Page 155 of The Eternal Mirror
We’re sitting on the rooftop of the palace, and the sky is ablaze with stars above us. It makes me feel small and insignificant and...worthless. I was ten at the time, reeling from one of my infrequent meetings with my father.
“That is entirely up to you to decide,” Khendril says. “But never stop examining yourself. Your actions will always reflect the person you are.”
That was a year before he disappeared from my life. And for a long time afterward, I stopped examining myself. I just followed orders, and if I had taken the time to look closely at myself, I would have come to the conclusion that I was actually totally worthless.
That changed the day Amber crashed into me.
Everything changed.
And now I have left that world behind.
The Mirror swallows the light behind us. No sound. No wind. Just a soft shiver in the air, like something exhaling.
And suddenly...we’re here.
Wherever here is.
Amber lands first. Alicorn hooves sink into soft earth that shimmers like dust caught in starlight. I follow, wings folding as I shift beside her. Her hair is tangled, but her eyes shine, and her shoulders are straight.
My girl. My queen. My fucking beginning.
And maybe, if I’m lucky—one day, far in the future—my end.
The world around us is raw. Unmade. It doesn’t smell like anything yet. It doesn’t sound like anything either. It just is. A place between pulse and possibility.
A sky stretches overhead, shifting between colors, violet to silver to soft, molten gold. Not day. Not night. Just...time.
Below us, mist curls like it’s waiting for us to give it shape.
Amber doesn’t say anything at first. She steps forward slowly, trailing her fingers through the air like she’s painting. Where she walks, silver vines twist up from the ground, glowing and alive.
I walk beside her. Our steps echo. Not because the place is empty, but because it’s listening.
She glances sideways. Her hand brushes my skin as she tangles her fingers with mine. There’s a pool up ahead—circular, still as glass. We step to the edge. The reflection in it is...not us. Notexactly. A dragon. An alicorn. Wings outstretched. Horn bright as a sun. Both of us made of shadow and fire and something more ancient than magic.
The image ripples, then fades.
Amber squeezes my hand. I squeeze back.
She turns slightly, looking at me like I’m the only solid thing in this half-made world.
And in her eyes—I see it.
Not just love. Belief.
In me. In us.
For the first time in my life, I believe it too. I don’t know if we’re gods. I still don’t know what that fucking means.
I don’t care.
I’ve already got everything I need.
“Can we do better?” she asks, frowning. Then she smirks. “I suppose we can hardly do worse. What a total fuck-up.”
I laugh. Then I pull her close and press my forehead to hers. “Together, we can do anything.”
After Amber: Josh
