Chapter 292 – Across the Mirror

Chapter 292 – Across the Mirror

Formless shadows swarmed over the silver surface. Valela held her arms around herself, heart beating in her ears. Mere moments stretched forever before the mirror cleared to reflect an identical room thousands of miles away.

Kai smiled slightly upon seeing her. “Hi.” His face was paler and gaunter than she remembered, the blonde locks on his forehead darker and in dire need of a cut.

“It’s good to see you’re okay.” Valela recomposed herself with Poise, praying to not sound awkward. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has…” His gray eyes carried a gloomy shadow.

Why didn’t they contact me sooner? What happened in Limgrell? Is Kea safe? Did he get there too late?

A dozen questions raced to her mouth, so many things she wanted to ask and say—one rose over the others. “Are you alright?”

Kai blinked. “I… yes. I’m fine. Just tired.” His shoulders slackened and softened his posture. “It has been a few long weeks.”

Yeah, for both of us.

“You’re in… Darvell now?” Valela recalled the location the clerk had mentioned in passing. She had been groomed to thrive in social situations, but her skills seemed to fail her now. She twirled a hazel curl over her cheek, unsure of what to say.

Stop being silly.

“It was the closest town that had a branch of the House.” He moved closer to the floating mirror, studying her. “Uh… Have you done something with your hair? It looks different.”

Valela stopped her fidgeting and pulled her hand away. “I just tied it.” A braid half circled over her ear and was fastened behind her head. It was a mess with many wavy locks tickling her face. She knitted it while running here.

It’s all Rena and Calyssa’s fault.

“I like it,” Kai said with a terse nod.

Heat rose to her cheeks. “It’s nothing much. I could have braided it better.” Valela caught herself just before touching her hair again. “We should keep on topic. Did no one else come with you? You know traveling on the mainland isn’t like the archipelago.”

From the map she studied, Darvell was a minor trading hub close to the Rattling Hills. It would take days to reach it from the Lake of Myst.

“It was the only way to send a message. And I move faster alone.” He wore a rueful smile. “To be honest, it was probably safer than staying in Limgrell.”

“Why…” Valela gulped as she caught on to the implications: he would be going back for his companions.

I warned him they should have left as soon as possible. Why does nobody ever listen?

The folder Professor Hulmus gave her weighed heavily in her spatial bag. If half of what she suspected was true… She shuddered at the thought; this wasn’t something they should be messing with. “How are the others? I’ve not heard from them either.”

I must get them away from that town.

Kai stiffened. His gaze darted around the sealed room as if expecting an attack. “Are we safe to speak?”

“Not even the consul could spy on us.” The House prided itself in the clarity and security of its mirror magic. They had guarded the secret for millennia, spreading across the continent. Valela walked closer to the mirror’s surface with a bad foreboding. “Is everything really alright? Did… did something happen to your sister?”

It had been too long since Niel updated her.

I should have hired someone to check on them.

“Kea’s fine. Well, she’s safe…” His grim look was back. “We’ve been careful to avoid danger since Niel went missing a month ago.”

“What? What do you mean he went missing?” Valela froze, wishing she had heard wrong. While she had only met Niel a few times, he had accepted her sponsorship and been under her protection. How could he…

Bloody curses! I failed them.

“We were attacked on the streets near the docks,” Kai spoke with a lifeless tone. “I tried to stop them, but…” His hand moved where he held the sword and clenched it into a fist. “I couldn’t do anything to help him. I could barely see, the mist was so thick. Then, he was just gone…”

“Meew.” A fluffy silver cat suddenly stood on his shoulders, rubbing its head against him. Kai fondly scratched the familiar without showing any surprise. Her same guilt reflected in his eyes.

It’s my fault.

Valela traced the scar on her stomach—a habit she had thought forgotten. In the archipelago, she always knew where to go and who to call to tackle a problem. Her naive arrogance led her to believe the mainland would be the same; the idea seemed laughable in hindsight. Her years of preparations and contacts amounted to a grain of sand in the sea.

What can I do?

“Why don’t you explain everything from the start.” She moved a high back chair in front of the mirror and gestured to him to do the same before realizing there was no seat in his room.

Bloody cheapskates. The House must consider that an extra for wealthy patrons—she’d have a word with them later.

Kai didn’t seem to mind. “Yeah, a lot has happened.” He summoned a sculpted ice stool and took out a blue pillow in the same motion—not hiding his spatial artifact. A breath escaped him as he sat. “We’ve been careful with our moves since Niel was taken. The culprits are organized, probably a cult of some kind. They want to keep their secrecy at any cost, but we’ve put together a few clues…”

Valela listened, scribbling down the most important information. Against her advice, Kai had dived straight into the case, treading a precarious path between not calling attention to himself and scouring the town to uncover the truth.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I recovered this from an ambush site.” Kai took out a sheet covered in an array of jagged runes and waited for her to copy it before continuing. “We also discovered a man who had been providing names…”

The new information sent her mind flying in a swirl of possibilities. She had concrete clues to pursue. Added to the records and reports, she could make more than far-fetched theories.

It’ll take days to cross-reference everything. Professor Hulmus won’t be happy…

“The number of disappearances keeps increasing. We’ve been looking for where the missing victims are taken.” Kai explained the trails they followed.

Thrumming with nervousness, Valela filled over twenty pages before he fell silent. The affinity for Darkness and the strange runes fit her suspicions of a cult.

Is it really them? The records say they had been purged centuries ago.