I never thought I'd find myself tiptoeing through a cursed castle in another realm, wearing a magical cloak that apparently could teleport me past armed guards. But there I was. A girl from a museum. A girl who fell through a mirror. Now... a girl on a rescue mission.
The air was cold. The kind that prickles your skin and makes your breath come out in tiny clouds. The hallway ahead was dimly lit with torches, flickering shadows along the stone walls. My hands gripped the edges of the cloak tight like it was my only protection. Maybe it was.
Behind me, Lyra stood calm and sharp-eyed. Her silver-blonde hair shimmered even in the dark, and her cerulean robe still looked royal and untouched by dust. She moved like she belonged here. Like danger was just another Tuesday.
An explosion of blue sparks lit the far end of the corridor. Shouts. The heavy thudding of boots. Horns blowing once. Twice. The guards were moving. The path was clear.
"Okay, okay…" I whispered to myself, clutching the cloak. "Let's do this."
I took off down the hallway.
As I neared the cell doors, I placed my hand on the rune over my chest. "Intentions… clear," I murmured.
The cloak vibrated. Just a soft hum. Then it flickered like water around me, and I phased—literally—through the locked door into the chamber.
About twenty five women sat huddled on the ground. Their eyes widened as they saw me appear from the shadows like some kind of ghost.
"Shhh, it's okay," I whispered, dropping to my knees beside them. "I'm just here to help."
One of the women, a tall redhead with a bruised arm, squinted. "You're… human?"
"Yeah, but we can talk later, okay? We need to move."
I pulled open the latch, and somehow, by some miracle, it wasn't even sealed with magic. One by one, the women followed me out quietly, hiding behind pillars, waiting for Lyra's next signal.
Then it was time to head to the second chamber.
I slipped into the hallway again, heart pounding like a drum. The cloak still flickering over my body.
I took a turn around the next corner—
And ran straight into a wall of red armor.
"Hey!" the guard barked, grabbing my arm.
My breath caught in my throat.
He yanked me forward. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
My mouth opened, but no words came out.
The cloak. It hadn't phased me through the next wall. "Did the magic stop working" I asked myself. Then tried again, and again but nothing happened. With each try my heartbeat increased. Frustration and fear clouded my brain. The magic had stopped working.
"I—I'm a cook," I stammered. "I got lost—"
"Lost?" He narrowed his eyes. "Dressed like this?"
He snatched at my hood and yanked it off. My hair tumbled out in messy waves, my face now fully exposed.
Another guard joined. Then another.
My body trembled.
"Someone alert the captain," one of them said. "She's not one of ours."
I stood frozen. Cold all over. My heart felt like it might burst out of my chest.
I had seconds before everything fell apart.
Seconds before everything went wrong.