The MirrorMasters

by Lora Palmer

  Brian scowled, watching the two of us together.

  Giving King Korin a small, grateful smile, I gingerly returned the hug, wondering how he knew just what to say and do to help me, and how to encourage me to talk about it. "I’d like that. It’s just...I’ve never had to face anything like this before. All my life, everyone’s protected me. Now I have to stop an apocalypse and save an entire galaxy? For crying out loud, I can barely keep a plant alive!" I fell silent, gazing up as the lights of the airship drew closer. Soon, I could make out the outline, and after that, the intricate details of the large craft. Despite everything else, I found a surge of excitement welling within me at the sight. "Look! The airship is getting close. It’s beautiful! Oh, I can’t wait to get on board and go exploring."

  "It looks like a cruise ship," Brian observed. "Or a cross between a cruise ship and a large blimp."

  "Yeah, it does." I replied with an absent smile. My gaze still lingered on the incoming airship.

  "Cruise ship?" King Korin asked, frowning at the unfamiliar phrase. He narrowed his gaze, probably reacting to how Brian was trying to appeal to me through the familiar things we shared having grown up on another world together. And Korin didn’t like Brian’s ploy one bit. The slight smirk Brian gave in response confirmed my hunch.

  Brian’s smirk didn’t last long, though, because I took the initiative to explain. Enthusiastic now, I recounted a cruise David and I had taken with our parents to Hawaii. Even Caleb listened with rapt attention as I regaled them with the story of my scuba dive to the Pacific Coral Reefs and described in vivid detail the brightly colored tropical fish we’d found there, and how the dive leader once had to protect us from a shark attack.

  "Sounds like quite the adventure," Caleb said. "Have you done much traveling?"

  "No, my dad is always working. That was the one big family trip we’ve had."

  "Oh, I know the feeling," Brian said, giving his dad a significant look. "Because we were always moving around, I changed schools — a lot — but we never took trips. I did get to see a lot of Europe, though, which was fun. We lived in London for a while and then moved to France. The Louvre was spectacular — I loved the artwork there."

  Caleb returned the look, unapologetic, and shrugged. "Yes, yes, I always wished we could go on vacations, but now you know why we had to live as we did. Are you actually complaining about everything you got to experience — the different cultures and ways of life?"

  Brian glared at his father, but his expression was thoughtful. If he saw his dad’s point, if he was prepared to realize the advantages his upbringing had given him, he’d find it easier to adjust to being here.

  "I always thought it would be amazing to travel to Italy to see Rome and Florence. There’s so much to see in those cities." I sighed, leaning my elbows against the boardwalk railing. "I’m sorry you had to move around so much. Your life could have been much different, otherwise. You could have grown up here, but instead you got dragged off to another world because of me."

  Brian shook his head. "It’s all been worth it to be able to be with you," he declared. "And now we can go anywhere we want, anytime we want. With our abilities, we don’t even need a plane ticket." He flashed me a grin.

  I found myself grinning back. "We may just have to do that after all this..." If I survive, that is, I finished mentally, leaving the words unspoken. Falling silent, I watched the silvery metallic airship make its final approach and landing. Up close, the airship appeared to be the size of the largest cruise ships, yet was sleek and aerodynamic. It had large outdoor decks surrounding the outside on the lower levels, and I could see people walking out there, leaning over the railings and waving.

  Soon after the airship landed, a door shimmered open at the bottom deck, and a staircase slid into place. Passengers disembarked, all dressed in a vast array of colorful, stylish attire. I watched, amazed at the diversity, elegance, and attention to detail in each of the fashions.

  "Time to go," Caleb said when no more passengers emerged.

  A uniformed man stood in the doorway, ushering forward all of us waiting to embark. The crowd nearest the door formed an orderly line, and the man, clearly a staff aboard the airship, began to verify that each passenger had made prior reservations — at least, I assumed that this was what he was doing when each embarking passenger pressed his or her palm to his data pad before entering the airship. My heart began beating faster. Would I even be in the database? And if the data pad did recognize my palm print, what would happen if it became public record that I had returned?

  To my relief, I was registered by the last name Ellis. Caleb had been discreet enough not to use my birth name, whatever that was. Inside, we wound around a corridor to a lift of metal and clear glass that somehow emitted an illumination of its own. About five decks up, we exited into a huge atrium that spanned several stories, with a high, metal-beamed ceiling. Glass windows showed off the spectacular panoramic view of the gas giant planet, now bright against the darkening sky, and the three smaller moons.

  "The hover scooters!" I suddenly remembered as we found a circular, lush red couch to lounge on while we waited for our rooms to be ready. I had been gazing out at the incredible view, but finally tore my gaze away from the nearest window and turned to King Korin. "Can they stay where we parked them?"

  "No. Two of my officers who returned from their research trip yesterday will take the scooters back. They’ve discovered information about the legend of the Illusion Crystal and its location. It’s in the jungle, and once we stop over in Crystonea, we’ll go there."

  Oh, good! We had another lead to follow. King Korin must have met up with the officers while Brian and I went shopping. "I never would have guessed we’d find two locations already. Oh, and I have the Illusion Crystal now, too, so that helps. My sister used it to look like my best friend Jenny."

  "The one you were talking to at my castle?" King Korin asked, his tone gentle.

  "Yeah," I managed with a slight nod, my voice soft. Glancing down with moist eyes, I stared out the window at the landscape falling away below us, a patchwork of blues and greens dotted with white.

  "Take heart, Leah. There is probably nothing anyone can do to help her," Caleb conceded, holding up a hand to forestall any questions. "We did our utmost to rescue her body from the cemetery," he continued, frowning in displeasure at having to reveal this. "I had a stasis field generator bracelet to preserve her. At that point, we thought she was you and that this had turned into a recovery mission...until I met you afterward at her mother’s house. Those intending to harm you had made the same mistake, which means that her death wasn’t in vain. It served a purpose! Namely, helping keep you safe and alive for that little, crucial period of time."

  "Thank you," I whispered, meeting Caleb’s gaze with a watery-eyed smile.

  King Korin nodded. "Good. I can arrange for the security protections to be lifted long enough to travel through the Hall of Mirrors in Crystonea to my palace. You may use one of my healing chambers. If anything has a chance of reviving her, it is this."

  "That’s settled, then," Caleb acquiesced.

  "Now, then, tell us of the legend of the Illusion crystal, King Korin," Brian said, a hint of challenge in his tone. Being competitive by nature, Brian obviously wasn’t pleased the king had already managed to find two of the locations, and I guessed he wanted to know what the research had uncovered as much as I did. When the king didn’t answer right away, Brian held up his hands. "Hey, I’m supposed to become your advisor. Might as well start practicing the role, but I can’t do that without information."

  The king arched an eyebrow, then made a show of examining his fingernails before finally choosing to speak. "He managed to find a fragment of a copy from an old parchment. The original is thought to have been sent to a library in Maritonia. It’s a stop along our way, the second I believe."

  "And how long is the trip to Crystonea?" I asked.

  "We should be there in two days."

  I nodd
ed. That gave me a little time to adjust to the idea that I was going to meet my birth parents. Still, there was so little time before the signs began, and part of me wanted to just step through a mirror, arrive there now, instead of taking this two-day journey. "What did the fragment of legend say?"

  "I’m not sure yet. Forlan was able to translate the first paragraph but did not have time to complete the work before reaching port."

  "The ring acts as a translator," I remembered, letting excitement take over and dispel some of the grief, the stress, the uncertainty of this day. "It should help us see what the legend says."

