The shadow-things lingered at the broken mirror's edge, half-formed, their bodies swaying like smoke in a slow wind. They didn't advance. They only watched.
Daniel's hands trembled as he clutched the crystal tighter against his chest. Its glow had softened, but the thrum beneath his palms was restless, as though it recognized the things beyond the glass.
Commander Hayes raised a hand. "We keep moving. Do not break formation. Eyes forward."
The crew obeyed, slipping back beneath the trees, each step a struggle against the crushing silence that followed them. The forest had changed. What once glowed faintly now pulsed in rhythm with their heartbeats. Branches curled downward, almost touching their helmets as if listening.
Dr. Marquez whispered, "It's not just the crystal. The forest is alive. It's aware."
Okafor kicked at a twisted root, his voice low and rough. "Alive or not, it bleeds fear into my skin. I can't… I can't shake it."
They walked on, the path narrowing. Strange symbols appeared on the trees—spirals, jagged lines, curves that seemed to shift when they blinked. None of them recognized the script, yet Daniel felt a pull toward it, as if the marks had been carved just for him.
"Wait." He stopped, brushing his fingers against the grooves. The instant his skin touched the bark, his vision blurred.
---
The Glimpse
He was no longer in the forest. He stood in a vast hall of stone, towering pillars stretching into shadow. The cloaked figure waited at the far end, hand extended. The crystal in Daniel's chest vibrated violently, answering the call.
A voice entered his mind—this time softer, almost tender.
"You are the key. The bridge. Without you, their world ends. Without you, yours does too."
Daniel gasped and stumbled back, tearing his hand from the bark. His crewmates surrounded him instantly.
"Daniel!" Marquez's hands gripped his shoulders. "What happened?"
"I… I saw it. The figure. It—" He swallowed hard. "It said I'm the key. That both worlds… depend on me."
The others exchanged uneasy glances. No one spoke for a long moment.
---
The River of Glass
They pushed deeper into the forest, until the trees thinned and gave way to a river. But this was no water. The current shimmered like molten glass, flowing soundlessly across black soil. Shapes drifted within it—faces, hands, entire bodies flickering in and out as though caught between realities.
Marquez's breath hitched. "That's not water… that's memory."
Okafor crouched near the bank but didn't touch it. "Whose memory?"
Before anyone could answer, the river spoke. Not in words, but in echoes of their own voices. Daniel heard himself screaming from hours ago when the cavern collapsed. Marquez heard her father's laugh. Hayes stiffened, hearing a battlefield long buried in silence.
The current pulled their secrets into sound.
Hayes stepped back, jaw tight. "We're leaving. Now."
But the crystal pulsed again, pointing them across the river, deeper still.
Daniel raised his eyes. "We can't turn back. Whatever's pulling us here… it's not finished."
And as they stared at the river of glass, the shadow-things appeared again—this time, not behind the mirror, but across the current, waiting patiently as if guiding them further inside the wound between worlds.