The Crow Behind the Mirror_Book One of the Mirror Wars

by Sean M. Hogan

  Sharon shook her head. “No more killing.”

  “Are you mad?” Michelle asked. “He kidnapped you.”

  “And who told you that?” she asked. “Was it the man in the red cloak?”

  The change in Michelle’s expression gave Sharon her answer.

  “He’s been lying to you, Michelle,” Sharon continued. “To all of us. Gabriel didn’t kidnap me. He saved me. And he’s been working to save us all.”

  Michelle fumed. “He murdered my parents.”

  Sharon’s face turned as pale as a cave spider. “What?”

  Gabriel staggered to his knees. “She’s telling the truth, Sharon. The village I slaughtered... was hers. She has every right to—”

  “No,” Sharon shut him down before he could finish. “That’s what he wants. He’s playing us all.”

  “He killed my parents,” Michelle roared, taking a step forward. “He killed them all. He has to die. Nothing else matters.”

  Michelle went for her sword but Sharon sent another arrow flying. The arrow struck the sword knocking it away from Michelle’s grasp.

  Michelle froze and turned her spiteful gaze back on Sharon. “This is the thanks I get for saving your life?”

  Sharon loaded another arrow. “And what about Matthew? Isn’t he waiting for you?”

  “That’s why I’m doing this. It’s for his sake.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “How would you know, huh? You never had to grow up without your parents.”

  “You’re wrong,” Sharon said, relaxing her grip. “I do know… a little. Of what it feels like. But killing Gabriel won’t make that feeling go away. It will only make things worse.”

  “I’m in hell already,” said Michelle, her words hollow, devoid of spark. “What difference will it make?”

  “The worst feeling in the world is emptiness,” said Sharon. “That feeling of nothingness and despair so deep inside you that it devours your very soul. The feeling you get when you look into the mirror and see just a hollow reflection. Don’t surrender to that despair, Michelle. Fight. Fight with all your heart.”

  Michelle stalked up to Sharon, stopping when the tip of the arrowhead pressed against her throat, daring Sharon to fire.

  Sharon hesitated, the bow trembling in her hands.

  Michelle placed her hand on the arrow and pushed the arrowhead down till it faced the ground. “I called your bluff. Stand aside.”

  “No.” Sharon stood her ground. “You’ll have to kill me first to get to Gabriel.”

  Michelle formed a fist and cocked back her arm. “No, I just have to knock you out.”

  “Stop it—both of you,” shouted a voice behind.

  Sharon and Michelle turned to face Sofiel.

  “Fighting one another will just strengthen the enemy,” said Sofiel, stepping in the light of the main cave of the cavern.

  Michelle scoffed. “He’s already dead anyways.”

  Sofiel spotted Gabriel, his once grayish white fur now stained crimson from the belly down. “No...” She started for him but Michelle blocked her path.

  “You can’t save him, Mirror Guardian,” said Michelle. “I won’t allow it.”

  “This is sheer insanity,” Sofiel protested in a fit of panic.

  “It’s all right, Sofiel,” said Gabriel. “It’s what I want. It’s what I deserve.”

  “You deserve far worse, monster,” Michelle fired back over her shoulder.

  Gabriel’s gums grew pale and his eyes dim. “The time has finally come for me to pay for my sins. I will not go kicking and screaming. I accept my fate.”

  “What about what I want?” Sofiel asked with swelling tears. “Have you given my feelings any consideration at all?”

  Gabriel lost his breath. “Sofiel...”

  “What am I supposed to do without you?” asked Sofiel. “How will I carry on when you’re not at my side?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I’m not worthy to stand by your side. I’m not worthy of your love.”

  “I’m the one who decides that,” Sofiel yelled back. “Fight—damn you.”

  Sharon’s and Gabriel’s eyes widened.

  “Stand up and fight,” Sofiel pleaded. “Fight for me.”

  Gabriel rose to his feet, straining with all his remaining strength.

  Michelle wasted no time, recovering her sword and stalking straight for him. “So, there’s still fight in you, monster?”

  Gabriel bared his fangs and claws. “More than enough to satisfy your hate.” He glanced over to Sofiel. “May I make a final request of you?”

