Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1)

by Clairisa Campbell

  “Your actions will destroy these worlds!” She warned. Her voice firm but calm.

  “MY ACTIONS WILL SAVE THESE WORLDS! Freeing them is what’s best. They will praise me for saving them from the sinking ship you trapped them on.” His voice became frantic and grizzly. He changed his stance to appear more challenging. His fists clenched against him, his feet spread apart, his red eyes narrowing into hard pointed angles.

  “You are freeing them at the whim of those who wish to destroy them. The darkness has made you mad...”

  “And the light made you blind. I will have you and your magic. You have no knights to stop me.” The challenging stance curled upward as shadows grew around him arching his shoulders like a cat arches its back when challenged.

  I stayed silent, trying to take in as much as I could. These two, was this really Rakesh and Kaarinna fighting? This banter between them sounded like old bitter enemies. Kaarinna created mirror image centuries ago, Rakesh wouldn’t have been alive then. At most I guessed him in his forties. How would these two be so hostile. Unless, maybe Rakesh was in league with a much older Formless. Could there have been some connection to the first Formless? Or could kaarinna have appeared to Luna as well, helping her somehow?

  “I don’t need knights. Not when I have already woven the web that WILL free my people...” Kaarinna’s lofty voice was clear and precise.

  “Your webs. You have nothing but a crumbling kingdom, a broken army, and a scared child.” Rakesh snorted.

  “And all you have is a rotting promise given to you by the devil of the very world you claim to save.” She retorted bluntly.

  Rakesh growled. “If anything, I’m being kind to these worlds. My world was ripped apart and here I offer to put them back together. They will praise me as their savior while you remain as the demon that tore them apart from their true world.”

  “The place of one’s birth is not relevant. Safety isn’t always at home. You of all people should know that.”

  Rakesh’s form shifted, getting bigger. The area around him heated up, boiling the water around him. Then he vanished.

  The voice echoed again

  “Child, you can’t stay here much longer. Find answers to these statements: the core of the key, the mirror door of blood, a light between two temples.”

  I couldn’t answer back. The pressure of the water had been stronger than usual this time, making it hard to speak. I could only hold my breath.

  The voice continued.

  “These are your keys, unlock the door, the right way...the way I have set eons ago. The path your enemy is on WILL DESTROY THE WORLDS. You can’t throw a key at a door and hope for it to unlock.

  ~

  Before I could move. I woke up, staring up at my apartment ceiling in silence. Did I actually fall asleep during the movie? I felt more like I just had another vision, instead of sleeping. Did Loic carry me to bed? Would he have thought that was rude, sleeping so fast and ignoring him? I sat up and found my notebook and took down the newest notes:

  Core of the key

  Would this be the mirror stone? The one at my own core and the core of what was left of her?

  Light between two temples

  What was considered a temple in this case? Nothing to this point had been mentioned about a temple. I wasn’t even sure what religion Mirror Image had.

  And mirror door of blood

  A literal door made of blood, or a door whose path is drenched in blood? A lot of people have died because of this Night Mirror, so the latter could be possible.

  Rakesh’s world torn apart?

  Was something taken from him? If so, how much? What did someone have to lose to turn to this sort of life? Teaming up with mindless monsters and using them to kill so many. How much had to be ripped from a person to do such horrible things?

  I had to remember this long enough to get to the Light Weavers. Better yet, I had to try and put the pieces I had together before I saw them. If kaarinna wouldn’t let me show Chase what I had seen, then I had to do this on my own. I thought about asking Loic or Isha but after Chase getting hurt trying to look in my mind, I didn’t want to risk hurting them as well.

  Thinking about how I felt I wondered if that was Lunas thoughts as well. She didn’t tell anyone what was happening to her to protect everyone. Maybe we were really that similar. The weavers said she was gone, so she wouldn’t have been able to give me the idea. Would she?

  I put my notebook away and got up to look for Loic.

