Page 143 of The Eternal Mirror
We’re losing. Hell, we’ve lost.
I press a hand to my shoulder. It comes away red. I’m out of fire. My limbs are shaking. My mind keeps slipping sideways.
Through the trees, I can see Khronus, standing beneath the mirror. Arms raised, murmuring some incantations. He’s glowing with power.
I’ll never get close enough to kill him.
I’ve tried everything. Fire. Blade. Spells. Rage.
I’ve failed.
I sink to my knees. My sword’s too heavy now. My arms shake when I try to lift them. My breath wheezes through bruised ribs. Everything aches—inside and out.
Khronus is glowing with power. Not metaphorically but actually fucking glowing. The Mirror pulses behind him like it belongs to him now. Like it’s already decided.
I’m too far gone. Too broken. Too slow.
But I still have one card left. The final spell. The last one.
I reach for it.
It answers like a whisper. Cold. Waiting. Hungry.
And I know I can end it. Right now. Just speak the words, and boom—lights out. No more Khronus. No more Mirror. No more anyone. No more pain. The idea is seductive.
I just need one last effort. I dig Nightfall into the ground and use her to lever myself to my feet. I steady my legs and raise my sword.
Khaos rests a hand on my shoulder. Grounding me. Silent. Solid. His touch says everything—I’ll follow you. Even to the end.
And I almost do it. Almost.
I open my mouth. The spell—the unmaking—balances on the edge of my tongue.
Then—
A scream. Small. Raw. Young.
It cuts through me like a blade, and I turn.
A girl—barely more than a child—kneels in the dirt beside a dying man. Her mouth trembles. Her fingers are coated in blood. She wears Khronus’s armor, but it swamps her, her shoulders too narrow, her helmet too big.She was never meant to be a soldier.
She lifts her eyes. And she sees me. Her expression is filled not with hate. Not even fear. Just hope, raw and naked. A silent plea:help me.
My magic stutters. My grip loosens.
And in her I see myself. A girl who never had a choice. A pawn in someone else's war. And I see Sheela. Josh. Winter. Zayne. All of us—twisted by someone else's story. Fighting for scraps of love and light in the dark.
My throat locks and the spell dies in my mouth. Nightfall clatters to the ground.
They're not all monsters. They’rejust caught. Twisted. Lied to. Like I was. And the truth hits me. They have no choice. But I do.
“But if I don’t do this...then he wins,” I whisper.
Khaos’s voice is low and steady, curling into the hollow spaces inside me. “It’s not about winning or losing,” hemurmurs. “It’s about doing what’s right.” He pauses. “Search your heart, Amber. You already know what that is.”
And I do.
I don’t want to destroy the Mirror. I don’t want to kill them. I don’t want to burn the world just to keep it out of his reach.
