Chapter 3: Teeth and Trouble
The creature lunged.
Noah's survival instincts screamed something between Run! and Scream like a small child! He did both, scrambling backward until his foot caught on a root and he fell on his butt.
Lyra didn't flinch. She lifted her hand, and the glowing runes on her coat spread like living fire, crawling over her arms. The floating orb zipped to her side, projecting spinning glyphs in midair.
The monster hissed again—its voice sounded like nails dragged across a chalkboard—and then it leapt.
Lyra moved faster than Noah thought possible. She slashed the air with her fingers, and a blade of blue light erupted from nothing, slicing across the monster's glass face. The creature shattered, shards spraying in every direction like black ice—but instead of falling, the shards hovered, trembling.
"Stay back!" Lyra shouted.
"Wasn't planning on doing anything else!" Noah yelled from the ground.
The hovering shards twisted and fused back together, forming the creature again—but now its face looked like Noah's reflection, screaming.
Noah froze. "Okay… that's not okay. Why does it look like me?!"
"Because it feeds on you," Lyra said through gritted teeth. "Mirror phantoms copy the weakest thing they see."
"Wow, thanks for the confidence boost!" Noah said, half-panicked, half-offended.
The creature darted forward again. Lyra tried to block, but the thing's claws raked across her coat, sparks flying. She cursed in some language Noah didn't recognize.
"Do something, Veilwalker!" she barked.
"Like what?!" Noah shouted. "I don't even know where I am!"
"The coin!" she snapped, pointing at his hand.
Noah looked down. The silver coin burned cold against his palm, the rune on its surface glowing faintly.
He stood up shakily, clutching it. "What—what am I supposed to do?!"
"Think power! Push it through the coin!" Lyra shouted.
"That's not helpful!"
The monster lunged again—straight at him. Noah screamed, holding the coin up like a pathetic shield.
And then it happened.
The rune exploded with light. A shockwave of silver energy blasted from the coin, ripping through the air. The monster screeched, its glassy face cracking, and then it shattered—this time for good. The shards dissolved into black smoke.
The forest went quiet.
Noah stood frozen, arm still outstretched, coin glowing faintly. "…Did I just—did I kill that thing?"
Lyra walked over, brushing dust from her coat. "Not bad, rookie. You didn't die."
"Yeah, but what was that? And why did my hand just go nuclear?"
Lyra tilted her head at him, studying him with those strange silver eyes. "The coin's a Veilkey. It's bonded to you now. It can cut through the fabric of the Veil… if you don't accidentally blow yourself up with it first."
"Comforting. Love that for me," Noah muttered.
They continued walking through the twisted forest. Noah kept the coin clenched in his fist like it might run away.
"So, let me get this straight," Noah said. "I fall through a magic mirror, nearly get murdered by a nightmare made of broken glass, and now I'm… what? Some kind of Chosen One?"
Lyra laughed. "Chosen? No. The Veil doesn't choose—it eats. You just survived falling through it, which makes you dangerous enough to be useful."
"…Cool. Thanks for the pep talk."
She smirked. "You'll get used to it. Or you'll die. Either way, less complaining."
The forest began to thin. Beyond the last row of twisted trees lay something that looked like a city—except the buildings floated, stacked on top of each other like blocks being rearranged by an invisible hand. Bridges of light connected the structures, and giant rings of fire circled in the sky like slow, glowing gears.
"Welcome to the Edge City," Lyra said. "Last stop before the Void eats you alive."
Noah stared. "This… this looks like someone dropped a video game and a nightmare blendered together."
"Good description," Lyra said. "Come on. The others will want to see you."
"The others?" Noah asked nervously. "Wait. There are more of you?"
"Veilwalkers," she said. "A few of us are left. We keep the things on the other side from crossing over to your world."
Noah frowned. "Why do I get the feeling I just joined a really bad unpaid internship?"
Lyra smirked. "Because you have."