Land of Smoke and Ashes

Through the Looking Glass

A second later there was a dull thud and Sam danced backward as the dark figure of the creature slumped onto the ground. There was silence for a moment as he stood there, and Natalie wondered if it was really dead. She couldn't see any blood in the darkness, but Sam leaned forward and wiped his blade on the creature's side, so he must have killed it.

"Gwendolin." Natalie's voice was nothing but a dry little whisper, but Sam jerked up, looking around at her, and then at Gwendolin lying slumped at the base of the tree. He crossed the clearing to her, and knelt for a moment. Then stood back up as Gwendolin groaned, offering her a hand to her feet.

"Your head alright?"

Gwendolin groaned again. "Fine."

"Glad to see you're speaking again. I thought they'd broken you."

"So did I."

It was a reunion of sorts, and even though their backs were turned to her and she could barely see them, Natalie felt as if she were intruding. She relaxed slightly when Sam turned away, moving back toward her.

"It's...dead?" Her own voice was hoarse, tight with residual fear.

"It's dead."

The confirmation was a relief, enough that Natalie didn't feel too much like complaining when he took her hand again and began to lead her forward. She might feel like a child being led around but the faster they got out of here the better. She just wanted to get out and never see another one of...whatever that was, again.

"What was that?" She made sure to keep her voice low, just in case any more of those things were within hearing distance.

"That was a Kappa-Bear. They didn't used to be like that. None of this used to be the way it is. You came at a pretty terrible time." His voice was so grim that she didn't ask any further questions.

Clearly something had happened to this place and the people in it. And Sam didn't seem inclined to talk about it. At least, not while they were walking through the deadwoods in danger of being attacked again at any second.

Gwendolin was still keeping pace with them, though she was just behind them on the path now instead of ahead. She seemed to have slowed down after the fight, lost some of her manic energy.

It seemed like hours before Sam's whisper broke the silence.

"We're almost out," he said. "Just another minute or so."

She squinted ahead of them. If they were nearing the edge of the woods it would stand to reason that there would be some break in the gloom. That the darkness would be growing lighter, but she could see nothing. Only more shadows of trees ahead of them.

How was it that the darkness still wasn't pierced by even the thinnest sliver of sunlight?

Again, a shiver dropped down her back. The darkness didn't seem natural, it was so thick. So complete.

"There."

Sam's fingers squeezed her wrist, and she was nearly jerked off her feet as he increased his pace. "The exit, Gwen. Do you see it?"

Gwen must have, because she surged forward, vanishing somewhere ahead of them in the darkness of the trees.

Natalie opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about, to tell him all she could see was more gloom, when she saw it. There, several feet ahead of them and off the left, a pin-prick of light. It was no more than a needle tip, but it was growing bigger as they approached, until it was nearly the size of the palm of her hand. A spot of yellow sunlight that looked out of place in the murky forest. An intruder in danger of being crushed by the weight of darkness.

Sam was moving so fast now that she had to struggle to keep up, but she didn't complain. All she wanted was to reach that patch of sunlight. To step into it and be transported out of this miserable forest. Gwen was several feet ahead, and her breathes were ragged with excitement. How long had she been a captive in that bleak, shadowy town, Natalie wondered. How long since she had stepped into true, golden sunlight?

Moments later they reached the spot, and Gwen went through first, passing through two large trees and into the patch of sunlight, that had grown large and elongated. It was a strange oval shape, like a mirror made of pure light hanging between the trees. At Sam's urging Natalie followed her, holding her breath as she stepped into the sunlight. The moment it hit her skin she felt warmed all over, and the fear, which she realized now had been a constant, cold ache in the pit of her stomach, began to melt away a tiny bit at a time.

Then she was through, and the light on the other side was almost blinding. Again she found herself squinting, shielding her eyes with her hands. Behind her Gwend gave a satisfied sigh, emerging into the light. Sam released his grip on Natalie's wrist and moved back towards the strange portal of sunlight. Natalie's eyes began to adjust, and she turned back, eager to see what it looked like.

It was strange. She could see the shadowy forest beyond the mirror of light. Make out the dim shapes of the trees and the solid black mass the forest created, where no light penetrated. But at the same time, from here it looked strangely blurry. As if she were looking at it through a smudgy window.

Sam moved forward, toward the sphere of light that they had stepped through. He held up one hand, palm toward the light. Something silver flashed in his hand, and the light vanished abruptly. Natalie gaped, first at the space where the portal had been, and then at the space behind it. The black forest was gone.

Of course, there were still trees here, but they were quite normal. Green and alive, and filling the air with the scent of pine.

For the first time since she'd met him, a smile tugged at the corner of Sam's mouth. "Turn around," he said.

Natalie did, and her mouth dropped open even wider. They stood at the edge of the woods, the green, alive woods, and beyond that the clearing spread out nearly as far as the eye could see. It was a sea of purple flowers, acres of lavender that swayed in the breeze.

"I...I dreamed about this place." It was out before she could stop it, and Natalie could feel her face growing hot. She could feel Sam's eyes on her. He probably thought she was a lunatic.

But it was true. This was the place from her dream. This, she inhaled deeply, hardly believing it, was the scent from her dream. The mixture of pine and lavender. And, she realized as Sam stepped closer, and she smelt the campfire smell off his clothing, the combination of all three was precisely what it had been like while she was dreaming.

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