The cover was worn and dusty. The title was written in either mirror Greek or it could have been mirror Latin. I wasn't sure, but it was some old language. Chase watched my face and smiled.
"It says the world beyond imagination, in English. It's a book about Mirror Image."
"It was here? In the museum?"
"Yes, lost in an old fiction section. It caught my eye considering it was in mirror Latin. It describes the Mirror Image I saw when I was a young boy. Beautiful and peaceful, but with a great added bonus."
He opened up the book and inside were sketches of the Mirror Stone.
"How are these here?"
"It says that the author saw the stone in a dream, asking if he was the one. All written like the authors’ observations."
The lines were scribbled in the book like the author didn’t fully understand why the stone was talking or who the one was.
"But that stone is now in me, right?" I pressed my hand to my chest.
"Well as it is stated here, the stone was once on a podium in the courtyard gardens. I recognize that stonework anywhere. There is a spot in the royal garden that is exactly like this. It's a fountain now. It has been for ages, but it is the same as the sketch. No doubt about it."
"So, it was once visible? On display?"
Chase nodded. "This may have been at the beginning of Mirror Images creation, that dates even before most of our recorded history. It is very likely that those in this time are our ancestors."
I looked at the sketches. If the author saw it in a dream, then he never went there. Yet he learned this much about it. Chase looked like he was thinking as well.
"So, this book will help me get ready?" I asked.
"The man recorded having spoken with the stone. It states here that the Mirror Stone is believed to be the immortal form of the creation witch who created Mirror Image. By creating the realm her physical form was sacrificed, and her soul became the stone, becoming the protector of the boundary. She died on Mirror Image soil allowing her magic to be intertwined with the land. From what I've read, it asked the man if he knew the one; it seems the stone has to be specific with its host. Maybe they have to have a certain amount of magic potential or linked with some royal condition."
A vision came to mind of the man and the stone. It was fuzzy, but I could see the colors of the landscape and the light of the stone in pure white. It was almost as it the art on the page came to life. The man, I guessed the author, reached out and tapped the stone. It rejected him, throwing his hand back. The vision ended, and I knew the truth.
"The stone rejected him, the author."
Chase was at first surprised, but he saw my eyes and read my mind.
"A vision. Well then, it must be true. The stone showed you the past."
He looked like he was thinking again, reflecting on an old memory. Then Chase turned away.
"Why don't we start by reading this book? The more you know about the Mirror Stone, the better we can protect it and the better you may be able to use its power."
"It’s power. Right. What power?"
"That light you used before most likely came from the Mirror Stone, to protect you and itself."
My head spun, as I continued to flip through the book.
"We will start with that. Then when Loic wakes up, we can work on combat with him. Then rinse and repeat until you're ship-shape."
Chase sat next to me and we looked through the book. He translated each line of text to me. He explained the different places drawn in the book. When he did, it was as if he was back in that time, remembering it like he was there. Was he hoping to trigger something in the Mirror Stone? The vision earlier felt like a memory of sorts, but I didn’t think that would happen every time. I was sure he missed that time when Mirror Image was beautiful. I knew they all did. If I was them, I would have wanted it back as well.
I cleared my throat. “Chase?”
“Yes, Rayne?”
“Not to sound uninterested but these history lessons, how will they help me with the stone?”
“Well the stone is said to be the creation witch’s soul, maybe some memory will trigger. Or there will be a mention about it or someone’s name will come up that will lead us to another clue. With this being a formerly mythical object, there aren’t many keywords we can dig through, so I find its best to pour over all relevant data. The First and Second Ages were the founding of Mirror Image, so the lore would have been a big source of inspiration for the writings, such as Christianity was the spark of much of English history, or how the gods of the Greek pantheon were thought to be responsible for all ways of ancient Greek life. I’m hoping to find something like that.”
I nodded. “I can see how that would make sense. Sorry, I doubted your method.”
“That’s quite all right, Rayne. I don’t blame you for finding this boring. Frankly, I wish I would find a more direct source. This book we found is the best we have. Yes, it retreads a lot of what we already know, but it’s from an outsider’s eyes. So, we might see something new here.”
“Yeah. I hope so.”
Not long after that, Loic came over, looking like he had just woken up. His hair was barely combed back, and his face was red from resting against the arm of the couch while he slept. His cotton V-neck shirt was wrinkled.
He smirked. "It's your turn to rest, Chase."
"Right. I will leave you to it then."
Chase left, heading down to the corner of the lobby, most likely to smoke his pipe through the convenience of a window on that end. Loic sat next to me. He rested his arms in front of him and laid his head between his arms, flopping against the desk.
"So, are you going to teach me how to fight?”
"Not until after I've had my morning coffee."
I giggled a little.
“Oh, and don’t do that again princess.”
“Do what?” I knew exactly what he meant.
“Go off alone like that. Luckily for you, I didn’t sense anything on the path we showed you.”
