Mirrors. (sfw) (Patreon)

For my readers out there, I have a little project for you which has been my hyperfixation for the last couple of days. It is very in-media-res, apologies for that, I expect more details will be coming soon. I also don't have a name yet for the FMC in this part. Feel free to fill it in or give suggestions. I welcome them with open arms, seeing as Veil was also chosen by people on my instragram.

Story type? Romantacy. 

Subject matter? Giants, Dragons and Trials. 

Gimmick? Two main couples instead of one. 

Length? 2049 words.

Veil

The sound of crackling shards of glass fill the stone hallways as I walk. The edges don’t cut my feet like they would cut any other creature. No. These shards are as much a part of me as stars belong to the sky and smoke does to fire. At least now I somewhat understand how Create must feel.

All the fucking time. 

Seeing my creation, my lifeworks destroyed.

It god damned hurts!

I take a deep breath, anger and frustration seeping out of me like steam. Humans are still scattered about in the ruins, trying to salvage what they can. whoever they can. Lots of them got hit with shards of glass as the walls came down, and even though my mirrors are- in essence- pretty little lies, they cut deep.

If Vhiz were here, he would help them. He was always the one with the bleeding heart.

The kind one.

Not me. I’m Trick. A deceiver who hides behind smoke and mirrors. Mainly smoke now…Bastards.

Most creatures don’t even realize if I’m in a room with them. I watch as an older man rushes past me and yanks a rock aside, revealing the tiny motionless body of a child. He cries, but I feel nothing.

After all, it wasn’t me who hurt these people. Other humans did this. Humans who destroyed everything in Dimeval, including my precious mirrors. And for what? To sabotage Vhiz? Stop his attempt at the rite?

Idiots.

You can’t halt fate, merely delay it.

Or in this case, thoroughly piss him off…

Him and his brothers too.

My posture shifts. My mournful stroll filling itself with a purpose as I speedwalk around this ‘tragedy’.

I’ll find the ones who did this, and when I do, they’ll wish they’d never drew my gaze upon their treacherous little heads. Power tingles at my my fingertips. It flows to the tips of my hair, crawls up my horns, and then I see.

Everything.

Shadows of creatures past, galloping through these very hallways. I see them as clear as crystal. After all, isn’t that what my mirrors were originally for? To see? Even destroyed, they are exceptionally crafted little things… More forms take shape, sets of furniture, decorations, now either moved or destroyed. Torches blazing with ever screaming fire. Carpets that were treaded upon by kings.

For a moment I see Dimeval for what it used to be. Pristine, glorious. Of course it would show me this version of itself. After all, even buildings can be vain.

“This isn’t what you are anymore, nor what you’ve been for a very long time.” I grunt. “Show me something more recent. Show me what shattered you.”

The picture changes, like thousands of years get condensed into seconds. Figures flash in the corner of my eye, never quite taking shape. Then at once, everything stills and the room is filled with shards of floating glass.

Like snow.

The moment of the attack.

“That’s more like it.” I scan the area, quickly able to determine the origin point of the destruction. A blast set off from the hallway that connects to the servants quarters. So that’s how they got in. I loosen my mind, allowing time to flow again. Chaos engulfs the room as the blast forces everything into motion. The visions shift like ghosts, shear and flowing.

I notice two silhouettes, huddled together and crouched on their haunches behind what used to be a door. The blast must have been stronger than they anticipated, as both are tossed across the hallway and smack against the opposing wall. I saunter over, observing the snakes as they slither upright, one slightly slower than the other. The slow one gets grabbed and pulled upright by the other, before they both start running away from the destruction they caused. That same one quickly lags behind. This shade is smaller and leaner than the other, and it’s limping.

I clack my tongue against my cheeks. I don’t take pride in feeling pleasure at another's misfortune, but these snakes deserve everything that’s coming to them. I leisurely turn the corner and am faced with a collapse. Stone and wood block me from following them any further. A low rumbling escapes from my throat. Fucking perfect.

With a clap of my hands, the visions disappear into nothingness. This hallway is an offshoot that leads to the kitchens and the ballrooms. It was meant to be used to allow servants to quickly move from one end of the fortress to another. If blocked, the round trip takes some time, time that is putting more distance between me and my prey.

A glimmer catches my eye. It whispers to me. I am valuable, notice me, look at me. Crouching down, I pick up a shard of mirror, no larger than the palm of my hand, it glistens with satisfaction.

“What do you wish to show me, little one?” I tilt my head and purr.

What is supposed to show my reflection turns to darkness. I impatiently wait for something to appear, only to realize the darkness is exactly what I’m supposed to be seeing. This mirror still connects to a larger parent, which it is buried. Buried underneath…?

As sorry as I am, I can’t waste my time digging out the sole survivor of my devastated collection…

Then something in the reflection shifts. Long and dirty blond hair, cascading of off a wobbly pair of shoulders. I can barely make out a face in the darkness, but it’s definitely female. Pain is streaked across her features. Her lips curled into a wide grimace. She struggles to move, clearly pinned down underneath a mountain of rubble.

My gaze lifts away from the shard to look to the collapse at my feet.

“Is this one of the snakes I am looking for?”

