Soul Goblet

by J. A. Culican

I was back in my library, back in the book. It was a small, light blue book of myths and legends. My hair was tickling my face and I almost shut the book to push it back before the simple image had caught my attention. It was a picture of a beautiful mirror, but the look on the face of the person staring into it was one of striking horror as the likeness stood behind his left shoulder. In the image, the doppelgänger was screaming, trying to take the life force of the original so it could replace the spirit with its own and walk in the world beyond the mirror. But how could I stop it?

  In a flash, it returned. One small line. Such a simple task, until now, when I could hardly move my body. My energy was nearly gone as I struggled, reaching for the small knife I carried in my belt, the knife Gwen had given me. I fumbled, dropping it. Despair filled me. I would have wept had I the energy, or any control over my body.

  I struggled to look up, to look away from the mirror, away from the glittering eyes which had expanded to fill the face, mesmerizing me. They bored into mine. The pain intensified as they probed deeper into my mind.

  “My knife.” Croaking inaudibly against the deafening noise, I knew Sel hadn’t understood when he stepped in front of the image, trying to support me as I fought to stand up. It broke the hold of the doppelgänger long enough for me to gasp one more word.

  "Mirror."

  Sel's worried eyes searched my face, and I wanted to scream.

  “Sel! Break the mirror! Use the knife to break it, now!”

  Was that Jarid? I could hardly understand anything now.

  Without delay, he left me there, picking up the knife and slamming it, hilt first, into the mirror directly beside my face. Right where the doppelgänger was reaching for me. The shriek it had been sending directly into my soul faded almost immediately. The doppelgänger became paler, the enormous black eyes shrinking down until they were nothing more than pebbles.

  As if it had never existed, only the reflection I could see was Sel with his arms around my shoulders, lightly shaking me.

  "Are you okay? Can I do anything?" He whispered, careful not to set off the echo in the room, placing the back of his hand on my forehead as if checking for a fever.

  “Thanks, but you’ve already done a lot. What you just did, breaking the mirror? Thankfully it broke the hold she had on me. You probably saved my life."

  His eyes widened and he turned to look at the wall again. The hallway was still reflective, but no longer the mirror-like surface it had been a moment earlier.

  Jarid leaned over, examining it himself before standing up, his worried expression a perfect match to Sel's. "Are you sure?"

  I attempted to stand. My knees held, but just barely. I was still shaky from what had almost happened, but I could already feel my energy returning. I tried to give them a reassuring smile.

  "Yes. That was a doppelgänger. I've read about them before, but didn’t think they were real. It's sometimes called a double-goer. Basically, if you see one who has your appearance in a mirror and it manages to lock eyes with you, it can travel from the mirror world and take over your life. Unless you’re able to break their hold, which usually involves breaking the mirror, like you did."

  Sel's eyebrows were almost in his hairline and Jarid looked even paler than before.

  "There was a doppelgänger in the mirror?"

  I grimly agreed, unable to believe how close it had come to killing me. "We should probably move faster. Make sure we don't spend any time looking at the surfaces of the walls again. If there was one here, there could be more."

  Both boys swallowed. Without argument, we continued ahead, not looking to either side or speaking. The hallway, which had stretched on forever before my narrow escape, now abruptly ended after a few more steps. A doorway waited innocently in front of us. I looked back, a short hallway with the onyx doorway now easily visible and knew it had been another task.

  Shaking my head, I examined the door we'd arrived at and wondered if we’d come to the wrong place. Unlike the last one, it was plain oak, without any decoration or archway. Even the size made it seem unimportant. It was hardly large enough for an average-sized human to pass through, but seeing no other option, I gritted my teeth and turned the handle. This time, the doorknob turned easily in my hand. It only reinforced my feeling something was wrong. I shot a look at both boys, reassured to find them close behind, and stepped through into…

  A forest. Strange. As I looked around, Sel passed through the door and it instantly slammed shut. The moment it did, there was no sign of a door anywhere. Somehow, the Library looked just like the Low Forest.

  "Oh dear," Jarid muttered.

  When I turned to him, he attempted to curl his lip into a smile. It ended up looking more like a grimace, which made sense once he explained himself. "I don't think we're in the main Library anymore."

  I looked around, once again seeing only forest. I couldn't see it, but the warmth of the summer sun beat down on us. Wherever we were was quite lovely and hardly threatening. But it also didn't look like the Library, as Jarid had so rightly pointed out.

  "What did you tell me about the Library? The doors go to different places?"

  Jarid surveyed his environment with trepidation. "Yeah. But I've never seen this door either, and I have no idea where we are right now. For all I know we could be back in the Low Forest for real."

  "It does look the same. Perhaps it’s another test?"

  "It looks like home. But also, somehow different." Sel scratched his head, a frown etching deep lines in his cheeks.

  So, the Library meant to test me. But why? Was it simply what it did to any who came seeking answers, or was there something about the particular question I wanted an answer for? Was it more important and therefore needed protection? I remembered the way the books in my library had been so frustratingly vague and decided it was the question.

  "Maybe we should start walking?" Jarid interrupted my internal debate.

