Zahra stared at the door and allowed the magic to wash over her. She began to feel a little overwhelmed, especially when the strong aura hit her but she steeled herself and focused.
"There are three types of magic emanating from the door. There is a faint one from the school of divination...so maybe to predict the future or find hidden things. There is a medium strength aura from the illusion school so probably does something to trick our senses. Lastly there is a strong charm aura so it could change how we see each other."
Zahra swallowed hard, "I think Cairee is right. We should take the resistance potions right before entering.". With that she reached into her bag and retrieved hers.
Shrugging, Tymythy was not one to second-guess the experts when they were dealing with outlandish magic and followed suit, taking the vial in one hand and waiting for the ladies to give the next order.
Dounia also holds her potion at the ready. She'll drink it as soon as the door opens. She doesn't like the sounds of magic that can charm her.
Clutching Dounia's hand, Cairee reached out her other to push open the door.
And stopped. "Oh, silly!" The kerfuffle between the Prince and Princess had distracted her from her preparations. She had one more spell she'd meant to cast on herself.
"Ousel, do you mind? I need a feather for this." She reached into her hood. The small bird pecked under its wing and offered Cairee a small beak-full of feathers and fluff. Cairee raised them solemnly to her heart, and then her forehead. "Mods Iws Lwo," she chanted softly, then tucked the feathers into her hair.
"Okay, here we go." She pushed open the door.
Cairee put her hand on the door and the mirror was cold. And heavy, it took a firm push even though it was well balanced. No lock hindered them. No trap appeared to be sprung. Her hand touched her hand's reflection and the door moved. That was all.
The door opened to a slim hall, only five feet wide. As the door opened light flooded in to the hall and never diminished. The walls of the hall, and the ceiling to, were covered in mirrors. Each mirror was five feet wide by ten feet tall.
The hall's length was difficult to judge. It was maybe twenty mirrors deep or one hundred feet long.
Dounia could see no trap except for her guts screaming at her that it was all a trap.
As the Blackbirds stepped into the hall one-by-one they saw themselves reflected right and left to an infinite degree and that infinite reflection was duplicated upside down as it showed the ceiling's copy of this strange world. Everyone took their potions.
The hall emptied out into a barrage of chaos. A room filled with mirrors facing every direction. It was difficult to tell where one mirror ended and another began, or if there was space between.
Cyn looked at the room and muttered in wonder unable to step forward. E'gama took her shoulder in his hand, "I think you mean to go this way."
Dounia stopped for a moment and stared down the hall. It wasn't fear or caution that had stopped her in her tracks. It was shock. Shock and greed.
"These are proper mirrors! I mean, we knew there was mirrors in here. But these are actual, proper, high quality, silver mirrors. Just one of these would cover my living expenses for 2 years at least. And there's 40 of them, just in this one hallway! There's going to be hundreds of them in this challenge! Never mind the diamond, we just need a way to get all these mirrors home!"
Dounia was so consumed with doing mental mirror math, that the true chaos of this place didn't really wash over her. She agreed with E'gama, took firmer hold of Carrie's hand and began to move forward.
Zahra quaffed her potion right before following through the door. Her neck craned all around as she took in all of the mirrors. "This is what I need at home," she said with a small smile.
She nodded in agreement with Dounia. "As much as I would love to have this many mirrors, it would definitely put my family in the poor house to purchase them."
Zahra felt momentarily discombobulated by the mirrors facing every which way but she drew strength from her heritage and the potion and managed to keep her wits about her.
Tymythy followed the ladies into the hallway, as what little they had learned of the challenge suggested the dangers inside were unlikely to appear in the form of armed assaulters but rather mystical trickery. The sight of the infinite well of reflections felt vaguely nauseating to Tymythy, and he sought to fix his attention, to ignore the background and focus on one thing at a time, like he was following game and looking for a deer’s hoofprints among the undergrowth.
”Remember, that light lay lie, and in here, most likely will,” he murmured. ”Let us try to focus on what is, not what the mirrors might seem to show us. And let mark our path as discussed as we dive deeper.”
Cairee stepped into the room, braced for the worst. Her mind felt a little scattered, like she'd drunk champagne too quickly. She kept looking back over her shoulder, seeing how the others were doing. So far everyone seemed ok. Dounia and Zahra even chatted about the value of the mirrors. "If you can figure out how to get them out of here, I'm sure it would get us a few extra points," she tried to joke. Best keep things light while they could.
