searches for weakness and then uses that weakness to…rob you of your sanity.”

“Cless,” started Marina, “You speak of the forest as if it is alive.” There was a heavy silence.

“Ugh! Sick!” exclaimed Charity, turning her head away from Bonnie’s shoulder. Her wound seemed deeper, longer, and darker than it had before. Tendrils of dark pigment extended from the enflamed hole like black ink. Marina stared at the hideous wound.

“That’s not normal,” she informed them.

Bonnie blinked. “No way!” she said sarcastically. She sighed and stood up again. “I’m sorry…I just want to get moving. Can we go now?”

“As soon as you let me re-wrap that gash,” stated Charity, pulling Bonnie back down and proceeding with the said task. Moss sat on Marina’s lap and stretched. Soon he was asleep. Marina stroked his scales as her mind wondered where on earth Levi, Render, and Will were, or if they would ever even see them again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At this moment in time, the three young riders were being led through the mushy, flat land on the other side of the island. Chains of grobdenite bound their hands together and also bound them to each other in a single line. Flint walked ahead of them and Slyth trailed behind. Following him, the crew of undead fish men made up the end of the grim procession. The island was plain, flat, and muddy for as far as the eye could see, which was not far because of the dense fog that concealed everything ten feet in front of them. The fish- pirates were very nervous and constantly glanced around them as if fearing something would emerge from the mist and consume them.

“Will,” whispered Levi, who was the last one in their single-file line. Will, who was directly in front of him, tilted his head to signify that he was listening.

“The dragons are being taken to the mirrors ahead of us. I heard one of the guards say so when we first got off the ship. Do you think once we re-unite with them they could help us to escape? Grobdenite doesn’t affect them since they don’t use magic,” continued Levi, trying to keep down the excitement rising in his hopeful tone.

“Levi…” Will paused and thought a moment. “That just might work.” An eel-headed guard twisted his head around backward to look at them.

“You lot shut up or I’ll silence you for good,” he commanded.

“You can’t do that,” boasted Render. “They need us alive. You kill us, Flint or Brady will be really mad.”

Eel-face snorted. “Not for long. Once he uses you and your dragons to enter the temple of the dead, they won’t be needing you.” Eel-face took out a long, crooked knife and laughed wickedly. “I got dibs on you, boney.”

Render shouted as the pirate turned away, “I’m still faster than you, fish face!”

Eel-face didn’t like that at all. He whipped around, ran over to Render, and held up his knife to the elf’s face. A few other pirates mutter something under their breath and gathered closer around the two enemies, eager to watch the fight should one arise. “You won’t be needing your eyes for what Flint is going to use you for.”

“Stinky!” shouted Flint, turning around to see what all the commotion was about. “Shut up and stop harassing the prisoners! The only reason we’re letting them walk is so they can store up energy. Don’t make them waste any on insulting you,” he addressed the eel-man.

With a hiss and a glare, the eel turned away, but not before whispering, “I will make you suffer,” under his breath in Render’s pointed ear.

“Is that a promise…Stinky?” Render couldn’t resist taunting him one last time. Will and Levi pondered what had just gone on silently. Now they knew why they had been taken, but they still didn’t know if their escape plan would work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“How much farther?” asked Charity. Her feet were growing numb from the cold and they were tired from walking so much. They had left their cozy fire and decided to find the maze of mirrors, but the journey there was longer than anyone had expected. Truthfully, Cless was going in circles. The mist concealed everything and made them feel like their clothes were still damp. The muggy air made Marina cough, and her lungs were starting to hurt from all the effort.

“Well, we should have arrived there an hour ago,” he admitted. He stroked his chin and glanced up at the sky. “It’s almost sunset. We need to reach the mirrors before night falls. Hopefully we’ll beat Flint there. Otherwise—” He fell over backwards.

“Cless?” asked Charity. A second later, she abruptly slammed into a hard object. Moss, who had been flying at her side, flew into something tall and hard. He slid down with an irritated squeak.
“Are you alright?” asked Marina, helping Charity up. Cless rose to his feet and used his wings to blow away some of the fog.

“Ladies,” he murmured, “The forest of Enlmoon.”

The girls stared at what his wing-wind had revealed. Marina raised her eyebrows. “A mirror.”

