The reflector moved like liquid mercury, its faceless head twisting as it studied me. Not with eyes—it had none—but with some other sense that made my skin crawl. My heart hammered against my ribs, each pulse sending hot blood rushing through my veins.
"Move!" I shouted, backing toward the fire. "We've got company!"
Laina's bow sang, an arrow materializing from nowhere to punch through the reflector's shoulder. The creature didn't flinch, didn't bleed—the arrow stuck there like it had been embedded in ice.
A second reflector slid from between the trees, then a third, their mirror-skin catching moonlight and fire in equal measure, creating a disorienting light show around us. They moved with unnatural grace, flowing rather than walking.
"Did you just summon these things by yelling at them?" Joran's voice remained level despite the tension in his shoulders. He drew a second knife from his belt, spinning it once before settling into a fighting stance.
"Yeah, clearly this is my fault," I shot back, gripping the twin daggers tighter. Frostbite hummed with cold energy in my right hand while Heartseeker pulsed warm in my left. "Next time I'll let them sneak up and touch us while we sleep."
The first reflector lunged forward, impossibly fast. I sidestepped, slashing with Heartseeker. The blade connected, carving a thin line across the creature's chest. No blood flowed—instead, a wisp of steam rose from the wound, and the reflector recoiled as if burned.
Right. They're vulnerable to heat.
"Laina! They don't like heat!" I called, already moving to intercept the second reflector as it glided toward Joran.
She didn't waste breath answering. Instead, she dropped her bow, grabbed a burning branch from the fire, and swung it in a wide arc that forced the nearest reflector back. In the same motion, she pulled a short hunting knife from her belt, putting the metal in the fire.
"Circle them toward the fire!" Joran shouted, dancing backward as a reflector's claws missed his face by inches. "Don't let them separate us!"
I slashed at the reflector pursuing me, Heartseeker leading. The blade glowed with a faint crimson light now, and where it cut, the reflector's mirror-skin seemed to melt. The creature hissed—the first sound any of them had made.
The third reflector circled wide, trying to flank us. I tracked it with my peripheral vision while parrying a strike from the one I'd wounded. Its claws scraped against Frostbite's blade, the sound setting my teeth on edge.
"Joran, behind you!"
He dropped flat without looking, the reflector's strike passing overhead. In the same motion, he rolled, slashing at its legs. His knife struck, but the blade skidded off the reflector's skin.
My reflector pressed its advantage, forcing me to give ground. Each movement felt sluggish, my muscles already tired from the day's ride. Frostbite grew colder in my hand, the hilt numbing my fingers. I switched tactics, using it to block while attacking with Heartseeker.
The reflector surged forward, one crystalline hand reaching for my throat. I twisted away, but its fingers grazed my neck.
Cold. Deeper than ice, deeper than winter itself—a cold that reached straight for my soul. My breath caught, lungs seizing.
Fuck that's bad.
I drove Heartseeker into the reflector's side, the blade sinking deep. The creature convulsed, steam rising from the wound. It tried to pull away, but I twisted the dagger, feeling resistance like I was cutting through half-frozen meat.
"They're trying to drain us!" I gasped, yanking Heartseeker free. "Don't let them touch you!"
Laina had abandoned the burning branch, which now lay smoldering on the snow. She moved with shocking speed for someone her size, knife flashing as she harried a reflector toward the fire. Her face was locked in fierce concentration, no fear visible.
"These things killed my father," she snarled, ducking under a swipe of crystalline claws. "They don't get to take anyone else."
Joran had recovered his footing and now circled his opponent warily. He'd pulled something from his coat—a small pouch that he held in his off-hand.
"Isaiah, get yours closer to me!" he called, never taking his eyes off the reflector.
I didn't question him. I maneuvered my reflector toward Joran's position, careful to keep out of its reach. My neck still burned with cold where it had touched me, the sensation spreading like poison through my veins.
Heartseeker grew warmer in my hand, almost uncomfortably hot now. The blade's crimson glow intensified, as if responding to the freezing touch of the reflector. Steam rose from my palm where it contacted the hilt.
The reflector and I reached Joran, who had backed to the edge of our campsite. In one smooth motion, he threw the contents of his pouch at both reflectors—a fine powder that hung in the air between us.
"Close your eyes!" he shouted.
I squeezed my eyes shut just as a flash of intense light erupted. Even through closed lids, it burned like midday sun. A high-pitched keening filled the air—the reflectors screaming.
When I opened my eyes, the reflectors were disoriented, their mirror-surfaces rippling as if disturbed. Joran didn't hesitate, driving his knife toward the nearest one's throat. This time, the blade sank in, though not deeply.
"Phosphorus powder," he explained. "They hate light almost as much as heat."
My reflector recovered quickly, lunging at me with renewed fury. I crossed the daggers, catching its claws between them. Frostbite's cold and Heartseeker's heat created a strange resonance where they met, a vibration that traveled up my arms and settled in my chest.
The reflector pushed harder, its faceless head inches from mine. I could see my own strained expression reflected back at me, distorted like in a carnival mirror.