”Let us try to focus on what is, not what the mirrors might seem to show us. And let mark our path as discussed as we dive deeper.”
"Good advice. Eyes on the path, not the reflections. Dounia, is your chalk working?"
Cairee turned forward, examining the hall ahead.
Cairee turned forward, examining the hall ahead.
Everyone was linked wrist to rope and Cyn's momentary stop delayed all for just a few seconds as she briefly acted as a kind of anchor. Cairee looked up from the floor to try to find a path out of this first mad room. She thought she could see an exit to the north-northeast and another to the northwest.
".wonk t'nod I .wonk t'nod I"
A dull pain slowly flared over her jaw. Her right leg nearly gave way from beneath her. Her shin felt broken. Lancing pains flared in both her sides and into he lungs and she could taste blood in her mouth. It was difficult to suppress a cough with all of the fluid that seemed to have built up in her lungs.
-
Dounia could feel a gentle tug forward from Cairee's hand. Tymythy and Cairee cautioned her to look at the floor.
Suddenly Dounia was hit from the front left like some nine foot tall giant collided with her as it walked past. She could hear city noises and yelling from different directions. It sounded like the yells of nearly a hundred strangers.
"Wages!"
"Down with the elven technocracy!"
"Burn the elevators! End the dwarven monopoly!"
"Hall out the Shift Bosses!"
A woman's voice could be heard somewhere in the din. The voice was familiar somehow and cast it's own kind of reflection in the back of Dounia's brain. There was so much warmth in it. "NO! What are you doing! Can't you see the child!! You're going to trample her!"
-
Between Dounia and Tymythy, Cyn called out, "What?! No,no,no,no. It's a lie. You're not here!"
E'gama was looking around at the mirrors, "Let's see. Five points? Or have my eyes burned out by these visions? Let me think." Those who could mark E'gama saw him turn away from the mirrors and screw his eyes shut. "Cyn, close your eyes!"
-
Tymythy followed and watched the floor. He could feel agitation in the rope ahead and hesitation from the rope behind. There was a stop in the march for just a breath.
In all of the other mirrors there still seemed to be the reflections of the Black Bird's but in this single mirror was the reflection of another man's feet.
"My King!"
"My King!"
"Lord! What shall we do?!"
"My Lord! The spirit vaults! They're cracking!"
"LOOKOUT MY KING!!!"
-
Zahra watched as people the team ahead of her seemed to have to force their view on the floor, were jostled about like they might lose their balance, or began to stare into mirrors that only held their reflection - their reflection just as adamantly staring back. She walked forward through the mirror-scape.
A bell rang.
It was familiar.
It rang again. It was the bell on the front door of her father's shop. A customer!
No - no. She wasn't in the shop. She was in the hall of mirrors.
A voice, "Welcome to the Palace of Za'atar. What needs can I answer for you today?" It was Zahra's father's voice.
A second answered, "Oh, I hope a great many, or do you not recognize me." The second voice was familiar also, but Zahra couldn't place it. It was there, just on the edge of her memory.
Faheem's voice changed to panic, "You! But, no. I have seven days left. I promised I'd get it for you."
Tymythy walked with his eyes fixed on a spot four feet ahead of him, wary of the things these magical mirrors might temp them with… but it was not sight but sounds that drew his gaze to one side. A multitude of voices raised in great need, full of desperation and fear and perhaps hope against better judgment. Speaking a language he had never heard before… yet he found he understood every word.
As if by instinct, his eyes embraced his curiosity and his gaze slid towards the sound of voices… and he saw something he recognized. A glimpse of familiar fabric, and something far more impact full. One hand squeezing the usriev he used as a walking stick, the other wrapped around the rope that connected the Ravens, he found himself unable to resist temptation. His gaze slid up the figure standing behind the silvery mirror, curious despite his own earlier warnings. For was this not the only chance he would ever get of learning more of this particular person? To understand the man whose weapon he had inherited?
Dounia had just begun angling her feet to draw with the chalk when something bulled into her. Gasping, she staggered sideways then caught her balance. The voices and shapes in the mirror...it sounded like a riot. And based on what she'd learned about her past, she was certain she knew what riot it was.
