"I've heard it said once, that all the world hangs on a thread and if only that thread was snapped, the rest would unravel." Gloria's voice echoed across the stone walls. "What do you think?"

"I think you've already made your mind up with this question." I shivered. Dragging open the heavy double doors, we walked into the room at the top of the tower. Stepping over the bodies of the slain, blood still painted across the floor. Not long since I was here with Carrick. The dead untouched by forgers. Even the animals stayed away from this place.

Gloria snapped her fingers, stopping in the center of the room. "The age of immortality, that's the phrase I was thinking of. One of the teachers my father brought in talked of such an age. Red-faced and shouting, he was removed from the palace, but his words stuck with me." My hands shook, violet shivers running down my body. Stepping up to the circle, covered by a sheet, I pulled it away. The room filling with light, the glow held my gaze.

Gloria hummed, "If you could kill mortality itself, what would remain?"

My breathing echoed through the room, my reflection the same deathly aurora. This was the cost of playing God. This was on my head

"What if all that remains is nothing?" I coughed, my lungs burning.

"Do you think everything is mortal, Alex? Can't you see we're standing on the cusp of something great?"

No...I can't. I didn't know how to convince her.

Gloria reached into my pocket, wielding Avis's dagger. The strange rock the blade between my hands. "It's called elemental-ore. Made from the bedrock beneath the foundation. It's the only material that can interact with the gateway. The dagger, the lock, and the key are all made from it." She flipped the dagger in my hand, stabbing it into the mirror. Sparks exploded, shooting from the incision.

"What- is- this-?" I hissed, heat burning on my palm.

"You need to be free from it's view, free from the gaze of destiny." Gloria tightening my grip, tracing the knife along my image. "Otherwise it will resist."

"Resist?" I rasped. Completing the outline, the dagger dropping to the floor. "Nothing wants to die."

A shadow moved behind me, I tried to turn my head. "Gloria?"

"Don't worry, I see him," she hissed. "He's not as stealthy as he thinks."

Carrick stepped out from behind a bookshelf, another scar along his eyebrow. "I'm getting jealous, you seem to know more about the gateway than I do."

It's over. Relief rushed over me. He would stop her.

"The fire outside the city," Gloria stole my voice, "that was you."

Carrick grinned. "Well I knew you'd come back, all I needed was patience." He stepped closer, a gleam in his eye. "Your determination is admirable, Princess, but Alexander is fading."

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"Just take one more step," she threatened, reaching my arm to the top of the mirror. His eyes wide, lunging after me. Gloria threw the gateway down. The seamless glass crashed into water, spinning into a raging torrent. I jumped back, gaping at the waters. Solid to liquid. Blinking at the memorizing mess of colours, I held my breath.

Carrick swung himself away. He took a breath, eyes wide. "I may not know how this all works, but I do know you're losing time. There's an army coming."

"You're right, you don't know how this works," Gloria snapped.

Carrick straightened his posture. "Then illuminate me, I want to know." The gleam returned to his eye. Gloria smiled. Oh no...

"No...Carrick, wait," I croaked, my voice strained. I should've known. The look in his eye was the same when he looked at the gateway, when ranted about magic. He wasn't here to stop her. Carrick didn't care about consequences, he only cared about knowledge, the unanswerable question. This is just another experiment.

Gloria laughed, "So you want me to spill my guts, till the soldier's spill Alex's. A new low, Carrick."

"That's a serious accusation." He raised his hands. "...I may be able to stall the guards, but I need a reason." His lips curled up in a smile."How does one end the world?"

"Please, if you ever loved me at all…"

Gloria paced around the whirlpool. Carrick walking around the opposite end, a sliver of fear in his eyes. She sighed, "If you stand back, you can watch."

"As you wish." He took a step back, raising his hands.

"I'm sorry, Alex." She knelt down beside the churning water, reaching into the torrent. Stinging like needles, I gasped at the burning cold. My fingers numb, fishing through. She latched onto something, pulling up a rusted padlock. "This is more important," she said. My hand trembling, I held onto it. Water dripped to the floor, returning to the whirlpool.

"I seem to remember you left the key here?" Gloria looked up. Carrick nodded, shuffling through fallen papers, he held up to the light. I tried to move my fingers, drifting mercilessly. Carrick tossed the key, caught in my hand. I could only watch, only watch...as the world burned.

The click of the lock, followed by the screams of a thousand souls. Seething pain, I grimaced, grinding my teeth. "You can hear that?" Gloria asked. I nodded, swallowing the nausea. Gloria eased her grip. "Just a step from death's door..." she whispered, slipping the key around our neck.

"What?" Carrick blinked.

"Nothing, just pass me a flask, or a bottle," she ordered.

Carrick scattered, shuffling through shelves. He pulled a glass bottle, inching his way over. "Will this work?"

Gloria took it, unscrewing the lid. "Yes, just fine." Setting it down on the floor, she walked around the gateway. Lifting the edge of the gateway, she tipped it at an angle. The shining liquid poured into the jar. Carrick slack-jawed, he leaned closer.

The circle disappeared into the tiny glass. A chaotic spin of colours, unstable the movement changed. Gloria snatched the jar, tightening the lid. So bright, I couldn't stare at it. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she mused, slipping the jar in my pocket. The glow bled through the fabric, a strange hum coming from it. I don't want this in my pocket. Afraid it would shatter, and pull me into its volatile current.

Carrick strutted over, arms above his head. "This is incredible, how did you figure this out? Fit the whole gateway in a flask! You could take it anywhere. This changes everything," he shouted, stopping in front of the window.

My eyes were drawn out the window. A tower across this one, light in the window, a silhouette, crouched on the ledge. The candlelight shone over their eyes, red eyes. "Carrick!" I yelped. Startled confusion across his face. I leaped towards him, shoving him away from the window. The whiz of an arrow, past my eyes. It hit smack dead in Carrick's shoulder. He screamed, staggering back.

Turning my heel, I was dead in the archer's aim. I flung myself away, the arrow skimming my side. The closed wound sliced open, fresh blood soaking through my shirt. Shit. I gawked at the wound, fingers covered in blood. Carrick kept screaming, my vision hazy. Blood dripped down my torso.

"You better get moving, Alex."