  "Sure." I glanced briefly at Jarid before beginning down the path ahead. "We may as well assume this is like another hallway. Perhaps it will lead us to the next doorway, or maybe even to the answer itself."

  "Slim chance," Sel mumbled.

  I didn’t reply but couldn’t help fearing he was right. At least the path was lovely, and the weather was comfortable for the walk. In fact, I was enjoying myself far more than I had when we’d traveled through the Low Forest. I wasn't weighed down by all our supplies, and I felt somewhat more confident in my hiking abilities. At least, I was enjoying myself, until the first flicker of movement came through the trees.

  Before I even had time to scream, an ur’gel leapt into the center of the path. I reached for the small knife Sel had used to break the mirror, gripping it tightly. The knife was hardly as big as my hand, and I wouldn't last long against any opponent with only it as protection, even against one of the smaller ur’gels like the ones we’d fought before.

  This creature had teeth the size of the knife I held and I crouched low, the way I remembered Gwen doing in our last fight. I reviewed everything I’d learned about fighting and fought to slow my racing heart. I felt strangely calm as I analyzed my opponent, and wondered if having just faced death had blunted my reaction.

  Whatever the case, I used it to my advantage. The ur’gel was grotesque, about the size of a large dog but misshapen and a sickly grey-green. Other than the obvious teeth, it had three sharp claws longer than my knife and obsidian eyes that were fixed on my throat.

  A shriek came from behind me. I spun around, watching as another ur’gel landed on Jarid. Sel knocked it off with a branch he found beside the path before I could react, and I whirled to face the threat in front of me just as it leapt, claws grasping and scraping at my shoulders.

  I winced as it tore at the same place I’d been bitten by the last ur’gel. Suddenly furious, I slashed at the monster without hesitation, causing it to whine and back up, its claws outstretched and teeth still bared. It was wary now, hesitating as it waited for an opening. I had gone f
rom an easy target to an unknown.

  What would Gwen do?

  I brought my arms in front of my face, curling my right hand around my knife with a white-knuckled death grip. My left hand formed the best fist I could muster, and kept it high near my ear as I remembered my brother yelling ‘keep your guard up” when we’d sparred as children.

  The sound of fighting came from behind, but I couldn’t spare a glance to see how my friends were doing as my own assailant attacked again, its hot breath stinking like rotten meat as it lunged at my face. This time, I was ready.

  As it sprang, I ducked low, sliding through its forelegs, and came up under its soft underbelly. Without thinking or hesitating, I plunged my knife in as deep as I could before spinning away from the creature.

  At first, nothing happened and I had no idea if I'd hit anything important. My knife was still in my hand, and I readied myself to stab again. The creature wobbled, walked a few steps, then slumped onto the path and lay there. I waited, not ready to declare success. I kept my knife, now dripping with dark blue gore, outstretched in case it approached. It made a few weak efforts to get back to its feet, but as the eyes glazed over and the creature went still, I knew I’d won.

  Only now remembering the second ur’gel, I brushed my astonishment aside and turned, but Sel, or possibly Jarid, had managed to dispatch the other one. As I blinked, wondering what had just happened, the bodies of both ur’gels melted, bubbling into a sticky blue tar and fading into the path as though they'd never been.

  I knelt, touching the earth with my fingertips, and rubbed the dirt together. No sign of the blue blood I’d let from the ur’gels. I looked at my knife, surprised to find it, too, was in pristine condition, as though our fight and opponents had never existed.

  "Are you guys okay? What just happened?"

  "Pretty sure the Library threw us another test." Sel looked around warily.

  I turned to make sure there weren’t more ur’gels lurking.

  "I agree. The only question is whether we passed or failed." Jarid had a surprisingly gloomy tone considering we were still alive.

  "What do you mean? You think we failed?"

  Jarid shrugged, kicking at a piece of rubble on the ground beside him. "The Library tests everyone differently. Sometimes what it's looking for might not be the same thing we think it wants."

  "Huh."

  Maybe why I felt so guilty I’d killed the ur’gel was related. Part of me thought it wasn't the right solution, but I hadn’t known what else to do. There was no way to know what the answer was— at least, not until we found a way out of the forest.

  "Well, we may as well keep walking. Either we passed or we failed, or there's another test we have to complete before we’re allowed back into the Library. Whether I get my answers today remains to be seen, but we should keep moving."

  When neither objected, I continued in the direction we’d been traveling. Just as the last time, around the next corner the doorway was miraculously waiting. The route which had been beautiful but winding had ended abruptly after we’d been attacked, just like in the last hallway.

  This door was again different from the others. It wasn't onyx and ornate like the first door, but neither was it plain like the second. Instead, this one appeared to have been carved from the hard, grey stones of the Deep Fell itself.

  While not as richly engraved as the onyx door, when I looked closer, I could see there was writing. It was difficult to make out from the wear pattern and the old writing, but what I could make out was written in Elvish. I leaned closer, with the intent of brushing aside some of the dirt obscuring the words, until I remembered what had happened the last time I’d touched first. Perhaps I should just look.

