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After leaving the burning sands of the Dead Desert, Chirag, Siya, and Kael didn't rest. There was no time. The world was shifting fast. The gods were preparing for something—and every delay could cost lives.
Their next destination was far stranger than fire or wind. It lay beyond the River of Echoes, past the Valley of Silence—a place wrapped in illusion and memory.
It was called Velithra, the Labyrinth of Reflections.
The home of the Mirror Keeper.
According to Lunara's scroll and the Flame Seer's warning, the Mirror Keeper was once a goddess of memory and mind, able to show anyone their truest self—or their darkest fear. When the gods became corrupt, she defied them, choosing truth over obedience. For that, she was cast into the labyrinth she once created.
"Sounds friendly," Kael muttered as they stood before the entrance.
The gates were silver, half-shattered, glowing with a strange light. Reflections danced across their surface—but none of them were accurate. Chirag saw his reflection with dark eyes and no fire. Siya saw herself falling into shadow. Kael's reflection bled smoke from his mouth.
"This place doesn't lie," Siya whispered. "It shows what we're hiding."
Chirag stepped forward and pushed the gate.
It opened without resistance.
---
Inside was a maze of mirrors—some clear, some broken, some rippling like water. They walked cautiously, each step echoing through the space like it didn't belong in this world.
But it wasn't long before the maze started its game.
"Chirag," a voice called. It sounded like Siya.
He turned—but she wasn't behind him anymore.
She had vanished.
"Siya?" he called, his voice tight with panic.
Kael was gone too.
Now he stood alone in a corridor of endless reflections.
The mirrors whispered.
"You were never strong."
"You were never chosen."
"You are just a lost child, pretending to matter."
Chirag closed his eyes. He knew this was the Mirror Keeper's doing. It was meant to break him. But he had faced worse. He had fought beasts, gods, and his own pain.
He lit his flame—not to fight, but to see.
The fire reflected in the mirrors—and in that moment, he saw it.
A narrow path in the glass. A sliver of truth.
He ran toward it.
---
Meanwhile, Siya found herself in a garden of mirrors that showed a thousand versions of Chirag—each one broken, each one dying.
She reached out to one, and it whispered, "You can't protect him."
"No," she said, her voice shaking. "I already lost him once. I won't lose him again."
She drew her blade, cutting down the false images, until the garden fell into pieces around her—and a doorway of white light opened.
She stepped through.
---
Kael stood in a room of shadows.
Every mirror showed his worst moment—the time he failed to protect his village, the time he let rage guide him. In one mirror, he saw himself turning against Chirag.
He clenched his fists. "I'm not that man anymore."
He burned the mirrors with a spell from his breath—and found himself outside a spiral staircase made of moonlight.
He walked up.
---
At the center of the labyrinth, they met again.
Chirag, Siya, and Kael stood in a round room with a single massive mirror at its heart. It shimmered like still water, and within it stood a woman.
The Mirror Keeper.
She had hair like woven glass, eyes like shifting storms, and a voice that echoed inside the soul.
"You found your way," she said.
"We need your help," Chirag replied.
The Mirror Keeper tilted her head. "And why should I give it? The last time I helped a child of fire, he betrayed me."
Chirag didn't flinch. "I'm not him. I'm not anyone but myself. I won't promise perfection. But I will promise truth. And if I fall, it won't be because I lied about who I am."
The Mirror Keeper's expression softened.
"You passed the trial already," she said quietly. "You saw your fear. And still you walked forward."
She waved her hand, and the massive mirror shimmered—showing a new image.
An army of gods preparing to march. Cities burning. The sky cracking open.
"This is what's coming," she said. "But it is not fixed. Destiny can change—if the right hands shape it."
She stepped forward and placed a cold, glowing shard in Chirag's hand.
"The Eye of Reflection. It will let you see through illusions—even the ones gods cast. Use it wisely."
Chirag bowed. "Thank you."
The Mirror Keeper smiled faintly.
"Go now. The last one awaits. But beware—he has not spoken to another soul in thousands of years."
Chirag turned to Siya and Kael.
"One more left," he said. "Then we face the gods."
---
As they left the labyrinth, Chirag glanced at the shard in his hand, glowing gently with silver light.
Siya walked beside him.
"Do you think we're ready?" she asked.
Chirag looked ahead.
"No. But we will be."
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