Taking a deep breath, she kept her eyes down. It was harder to dodge the people around her, and two more banged into her, leaving her breathless and bruised. But better to risk her body than her mind.
"Don't look!" she cried out. "Whatever you're hearing or seeing, don't look! It's lies, or truths meant to wound. Close your eyes if you have to! We'll get out of this just fine if we keep our heads!" She wasn't sure she was telling the truth, but she hoped her friends believed her.
Zahra shook her head as a way to remind herself that this wasn't real. She kept her eyes on the ground before her feet. She kept chanting phrases to herself. "Eyes on the path. You aren't in Papa's shop. You are in a hall of mirrors. Eyes on the path. You aren't in Papa's shop. You are in a hall of mirrors..."
The customer's voice sounded so familiar and Papa sounded distressed. Zahra really wanted to look...and then Dounia's voice rang out to remind her to stay focused. "Eyes on the path. You aren't in Papa's shop. You are in a hall of mirrors..."
Cairee looked up from the floor to try to find a path out of this first mad room. She thought she could see an exit to the north-northeast and another to the northwest.
Cairee started to guide the group towards the north-north east exit. She kept her eyes to the ground, glancing up only as much as needed to keep them on track. Still, she noticed one of the mirrors near the exit was different. It reflected only her. She could hear her own voice muttering. ".wonk t'nod I .wonk t'nod I"
It took her a moment to work out the words. It sounded like I don't know backwards. Was the message itself also backwards? If the mirror was saying I don't know, did that mean that the reflection did know? Was that the right way out?
A dull pain slowly flared over her jaw. Her right leg nearly gave way from beneath her. Her shin felt broken. Lancing pains flared in both her sides and into he lungs and she could taste blood in her mouth. It was difficult to suppress a cough with all of the fluid that seemed to have built up in her lungs.
Cairee stumbled forward, gagging. It's all in your head, she repeated to herself. It felt impossible, but she resisted the urge to look back in the mirror. Instead she switched course, directing the team to the northwest exit.
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Tymythy's eyes looked up the mirror. From metal sandals to gartered desert pants. From long deep blue robe of stars to bronze chest piece. A man stood there mirroring Tymythy's stance, clothed in ancient fashion. The man wore a regal iron band about his head and his beard was a full single ripple of wavy whiskers tied at the end with a bronze bangle. His eyes were wise and piercing and, although his body was that of a man nearly seventy years old, it still had some strength in it.
In the man's right hand was Kizu'gina, and the usriev looked glorious! The shaft and handle glowed with tiny silver runes and the blade burned with secret fire that never tarnished the metal. Tymythy could feel its' warmth on the right side of his own face as if he held the great ancient spear. On the king's left arm was the scale of Silimiel, the buckler found in the tomb of Bar Ku'bara'sigi. It shone with a faint inner light and frosty mist rose from its' face. Tymythy could feel the cold touch his left forearm.
Tymythy could feel the dryness of the desert air. He could hear the voices of the people near. And the cacophony of some distant disaster.
As Tymythy looked into the mirror he could see motlen material from some explosion beyond the glass's reflection flying toward the king. Tymythy reflexively ducked and, as he did, the mirror image ducked with him. They managed to dodge the majority of the burning material and the rest was quenched by the buckler ... no the image ... just the image ... just the image managed to doge it.
But Tymythy could feel the heat of the molten material all the same.
The man in the mirror stood up tall and spoke. As the man spoke like some king of old, Tymythy could feel a whisper escape his own lips. The man then ran off to the side and out of view. Seven other warriors, strong and in their late prime, ran after him.
A great rush of anguish flooded through Tymythy - this place was in danger if he didn't do something, now!
Tymythy tugged suddenly at the rope and all could feel it, but his hand didn't leave the loop. He absent mindedly whispered something under his breath that those near him could barely hear, "If the vaults break the entire city will be destroyed."
-
Dounia forced her eyes to the dark marble. She falls several times but her hand never leaves the loop and she always returns to her feet.
As she turned her eyes away from the mirror the noise of the riot turned into a low rumble. The smell of fire became distant. The voice of the woman was now an indecernable mumble. Somehow, the desert thief knew that if she looked into the mirror all of the noises and smells would return but she held tight.
The jostling didn't stop.
She continued to be pushed about by collisions with giants. Twice she was knocked so hard she fell down and had to stand again. It was an effort to keep her eyes on the ground with all of the invisible pushing and shoving. Voices continue to shout but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She only gots the sense that what is being said is very urgent.