  “Speak it,” said Sofiel, reaching Sharon’s side.

  “Save Khaba.”

  “Khaba’s here?” Sharon scanned the cave. There at the far end of the cave—in a shallow puddle with Dew-paw huddled over him—lay Khaba motionless. His dark green scale glistening over his bulging muscles like a suit of mailed armor. She had missed him in all the commotion. “What happened?”

  “It was my doing,” said Gabriel. “Please, Sofiel, don’t let there be another blight upon my soul.”

  Sofiel nodded. “Promise me you’ll stay alive.”

  Gabriel averted his gaze.

  “Promise me.”

  “I promise.”

  ***

  Sofiel ran over to Khaba and Dew-paw, fell to her knees, and placed her ear over Khaba’s chest.

  Dew-paw tugged at her sleeve. “You must save him, Keeper of the Sacred Forest. You must.”

  “Quiet,” she told him, placing her hands over Khaba’s chest and forming a blue circle of energy.

  Dew-paw paced nervously.

  The blue circle pulsed again and again as its magic poured into Khaba’s body.

  “Come back to us, damn it,” Sofiel whispered to Khaba. “Breathe.” She closed her eyes and focused.

  “Why isn’t he waking?” asked Dew-paw. “Why isn’t the magic working?”

  Sofiel shook her head. “I’m afraid he’s beyond my—”

  Khaba gasped in a sudden violent, jolting cough.

  “My lord.” Dew-paw gave out a joyful squeal as he hugged Khaba with a wrap of his small arms around Khaba’s neck. “Brother, I feared you dead.”

  Khaba sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Dew-paw? Sofiel? I don’t understand...”

  “You were hit by Gabriel’s lightning,” said Dew-paw. “Master Sofiel saved you.”

  Sofiel shot him a smile.

  “I still don’t understand,” said Khaba. “You’re my enemy.”

  “I’m no one’s enemy,” Sofiel said, “least of all one of my students. No matter how dark your path has turned.”

  Khaba averted his gaze. “Sharon...” He spotted her near Gabriel and Michelle.

  Sharon stood with bow in hand, haloed in a beam of shimmering light, her white feathered wings unfolding and catching the wind.

  “She has the wings of an angel,” said Khaba. “My dream is coming true.”

  ***

  Michelle and Gabriel circled each other as Sharon looked on helplessly. But before either one could make the first strike Gabriel collapsed.

  Michelle laughed. “We’re both already past the point of no return.” She stepped over to Gabriel and raised her sword. “I might as well put us both out of our misery.”

  “No!” Sharon threw herself over Gabriel.

  Michelle grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. “No more stalling.” She stepped on Gabriel’s neck, pinning him down, took aim, and…

  A red fairy zipped past Michelle’s face. The fairy grabbed hold of a strand of her long blonde hair, plucked it out, and proceeded to sniff it with great interest.

  “That hurt—you little flying rat.” Michelle swung her sword at the fairy but it easily avoided each slash.

  The red fairy giggled, performing a curtsy just outside of Michelle’s reach. Then it swooped down to Sharon and pulled out a long black hair from her head.

  “What the hell,” said Sharon, wincing in pain. “You little turd.”
>
  The red fairy sniffed Sharon’s hair, tasting it for good measure.

  “What’s it doing?” asked Sharon, squinting up at it.

  “No... Why is it red?” asked Gabriel.

  The red fairy hissed back before circling the air above once more.

  Sharon turned to Gabriel. “What do you mean, red?”

  “Fairies are always blue,” he said. “Something’s wrong.”

  Sharon recalled Moki’s words. Red thoughts, bad thoughts. Red, the color of powerful negative emotions. Joy’s color. Rage’s color. The color of bad omens.

  The red fairy flew over to Sofiel and perched its self in the palm of her hand. It bowed and smiled a spiny grin.

  “Curious,” said Sofiel.

  Dew-paw snorted. “A cheeky little devil.”

  The red fairy grasped a single silver hair that floated in the breeze. It lifted the hair to its nose and took in its scent. Satisfied, it let out a horrid screech, forcing everyone to clasp their ears. It took to the air, still bellowing its alarm as it flew to the cave entrance atop the stairs and perched its self on Baba’s shoulder.