Cless frowned. “How can I show you the overall view of this thing…maybe...?” He closed his thoughtful eyes and started to chant. Slowly, like a great sea wave, the fog rolled back away from the single mirror. On either side of it were two other mirrors, and on their sides there were two more, and on each side of them, still more mirrors abounded. They weren’t all straight and tall and narrow. Some were circular, like trees. Others were short and squat with distorted reflections of the other mirrors around them. Many mirrors were broken and shattered. Still different ones were bordered with wild ivy vines, their neighbors also claimed by the leaves of nature’s twiggy fingers. The mirror directly in front of them had been tainted black on each corner. Cless turned to the awe-struck girls.

“This is only the beginning. Literally. There are thousands more. Millions. And the passages have not been tread upon in years.” They fell into silence.

“Do you think they’re here?” asked Charity. Marina and Cless closed their eyes.

“Can’t sense them,” Marina told Charity.

“Same here,” Cless added. “Although they may be in there already with mental barriers up. If that’s true, we can’t afford to sit and wait for them to show up when they’re already inside.” Suddenly a pair of vines lining the top of two mirrors joined together and the mirrors opened up like doors.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked Bonnie, a small smile on her face. “A strange, random doorway opens up before us and we’re standing here blabbering on like four year olds at a birthday party. Let’s do this.”

“Wait—” Cless urged, but she had already walked through the doorway. He immediately went in after, shouting over his shoulder, “I’ll fly above so I can see that path and direct you that way. Place your hand on the person in front of you so we don’t get separated.” Charity placed her hand on Marina’s shoulder without asking questions. As soon as they passed the threshold, the mirror-doors closed behind them. The fog was ever-present, and it pressed against their faces. The cold was also unable to be escaped, and they shivered and shook inside their boots.
Marina swept her gaze from one side to the other. She watched her reflection that had been reflected already and magnified in two mirrors. So many versions of her were present; she hardly knew which reflection was closest. There were dozens of Charities and Marinas everywhere she looked. She wondered how Cless knew where he was going; she herself seemed rather dizzy.

“What was that?” Marina suddenly shouted. She reached for her swords and pulled both of them out as she assumed a fighting stance. Out of the corner of her eye, she had seen something that shouldn’t have been there. “There it is again!” she exclaimed. Goosebumps rose on her arms, but they weren’t from the cold. Charity reached for her own sword.

“What is it? What do you see?” she asked.

“In the mirror to my left! No, now it moved and it’s over there!” There were mirrors all around them, but the mist cleared a bit and revealed two sets of pointed teeth. A shriek pierced the air. Something moved on Charity’s left. The teeth were gone. Another scream pierced the thick air. Something brushed up against Marina. The mist thickened and it seemed to grow darker.

“What’s going on?” yelled Charity. She began to spin around in circles and breathe faster. The ground underneath them shook. “Marina?” she shouted. Turning and twisting, Charity realized she had lost sight of both Cless and Marina. “Cless!” she called. Eerie and low laughter began to her right. She backed up against a mirror and tried to steady her nerves. It was then that she saw it.

Directly across from here, there was a plain mirror. It didn’t distort her reflection as much as the others and it only had a few cracks around its edges. But something about it was different. Her eyes narrowed and she forgot about the screams, the teeth, and the laughter. She wasn’t reflected in the mirror. Slowly, Charity walked toward it and stood silently. As she watched, another face surfaced in the mirror, but it was farther off like it was distant. Her emerald eyes widened and she placed one hand against the glass. “Flint?” Flint was indeed portrayed there, normal and innocent, as he had seemed before he changed into a fish man. She spun around, trying to find where the reflection had come from. “Flint?” she asked again, running over to another mirror and staring into it. He didn’t say anything; he only stared at her with eyes that suggested he needed help. Suddenly, a second face popped up in the mirror. “Will!” she exclaimed.

Charity started to run down the silvery hallways. The mirrors made her very confused, for she would think she was only one step away from finding them when she would run into another mirror. Sometimes she would pass her two friends from a different angle. She’d be running behind them, or running towards their sides. It seemed no matter where she went she still couldn’t get to them. “Where are you?” she demanded to know. Soon, two more people joined the silent group. “Levi! Render! Can you hear me?”