The woman's voice called out but the words sounded like they are coming from beyond a thick pane of glass. Still the urgency was there.
She heard the muffled sound of a child crying inconsolably.
At last, Dounia feels arms wrap around her. Her feet never leave the floor but she also feels like she's being lifted up, carried away. A wave of fear and loneliness, a feeling of abandonement washes over her.
She can barely make out the woman's voice, "Youx xxxng tx xx safe nox. You're xafe. Whexx are youx paxxnts? What xx xxxx name?
The child of maybe four years old responded in a tiny voice, "I know my name is Cyra."
-
Zahra clamped her eyes tight to the floor and chanted her mantra about where exactly she was. As she looked away all of the sounds and smells dulled. The voices she heard were more like the voices of someone locked up in a chest and she only made out the dullest muttering.
What she could feel, however, was still as if others were in the hall with her.
She felt hands grab her arms. She felt a hard slam on her back like the arms threw her up against something. A fist slammed into her stomach. Then again. Something that felt like a twisted shop rag wrapped around her throat and began to choke her.
All the time Zahra kept her eyes on the floor. The dark smokey marble reflected the image of the mirror but she could only see that her father was there, and there were others. She could not see what was happening or who was doing this.
The woman's voice, "Are yxx xxxx enougx xxx? Axx xou lisxxxxng carxxxxxy? Xx hxxe bxx waxxxing yxxx xxxxxxxx and you axx bxxxxing xx noxxxxx. Xxw wxxl xou pay xx ix xxxen xxxs? Xx'xe xxxx tx rexxxd yxx xxxx xxxx xxxx is yoxr prixrity."
Faheem choaked, "I xxxx it. X wxxx have xxx xxxxx. I will xxxp xy proxxxx."
The woman, "Pxxxxe who gxxxle sxxxxd xxxxxx be rxxh or xxxe. Faheem, you are xxxxxxx. You xxxxx haxx my mxxxx. All xxxxty-xxxe thxxxxxx. Or I sxxxx xxxx xxx daughxer's fixxx'x, yxxx wixx'x xxxs, and your xxxx."
The choaking stopped. Zahra felt like she had fallen to the floor but somehow she was still standing.
The woman's voice, "Is this txx xxxd xx txe Asmar xxxxxx? Ix xxis xx that the inflxxxxx of xxe Grxxx Sxlimiel xxxxx xxxxxr?"
Faheem, "Whx is Silimxxl?"
A great wave of anxiety washes over Zahra.
Zahra looked like she was about to vomit as she suddenly grabbed her stomach. She didn't leave the rope. She didn't look in the mirror.
-
Cairee chanced a look at a distant mirror and then pulled away. She started to lead the others to a second exit but the going was slow. Dounia fell violently twice. Zahra doubled over in pain and started to choke, Tymythy ducked low then yelled like his arms were on fire. Cyn grabbed on to the rope hard as E'gama, eyes shut, pushed her forward by the shoulder.
As Cairee turned away the sound of her own voice dimmed so that she couldn't make it out. The taste of blood weakened. It felt like her back was laying against something hard. She thought she could hear Arnie's voice but it was a mumble. She got the feeling if she looked in the mirror she could hear him clearly but she held fast. Still the noises persisted.
Arnie sounded angry, "!od xxx xxd taxX"
Cairee's reflection voice, "!ti dxx I !xx xxd X"
That's when Cairee felt hands touching her chest. The hands were small. They were the slightly calloused hands of a young woman no stranger to hard work. Cairee felt the hands pulling something from her. Pulling life. The pain in her sides flared like two burning fires. It felt like dying.
In this place of dying Cairee felt empty and utterly alone. There were no gods here, no Saiph. There was only an immense feeling of meaninglessness, of nothingness. Anguish flowed over her.
Cairee tried to lead the others towards the exit. The voice of her reflection weakened, and she heard something like Arnie mumbling. She was sure if she looked in the mirror she would be able to hear him clearly. She refused, keeping her eyes on the floor.
A wave of anguish toppled over her. She could feel no connection to Saiph. She felt empty, alone.
Cairee squeezed Dounia's hand. She turned her head, being sure to keep her eyes trained down, and called back down the line. "How's everyone doing? Does anyone need help? I know this feels awful. But we can do this. We're strong, and we can take care of each other. Keep your focus and we'll be out soon!"