  Sure enough, I heard him rummaging through my fridge. He must have been there for a while. He wouldn’t leave me alone even in sleep, he was too protective for that. I had told him before to help himself in these situations, although he’d usually have everything clean before I woke up. This time I groaned involuntarily, seeing as my previously organized kitchen was now in disarray.

  There was a fresh pot of coffee being made and an open bag of chips sitting on my table. He must have wanted to let me sleep. The TV was blank reflecting the lamplight that was the only other illumination in the room. The window was still dark with only a few lights on in the city. He must have finished the movie from before and stayed quiet for me.

  I got up and snuck my way to the shower. I heard the fridge door shut before stepping in the water.

  The water rushing against my face got my mind racing. The voice talking to Rakesh. It was really her, Kaarina. The one who created Mirror Image. Why would she talk to me? How did she talk to me? Wasn’t she dead, centuries ago? I was the host of what was left of her soul, but that didn’t mean she should show up in my dreams, did it? Should I talk to Loic about it? This wasn’t his expertise. Chase couldn’t see anything involving Kaarinna. The Mirror Stone blocked him from it. Would Loic be blocked too? I still didn’t know why. I added that to my list of questions for the Light Weavers.

  The steam of the shower warmed me. I took a deep breath in. Then a chill raced through my body and a foul smell wafted through the air. I held my breath for just a moment before a sick feeling ripped through my body. I gasped and nothing happened, but I couldn’t shake the feeling or the taste in the air.

  I couldn’t hold back. The smell was so horrible it tore right through me. Afterwards, I washed up the mess and stepped out of the shower. The chill began to intensify.

  I froze, half covered in a towel.

  I didn’t want to move.

  The smell surrounded me, strangling my airway. I couldn’t speak or run. Noises outside the door grew louder.

  It went from silence to the fridge door shutting again. Loic had noticed?

  Footsteps shifted, the sound of shoes scrapping against the wood grain instead of normal steps, then broke into a run.

  I saw shadows seeping through the door frame and backed up back into the wet shower. A whimper escaped me.

  Was there a Formless here? In my home? How did it get passed Loic, to begin with? Was he fighting it now?

  The noises intensified, and two aura blades cut through the top of the door. A black mark started burning through the middle.

  The Formless was leaning against the door, eating through it.

  I created an aura blade in my palm. My blue aura lit up the bathroom. Resolve tightened in my stomach. The moment the beast roared; I drove the blade into the center of the door.

  The sounds stopped and the black mark on the door faded, turning grey and beginning to crumble. I saw Loic looking through the new hole in the door in shock.

  He had an aura blade in his hand, probably planning to do what I had just done.

  “Rayne? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I managed a half-smile. “I think so.”

  He opened the door and checked on me. he looked all around the bathroom then to me, starting at the remaining aura lingering in my palm. His gaze followed my arm up to my eyes and he locked on. his own eyes softened seeming relived that he didn’t see anything wrong. He leaned in and hugged me and held my wet, towel-cov
ered body close to him.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you okay? By the time I sensed the Formless, it was at the door.”

  It formed here? But how?

  He turned and picked up the corpse of a small bird.

  My mouth dropped open. “Birds can become Formless?”

  “Anything can, really. Desperate shadows will possess anything if given the chance...”

  I looked at the poor bird. It was gutted by my aura blade. Hitting the core kills the Formless would be noted in my memory.

  I looked and saw a small roll of paper on the birds’ leg. I took the paper and unrolled it.

  ‘Noos ssecnirp’ Soon, Princess was scrolled on it.

  A note left on a bird that became a Formless. This was a warning from Rakesh. Lance the bartender’s words came back to mind. He said to be wary of birds acting strange. Was this what he meant? The bird was charred black, but I could still see its species. It was a cisalpine sparrow or Italian sparrow. I had seen them a lot while walking to class. They weren’t big birds, so they would be easy to miss. A few even liked to gather on the windowsill. Had he been using these to spy on me? I looked to see a few small birds on the fire escape and shuddered.

  Loic looked at the small note and took it from me, placing it on the bird.

  “You should get dressed. We have work to do.”

