“What do you make of that?” Temperance asked her shadow, gesturing towards the towering mountain covered in indistinct haze in the distance. It dominated her vision, yet somehow managed to remain unseen until just a minute ago.

               “I’m not sure,” replied her shadow with a raspy chuckle, “the same as you, I would imagine.” Still mimicking her movements, as a shadow should, it gave off the air of indecision. “Do you want me to take a look?”

Temperance smiled. “No, I think I shall keep you with me. Talking to my shadow might be crazy, but this place is crazier. No telling what could happen if we separated, or even if we could meet back up. Thanks though.”

She looked around, soaking in the scenery as she tried to remember quite how she got to this… plane. The scratchy purple grass seemed to grasp at her ankles with every step and rising out of the ground like a zombie reaching from the grave, stunted, red trees adorned the plains without rhyme or reason. Despite the lack of a visible light source, Temperance could see just fine, though the pooled shadows seemed a bit darker, a bit more sinister.

“Nope, no idea.” She shrugged and picked up her pace.

               “No idea about what?” asked her shadow.

               “About how I got here. Last thing I remember was walking into my closet to pick out clothes. All I know is I feel like I’m being pulled to that mountain there… assuming that’s what that is.” Temperance sighed before scrunching her face into a frown. “I hope this isn’t some hero bullshit — gather the three sacred relics, slay the evil dragon, save the princess and/or kingdom. I don’t really have the patience for that.”

Her shadow gave a hearty laugh. “You’re a riot, you know that? You crack me up.” It began to split down the middle, then mimed zipping itself back up. “Anyway, you just need to climb to the top and-”

               “No, hold on a second. Can we go back to the part where you tore yourself apart there?”

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               “Well, I’m not physical, after all.”

They continued in silence for a short while; time blends when there was no change in scenery or lighting. “So? What do I have to do once I get up there?”

               “… I can’t tell you.”

               “You can’t tell me? Weren’t you just about to?”

               “Yes, but I was stopped. Just as you were urged to speak up. Don’t ask any more. I can’t tell you about it, just as I can’t warn you about the shadows of the trees. Now keep climbing.” Having given up its complete mimicry, it shakes its head and points forward.

               “What?!” Temperance looked down, only to find herself on opaque, craggy stone. “What the hell just happened?” she peered ahead, her vision hampered by the oppressive fog she noticed from farther away. Nothing grew here, just strangely shaped rock, becoming more indistinct, the farther out it was.

               “The more I tell you, the harder it will be. Just climb. Think only of reaching the top.” His voice was as wispy as the air it travels through.

Taking her shadow’s words to heart, Temperance threw all her frustration into the climb. “Giving me a climb, will you?” she muttered, “I’ll show you. With your lack-of-sun and zombie plants.” Her tone raises. “So help me! I will make it to the top of this goddamn mountain, no matter how tall it is. And I will smash whatever is waiting for me up there!” As her focus and volume increase, the stones become more distinct, almost glowing with an ethereal radiance. “SCREW YOUR RULES, I WANT TO BE AT THE TOP.”

With knuckles still white from gripping black stone, she suddenly found herself standing on a plateau, with stairs leading up to a temple waiting for her. “…Oh. Well, that was unexpected.”

Her shadow curls out from under her feet, forming up into a silhouette, gaining depth. “Enter and choose, if you wish to leave,” he proclaims, his booming voice echoing over the plateau.

               “What about you?” Still high on her adrenaline rush, she shifts from foot to foot.

               “I am not from your world; therefore, I cannot ‘return’ to it.” He gave an approximation of a sad smile.

               “Nah, Fuck that. You’re coming with.” Dashing forward, she grabbed him like a football and continued into the temple. The mountain slowly bleeds back into mist, till nothing is left but a lone archway.