Zahra thought she was doing well because she had successfully fought the urge to look in the mirror. But then she felt hands grab her and the beating started. She cried out when something slammed into her back but then the air was knocked out of her when she was punched in the stomach. Then all she could do was whimper when it felt like something was choking the life out of her.
Muffled words between Papa and some woman with a familiar voice left Zahra filled with anxiety. Had she heard Silimiel's name? Why would some woman be speaking to her father about Silimiel? But then again, she was in the hall of mirrors and this wasn't real. She gasped for air as the pressure on her neck released.
She felt spent but Cairee's encouragement gave her the strength to keep going.
Dounia tried to hum, to sing, to keep the words and sounds and temptation at bay. But the jostling kept her off balance, and knocked her to her knees. She tried to focus on her friends' voices, on anything but the false images around her. Then she heard Cyra's name, and she nearly looked up. She caught herself just in time, but the name reverberated in her head, like an evil gong. "La la la I can't hear you!" she sang out, holding her unbound hand to her head and the wicked headache building there.
Tymythy shudder under the weight of pain and remorse washing over him like a great wave, threatening to crush him under… yet mercifully the feeling passed, leaving him reeling, his mind echoing the hurt and terror of the people he had glimpsed in the mirror… not, not quite right. There had only been one person there. But behind him, the weight of a nation, carried on shoulders that refused to bend or give in.
With a pained grunt he levered himself back to his feet, using the usriev to support himself. He realized his foolishness now, going against his own urgings to look into the mirrors… but the temptation had been too much. And if this was the full price he was to pay for the knowledge… it was worth it. To see the man who had passed his weapon on to him in the flesh, at the end of his reign, but still very much a warrior. To see Kizu'gina awake, in the fullness of her power. And… a hint of how the lord had died?
Cairee squeezed Dounia's hand. She turned her head, being sure to keep her eyes trained down, and called back down the line. "How's everyone doing? Does anyone need help? I know this feels awful. But we can do this. We're strong, and we can take care of each other. Keep your focus and we'll be out soon!"
”I am well enough,” Tymythy said, gingerly touching his face, expecting to feel blisters but meeting only unbroken skin. ”And I vow to do better,” he muttered, hoping it was a promise he’d be able to keep. He found he could not put the vision he had seen out of his mind. Had the mirror lied to him? Unlikely – it had not shown him anything that would cause him to change his view of things or spur him to action. Rather, it had seemed a warning, unless it was mere an echo of a disaster buried under the sand of time. Had there been danger in looking? Assuredly, as his could still feel his head aching from the weight of the feelings that had threatened to overwhelm him. But, other than that… he just felt he had got something to look into, provided they survived this birthday party and its activities.
Did Zahra look away from her father in the moment of his distress? Did Dounia ignore a child about to be trampled by a wild mob? Did Cairee refuse to find the source of the unending emptiness?
No.
It was a game.
It was all only a game.
Cairee drew everyone forward. This new hall was crooked but remained a single path. In their peripheral sight the Black Birds could see their reflections jump forward and back as the angles of the mirrors changed. The smokey dark floor only provided the dullest of information as to what these mirrors showed.
The mirrors that showed the strange visions now had no sign of them and held only reflections of the team and the other mirrors.
Cairee was the first to reach the end of the hall. It split into three lanes. One went right. Another left. A third went forward and to the right.
The hall offered a brief break from the tortures of the previous room. Cairee walked it slowly, giving her teammates a moment to compose themselves. She asked again, "Before we go forward, does anyone need help? Some healing, or help shaking off these visions?"
At the end of the hall, the cleric stopped and considered the three lanes. She "Mrah Ctcet Ed," she murmured, touching the palm of her right hand to her forehead, then holding it out in front of her.
Zahra contemplated Cairee's inquiries for a breath or two while focusing on herself. "I don't think I'm physically hurt even though it felt very real."
"I don't know about you guys but my vision was very, very specific to me. How could they have known such details? Or are they somehow pulling memories and information from our minds that we didn't even know were there?" Zahra shook her head, "Now I sound paranoid. It's just that I detected a divination aura on the door. Could it be detecting thoughts and then using it against us? Although I didn't know those thoughts were in my head so I'm probably wrong because there isn't a reason for my father to sound so distressed."