“Okay.” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“As you should be.” His glare was mocking, but his eyes were serious. “Now, I’m going to grab a coffee. I’ll be back.”
One caffe doppio from the brewer in, what I assumed used to be the museums concession stand turned bachelor kitchen later, Loic came back offering me a sip. I declined but thanked him and he set his cup down on the countertop in front of the brewer.
“Alrighty, would you like to get started?”
“Yeah, ready as I’ll ever be.” I brushed off my clothes. I had planned to do this training, so I found a pair of light jogging pants and a tank top to try and make it easier on me. having my shoulders exposed was, not a new concept but still nerve racking in away. I wasn’t sure it was because of my own insecurities or the face that I caught Loic glancing at my outfit.
“Right so a little background. Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art form, combines self-defense, acrobatic and dance. Slaves used it to hide the fact that they were training to fight. Something I find extremely valuable. It’s played as a game. One thing to remember: only hands and feet touch the floor.”
“I don’t think I’ll be that great at it, considering last time I cracked my skull open.”
“That’s nothing. The first move I ever tried I busted my arm and my nose. There might have been a rib in there too. I tried to pull off something way too advanced for me.” He laughed. “I learned not to do that again.”
I rolled my eyes. “So, you'll go easy on me then?”
“Well Princess I’d love to, but we don’t exactly have the luxury of going too slow. Luckily for both of us, you actually have some talent. That stone’s magic compensates your lack of physicality.”
“Wait. Explain that again?”
“I noticed it when I shared that first step with you in the park. Normally you can’t lift your own body weight, but your aura gives you some added strength to compens
ate. And it seems to act on its own when given the chance. That’s what I want to start on.”
“So, more aura training?”
It made sense when I thought about it. The fight at the club was a surprise. I felt much stronger than normal. I thought it was because of Loic sharing his abilities with me, but if what he was saying was true, then I was somehow doing it on my own.
“Well, whenever you feel like you’re ready. We can do the aura practice in here, then move on to actual combat.”
He moved into position and stopped.
“Oh, before I forget. Give me your hand.”
“Okay?”
He took my hand. Then he pulled a small stone chip out of his pocket and drew a symbol on my palm. The points where the stone touched my skin felt cooled and numb. The outline of what he drew became noticeable against my warm hand. The points where he changed direction felt like a quick sting, but then the cooling feeling returned. He pulled the stone away and I looked at the mark. The symbol began to glow.
“What is that?” I flexed my fingers watching the symbol shift with my movement.
I tried to focus back on Loic, but the mark felt cold and I couldn’t ignore it. I closed my hand to try and warm myself, but it didn’t work. It lingered both on my palm and in my mind.
“A rune. I don’t use them often, but you may find it useful. It basically allows spells to last longer. This one will let me see how your aura compensates your ability. If I see what it strengthens then I can see what you need to work on.”
“That’s cool. Are there others?”
“Well, yeah. Hundreds. There’s even one that allows magic abilities to be transferred to another person. Apparently, royalty used that to keep the bloodlines strong or something back in the day.”
“Wow. And you know how to do that?”
“I’ve never tried it, but I have studied it. Runes were a hobby of mine before the war started.”
He shrugged and moved into his intended position. He stood a few feet in front of me in a combat ready stance. One arm was bent in front of his face while the other fell straight at his side, touching the ground as he knelt. I tried to take a similar stance.
“All right, let’s start.”
For not wanting me to fight, Loic was cooperating quite well. That entire first day we focused on refreshing my aura shield training. After a few hours of practice, my muscles and mind were tightening. I was getting it but deep inside I was having second thoughts. I just wanted to go back home, crawl in my bed, and forget that I was about to fight in a war. By the time we finished, I was sore all over. Now I really wanted to crawl back into bed, both physically and mentally. Then I stared at Loic. Without saying a single word, he gave me strength. It was almost as if he was giving me all I needed in a single glance, sharing his confidence in me just as he could share his memories.
I couldn’t let him down. I couldn’t let our worlds down. No matter how terrified I was, I knew I had to fight.
FOURTEEN
♦
Training
LOIC SOON FELT COMFORTABLE with my aura control after a few days of practice. There were many times he complimented me or days I did something faster than he expected. That always put a smile on his face. I liked seeing that, so I kept trying to improve. After a day of rest, Loic prepared for the hard training.
We changed into workout clothes and He escorted me to the park close to my apartment. There were other people around, would people stare if we practiced capoeira in the park? What would they think of us? It made me nervous, practicing combats out in the open. Loic seemed unfazed, of course. He threw his bag down at his feet and looked at me.
“All right, you ready Rayne?'
“I'm not sure.” I chewed my lip. “Are you sure we should do this here?”
“I practice here all the time. No one really pays attention to anyone else here. they all seem too busy with their own lives; I doubt we will have too many onlookers. Don't be so nervous, Rayne.” He smiled at me.
How could he be so sure? “and you know they won’t gawk how?”
