Chapter 71

chapter Sixty-six

Not wanting to scare her any more than he already was, he nodded, knowing his voice would be rough right now. He followed Venron to the curling stairs, watching the first mirror on their ground level like it would jump off the wall. The pillars on this mirror were gold, ringed in intricate spell ruins and with herds of folk etched on the left-hand side, while the university that was there was depicted on the right. As Damion stepped up to the mirror, the swirling vortex quickened. At first it had looked like a still lake, but the closer he got to it, the more it looked like an ocean raging in a storm.

His body was rigid as he held out his arm to the surface of the mirror. It responded. The silver liquid stretched and slurped toward him, tendrils of it started to wrap around his fingers. "Father" Volencia pointed, "It looks like it wants to swallow him whole."

"I've never seen anything like it before." Venron got closer, sticking his own finger into the liquid.

"Where does this one lead?" As expected, his voice was deeper and hoarse. He felt her pulling at his shirt as she got closer.

"Lalolia. It's the home mirror that connects everything. If this one was to be destroyed, the entire tower would stop working. I've never seen it react to anyone like this before. At some point I'm going to get Charlabisis here, he may be able to shed some light on why it's doing that." Venron actually looked more concerned now. "It must be because of your magic types. You are the only one I've ever met with both. It doesn't react like that to Gregron either. This place really puts you on edge does it make you feel like when you touched the card Claven gave you?"

"Not exactly." Damion frowned, pulling his hand away from the silvery vortex. He couldn't exactly explain in detail how he felt, since none of them could understand the fear it caused, or the danger that it innotated. He could see the questions in Venron's face, but he still wasn't going to go into detail.

The next mirror was nearly as bad as the first. Which had Venron acting even more suspicious. Though he didn't hold his hand out to it, the calm silver raged as he walked by. "That is interesting. That mirror won't let anyone we've ever heard of through. It's driven Char mad at times. Though there are others, knowing that it's the first mirror on the platform, and the only one that isn't at the top of the tower, has left more questions than it's answered. If you weren't already busy with other things, I'd ask to see if you could make it through there."

"I'm not sure that would be wise. I'm not completely interested in trying my hand at using the mirrors anymore. Especially one where we have to idea where it leads." The frieze above the door showed a valley near the sea. The pillars showed nothing but two phoenixes singing, one pillar was painted blue, the other red. Damion felt his magic start to boil as he walked by. Like his body needed to go there else be burned up with the intense desire.

"I've always hated that one the most. It makes me feel like the world is completely wrong. That life is just a lie." Damion turned back to look at her. His eyes dipped to her heaving chest where a glow imminated through her gown. Hooking the chain of the pendant she wore, he slowly pulled it out, to reveal it glowing again. "Have you ever tried to go through the mirror?"

"No. I've never used a mirror without either of my parents pulling me through. Quiet unwillingly."

Damion warred with himself. The sudden urge to pull her through the mirror screamed at him. He tried to force his feet forward, and staggered. Swallowing hard, Gregron called out, "Come on, we're going to be late if you don't move." Shaking his head, he was able to bring his senses back, and started up the steps once again. At least heading up the rest of the way, he didn't feel like the mirror was going to reach out and grab him, or worse, run away into some unknown place. Though the further up he went, the darker the shadows grew as he passed these still and steady mirrors. Toran was one of the few folk in the world who had been rumored to have both magics. There was mention of it being a possibility, though in the actual accounts, there was no confirmation of it.

"Come along now, this is it." Gregron stopped in front of the middle mirror on the nineth landing. It was made of red stone, glass, and inside the glass cases were filled with sand. It was underwhelming compared to some of the others. "Are we ready?"

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Half an hour ago, he'd been sure he was ready. Now he wasn't so sure. Gregron shook hands with Venron, "Make sure you both come back safe."

A tug at his shirt brought his attention around to look down at Volencia who was down a step, so she was eye level with his navel, her head crooked back to look up at him. He chuckled, taking her hand and stepping down as he pulled her up, bringing her eye level. "Be safe. I love you. Make sure you come home to me, you hear?"

"Yes, my love. I have every intention of coming home to you. Take care of yourself too." He pulled the pendant from his pocket and wrapped it into his hair where it would be hidden from view. He didn't want anyone to know he had live coursebine if he could help it. He definitely didn't want them to know he couls use it. "You'll have a pretty good indea of what's going on too. If it goes south though, make sure you take that thing off."

Her arms snaked around his shoulders as she leaned into him. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, nose, and lips. "We've got his, love. It won't go south."

Smiling, he pulled her arms off his shoulders and kissed each palm. "It's time. I love you, Volencia."

"I love you, too, Damion." There were tears in her eyes as he stepped past her, up the steps.

Shackles raised, he nodded to Gregron, then took one slow step and another until he was walking through the mirror.

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