To the west, near the cliffs, ancient stone markers stood in silent rows, weathered by time but unyielding, their carvings glowing faintly with the rays of the moon. Legends whispered that these were sentinels, guarding the secrets of North Star’s ethereal presence, and that the island itself was a beacon—not just for sailors lost at sea, but for those seeking the kind of truths only the stars could reveal. The temple holding the ancient Mirror of Passage stood proudly guarded by these stones.
The dragons flew low, preparing to land, and I wasn’t concerned about being spotted in Althenia as this island was free land, not ruled over by any of the four High Celestials and uninhabited by mortal creatures.
North Star was where Drystan had planned to take me to cross realms through the artifact called the Mirror of Passage. It had taken a long time to discover its existence when I was searching for a way back to my birth realm. Leaving was the only solution I had left to give Astraea a chance to rebuild her world when she returned to land, but it seemed fate wasn’t done with our story yet.
I had allowed myself to be tricked by my father instead, when he claimed to take me to the passage, only to trap me behind a veil under the castle’s library where I remained a long, torturous century before Astraea came back to land. My father’s mind was strong and guarded against my ability to infiltrate them, but that wasn’t what had kept the knowledge of the passage from me. He’d found a mage capable of wiping small parts of memory, and he’d erased the location of the mirror, knowing if I found it, I could leave him anytime.
It was Drystan who had finally discovered the mage our father went to all that time ago and found the location of the mirror in North Star. Unfortunately for me, it wasafterI had been tricked into imprisonment, and Drystan despised me, dangling that knowledge before me when I was helpless to act. Then Astraea came back, and I couldn’t deny a selfish part of me was glad I’d never found out where the passage was… the moment I saw her I knew I would watch cities burn and worlds collapse to keep her this time.
As soon as we landed, a sense of magick and dread tightened my skin. We dismounted at the same time, but all of our attention fixed on the temple between the sentinel stones.
“As pretty as this place is, I have a real chilling feeling,” Nadia said, rubbing her arms.
It had nothing to do with the temperature that froze the surrounding grass and clouded their breath. The sight was breathtaking, and for a moment I was distracted by the thought of how Astraea would adore this place.
It wasn’t me who was arrogant enough to stroll nonchalantly between the ancient stones toward the temple. My body tensed watching Nadia as if she might slam into an invisible shield against outsiders, but she made it right to the doors, which we all now noticed were ajar.
“We’re not alone,” Drystan said. Still, he headed confidently toward Nadia.
It had been wishful thinking that we’d arrive before our father to intercept this dire plan, but we might not be too late to stop him from completing it.
The metallic scent of blood drifted to us immediately past the threshold. The beauty of the outside was now tainted in sin.
At the end of the dark passage, the oppressive shadows fell away, and the space opened into a spectacular hall that seemed to breathe with life. The ceiling soared high above, an intricate mosaic of stone and light filtering down through narrow skylights, creating dapples of gold across the floor. Towering pillars stretched upward like ancient trees, their surfaces alive with climbing greenery that wound around them in an elegant embrace.
In the center of the round space, the shard of mirror loomed impossibly large, a jagged monolith of gleaming silver that caught and fractured the light into shards of brilliance. It stood embedded in the earth, its thinnest edge driven deep into the stone as if it had pierced the ground like a celestial blade. Despite its violent arrival, the surface remained eerily smooth, unmarred by cracks or imperfections, as though it defied the laws of nature itself.
The sight it reflected charged so much emotion through the air, brewing a storm of potent rage and dread.
My father turned to us from staring into the ethereal mirror; his smile spread cruelly, expectant.
“Ah, both my sons reunited with me at last,” he drawled. Every note of his voice raked over my skin like knives, itching a near blinding need to slash his throat so he couldn’t utter another word.
“This plan is madness,” I said, tracking him carefully as I got closer.
He wasn’t alone. A man and woman were on their knees at his feet. They were the source of the metallic sting in the air as they bled onto the stone, each sending a thin river of crimson running through the uneven ground as if it raced to be drunk by the colossal mirror.
A small band of vampires lingered in the corners of the room, but I was confident I could shatter their minds if they moved an inch.
That was until I felt a barrier to my ability and realized this place had to be guarded against magick abilities being used within.
My fists tightened as I recalculated. It would take more physical effort to eliminate them, a little more time, but getting to unleash the growing fury in my body physically might be somewhat relieving.
“I see you broke the gods’ curse, Rainyte. It’s no matter; Dusk and Dawn will achieve a more permanent solution with you when they walk among us.”
“Does being your sons mean nothing to you?” Drystan yelled, a fraction of his broken child’s heart slipping through.
Drystan and I aren’t his only sons.
In my deep dream state… I didn’t know whether to believe that the vivid memories I had when I awoke were just dreams, or if I had, by some miracle, travelled back to my birth realm in that time I was cursed by Dusk and Dawn.
I realized with a skip in my chest that I didn’t need to walk through that mirror to have my answer when I discovered…
“You have another son,” I stated, watching my father’s every flicker of reaction. “One you left behind when you brought me here.”
There it was. Confirmation in the narrowing of his eyes that was neither confusion nor denial… it was surprised accusation.
I’d never felt this kind of beat in my chest. Nerves, I thought, clashing with disappointment. “Not with my mother but another woman before her. That son wasn’t powerful enough for you, was he? Do you want to know what became of him?”