  Baba stretched her jaw and flickered her black tongue. “My, what a bunch of noisy insects you all are,” she said, peering down at everyone with disinterest. “Like spoiled children squabbling over toys.”

  The red fairy whispered in her ear.

  “Oh?” Baba gave out a monstrous cackle before turning her gaze on Sofiel. “Ah, at last we meet, my silver-haired beauty.” She licked the running drool from her lips. “My delicious unicorn.”

  CHAPTER 31

  The Light in the Darkness

  SOFIEL SQUINTED AT the old hag silhouetted in front of the bright sun shining in from the entrance. “Who is that?”

  “Baba,” said Sharon with a sinking heart.

  “She doesn’t know…” Gabriel pushed off the cave floor but failed to rise to his knees. “Run, Sofiel,” he yelled out. “Get out of here—now.”

  Sofiel just shook her head with a confused look in her eyes.

  Michelle turned her sights on Baba. “I don’t know who the hell you are—old hag—and I don’t care. But if you interfere with my revenge, I’ll have to kill you.” She pointed her blade Baba’s direction.

  Baba scoffed. “Bah, I have no interest in the meaningless conflicts of meaningless lives.”

  “What the hell do you know of meaning?” Michelle blurted the words out in a sudden fit of rage. “Huh? Answer me, hag.”

  Baba stuck her finger into her earhole and gave it a little twist. “So noisy...” She patted her gurgling stomach. “And I’m so hungry...” She seized the fairy perched on her shoulder.

  The fairy let out a squeal and bit Baba’s hand, drawing a trickle of blood. Its struggle was in vain though as Baba stuffed it in her mouth without hesitation. After a few crunches, the fairy was silent.

  “I’ve waited so long. Far too long. The time for pretty words is over.” Baba swallowed. “I must feed.”

  “Run…” Gabriel strained to yell, his voice dying with his strength. “Please… you have to run…”

  Sharon saw Sofiel’s confusion. “Sofiel, that’s Baba. The god of darkness.”

  Then it donned on Sofiel. “The dragon...”

  Baba laughed. “That’s right, my little ones. I am the first god of Tuat, the original, nothing like you cheap imitations. Only my precious unicorn is of any worth. Though the rest of you should all feel privileged, for today you will experience the wrath of a true god.”

  Baba’s veins pulsed and pumped black blood through her skin. Black crawled up her body like a living tattoo, snaking the way of a thorn bush does over an old gargoyle, entangling her in absolute shadow. She stretched out her jaw and vomited up black smoke that choked out the sun and swallowed the light. The sweat melody of bones snapping, skin ripping, and scales rubbing against stone bounced off the cave walls. A cobra’s low rumbling hiss leaked out as claws dug into stone.

  Sharon choked on darkness. Always the dark. She had grown to hate it so. The crow had plunged her headfirst into the void of the Dreamtime so many times now. And now, once again, she found herself blind as a bat, feeling nothing but heat, smelling nothing but brimstone and ash, hearing nothing but the voice in the darkness.

  “Death comes to all things. In the darkness. When the light dies. So shall you all.”

  Two huge, glowing eyes with black serpent slits opened behind Sharon. They flickered with all the colors of the rainbow, one after the other, painting Sharon’s form in strobes of green and yellow and purple. Sharon gazed down at her hands as they were basked in shifting light. She slowly turned to their source.

  A creature—three elephants high—birthed itself from the smoke. Darkness took form, slithering out with a serpentine neck and tail. Long black thorns, lined by feathers and reptilian scales, armored the creature’s back. Two bat-like wings extended from its shoulder blades, stirring up a gush of wind with each flap.

  Sharon could tell at once what the creature that had stretched out before her was. A true dragon.

  The dragon ripped its narrow head through the smoke and exhaled a huge jettison of fire.

  Sharon recoiled, throwing her arms over her face to shield herself from the flames.

  But the flames never came.

  Michelle pushed back against the stream of fire with her shield. “Get out of here,” she said. “Go! I’ll take care of this monster.”

  The flames died, leaving a trail of smaller fires on the stone floor.

  Michelle marched forward—drawing her sword.