Levi looked at her. She seemed closer to them now. If only she could turn round the corner…approaching the bend, she was discouraged to find yet another reflection. “Dang it! Where are you? Why can’t I find you? Please…please, let me help you!” she pleaded. Her hands reached out in front of her to the empty mist that concealed her friends from her. Her eyes fell upon a moving train of black cloth. Eagerly she chased after it as she focused on avoiding the gaze of the silent, sepulchral figures. The piece of cloth was part of a long, shabby robe. Charity squinted as the shadowy cloak moved closer to her friends; she could only see his back. Running down a path sharply to her right, she faced them. The sight froze her to her bone.

The being wasn’t tall, nor was it particularly wide or round. The black material fully encased it in drab ruffles and worn layers of cloth. The cloak was hooded and the face was hidden completely from view. It clutched something close to its body underneath its robe, but Charity couldn’t make out what it was. Fear began to build inside her. This whole environment gave her the creeps, and the freaky thing in black wasn’t particularly encouraging either. But she couldn’t be afraid now. “Who are you?” Charity challenged the creature. She was approaching them from the side. One corner more and she was farther away than she had ever been before.

The same deep chuckle she had heard earlier emanated from the fog around her. Her sword was still drawn and she turned one way and then another with it pointed out in front on her. “You don’t know me?” rasped a voice. Or was it two voices? It seemed almost as if a very high voice and a very low one spoke together in haunted harmony. The cloaked figure approached Flint. The folds covering the object it was holding fell to either side and a sword was clearly being held in a hand white like bone that had been stripped of flesh. Panic mingled with her fear and she felt her insides rising up to her throat. She watched helplessly as the thing stepped nearer to her brother.

“Who are you?” she softly inquired. Her constricting throat couldn’t force out the words as loud as she wanted. More laughter. The sword was raised. “Stop! Please! I’ll do what you want! Just don’t hurt him!” No use. “Please!” she tried to scream. Her fist slammed into the closest mirror just as the sword swung and sliced her brother in half. “No! Not again! I lost him once already…” Hot tears rose and threatened to overflow onto her cheeks. “Who are you?” she questioned.

“The better question…” the voice began in the same mismatched duet, “Is who are you?” The sword floated closer to Render now, guided by the same skeletal hand. “Are you the kind of person who could watch a friend die while it’s in your power to stop it?” Render didn’t move. He only stared at Charity, not blinking as the robes of mangled black glided toward him. “Or are you the kind of person to turn your head away? To look the other direction? To pretend like you haven’t seen anything?” The sword pulled back before it was thrust forward to embed itself into his body.

“NO!” screamed Charity, closing her eyes and pressing her lips together. “Stop!” she yelled as she opened them again and Render’s reflection was lying motionless on the floor. Levi didn’t flinch. Charity pressed her hands against the glass and called his name over and over, pleading and screaming and trying to make herself heard. She watched as the figure sliced off the rider’s head. Will was the last one standing. Charity began crashing into mirrors now. As she ran around each corner she would deliberately ram into a mirror, shattering the reflections she was beginning to fear more and more. The laughter began again. “Will!” she tried to shout. The creature stood behind him now with its sword touching Will’s pale neck.

“You don’t know who you are. Your greatest fear is who you are, or who you might become. Those single thoughts in the back of your mind – your hatred, your pain…Who would you be if you made one bad choice – one horrible decision? If you really did murder the whelp who insulted you at that port; if you actually had poisoned the drink of the man who locked you in the kitchen closet.” The voice began to rasp out terrible words once again. In desperation, Charity threw herself onto the ground and clasped her hands over her ears. She didn’t notice the small cuts and bruises she had given herself.

