A Reflection's Tale

9 - Feathery Shadows

After a few minutes of silent crying, Lyra felt a little better and decided to go for help. She climbed down the ladder and walked through the forest, towards the university.

"Lyra?"

"Yeah?" She turned away, hoping her eyes weren't as red as she expected them to be.

It was the black parrot with antlers. "Are you... okay?"

She sighed. "The portal is closed."

"The portal is closed? That's impossible!"

"No. Quintinus Dexter has stolen the mirror in my world and he must have done something to close the portal!"

"You must tell your aunt!"

"Genius. Guess where I'm going."

"Oh."

She walked on, and the parrot followed her.

When Lyra arrived at the University and entered the building, she quickened her steps and almost ran through the hallways, afraid of meeting the weird professor again.

She didn't even knock when she entered her aunt's office, and suppressed a scream when a shadow from the left pushed her to the ground.

"Yuri? Heaven, go away from me!"

The tiger lifted his heavy paws from her body and yawned, showing all his sharp teeth.

"Seems like I wasn't the only one that met Quintinus with the mirror..."

"I wish you a good morning as well, Lyra."

Lyra got up from the ground. "Astriel?"

Her aunt sat behind her desk and gave her a grave look. "Why are you here? What happened?"

"I- the portal- it-" Lyra dropped down on the chair and tried to hold back the tears that burned in her eyes. "Quintinus has the mirror, and he tricked me and made me get dragged into the portal, and now it closed and I cannot go back!"

"A severe case, yeah." Astriel took a deep breath. "If the portal is closed, there's only one possibility. A gatekeeper has to re-open it. And I guess it's closed from your world's side – so only Autumn or your father can open it again."

***

Autumn yelled some curses at Quintinus, still keeping the distance to him. The worst thing that could happen now was her being dragged over as well.

"Ah, stop cursing, that's not fine for young ladies." Quintinus gave her a smile.

Autumn screamed "Fuck you!" for the last time, then walked away a few metres, just into the next room – and then turned around again, slowly gazing around the corner.
Quintinus was laughing and walking down the stairs, towards the back door. Autumn tiptoed outside behind him.

Quintinus had already almost reached his pegagus, which waited for him in a side street. And Autumn saw only one more chance to stop him.

"Stop him!" she screamed from the top of her lungs and hoped that the five would hear her over the noise of the fight. "He has the mirror!"

***

"Lyra", Astriel said, obviously uncomfortable because she didn't really know how to comfort her niece. "You shouldn't sit around here and worry. If Quintinus has the mirror, that means the world will – sooner or later – be mirrored by your modern world! I have a solution, though."

"But can't I just..." Lyra sighed. "Call Autumn and tell her about the portal?"

"I wish it was this easy." Astriel shook her head. "You cannot use your phone from one world to another. In this world, it's a magic system, in your world it's technical."