  “Are you crazy?” asked Sharon. “You can’t take on a dragon by yourself.”

  Michelle glanced back. “I don’t care. I don’t care if I live or die. All that matters is that the monsters die.” She rushed in for the attack. “They all have to die.”

  The dragon coiled and lunged at Michelle like a cobra, snapping her jaws with a thunderous clap.

  Michelle dodged and slashed and hacked, striking the dragon’s snout, forcing her back.

  Sharon stepped back, stopping when she stepped on something soft. She knelt down and felt fur. “Gabriel? Can you hear me?”

  A weak raspy voice finally answered. “...Sharon...”

  Sharon ran her fingers around Gabriel’s face, the light of the fires dying and giving way to pure darkness, feeling out his brow and snout and wolf ears. “We have to get away.”

  He grabbed her hand. “I... we won’t make it. Baba won’t let anyone escape.”

  “What should I do?” she asked, the panic kicking in. “Tell me what to do.”

  “The arrow,” he said, suddenly. “There’s dark magic in it. It’s sealing away my powers. Can you pull it out?”

  The arrow lit up bright red as she touched it and she recoiled. “It’s hot. It’s really hot. I can’t...”

  “Run then. Save yourself.”

  Sharon gritted her teeth. “No.” She grabbed the arrow, seething pain shot up her arms. She jerked her hands back. “I can’t...” Tears overflowed in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Sharon.” He gently placed his hand on her knee. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Yes—it is.” Her tear streamed down her cheeks. “This is all my fault. Rage is after me. He’s hurting people to get to me. He’s killing… my friends.” She grabbed the arrow with both hands. She gritted her teeth as the palms of her hands burned. It was like she was grabbing hold of a hot frying pan. “I won’t let him win,” she screamed—pulling will all her strength—ripping the arrow out.

  Gabriel gave out a sharp yelp as the jagged arrowhead left his flesh.

  Sharon cupped her hands against her chest in pain, surprised to find her hands unscathed. The pain was only in her head. Another of Rage’s illusions. She wiped her tears away with trembling fingers.

  Gabriel stood up, finding a bit more of his strength returned. “Now, go get Sofiel and get as far as you can from this place.” His fur stiffened as the static built up. “
As fast as you can.” Electricity leaped from his body in a small bolt of lightning, illuminating the cave around them and painting him in a blue haze. “I don’t want you caught up in the coming storm.”

  Sharon backed away. “Right.”

  Michelle blocked another blast of fire and slashed the dragon’s face, catching part of the beast’s soft fleshy eyelid as she lunged in for another bite.

  The dragon recoiled in pain.

  Michelle saw her opening and charged in. She roared, thrusting her blade like a battering ram into the dragon’s underbelly. The blade stopped with a sudden thud, jolting Michelle back. From a distance, the underbelly was shrouded in darkness, but now, up close, Michelle saw the hard black scales that covered it, like hundreds of overlapping circular iron shields, each an inch thick. Michelle’s rage turned to horror as the dragon’s talons closed in on her, slamming her hard to the rocky ground. She was now a field mouse pinned by a barn owl, squeaking her last breath.

  The dragon lifted Michelle into the air like a toy doll and squeezed.

  Michelle screamed.

  “My,” mused Baba the dragon, “what a noisy rat I’ve caught this time.”

  A lightning bolt struck Baba, blasting her back. Part of the cave floor gave way under her massive weight. She lost her balance and fell backward, dropping Michelle.

  Michelle fell hard against the rocks, the force knocking her out. She slid halfway over the newborn cliff, limp like a ragdoll, the bottom below nowhere in sight.

  “Baba,” Gabriel roared as storm clouds thundered in above him. “Your opponent is right here.”

  Baba bared her fangs and growled.

  ***

  Sharon spotted a glowing blue light in the distant darkness behind her. It was Sofiel’s crystal. She ran over to her.

  “Sharon, is that you?” asked Sofiel.

  Blue light reflected off of Sharon’s face as she reached Sofiel. “Yeah, it’s me.”

  A flash of lightning illuminated the cave.

  Gabriel battled Baba in the distance, streaks of light cracked and echoed across the cave.