“Please! Don’t do this!” she pleaded. The figure’s hood pointed in her direction, and then the blade moved across Will’s throat and he joined Render. “No!” she whispered. Her eyes closed again and she felt herself sliding down to a sitting position and weeping. The last thing she remembered was opening her eyes to glare at the mirror through her tears and witnessing the robed beckoner of death lower its hood. It was Charity! She passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cless frowned. It was quiet. He dropped down and peeked below the curtain of mist. There was no sign of the girls. “Oh great,” he mumbled. Without so much as a “thump”, he landed and folded up his wings. As his sharp, dragoon eyes scanned the fog, he unsheathed his sword and began to walk backwards. Any mental message he sent out was echoed in his mind. “Lovely,” he thought, “The mirrors reflect telepathy too.” A gust of wind blasted his hair back from his face.
“Cless,” a voice whispered. The whisper filled his head and echoed in his mind. A strange feeling awoke inside him that he had never felt before, and he didn’t know if it was good or bad. A giggle followed the voice. His blood froze inside his veins. He’d know that giggle anywhere. He began to sprint. Corner after corner of his own reflection met his searching gaze until finally his eyes rested upon her face.

“Luna!” he exclaimed. She was dancing through the mist. Disappearing and then re-appearing, she reminded him of a leaf fluttering on the wind that couldn’t cease rocking and moving. “Cless, do you hear the music?” she asked him. Her big, brown eyes looked up at him and she smiled.

“Luna, how are you here? You need to get out!” he stepped toward her. She disappeared again and he was left standing in front of a mirror. “Where—” he started to ask.

“Over here!” her voice called. He rushed toward her angelic voice, waving his hands in front of him to clear away the mist. “It stopped now. Cless, the music stopped. It’s cold.” Cless began to grow afraid. He didn’t want to risk walking around with his sword extended because he might accidently run into his sister, so he sheathed it.

“Luna, where are you?” he questioned. No answer. Silence. “Luna?” A scream pierced the air. “Luna!” he called. He ran in the direction of the scream. Another mirror stopped him. He was beginning to hate mirrors. His fist connected with the nearest one.

“Cless! Help me!” shrieked Luna’ high-pitched voice.

“Use your arrows! Do you have your arrows?” he asked, running faster toward where he thought he heard her voice. The mist cleared briefly and he saw his sister. Her back was turned to him and she was still. A creature stood in front of her. It had no face; only that of a skeleton, without eyes or nose or mouth. Its hand was frozen on the top of her head and its plain monk-like garb didn’t so much as stir in the breeze that made Luna’s golden locks flutter. Suddenly, Luna collapsed. In her place on the ground, there was a pile of bones.

Cless’ eyes hardened and they slowly began to turn black. “Who are you?” His voice was level, calm, threatening, and incredibly deadly.

“I am death.” The skeleton strode fearlessly toward him. “I am doubt. I am fear. I am pain.” The skeleton stuffed one hand into his sleeve and pulled out a sword. “I am the voice in the back of your mind that whispers to you at night. I am the wind you hear singing through the skulls of dead things. I am the movement you see when you turn your head away from a mirror – just for an instant, just for a second, I show my face. I am everything that darkness is.”

“You murdered her,” Cless accused, unmoved by Death’s words. “And now you are going to die.”

The mist-creature laughed. “You can’t kill me, idiot,” Death informed Cless. His empty jaw widened into what could have been a grin. “But that doesn’t matter; let the rage consume you. Let it swelter, build, and burn. Become engulfed in your hatred.” The empty sockets where eyes should have been were pointed at Cless as he finished, “Then…you will become like me.”

Cless wordlessly drew his fiery whip. Rage was building up inside him. Like fire, it consumed him. Every vein that carried blood in his body was infused with the warm passion of hate. It coursed through him so hard that he shook. His jaw set into a straight line and he locked his dark eyes onto Death’s face. “Fight me,” he dared the skeleton. Its elongated face and a sound like the wind passing through empty bottles suggested he might have been laughing.

“As you wish, boy. It’s your turn to battle with death.” Cless’ whip lashed out. Death evaded the blow and disappeared, quickly materializing a few feet off a second later. “Would you like to hear the last words of your friends?” Death asked in a taunting voice. The sword swung but it met only empty air. Cless was fast, and he used his wings to his advantage. “Do you want to know who went out with a great show of bravery? Or who ran and screamed and begged for mercy as they saw me drawing near?”