  This door had no pictograms, only writing. Elvish should have been easier for me to read than other languages, but the strange dialect and small, cramped writing made it difficult to understand. I couldn’t help wondering how someone had managed to write on the rock in the first place, but there it was, clear as mud.

  "What does it say?"

  Sel leaned forward, but I waved my hand and he fell silent. Jarid didn't say anything. I searched for something that was clear, but it was as if someone had smudged the words right after they’d written them. Just when I’d almost given up, I stumbled upon a simple poem. It was written in Elvish, but in a stronger hand which had etched the words deeper into the stone.

  The answers wait within this room.

  So, take a chance,

  forsake the tomb.

  All that you seek,

  glitters not.

  Open your senses,

  use your thought.

  Guarded by elves,

  not for humankind.

  One only can enter,

  seek and ye shall find.

  I turned to face them. My face must have given me away because Sel looked resigned as Jarid slowly shook his head.

  "You can't go in there alone. What if—"

  "Look, I need you guys to guard my back. You have to let me know if anyone is coming. Plus, the rhyme is specific. Only one person can go in, and I think, based on the writing, it needs to be an elf."

  "Be careful." Sel gave me a nervous smile.

  "Jarid? Stay with Sel? Please?"

  A frustrated growl escaped him, but finally he relented. "Fine. But if I see or hear anything, I'm coming in after you."

  "Of course. I'll be as quick as I can."

  I took a deep breath, placed my hand on the smooth metal handle, and pushed.

  Chapter 14

  The door swung open as though it had been waiting for me. I would have expected such a heavy door to take far more effort. Instead, it swung open just enough for me to walk through, then shut immediately afterward. My last look at them in the forest left me feeling as if I’d set off for battle without my best friends.

  This room held the secrets I needed to discover. Remembering I was supposed to be cautious of my surroundings, especially given the ur’gel attack a few minutes earlier, I gave the room a careful once-over. It was huge, larger than any of the rooms I'd seen in the Library, aside from the entrance. It was every single one of my dreams about what the Library at Abrecem Secer would look like before I’d gotten here.

  Books reached up to the ceiling, which towered several stories above me. The room was almost circular, seemingly without a beginning or end except for the door I’d just come through. I whipped around to verify the door was there, my heart sinking when I realized it was gone. While I was happy to be in the room where the knowledge I sought would assuredly be found, I was not happy there was no sign of an exit.

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath through my nose and exhaling from my mouth as I worked to calm my heart rate, which had picked up the second I noticed the door was missing. This is just like everything else so far. I’m being tested by the Library. I logically understood this was yet another test, but my efforts didn't work in the slightest to control my heart, which was beating too fast for me to be comfortable.

  I ignored it, since it didn’t seem to be something I could control and focused on taking in every detail of the room I was trapped within. I returned to the room, trying to examine it critically despite my concern. It was laid out in a circle, more of an oval shape, really. Books lined every surface except for the one wall where tablets were, which created an interesting V effect and gave the room a semblance of a beginning and end.

  The stone tablets on the wall lit up as I approached and I was instantly intrigued. I’d never seen anything like it. The first held an interesting legend about the time Onen Suun defeated a kraken, but didn't seem related to what I was looking for.

  When I reached the end of the tablet and was about to move further into the room, the one beside it lit up. Fascinated at how the tablets seemed to be responding to me, I continued, wondering what kind of magic could do this. Stopping, I forced myself to keep looking around. I needed to make sure I was safe first.

  In the center of the room, plac
ed as though to achieve maximum light, was a set of stairs which led to a stone pedestal. It appeared to have been hewn out of Khasa granite. While the pedestal itself was luminescent, it was the book laying on top which captured my full attention.

  It was open, with a rich velvety place-marker laid at the center, as though left moments earlier by an unknown reader. But the smell of dust in the air of the chamber was stifling, and I knew I was the first living soul to enter this chamber in years, if not centuries. I was tempted by the pedestal and book, finding myself drawn closer, but I forced myself to look around further, reluctant to be drawn in again the way the tablets had until I’d seen everything the room contained.

  The shelving appeared to be made of the same grey stone the door to the room had been. Some of the shelves contained rolled pieces of parchment as well as texts, and I wanted to read everything all at once, but something about the stone tablets called to me. After first ensuring there were no other objects in the room, I turned back to them.

  The first story had been interesting, but didn't seem important, which made me curious why it had lit up upon my entry. Perhaps it was worth taking a moment to continue it and find out more.

  I read to the end when Suun defeated the kraken and once again, another tablet lit up. This one was higher, to the right of the previous one, and appeared to start a completely new story about someone named Beru. I stopped, the name sparking a chord of recognition. Hadn't Beru Halsted been Onen Suun’s first lieutenant? I vaguely recalled a history of the gods mentioning him.

  It was beginning to come back to me now. He’d been sent by Suun to find some stone tablet long lost to history, but had instead turned traitor and defected to Dag’draath’s side. After that happened, Suun had made the alternative arrangements for the ritual using the nine High Dragons, trapping Dag’draath and his lieutenants, instead of the way he’d initially planned.

  The further I read, the more the tablets continued to light the way until I reached the end of Beru’s journey to the Blasted Lands. Gasping, I reread the passage: