The thoughts that ran through my head at that moment were terrifying.What was happening?Was I taken by a time monster?WHAT WAS HAPPENING?When I heard Lira's voice, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I had never felt so relieved. “Don’t let them see us,” she hissed. Her eyes were wide, shimmering with disbelief and... amusement?“Are we in the past?” I whispered against her fingers.“Only by a sliver,” she muttered. “Five minutes. You flung us backward.”“Is that… bad?”“Well, it’s not great,” she whispered, peeking out from behind the tree. “But at least we didn’t land during your birth or something.”I groaned. “So what now?”“We wait. Let them pass. Then I’ll show you how to leap forward again.” She glanced at me with a wide grin. “Look at your face. You panicked.”“You dragged me into a tree like we were running from death.”“We kind of were. Time death. You don’t want to meet yourself, not unless you like the idea of rupturing your mind into a thousand timelines.
MIRA’S POVThe grass was warm beneath my feet, though the sun barely touched the valley. Morning dew clung to every petal, catching the faint light in ways that made even silence feel alive.Lira sat cross-legged in the center of the clearing, her silver-lined cloak pooling around her like mist. She was impossibly calm, always. As if the world bent to her rhythm.“You’re staring,” she said, smirking without looking up.“You talk like we’ve known each other for years.”She opened her eyes, tilting her head. “Maybe we have.”I didn’t press that. With Lira, time was slippery.“Alright,” she said, patting the ground in front of her. “Come here, Mirror.”“Will you stop calling me that?”“No. It’s what you are.” Her smile softened. “You reflect, you refract, and soon... you'll pierce through what binds you.”I sat down, eyeing her with suspicion and curiosity. “You said yesterday that I had abilities you could help me unlock. What exactly are we talking about?”She leaned forward, eyes glow
Her voice was soft but clear, like bells underwater.I took a step forward, uncertain. “You’re the Child of Dusk and Dawn?”She tilted her head like she was hearing something I couldn’t. Then she said, “That’s what they call me, but you can call me Lira.”“Lira...” I echoed. It felt right, naturally falling off my lips.I heard sounds and when I turned behind, Luca and Nathan had both woken up and were staring at me in confusion. The look on their eyes said they were ready to attack it the need be. I could feel their stares, especially Nathan’s sharp intake of breath when Lira reached forward and touched my palm without hesitation.Her fingers were warm. Light pulsed between our hands. Lira’s gaze locked onto mine. “I’ve been waiting for you, Mira.”“How do you know my name? How do you even know me?” I asked.She blinked slowly. “That’s not supposed to be a question anymore, Mira. I know my mirror.”“Mirror?”“Our powers are two halves of the same blade,” she said softly. “We were mad
The world opened wide beneath us suddenly. A valley hidden between towering ridges, tucked so deep it was no wonder no one had found it. The grass shimmered faintly, it wasn't green but something deeper, something more alive. The wind that swept up from below was warm, carrying the scent of an aura sweet and ancient.The sun was still rising behind us, but here, in this hollow, it looked like it had already touched noon. Clouds moved differently in the sky, and the trees whispered, even without wind.It was like a secret, waiting.Nathan sat up and stared. “Is that... real?”Luca stood quietly, his eyes tracing the line where shadow kissed sunlight. “Feels like we’re not supposed to be here.”I didn’t answer them. I stepped forward, slow and quiet, like I might scare the valley away.The book at my hip pulsed once, then stilled.“It’s here,” I whispered. “She’s here.”Luca turned to me. “How do you know?”I placed a hand over the leather cover of the book. It was warm now. “The path br
My heart literally stopped!Nathan was beside me in a second. He gasped. “Look at your shadow.”I glanced down.My shadow wasn’t attached to my feet anymore. It hovered, a breath’s width off the ground, twitching like it wanted to move on its own.Nathan cursed under his breath. “This is officially the creepiest hike I’ve ever been on.”“We’re close,” I whispered. “It’s trying to scare us off.”“Well, aren't you scared already, Mira? You can't tell me you aren't." Nathan asked.I looked at him, eyes blazing. "Fine! Yes I am. I am terrified out of my mind. I'm scared of messing this up and ruining everything, and it's fucking driving me insane. That's what you wanted to hear, right? Well, now you heard it. What do you suggest I do? Give up?”His eyes darkened with a stray emotion. Luca was beside me in an instant. "Relax, Mira.” He wrapped his hand around my shoulders. "All of this is too much. I'm sure he's just scared, he didn't mean it like that.”I shrugged out of his hold, hoping
A few moments later, Nathan, Luca and I stood around the table, the book laid open between us. I traced the glowing mark on the page.“She’s here,” I said.“That far east?” Nathan asked. “That’s dangerous terrain.”“Exactly why she’s hidden there,” I replied. “I think she’s been waiting for this moment, for us to be ready.”“More like for you to be ready." Luca said, staring at the map, his jaw tight. “We better not waste any more time then.”I rolled the page gently back into the cover, the glow fading but not gone.“Pack light,” I told them, my voice firmer than I felt. “We leave in an hour.”“Well then,” Nathan who had been quiet, muttered. “Guess we’re going on another trip.”And just like that, the next chapter of my fate began.We gathered quickly.It wasn’t like before. This time, there was no rush, and no panic. The air was just filled with quiet purpose. The kind that grows after too many close calls and not enough answers. We didn’t say much while we packed. Only the rustle