  He left, and I got dressed, black cotton t-shirt and navy sweatpants were the comfort outfit of choice. I hugged the warm fabric attempting to shake off the chill that still lingered on my skin. The warmest fabric in the universe couldn’t do that at this point. I stepped back out to see a blue aura flame in his palm. He must have burned the remains. I felt the chill strengthen again, and he put out the fire.

  “Hey, are you okay?” His eyes crinkled with worry. “It didn’t get to you at all?”

  “No, I’m fine, at most, just a little nauseous.”

  “We don’t have to train, you know. One day break won’t hurt us.”

  One day off probably wouldn’t hurt. He came over to me and hugged me. The clothing didn’t warm me, but his touch certainly did.

  “I’m sorry...”

  “I’m fine, really Loic.”

  He pulled away, holding my shoulders. His eyes narrowed.

  “Then why do you seem so worried?”

  I paused. Should I tell him? Could I tell him, or would Loic be hurt by the Mirror Stone too?

  “Rayne, spill it.” his eyes narrowed, burrowing into my memory, unearthing guilt that I tried to ignore.

  “In the in-between... I heard a....”

  I gagged, and the stone in my chest heated up. My words burnt up in the inferno that it produced. I couldn’t tell him. I had to see the Light Weavers as soon as I could.

  “Rayne! Hey, are you okay...”

  I took a deep breath and looked back up at him. I hoped he knew what I wanted to convey.

  “I need...to see the Light Weavers.” He looked at me, and his expression flattened. His eyes softened his brows upturned and his eyes shifted away from me.

  “All right. I’ll have Chase see if he can set up another meeting.” He sounded disappointed but accepting. “We will have to wait for a response though.”

  “Maybe more training might be good after all.” I blurted.

  He seemed taken aback and I saw his eyes shift to the calendar. But he said nothing. Before going back over to the bed, I glanced at the calendar to see today was circled.

  My body tensed up. It had birthday written there. May 10th…how did I miss that?

  In all of the battle prep and other world trouble, I had forgotten my own birthday. I looked at him to see and he looked at me. his face went from slack disappointment to a small warm smile as our eyes met. That smile morphed more and more into a proud smirk the longer we held the gaze.

  “Happy birthday by the way, Rayne.”

  “Loic...”

  “I don’t blame you. When you focus so hard on trying to stay alive, your birthday can slip through the cracks.”

  “You remembered at least...”

  “I’ve had too many slip by myself. Chase never let me forget. He says to never forget where you started.”

  I smiled at him feeling myself turn red. How could I forget my own birthday? I never thought I could get that distracted. I could see Loic’s point, I’ve been focusing on staying alive, so the days have been a blur at best.

  “All right. Now turn around.” He ordered and smiled at me.

  I did. He snapped his fingers and wrapped something around me. I looked and saw beautiful blue and white dress adorned with butterflies and crystals.

  “Oh, Loic.” It was beautiful, almost too beautiful. I saw myself shake slightly but each tremble was followed up to added length to my smile. How could I react. Words couldn’t describe my surprise happiness, the feelings I felt looking at this beautiful dress. I couldn’t picture actually wearing this. Could I do this dress justice?

  “This is Isha’s gift. She’s been working on it for a while.”

  He set the dress aside and moved a box into my view from the other side of my face.

  “This is my gift.”

  I took the box. Inside there was a necklace that had a blue ribbon and several aqua raindrop-shaped gems falling from it. Paired with it was a small hair clip that had similar gems on it.

  “Loic, these are beautiful.” That was all I could say, nothing else processed through my head.

  “I thought you’d like them.” I glanced over to see him smiling behind me. “Now I took the liberty of calling Juliet over. She’s going to help you get ready I’m going to get ready myself.”

  He called Juliet. So, this is why he’s been sneaking off this last week? Planning all of this, with Isha and Juliet? I should have guessed as much.

  “What do you mean by ready? Ready for what?” I turned around fully facing him.