"Little help here!" I grunted, arms trembling with effort.
Laina appeared behind the reflector, her knife driving down into the base of its skull. The blade didn't penetrate far, but the creature arched backward. I seized the opening, driving Heartseeker up under its chin. The heated blade sank in deep this time, and the reflector went rigid.
Steam poured from the wound, then from its mouth, eyes, ears—every orifice of its mirror-face. The creature shuddered once, then collapsed into a puddle of rapidly freezing liquid.
"One down," I panted, already turning to help the others.
Joran was holding his own, but barely. His reflector had adapted to his fighting style, mirroring his movements with unnatural precision. Each time he struck, it parried and countered, forcing him further from the fire's protective light.
Laina had backed her opponent to the very edge of the promontory. The reflector teetered on the brink, arms windmilling as it fought to keep its balance. With a fierce cry, she charged, driving her shoulder into its chest. The reflector toppled backward, disappearing over the edge. A distant splash confirmed its fall into the river below.
I moved to help Joran, but staggered as a wave of dizziness hit me. My vision tunneled, black edges creeping inward. Heartseeker's heat had intensified to a burning agony, while Frostbite's cold numbed my entire right arm.
They're draining me.
The daggers were drawing energy from my body—heat from one side, cold from the other. The imbalance was tearing me apart.
I forced myself forward, raising Heartseeker. The reflector attacking Joran sensed my approach and spun to face me, its mirror-surface rippling with strange patterns.
"Its weakness is in the center of its chest," Joran called, blood streaming from a cut above his eye. "There's a darker spot—like a core."
I saw it now—a faint discoloration in the center of the reflector's torso, slightly darker than the surrounding mirror-skin. Heartseeker seemed to pulse in response, the crimson glow brightening.
The dagger was guiding my hand.
I let it lead, my arm moving almost independently of my will. The reflector lunged, claws extended. I didn't dodge—instead, I stepped into the attack, Heartseeker driving straight for that darker spot.
The blade sank in to the hilt. The reflector froze, its claws inches from my face. Heat surged up my arm from Heartseeker, so intense I nearly dropped the dagger. The reflector's surface began to melt, rivulets of liquid running down its body.
It made that strange keening sound again, higher and more desperate than before. Then it shattered—not melting like the first, but breaking into thousands of mirror-shards that fell like deadly rain around me.
I collapsed to one knee, both daggers now painfully hot in my hands. My heart raced so fast I could barely distinguish individual beats, just a continuous roar of blood in my ears. Sweat poured down my face despite the freezing air.
"Isaiah!" Laina was suddenly beside me, her hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"
I tried to answer, but my tongue felt swollen in my mouth. The world tilted sideways, then righted itself. Through blurred vision, I saw Joran approach, his face grim.
"The daggers are killing him," he said matter-of-factly. "They're drawing too much energy."
"What do we do?" Laina's voice sounded distant, underwater.
"He needs to release them."
I understood what he meant, though the concept was difficult to grasp through the fog filling my mind.
Come on Isiah, lock in.
I focused on the daggers, on the connection between us. I pictured them fading, returning to that nowhere-space where they waited between summonings.
Nothing happened. If anything, they clung tighter, Frostbite now burning cold while Heartseeker scorched my palm.
"Can't," I managed to gasp. "Won't let go."
Joran knelt beside me, his face uncomfortably close. "Listen to me. Those blades are artifacts—old magic. They're hungry after being dormant so long. You need to assert control."
"How?" The word came out as a croak.
"They're extensions of you, not the other way around." His voice was calm, instructional. "Remind them who's in charge."
I closed my eyes, focusing inward. The daggers had their own presence, their own will—Frostbite cold and defensive, Heartseeker hot and aggressive. They weren't just tools; they were alive in some fundamental way.
But they were mine.
I concentrated on that fact, pushing my awareness into the blades. I am your wielder. You serve me, not the reverse.
The resistance was immediate—both daggers flared with renewed intensity, pain shooting up my arms. But I didn't back down. I pushed harder, forcing my will against theirs.
Enough. Serve me and I will make you known throughout the universe. That is a promise.
That bell sound rung again in my ear and gradually, the heat and cold receded. The daggers' energies stabilized, finding a balance that no longer tore at my body. When I opened my eyes, both blades glowed with a steady, manageable light—Frostbite blue, Heartseeker red.
"That's it," Joran said, satisfaction evident in his tone. "Now send them away."
This time, when I pictured the daggers returning to their resting place, they complied. The weight vanished from my hands, leaving behind angry red burns on my left palm and bluish frostbite on my right.
I slumped forward, exhaustion hitting me hard. Laina caught me before I face-planted in the snow.
"Easy," she said, helping me sit back. "Breathe."
I sucked in a ragged breath, then another. My heartbeat gradually slowed to something approaching normal. The world stopped spinning, colors and shapes returning to proper focus.
Something didn't add up.
Through my hazy eyes, I looked at Joran.
"How the hell did you know what to do?"