The corners of my mouth lift into a grin as the shard slices my palm, a drop of blood spilling down my wrist.

“Anybody in need of saving down there-?” I yell in a singsong voice. Not intending to listen for a reply, I instead glance down at the shard, where my little snake flinches. She heard me. Can’t be too far in if she heard the sound of my voice.

“Well done.” I lovingly pet the shard and slide it into the pouch hanging from my belt. “If I can make you whole again, I will.”

My gaze trails up and down the pile of rubble blocking my way.

Time to dig for snakes.

-(Name)- tbd

“Fucking asshole Toma…” I grunt as I try and pull my legs free from underneath this blasted support beam. My arms shake and buckle as my strength fails and I sink down into the muck. Can’t move an inch. I’ve tried over and over again. Nothing…

My mind keeps flashing back to his face, when he saw the roof coming down, when he realized it was coming down on top of me. He didn’t hesitate to leave me behind. He almost looked, relieved. Probably because he would get to cash in on my pay as well… the fucking rat! I let out a quiet sob.

All these people, they hadn’t told us there would be this many people. All the explosions went off exactly as planned, but there were so many more than we were briefed about. Honestly, I’m surprised the mountain didn’t come down on top of us. Actually, perhaps it had for all I knew. No way to tell from down here. In the dark. Where not a soul would come looking for me.

Shit.

I really don’t want to die like this.

Minutes pass. Wave after wave of panic slowly eroding my mental barricade. Thoughts like -‘My legs hurt’ turning into ‘I can’t feel my legs.’ Another sob.

Then a voice pierces the darkness.

“Anybody in need of saving down there-?” He sounds far away, but that could just be because of the rubble. My heart jumps. The first thing I want to do is cry out, but something tells me not to. What’s the punishment for blowing up an Aspect assembly again? Quartering? Flaying? There hasn’t exactly been a precedent, but I’m sure they’ll come up with something original just for me. I swallow. But dying down here? Alone in the dark.

I’m such a coward.

“I’m here!” My voice doesn’t come out nearly as strong as I wanted. “Please, Please don’t leave! I’m-,”

A hand brushes my arm and my first response is to shreek. Then to punch. I flail into the darkness, fist connecting with something that goes ‘crack’ in the dark. I assume it’s a nose.

“FUCK!!!”

My unseen visitor roars and I freeze. What if it’s Toma? What if he came back for me? Or someone else was buried down here with me?

“Shit! Sorry! I got startled. Are you alright? Shit! I’m so sorry.” I want to crawl towards the sound, but forget my legs are still very much trapped.

A whisp of light springs into existence, filling my little hole with a blue-ish hue that pricks my eyes. Before me, crouched down and cupping his face is a man wearing what look to be silk robes. Not a speck of dirt or dust on them. An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. There’s no way this guy was in the collapse with me.

Then my eyes drift up, two curled horns are growing from his head and his eyes…shine like those of a predator. My jaw snaps closed. What is this?

“Fuck, if this is how you treat your saviors, I’m happy to just fucking leave again.” The man grunts, his voice definitely much smoother than I imagined.

“No!” I whimper. “Please don’t. I’m sorry. It was a mistake.”

Another grunt. This time he looks directly at me. His gaze travels down my entire body in a way that makes me beyond uncomfortable, those glowing eyes seemingly piercing me to look inside. I shudder.

“Nothing’s broken.” He mutters. “Good for you.”

Why does he sound disappointed…? Something is off. Does he know I’m partly to blame for all this? Shit. That would be really bad, wouldn’t it?

“I can’t move my legs.” I divulge the information because it’s true, but also because I feel the need to coax some form of sympathy from this man. Right now he looks like he could not care less about my wellbeing, but if that’s the case, then why is he here?

Also, how did he get here? Observing the little cave we are in, I don’t see any obvious entry points. The hair on my neck and arms lifts.

The light shifts to where a large wooden beam rests atop my thighs. The sight sends a cold shiver up my spine. That can’t be good either. The man slinks to my side, pushing against the debris, but to no avail.

“Oh yeah, that’s even more stuck than the stick up Seer’s ass.”

Okay, slightly blasphemous but I can’t exactly judge.

“Was that a joke?” I awkwardly grin in an attempt not to piss anyone off.

“Nope, I meant it in the literal sense.” He dryly replies. “That beam isn’t going anywhere, and neither were you if it weren’t for yours truly. Lucky girl, I’ve decided you don’t get to die just yet.”

I’m positive now my savior doesn’t particularly like me.

“If you don’t wish to get crushed, you better stick close to me. Stuff will start falling again once I start growing.”

My heart stops and head snaps in his direction.

Growing?

The stranger wedges a shoulder underneath the beam keeping me trapped. One of his arms reaches over me as if to form a makeshift shield, while the other holds what looks to be… a mirror? Or what’s left of one at least. It’s jagged edges cradled tight to his side as one would a child, he looks unbothered by any cuts or pain that must be causing him.

Before I have any time to question the oddity further, the whole world seems to shake.

Immediately an intense bolt of pain shoots down my legs as the beam begins to lift. I am baffled, mildly shocked, immensely terrified, and a little in awe as the stranger does.

 In fact. Start. Growing.

A lot.