Cless roared, showing a pair of fangs and razor-sharp canine teeth. The sound bounced off the smooth glass surfaces and echoed a few times. He fully unfurled his wings and thrashed out his whip once again. Death took a step back. “I didn’t see it before.” His sword lowered just for an instant, but something told Cless to resist striking him. “Of course,” Death whispered. The darkness of his eye sockets seemed to widen. “You are a dragoon. The last of your kind. Your time has not yet come. We will meet again, but I dare not toy with the sisters Fate and Destiny; today is not that day. Consider yourself lucky, dragoon.” With that, he disappeared once more. Puzzled, Cless let out a frustrated breath. Looking around, he discovered the pile of ash that had been Luna had disappeared too. It was then that he realized she had only been a reflection all along.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“We’re here,” reported Flint. “Or, almost. Nearly. The scouts said it’s a ten minute walk from here to the South entrance of the forest.” He and Brandy were perched on a hill over-seeing everything before them.

Brandy looked at Flint with a face that suggested he was an idiot and said, “Flint…I can see the mirrors from here.”

Flint blinked. “Why did we send the scouts, again?”

Brandy slapped his forehead and rubbed his temples. “Ugh…because they were supposed to check to see if anyone else has been here. You’re useless.”

Flint crossed his arms. “If I’m so useless, I think me and my crew should leav—”

“No, no, no need for that. I’ll tell the riders to go ahead of us and kill everything in their path. If they fail, I’ll need your crew that can’t be killed to get us all safely to the temple. Clear? The last thing we want is unexpected guests,” Brandy insisted. He clutched the stone in his hand as fish-pirates approached the riders to unlock their chains.

Render, Will, and Levi stared at each other. They’d been kept away from their dragons and hadn’t had a chance to even talk to each other. Now they were at the edge of Enlmoon and about to enter the maze. There was nothing they could do.

“We have to stop them somehow,” muttered Levi.

Will sighed. “It’s hopeless. What can we do?” Brandy approached them with the stone.

“Goodbye, riders. Soon we won’t be needing you. Once we get past the threshold of the temple…” He trailed off with a grin and rubbed the stone.
White-eyed and under the control of Brandy, the riders stood absolutely still as the chains were unlocked around them. They began to run forward, screaming and letting out wild cries previously thought impossible to make.

“To the mirrors!” Brandy cried. Their small force flailed their weapons and followed the riders in a charge down the hill. “Kill everyone in your path! Leave none alive! Or else!”

“Brandy, what’s ‘or els—’” Flint started.

“Shut up! To the mirrors!!!!!” was the reply he got.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bonnie sighed and leaned against a mirror as soon as she had lost sight of the others. Her right hand slowly touched her left shoulder. The mist obscuring everything from view suddenly parted like a curtain being pulled back. “It’s hurting again, isn’t it?” asked a voice. She glanced up and found herself staring into a mirror at her own reflection. It looked like her, it talked like her, but it was different. Her skin was darker, her eyes were deep brown, and her hair was black as night. She was clothed in simple robes of various brown shades. Scars criss-crossed over one eye and strange markings covered her skin. “It’s been hurting more than usual lately,” the face told her.

Bonnie stared. For some reason, she found she couldn’t move. The shadowy reflection raised one hand. Bonnie’s right hand echoed the movement. She opened her mouth. The shadow raised her other hand. “Don’t speak,” she commanded. Bonnie’s mouth closed against her will. “Yes, that’s right, Bonnie. I can control you. I’m inside your head.” She listened to something Bonnie must have thought. “I will prove it. Your greatest fear is also what you hate most: dancing and mathematics. Your greatest desire is to be ‘the ear that listens, the shoulder to cry on’ and also to be brave and strong. The pain that makes you wish you were dead every morning when you wake up is divided: one is your longing for Maya and your regret that after promising her you would never leave her ever again, you broke your promise. Your second is the sorrow building inside you for the Golden Dawn, a part of you that is now dead inside your soul without hope of revival. Your third is the poison in your shoulder that continually spreads and the fear of losing it completely.”

Bonnie stared straight in front of her. “You’re not going to cry because you think I would know you are weak. But I already know, Bonnie. I know how weak and small you really are. Because, Bonnie, all you are and all you ever will be is a small, lost, lonely little girl.” The shadow in the mirror drew a knife. Bonnie followed her movements, pulling out her knife from her boot. Shadow raised the knife to her throat. Bonnie tried to resist, breathing heavily and feeling sweat trickling down her forehead.