  King Korin glanced around at the crowd still gathered in the atrium to ensure that nobody had been eavesdropping on our conversation. Fewer people lingered in the atrium around us than when we first arrived. Most of the other passengers had already decided to wander the halls exploring the airship or venturing to the dining room by now. And everyone else who remained seemed to be engaged in conversations of their own. Korin withdrew the parchment and unrolled it on the table in front of us. When I touched my ring to the parchment, the letters glowed green and rearranged themselves so that everyone in the group could read the legend.

  Caleb leaned forward, hands on his knees as he read the legend aloud in a deep, measured voice. For the first time, I noticed that his accent resembled Madame Helena’s. "The second warrior knew that a crystal with the power to shape a new reality would be needed for the renewal of the world. So, he went to the Saval jungle, where he had heard stories of a crystal deposit. Those wearing shards of the crystal could alter their appearance at will or create realistic settings for plays and performances. He fashioned the Illusion Crystal for the wielder to bring forth his or her vision of renewal for Jantyr. This is both a blessing and a warning. What the wielder envisions during the renewal is what Jantyr will become until the next time of renewal. So let the wielder envision wisely."

  "Woah," I breathed, shifting in my seat. That level of power and responsibility made me seriously uncomfortable. Okay, I could handle this. Taking a deep breath, I glanced from Caleb to King Korin. "All right, besides an end to the disasters, what should I envision? I mean, food and crystals, clean waters, and beautiful flowers and trees are a given. But is there anything specific that people need or want?"

  "Abundant resources," said King Korin, staring ahead pensively. He steepled his fingers and paused a moment in thought. "The disasters have all but wiped out our crops and other resources. People everywhere are in need. But if there’s anything above and beyond that I would say that we need, is a way to defend ourselves against the sky-gods. It is said they will return, and soon."

  I nodded, considering ideas to keep the people safe. "What about making the planet undetectable to them, or places in each town for everyone to retreat if these sky-gods show up?"

  "Can you do that?" Brian asked.

  I shrugged. "I have no idea."

  "We need something a bit more active than that. Something to drive them off," Korin said, shaking his head at my ideas.

  Hmph. He shouldn’t underestimate a solid defense.

  "I’m guessing these sky-gods are actually aliens. What do we know about them? Any weaknesses that could be exploited to drive them off?" Brian leaned back in his chair, fixing his gaze on King Korin.

  "None that I’m aware of," the king replied, frowning.

  I wanted to bang my head against the nearest wall at having yet another thing to deal with, but I restrained my sudden impulse. Instead, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, we’ll see what we can learn when we do our research, but if we don’t find anything fast, we’ll come up with something ourselves — maybe a planetary defense system, a shield to repel their ships and disable their weapons."

  "I like your idea," the king nodded in approval.

  Caleb silently followed the conversation, watching us interact in that predatory, assessing way of his. "You’ll be a strong team," he said when we finished. "Whatever happens on this quest, you’ll need that to get through the challenges ahead."

  Three chimes rang through the atrium over the hushed chatter around us, followed by the announcement that our rooms were ready. I yawned and stood, eager to rest. It had been an exhausting day, both physically and emotionally.

  Alone in my bedroom, I couldn’t remain still long enough to unwind. My mind raced with a million jumbled thoughts. All the emotions I’d been able to push aside during the light of day, when surrounded by a whirlwind of new people, new places, new events to adjust to, surfaced full force. So instead of throwing myself onto the low, floating mattress in the center of my room that must serve as a bed, I crossed to the window and sat down on a long, curved seat that stretched the width of my room, watching the city lights pass below and the stars shimmer above.

  The thought of my parents, of David, of everyone and everything I’d left behind on Earth, made my chest ache painfully. Worse, if I let myself think about Jenny, an ocean of grief threatened to overwhelm me. I didn’t know how to deal with a loss this huge, how to go on if I fully acknowledged it. At least we’d been able to say goodbye. That was something. At least Jenny would free herself and the other spirits, would be safe from whatever was coming. Even reminding myself of this didn’t take away the sting of losing her.