  “Well I can’t take you on a magic carpet ride looking like this, can I Princess?” he gave a small bow to match his theatric voice.

  “So, the roguish thief becomes the prince?” I rolled my eyes, still smiling at his charming display.

  “Perhaps. Just give me a moment milady.” He ended his bow and turned away from me.

  He headed out the window. Then I heard a knock on the door.

  “Hey Rayne! It’s me your friendly neighborhood therapist bestie!”

  I grinned. “Come on in Juliet. It’s unlocked.”

  She came in and smiled at me, swinging me around in a hug before I got the chance to say hi back. she then turned to the dress.

  “My God, that’s the dress!”

  “It’s a bit much.” I turned back towards the dress and felt guilty about how much work Isha must have put into it, all for me. a mixture of thankful, touched and guilty mixed in my gut. How should I have felt about getting something so flashy?

  “No, no it’s perfect. This color will look amazing on you.” I felt myself get warm. “Even if you turn red.” She added. “You know, he might want to be careful. If you get any cuter, I might just steal you for myself.”

  “And what would the men of Italy think if you’re off the market?”

  “Oh, they will weep!” She struck a dramatic pose, as if she were in a stage show. “But worry not world! You will have me for although Rayne is adorable, I pine for a different forbidden fruit.”

  “Good. I couldn’t stand seeing Marco’s face if you left him.”

  “Oh yes, the poor boy would be beside himself.” She shrugged off the attitude. “So, enough theatrics. Why don’t I help you with this evening?”

  I checked the clock and saw it had only just gotten dark out, still half a day for whatever Loic had concocted.

  “So, Loic told you what he had planned?”

  “Yeah, he filled me in.” She pressed her finger to her lips. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I believe he’s taking you out dancing tonight.”

  Dancing? Anxiety fille
d me. I had never actually danced before. Well not unless I counted fighting for my life with borrowed power. Knowing Loic I was sure he had a plan for that though.

  “Let’s get you dolled up, shall we?”

  She pushed me to the bathroom again. She stopped and examined my bathroom door.

  “Rayne what on earth happened here?”

  “Um…” How did I explain away what looked like acid damage from my door?

  “There may have …. almost been a chemical fire...” I squeaked and Juliet panicked.

  “What, a fire! What happened?”

  “I was testing a new paint thinner and well…. It didn’t react well when I accidently spilled it trying to put it away… I think it was eating the doors paint and it was already weak and old…”

  She glared at me and the door. Did she buy it? What would she think?

  She sighed and scratched her face. “At least you’re okay... Rayne I’d expect an arts major to know what art supplies could do.” She grumbled.

  “I know, it was dumb,” I sighed in relief. She bought it, somehow. “I’ll get it fixed when I can. So, could you not mention it to the building owner please.”

  “fine I’ll keep it quiet as long as you give me all the details after your date.”

  “I guess that’s fair.” I covered the hole in the door with a towel and I slipped the dress on.

  It was a ballgown style reaching the floor around me. The straps sat against my shoulders perfectly. It didn’t even feel heavy despite all of the gems adorning the blue silks. The gems seemed to make a pattern that looked like butterflies all around the base of the dress. The gradient of blues, going from light aqua down to dark navy made the stones look like the night sky. The lights of my apartment brightened the colors more brilliantly. I looked down the dress as Juliet adjusted it. I felt like I was going to cry but my smile pinched my eyes tight and I couldn’t muster the tears. Juliet helped me with the zipper and worked on my hair. As she brushed it down, we got to talking.

  “So, Rayne... this guy...”

  “Loic.”

  “Yeah, Loic...he’s quite the catch.”

  “Yeah...he is,” I admitted. Kind, strong, brave and so much more I couldn’t even explain. What qualified as a catch? Loic had all of these qualities and more, could I define him as that or more. Sure, he was stubborn and snarky but when those qualities were meshed with his kindness there were endearing. I loved him even more. When he would make a comment and have the dumbest smile on his face, or when he brushed his hair back when he was overwhelmed, making his eyes the focal point of his expression.