missing, just leaving rotting skin. It raises itself up on its back legs and lets out a long roar that shakes the very ground under my feet. Shit. I turn and run as fast as I can to the mirrors, but the bear is quicker than I am. Something hard hits me right in the middle of my back, and I fly forward, smacking my chin against the stone path on the ground. The sharp tang of blood fills my mouth as I roll onto my back as the bear lands on top of me. Instinctively, I pull my magic to me, purple shadows flickering around my body, and I scream. The shadows blast out of me in waves, crashing into the bear and bursting him to pieces. Blood pours down on me as I rise up, my feet leaving the ground, my power completely in control. I see nothing but blood as I raise the whip in my hand and laugh as five more bears run out of the bushes. The purple shadows spread down the whip, lighting it up as it becomes like an extension of myself.
I raise my hand and harshly whip the first bear. My power makes the whip cut through the bear like he is nothing. Two other bears get closer, and waves of my power leave me, smothering them and raising them into the air as they thrash about in my grip. They explode within moments, and when I look down, only one bear is left. He growls at me, and I move my hand to him, ready to kill him if I need to, but he surprises me. The bear slowly lowers its head and bows before walking backwards until I can’t see him anymore.
“Time to go back in the box,” I plead with my power, even as it resists, pushing me to just destroy everything around me. I grit my teeth, pulling back the shadows to me and gasping as the magic finally snaps back into my body, and I fall straight onto a pile of bear guts.
“Oh fuck no,” I mutter, rolling onto the flat stone and looking away from the dead shit all around me. After wiping the blood from my hand, I push back some of the loose locks of my hair and stare up at the mirrors. For some reason, the mirrors themselves scare me a lot more than the bears ever could do. I pick up my whip handle and drag it across the stone as I walk to the mirrors. I walk past each one, seeing nothing but my reflection until I come to the middle mirror. In this one is a woman that makes me fall to my knees.
My mother stands in the mirror, her body see-through like she isn’t real. But it is her alright. A longing I didn’t know I had fills my chest, making it hard to breathe as tears fall down my cheeks. This is my mother’s soul, and I don’t want to see it. Seeing her dead like this means she can’t be alive, she can’t be out there waiting for me to come and find her.
The truth hurts more.
Ryker’s clue comes back to me, like he is whispering it in my ear. “When you’re alone, look for the mirror that shows you nothing but the truth.”
And god damn it, this is the truth.
I stand up and place my hand on the glass mirror, wishing I could talk to her but knowing she is somewhere at peace now. I won’t ever find her, but I hope she is with me now. I hope she is watching me, guiding me somehow. I take three steps back, running my eyes over my mother’s soul one more time like I can imprint the memory of her before lifting my hand. I crash the whip into the glass, and instantly the glass shatters and so does the world around me until I’m standing in the lift alone.
And the doors open to a room which is just a plain room with glass walls all around and one scary ass, hot as fuck demi-god stood in the middle with his arms tightly crossed against his chest. I’m sure I see relief in his eyes when he sees me, but he quickly cools his expression. I’m sure he is just relieved I am still alive to save Poppy, if Poppy made it on her own.
“Congratulations, Daesyn,” he tells me. “You may go back to your rooms and