  Better to focus on what I had to do here. A nagging worry writhed in my gut as I remembered what Brian said earlier when he’d hinted at what this mission might cost me: my soul to save the lives of everyone in the galaxy — one soul to save billions of souls. I had no other option.

  My gaze strayed to the bright planet dominating the blue-black sky. It was beautiful, breathtaking. If I failed, it would be gone. Jantyr and all its people, who shared everything they had with each other and took nothing in their world for granted, would be gone. Earth, and all of the best and worst in humanity, wiped out. A trillion worlds around a trillion suns, countless billions of lives, forever lost. I stood and paced the room, feeling the walls close in around me but unwilling to venture out into the hallways to let anyone see me like this. My distress was obvious, and I just couldn’t deal with anyone’s questions or attempts to comfort me right now.

  Finally, I collapsed onto my bed and snuggled under the covers, longing to weep but finding myself simply too exhausted. Sleep soon claimed me, along with vague, nightmarish dreams of death and destruction in the jungle.

  I stood in a clearing, the tropical, humid heat suddenly evaporating as a freak storm plummeted the temperatures. One second, I was sweltering, the next, shivering as an icy wind bore down on me, whipping my hair and chilling me to the bone. Overhead, the sky went starless as clouds gathered and swirled, blocking even the light from the ringed planet. Hailstones the size of quarters began to fall along with a frozen rain, stinging my skin and drenching my hair, my nightclothes. How could I experience all this as though awake and truly here, even though I knew I had to be dreaming? Why was this happening again?

  It seemed I wasn’t alone out here. Muffled sounds of talking from the opposite end of the clearing drew my attention, too low and too distorted by the wind to make out any words. Several cloaked figures stood in a circle, among them Aedalina and Erik. Drawing back into the trees at the jungle’s edge, I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. I gained little protection from the bitter wind, but at least I was hidden now, and the leaves shielded me from hail and sleet. If I could get closer, I could find out what they were up to. Even though the relentless wind would probably hide any noise I’d make, I moved carefully through the trees toward the group, watching them the whole time.

  Soon, their talking turned to shouting, and I caught a single sentence: "Your way will lead to the downfall of all we hold dear!" It was Aedalina speaking. One man stared down the others, a look of outrage and betrayal etched on his coarse features, before Erik stepped forward in one swift motion and pressed a lightning-bolt energy sphere to the man’s heart. I covered a gasp with one hand as the man crumpled to the ground dead, praying that my mis
take wasn’t noticed. Wide-eyed, heart pounding, I stepped back into the jungle as Aedalina snapped her gaze to the spot where I had just been. If I stayed, they could kill me, too.

  I awoke, still exhausted, to the sounds of knocking on my door. Bleary eyed, I dragged myself out of bed and padded to the door. When I opened it, King Korin was waiting for me. "Morning," I greeted him, hastily finger-combing my hair with one hand as I leaned against the door frame.

  "Good morning, First Daughter. Did you sleep well?"

  I nodded. "I’m still exhausted, but I slept through the night."

  "As did I. We’re ready to go to breakfast if you’d care to join us. We’ll be in the hallway lounge waiting."

  "Great, I’ll be right there."

  While Korin rejoined the others in the lounge, I glanced around my room and discovered many things I hadn’t noticed last night. One corner of the room held a small basin on a pedestal, with a pitcher of water for drinking or washing secured to a shelf. Along the wall opposite my bed stood a row of two wide closets. I explored the closets and found several outfits of the sort people had worn in the gardens of the port city. Grabbing the nearest one, I selected a simple, lightweight short-sleeved purple tunic and brown leggings that reminded me of skinny jeans, with brown belt and ballet flats.

  I changed into my new clothing after a quick wash-up. To my delight, I’d discovered that the sink could create its own water from a small fixture of a type of hard material I had never seen before attached to the top of the back of the basin. When I’d finished, whatever material the basin was made of seemed to absorb and vanish the water.