The sorceress waited quietly while Cairee prepared to lead them through the next hurdle of their challenge. Zahra had no idea which hallway to choose so she was grateful that Cairee did.
Cairee led the team down the left hall. The mirrors here zigged and zagged and occasionally did a sharp turn right or left. As they walked Cyn whispered to E'gama, "I swear it was her, alive, and fifty years younger."
”Personal? Yes, it was that for me too," Tymythy said after Zahra spoke her piece. ”An image from the life – or perhaps the moments leading to death – of the ancient lord whose weapon I now wield. A warning, perhaps, but nothing that would seem to sway me into doing anything differently in this challenge.” Except perhaps tempt him into looking into another mirror in hopes of being shown more, he thought. ”Yet there was danger enough in it – my head is still pounding hard enough not to let me forget.”
”I can’t begin to guess just how the magic choses what it shows, but chose it does. But I doubt knowing that will help us pass this challenge any faster.”
Cairee crept down the hall. "It was personal for me as well. It could be showing us truth, or lies, or something more random." She thought back to her conversation with the Senechal of Gossamer House. "Voltus said someone had managed to infiltrate our challenges and was sending us messages - though if they are meant to help or hurt us is unclear." She had been trying hard to keep her eyes from the mirrors. But perhaps she should look. If only once. Perhaps there was something of value to learn.
Dounia breathed a sigh of relief as the sounds faded to nothing and she stopped getting pushed around by giants. She dared a glance up, and saw nothing untoward in the mirrors. "Well, I hated that," she volunteered. "I don't care if it's true or not, it's just mean." Her admiration for the djinn that ran this show was souring more by the day.
She made sure her chalk-rigged sandal was working, and tracing the route they'd taken.
Looking around with a little less fear, she spotted another passageway. "Hey, look there," she pointed to the right. "That little one is hidden. Pretty clever. I wonder if it's the best way, or a trick."
Now that Dounia had pointed it out The Black Birds could all see a space with no mirror (like a frame without glasses). It was on the right side of the passage.
Looking around with a little less fear, she spotted another passageway. "Hey, look there," she pointed to the right. "That little one is hidden. Pretty clever. I wonder if it's the best way, or a trick."
"Well spotted," Tymythy said, impressed. "Since we don't have any indication which way we should go, I'd suggest a methodical approach... but then again, there is a reason to expect there to be secrets in this challenge like there were in the previous ones - another piece of that key, or whatever it is, and perhaps powerful weapons and tools. I think we should take advantage of Dounia's sharp eyes and take a look that way."
Cairee stopped in front of the mirror-less space. "If there is something special there, it likely is guarded. Dounia, can you make sure the doorway is safe to cross? I'll look for magical traps." She took a moment to murmur a familiar prayer. "ciga Mtce Ted."
Dounia nodded, stepped forward, and examined the hidden path for nasty surprises.
There was nothing. It was just another corridor.
Cairee looked back at her team, shrugged, and started to lead them down through the empty frame. She examined the new corridor closely, looking for secret doorways or hiding places.
As Cairee shrugged, Zahra nodded. "Seems as good a way as any. And at least it seems to lead somewhere. Why go through the trouble of making a dead end hard to find?"
Zahra taps E'gama on the shoulder. "You guys doing ok? I've heard some muttering and wanted to make sure you both are good."
Zahra taps E'gama on the shoulder. "You guys doing ok? I've heard some muttering and wanted to make sure you both are good."
E'gama, his eyes still closed, was feeling his way along the wall with one hand. His other hand was on Cyn's shoulder.
Cyn, "I saw ... nevermind."
E'gama, "Her mother. She's been gone these seventy-five years. Before the recent troubles. Could have been worse, Cyn. It could've been your da'"
Cyn chuckled grimly and refocused her eyes on the floor. "But she was beautiful and younger than I remember her, without the care she had. And the vision of her hurt my heart."
Cairee led the group through the frame and down the new hallway. The way was led by Saiph who showed Cairee little to no magical insight. The hallway was mundane but didn't feel right.
Dounia kept her eye on the marks she was leaving and the simple rig she'd made was working. A dull scratched line was left behind as she walked and, in-turn, was reflected in the mirrors both left and right, endlessly.
"This may just double back on the path we were on," Cairee told the others. She continued forward, picking up the pace a little.