“It’s no use,” the shadow informed her. “And now, Bonnie Ivy Spinner, you are going to die. No one can hear you or help you. No one cares. No one cares about the one-armed freak who lost her mind in a hall of mirrors.” The blade nicked her skin and blood dribbled down sickeningly.

In a flash, something small and green darted out of the mist and started attacking the mirror Bonnie was facing. It was Moss, and he was spitting his acidic spit at mirror. As soon as there was so much slime coating the mirror, Bonnie was free, and she threw herself at the glass. It shattered and the images in it were lost. “Thanks, Moss!” Bonnie said, smiling. She began to run, if only to escape the creepy mind-reading mirror. Moss chirped something in her ear. “Yeah, of course I’m alright. I’m always alright. Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did the mirror trick you?” Her landed on her shoulder and rubbed his scales against her cheek. “Good, good. Now let see if we can find the others.”

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Marina re-gripped her swords. “Cless?” she risked asking out loud. “Chair?” she followed up her first question. It was quiet. Too quiet. The silence made her edgy. Something moved beside her. Instinctively, she struck out with her weapon. It met the air and sliced through the fog. A leaf crunched behind her. She ducked, rolling to her right immediately. She kicked at where she thought whatever was moving would be and then jumped up into a fighting stance. There was nothing there. Puzzled, she walked in a small circle. The mirrors around her followed her every movement.

“Pointy-ears!” a high-pitched voice called. Marina spun around as a shriek sounded near her left ear. Two eyes and bad breath met her curious face. “Iy-eeeeeeee!” It screamed. She stepped back, swinging her sword. It had already moved. “Night-hair, here’s a scare, die or dare; isn’t fair…” the voice let out a shriek again. Marina realized whatever it was, it was laughing. In her head, she pictured a monkey-liked creature with crazed eyes and long claws.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” she demanded. A rustle next to her made her jump that way with outstretched hands. They clamped around empty space.

“Ee-ee-ee-eeeee!” jeered the voice. “Great-wings is dead, Hat-head is dying, you lost your way, and Green-eyes is crying.” Marina felt a strange rage building inside her. That creature was obviously sent to provoke her.

“Have you seen my friends?” she inquired of the voice. A hand tapped on her shoulder. She turned around and found herself face-to-face with a small man dressed in a brown shirt and torn trousers. He had a beard unkempt and long and eyes that were glazed over as if blind.

“Pointy-ears, pointy-ears, tell me all your greatest fears. Let me see inside your head. Soon you’ll wish that you were dead,” he squeaked out as he bounced up and down and swayed side to side. He was human. Or, at least, he used to be. She waved her sword in front of her and it made a swishing noise she hoped he would hear.

“Get back!” she commanded. He withdrew at the sound of her wind created by her weapon and twitched his head from side to side.

“Eep! Ahhh! The bite! The light! The keep of sleep, the breath of death!” He stumbled back and lay crumpled on the ground, shivering. Marina’s heart took pity on him. He used to be sane, after all. She glanced around her and felt that same uneasiness she had before when she looked at the mirrors.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Look, have you heard my friends?” she asked him in a softer voice. She crouched down and slowly wobbled toward him one step at a time.

He shook, as if he was frightened. “They- they- come…they hum…inside my head, when in my bed, they come,” he whispered between trembling lips. He looked up and cast frightened glances around the area.

“What’s coming? What is it?” Marina raised her sword and joined his searching gaze. The mist began to move. It gathered and shapes began to emerge from the shifting fog.

“They’re hheeeerrrreeeeeee,” he announced, his shrieking laughter ringing out again. There was an army of mist-people. They carried swords, axes, chains, ropes, bows and arrows, cutlasses, and staffs. Marina decided there were too many of them. She stood up and cast a sympathetic face back at the man.

“You’re sick. Let me help you. Come with me,” she insisted. He slowly stood up and his insane eyes gave her shivers. “I have friends who can heal you. Please. Run with me,” she urged. Marina held out her hand. His grimy fingers stretched out in front of him. Half of her wanted to pull away and run as fast as she could the other direction, but her better judgment made her stay where she was. He clasped her hand, and she began to run. His feet were quick for someone who couldn’t see, and he soon began to lead her. The creatures of the mist began to chase them and they gained ground whenever Marina stumbled or paused to breathe.

