Chapter 58 – The Mirror of Doubt
The passage beyond the choir's chamber narrowed into a winding corridor, the walls lined with polished crystal so smooth they reflected their images back at them. Unlike the jagged shards of the labyrinth, these surfaces were deliberate—crafted, almost sacred.
Kyle slowed, his shard humming uneasily. His own reflection wavered in the crystal, shifting slightly out of sync with his movements. It smiled faintly even though he did not.
Seris noticed first. "The reflections aren't ours." She raised a dagger warily, pointing it toward the wall. Her mirrored double tilted its head in mockery, then mimicked her movement a second too late.
Liora's staff pulsed faintly as she extended a resonance scan. "This chamber is alive. The mirrors are fragment constructs—anchors for illusions tied directly to our thoughts."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Then this must be the Mirror of Doubt. I've heard of it. Explorers said it doesn't test strength or skill, but conviction. It shows you what you fear most… or who you might become."
Kyle's chest tightened at the words. His shard pulsed erratically, reacting to the chamber's influence. He swallowed, bracing himself.
As they moved deeper, the mirrors multiplied. Reflections filled every angle, every surface. At first, they were familiar, merely copying their movements with slight delay. But soon, the distortions began.
Kyle's reflection sneered back at him, its shard pulsing with dark energy, jagged and unstable. "You'll lose control," it whispered, though Kyle's lips never moved. "You'll destroy them all. You know it."
Kyle staggered, heart pounding. "No… that's not me."
But the reflection leaned closer in the crystal, its eyes gleaming with malice. "Isn't it? Every time the shard grows stronger, you struggle to contain it. Every time you use it, you risk losing yourself. One day, you won't hold back—and they'll pay the price."
Seris hissed sharply as her own double stepped out of the mirror. This one dripped with shadows, daggers slick with unseen blood. "You're nothing but a killer," it said. "You pretend it's for survival, but deep down, you love the silence after the strike. You can't deny it."
Seris lunged at it with a snarl, but her blade passed through the reflection, which only laughed. She grit her teeth, trembling with fury.
Liora's double emerged next, radiant and cold. "You play the healer, the wise one," it said with a cruel smile, "but your guidance is arrogance. You don't save them—you bind them. You need them to fail so you can play savior."
Liora flinched, clutching her staff tighter, though her lips pressed into a firm line.
Kael's reflection was the last to manifest, stepping free of the mirror with his sword already raised. But it looked older, scarred, and its armor was cracked. "You'll fail them," it said bluntly. "You're too rigid, too proud. You'll make the wrong call, and when you do, they'll die. Just like before. Just like all the others."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Not this time."
The chamber trembled. The reflections stepped fully out of the mirrors, now solid, tangible—dark doubles animated by fragment energy. The real group found themselves encircled by twisted versions of themselves, each radiating doubt, fear, and malice.
Kyle's shard pulsed in distress. He forced himself to steady it, whispering, "They're illusions. Constructs of fear. We can beat them."
But his darker double laughed, a cruel sound. "Illusions? Or truths you refuse to face?"
The battle erupted.
Seris darted at her shadow self, blades clashing in a deadly dance of speed and precision. But every move she made was anticipated—her double fought with identical skill, forcing her into a mirror match.
Liora's double struck with overwhelming waves of resonance, twisting her own harmonic spells into painful dissonance. Each clash reverberated painfully through her bones, leaving her gasping for focus.
Kael battled himself blade to blade, each strike a contest of raw willpower. His reflection taunted him with every clash: "Too slow. Too soft. Too predictable."
And Kyle faced his own double, shard against shard. The false Kyle radiated unstable, chaotic power, its pulses like jagged lightning. "You can't win," it whispered in Kyle's voice. "Because I am you—unleashed."
Their clash sent shockwaves through the chamber, crystal mirrors cracking from the force of the resonance.
The fight dragged on, brutal and unrelenting. No matter how hard they struck, the doubles adapted, countering every move. It was like fighting themselves stripped of restraint and fear.
Kyle staggered as his double pressed harder, overwhelming him with raw power. The shard in his chest pulsed painfully, almost in sympathy with the reflection's chaos.
"You want control," the double hissed, slamming a pulse into him that sent him crashing to the floor. "But deep down, you want freedom more. You want to stop holding back. You want to unleash it all and see the world burn."
Kyle groaned, struggling to rise. The words cut deeper than any blow.
But then Kael's voice rang out through the chaos. "They're not us. They're what the labyrinth wants us to believe. Doubts. Shadows. Lies. We decide who we are!"
His words cut through the haze, steadying Kyle's mind.
Liora's voice joined, strong despite her exhaustion. "Conviction is our weapon. Not their lies. Harmonize—together!"
Seris snarled, breaking free of her double's lock. "Then let's kill the doubts."
Kyle sucked in a sharp breath, forcing himself to focus. He pulsed his shard not with fear or rage, but with clarity. A steady rhythm, strong and calm. The resonance spread to the others, aligning them. Their pulses, strikes, and wills synchronized.
The reflections faltered.
Kael's blade pierced through his double's chest, shattering it into fragments of light.
Seris outmaneuvered hers with renewed clarity, her daggers finding the precise mark.
Liora's harmony overwhelmed her shadow's dissonance, dissolving it in a burst of radiant light.
And Kyle—Kyle faced his reflection one last time.
The dark double sneered, its power flaring. "You can't silence me. I am the truth you hide."
Kyle met its gaze steadily, shard pulsing in calm unity. "No. You're only a possibility. I decide who I am."
He unleashed a final, resonant pulse, harmonized perfectly with his allies. The chamber rang like a struck bell, and the dark Kyle shattered into shards of fading light.
Silence followed. The cracked mirrors stilled, their surfaces once again reflecting true images.
Kyle panted, sweat dripping down his brow. His shard glowed softly, no longer erratic. "We… did it."
Liora's expression softened, though her eyes remained weary. "The Mirror of Doubt sought to break our conviction. But together, we proved stronger than the shadows."
Seris sheathed her daggers with a scoff, though her eyes betrayed relief. "I'll admit it—I almost lost myself back there. But… thanks."
Kael nodded firmly, resting his blade on his shoulder. "We'll face worse yet. But doubt will not be what breaks us."
At the center of the chamber, where the final reflection fell, a fragment remained—clear, sharp, and resonating with steady calm. Kyle picked it up, feeling its harmony ease the weight on his mind.
"A Fragment of Conviction," Liora murmured. "Rare indeed. It will strengthen your will against illusions."
Kyle tucked it carefully away, his chest lighter than before.
A new passage opened at the far wall, leading deeper into the labyrinth. The air beyond pulsed faintly, as though alive.
Kael glanced at the others, his expression resolute. "Then forward. Always forward."
Kyle stepped beside him, shard glowing in quiet harmony. For the first time, the doubts that once gnawed at his mind felt distant, silenced by the bond they had forged.
The Mirror of Doubt had tried to break them with shadows. Instead, it had only proven their light.