”The hallway is curving gently – if this continues, we will eventually end up where we began,” Tymythy said after a while in agreement with Cairee, having slowly become convinced his eyes were not playing tricks on him. ”Then again, this being a maze, we might need to take two steps back to be allowed one forward. Who knows? If all else fails, we’ll just have to explore every possible path until only the right one remains.”
”Question is, when the mirrors will decide to assault us again, and in what fashion?”
Dounia watched her line, and tried to figure out if it was curving behind her, as the others said, but couldn't tell. The endlessly reflecting mirrors made it too confusing. She was careful to stay as close to the middle of the hall as possible, to keep the line from getting close to a mirror and making it even more confusing. "I wonder where the secret goals are? Maybe we have to break a mirror to find something. Can we even break these? Should we try? Why is this hallway so long with nothing happening?" She realized she was starting to babble, and shut her mouth with a snap.
The Blackbirds followed the hallway and it came to another side path. This time the path was on the left and a wandering chalkline could be seen coming from the hallway before them and entering the side path.
Cairee led the team back to an intersection.
There was the path to the right which already had chalk marking the floor.
The path forward which went straight on for nearly thirty feet then Cairee could see the team's reflection. A dead end?
Then there was the path on the left which seemed to curve forward.
Zahra really wanted to ask Cyn what E'gama meant about her father but knew that wouldn't be polite. Instead she put her hand comfortingly on Cyn's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry your vision hurt your heart. Hopefully this will be over soon."
As the Blackbirds seemed to travel in a circle, Zahra let out a sigh of frustration. "Why make a hallway hard to find if it doesn't lead anywhere? Did we miss something? Maybe a hidden door or trapdoor or another hidden path?"
When they got back to the intersection, Zahra was grateful for Dounia's ingenuity. "Thanks to your chalk marks on the floor, we don't have to choose which way to go. There's only one way remaining to explore. Nicely done, Dounia!"
As the Blackbirds seemed to travel in a circle, Zahra let out a sigh of frustration. "Why make a hallway hard to find if it doesn't lead anywhere? Did we miss something? Maybe a hidden door or trapdoor or another hidden path?"
”Perhaps we did. Or perhaps the path was laid there just to make us stop to second-guess ourselves.” Tymythy shrugged his shoulders, stepping closer to one mirror-lined wall to rap the reflective surface with a knuckle. ”I’m half-tempted to start marking our path with smashed mirrors – I don’t think the previous teams did any of that on their attempts? But I’m worried about the magic invested in them. At some of them, at least, and I can’t tell one from another. Will such stored power just leak away harmlessly... or flare in a blaze?”
Dounia stared at her chalk line suspiciously. Was it really hers? Or was the magic of this place putting more chalk lines down?
When Tymythy suggested smashing mirrors, Dounia looked up with a grin. "Yes! Let's try one." The eternally-hungry child inside wanted to destroy the wealth that she couldn't own. She'd mostly grown out of that impulse. Mostly.
She examined one of the mirrors more carefully. Was it glass laid over a silver backing? Was it even smash-able? His concerns about magic rolled off her; that was something for Zahra to deal with.
Zahra held up her hand. ”Before you smash anything, let me see if these are magical or mundane. I think Cairee was checking but I’ll double check to be safe.”
”Is there any way to determine if there are weak points for the mirrors? Or maybe there are some that are poorer quality that will break easier.”
Cairee paused while the others discussed the best way to break a mirror. "Before you break one, are you sure you're not putting us all at risk? If it does break, the falling pieces could do a lot of damage. And if we have to back track through an area we'll have to navigate through the shards. I don't think we should take a lot of time on this. We want to find our way through quickly."
While the others discussed, Cairee turned her attention to the mirror at the end of the short hall. Was she seeing their true reflection? Or was there some clue hidden in the mirror?
Cairee had noticed little to no magical auras as she had moved through the halls . Zahra focused her view to likewise see into the spectrum of active arcane magics … nothing but whatever mystical energy that was keeping the lights on.
Dounia looked at the chalkline and it seemed like hers.
She looked at one of the mirrors. The surface was definitely glass. Under it was silver but was it a sheet or a painted layer. Around the glass was a metal frame and the mirror was ceiling to floor and it touched another mirror on either side. She couldn’t see an obvious way to get a view of the back.