“This way! This way! Come to place of endless day! Yet death and darkness, solemn still will always reach and aim to kill,” he mumbled half to her and half to himself. Marina still had her sword in her other hand, and she began to swing it just in case one of the faster creatures caught up with them.

Randomly, three voices shouted out in unison. It stopped the man straight in his tracks and Marina ran past him for a few seconds until she realized he had stopped. She turned around just in time to see him with a fearful look upon his face as white, ghostly feet trampled him. Fear gripped her and she ran as fast as she could in the direction he had led her, hoping she would find whatever place he was talking about. Whatever made that noise must have been very powerful and wicked…

As she rounded around a corner, something tripped her and she fell to the ground. Rising to a sitting position, someone grabbed her and pulled her back into a mirror. A hand clamped over her mouth. “Be still,” someone hissed. Marina obeyed the familiar voice and watched with wondering eyes as Render ran straight past them. She tried to rise but the person held her down. The movement made Render turn. Eyes whiter than clouds hungrily surveyed the area. Marina’s breath caught in her chest and she dared not move.
Another blood-curling shout made him turn and run away from them. Ten seconds passed. The hand let go and Marina scampered upright. “Bonnie!” she exclaimed. The two girls embraced as Moss flew excitedly around their heads.

“Have you seen Chair or Cless?” Bonnie asked.

“No; you?” Marina replied. Before the other could reply, they both spotted red sparks erupting from a point they could easily navigate to. “A rider is there!” Marina declared.

“Wait. It might be Render, Levi, or Will. And as you saw, they’re not themselves,” Bonnie warned.

“But it could also be Cless, and he might need help. Come on. We’re armed and ready,” Marina insisted.

“Well…ok,” Bonnie reluctantly agreed. The two girls and Moss set out in that direction. Soon they found Cless huddled over something on the ground.

“Cless!” they exclaimed. “I’m so glad to see you-”

“Later; more pressing matters than salutations exist now,” he stiffly replied. They peered over his shoulder. Charity lay crumpled before him. Her skin was unnaturally white and there was a thin layer of foam coating her lips. “I found her covered with spiders,” he explained, “And I think she was bitten.”

“We have to get help. I met this man who said there was some kind of place where we could go to be safe. He said it was that direction.” Marina pointed. Cless nodded.

“I’ll fly ahead to scout for danger and to guide us through,” he announced, leaping into the air. Bonnie knelt down and with Marina’s help managed to lift Charity onto her back.

“Are you sure you can carry her?” Marina questioned. Bonnie nodded firmly. Marina’s Elven ears twitched and she glanced behind them.

“Mist-creatures!” she shouted.

“This way!” urged Cless. They followed him at a rapid sprint through the maze of mirrors. Marina drew her bow and arrows, placing herself at the rear of the party and firing at the ghostly beings that got too close.

“It’s going to be alright, Chair,” Bonnie whispered. “It’s just like when we were ten, playing piggy-back. You’re going to be ok.”

“Faster!” yelled Marina. They were getting closer. Her arrows would fly through the fog warriors, separating them for a few seconds until they materialized again. What was even more frustrating was the fact that their weapons were enchanted and could slice through anything. This fact was demonstrated when an angry mist-man screamed and threw his axe at the group of fleeing friends. They moved out of the way, but the mirror behind them shattered.

“I can see it up ahead! There’s a kind of palace!” shouted Cless. Their breathing was rapid as the mist people advanced upon them, waving their murderous weapons threateningly.

“Hurry!” Marina called again. Finally, they burst through a veil of fog and found themselves in a large clearing of mirrors at the center of which resided a large temple.

“Get inside! We need to find help!” commanded Cless. They rushed toward the stained glass door and burst in without a glance behind them. Tired, weary, and gasping for breath, they collapsed on the floor as Cless slowly bolted the door behind them. The only sound for a few seconds was their labored breathing. Then a voice spoke that made the blood drain from their faces. They hadn’t gotten there first.

“Well if it isn’t the faithful companions. We were expecting you; we even provided you with your own chains. It’s almost sunset…we wouldn’t want you to miss the show.”