“Remember me saying I tried a move that broke bones?” he pointed to a tree at the far end of the park. “Rayne meet my arch nemesis.” He chuckled, referring to the tree.
“It was here?”
“Yeah, and if people didn’t bother with a young idiot who broke his arm fighting a tree then we shouldn’t have much to worry about.”
I understood what he meant. What did Juliet call that? The bystander effect?
Still That didn't help my nervousness much. Neither did him taking off his dress shirt. I thought he would have an athletic shirt under that but nope, he went with the running pants and bare shirt combo. I swallowed hard, feeling my breath going down to my stomach. I looked at him, my eye tracing the lines in his chest. My gaze was disrupted by the lines approaching closer. He came over to me and tapped my shoulder.
“Trust me, Princess. Once we get started you won’t even notice them.” He snickered; a dumb smile plastered on his face.
“If you say so.” I sighed, looking away from him as he stretched. My mind began to question whether he meant the people or his muscles. I shook the thoughts off and tried to focus.
I glanced fast. The first thing I noticed was his tattoo just under his ribs close to his left side. He had it uncovered today? It was a tribal-looking dragon that had its wings curling around itself. Each spike had curling lines around them. I would guess they were supposed to be vines of some sort. Most of it was colored black except for one wing. Small words written in mirror language were just barely visible, but I couldn’t make them out at first glance.
He noticed my gaze and sighed. “it says ‘cut off, peccant, deserter’.” He paused. His face showed depression, anger, and frustration. “This is my punishment. Its sealed my magical ability by half.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to stare, I just...”
He grabbed my hand and laid it over the tattoo. It felt cold like ice. The ink shifted to my touch, filled with what I could only describe as hate and anger.
“I failed in my duty and the king gave me this. I’m sure he intended to kill me with it. But we soon went to war with Rakesh, so I was given the chance to make up for it but...we lost Luna. So, I was exiled. That was only because Isha pleaded my case.”
“Loic....”
It hurt him to talk about it. I pulled my hand away from the mark and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to my level. He seized the opportunity and kissed me. I still felt the feelings from the tattoo. The hate, regret and anger tainted the kiss slightly. Leaving an almost bitter taste. It faded the longer he held me there. His sweetness came back, and I sunk into his arms. The scent of his skin mixed with the air and calmed my thoughts. I still felt something was off. Regret? I couldn’t place it. I figured mentioning the mark hurt him even more then he realized.
Then we parted, smiles on our faces. He sighed again and continued to stretch.
“Right, now stretch. The last thing you want is to get cramped up.”
“All right.” I answered.
He dug in his bag. A few minutes of stretching, and he came back with a music player in his hand.
“What’s that for?”
“I’m not the best teacher, so you're going to learn by watching.”
“Wait, really? You did fine with aura training.”
He nodded. “But I’ve taught aura enough times to explain it orally. I don’t teach a lot of people my fighting style. I just do it. So that’s the easiest way for me to teach you. I show you the move and see if you can copy me, giving you tips along the way.”
“Sounds more difficult.” I sighed, mapping out how difficult this phase was going to be.
“I learned this way. It’s simpler, trust me.” That dumb smile came back to his face, then morphed into the confident smirk that I was more used to seeing. The one that insisted I could do anything.
�
�All right, I guess it's worth a try.”
“Atta girl!”
I took the music player and put the headphones in. He did the same with a second player. He stopped me from pushing play at first, taking my palm to draw that aura-seeing rune again. Then he counted down with his fingers. Once he was finished, we started the songs at the same time. He backed from me and started stepping to the beat.
He did a few moves, and I watched carefully. Then he stopped and stood nearby, watching my every step. After a few times, he approved my mastery of the first moves. Then he started to mix it up on me. Instead of stopping between moves he decided to string them together, actually using the song to time himself. As the song got more intense, he started to throw in so well-timed kicks just barely missing me. I felt my aura build up around me, making my arms and legs feel stronger and quicker. I followed him and eventually, I was beginning to match him.
~
A full playlist later, I fell back on my back on the grass, unable to go on. Trying to catch my breath. I looked up and saw Loic leaning over me.
“Good work today. You were actually keeping up with me.”
“At what cost? I can't continue. How am I supposed to actually fight like this?”
He laughed and pinned me down on the grass. Not hard enough that I couldn’t free myself if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
“You'll get it. After a while, it'll be as easy as...” Loic didn’t even finish. Instead, he leaned down and kissed me.
Catching my breath at this point was pointless. Who needed to breathe anyway? I didn't want this to end, pulling him in closer. My pesky lungs said otherwise. Finally, Loic let me go and I gasped, trying to catch up. He helped me to my feet.
“Sorry about that,” he mumbled, scratching his head. “Didn’t meant to come on so intense.”
I was silent at first but looking at him I couldn’t help but think:
“It was worth it.”
He started, and so did I. Whoops, I’d said that out loud.
Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1) Page 35