Aria walked away from the entrance of the village, her heart heavy with the weight of her decision and the immense responsibility she carried. She understood the task she was meant to fulfill, but a nagging feeling tugged at her from within. It whispered that she shouldn't be running away, that she should be standing beside the young mage Thalia, who was fighting against the entity's control.

Her encounter with Thalia had been brief, but the young mage's determination and bravery had left a deep mark on Aria's soul. She knew she had to leave Serenbrook and seek help from the Silver Tribe, but an inexplicable urge compelled her to return and aid Thalia in their shared struggle. Lost in her thoughts, Aria hesitated, uncertain of her path. And then her feet moved on their own, as she turned to return to the place where the heart was guiding her.

Her eyes were out of focus, yet each step was steady. It was as if some ghostly presence guided her, while her consciousness was blissfully unaware. Slowly, she again stood before the arched entrance to the village. There were no villagers to be seen, all of them probably at the square right now.

*Sizzle*

'Ouch!'

Just when she was going to step forward, returning to the swamp she had left, a burning pain coursed through her and awoke her.

Confused and disoriented, Aria looked at her middle finger. An obsidian ring was glowing on her finger, the source of the burning pain. She quickly took out a quill from her pocket and drew a rune on the ring, calming it down. As she surveyed her condition, she became aware that she had unknowingly walked off towards the entrance. The realization was enough to jolt her mind and clear her confusion. She turned on her heels and bolted away, her heart pounding with the desperate urgency to escape the influence of the ominous presence.

As she ran, an unsettling aura seemed to haunt Aria's every step, a sensation of relentless observation and a dark intent to corrupt her thoughts. She tried to think of a solution and reached into her backpack to retrieve a magical scroll. Hastily tearing it in half, she ignited the parchment, creating a blinding flash. Magic runes surged from the glow, merging with her essence. Briefly enveloped in a radiant aura, she pressed on without pause, relying on the scroll's enchantment to guide her away from the encroaching evil.

Trusting her gut, she took a turn into the forest, her feet finding their way across the mossy forest floor as if guided by an unseen force. The magic of the scroll subtly led her, ensuring her escape from the looming threat. The scroll contained a blessing that specifically repelled evil and dark sources of magic. It would help her to fend off and guide her away from evil. With growing confidence in her scroll's magic and the decrease in pressure from the entity, she found her way through the forest.

The magical scroll she had just utilized was a testament to her expertise as a rune researcher. Unlike mages who cast spells and can conjure magic circles, Aria had delved into the profound world of runes. Runes were the physical manifestation of magic. We used them for communicating with the magic present in nature all around us. Magic scrolls, like the one in her possession, contained circuits of runes that enabled her to accomplish extraordinary feats.

While Aria lacked the immense magical talent for channeling like Thalia, she had honed her skills in the art of runes. The complexities of casting spells and forming intricate magic circles proved insurmountable for her. She had barely managed to reach the apprentice level.

However, her fascination with runes had led her down a different path, one that allowed her to harness their power. In fact, she strongly believed that a rune researcher had the capability of defeating a mage. Provided he had ample resources to prepare in advance.

Magic scrolls were just one manifestation of Aria's expertise in rune manipulation. Stored within her backpack were a myriad of scrolls and gadgets, each with its own unique purpose and set of rules. As long as she could charge these trinkets with magic, she could make use of the to accomplish tasks that paralleled those of mages.

As she continued her hurried trek through the forest, the pressure from the entity's influence grew lighter, making her relax her guard. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, the adrenaline-fueled desperation dropping a notch. Sweat dripped down her brow as she stood still, leaning against a tree. As she stepped forward to continue and find her way out, the world seemed to blur around her, a sudden aura weighing down on her. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the forest floor and the backpack on her shoulders felt as if it was filled with stones.

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She struggled to stand up, reaching for the tree beside her for support. But she lost her footing and stumbled forward, rolling in the moss and leaves beneath her. In an instant, the feeling and aura disappeared. What appeared before her was a shack, weathered and worn out by time. Vines creeped all over the structure, with a grove of trees surrounding it like a natural barrier. It was small. Broken. Run-down.

But something about it was instantly visible to Aria. First, it seemed it was untouched by the entity's malevolence, a sanctuary where its dark magic couldn't reach. But there was something else too, an aura that beckoned her to explore it.

She cautiously stood up, finding her footing and reached the shack. As she reached for the door, a sudden thought occurred to her. So she brought out another scroll from inside her backpack and tore it. A precaution, as she had learnt just now not to let her guard down.

But her gut was telling that this wouldn't be necessary, as it wasn't a trap. And as she opened the door, a wave of tranquility washed over her. The oppressive aftereffect from the presence of the entity seemed to dissipate, allowing her mind to clear and focus. It was a blessing. A powerful one.

Leaning against the wooden walls, Aria took a moment to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. This place seemed important and from how the evil presence could not affect her here, she felt that the place might have clues. Clues that could prove to be crucial, maybe even guide them to defeat the entity. Prepared and careful now, she walked through the wooden corridor, arriving at the main interior. There were bookshelves that covered all the walls, a door on the wall adjacent to where she had entered from, and a circular table in the center.

Parchment and scrolls littered the table, with books and notes scattered on the floor. It was a mess. She imagined a very frustrated person coming into the room, throwing the books from the bookshelves and turning over the piles of parchment and scrolls. Careful not to destroy anything, she moved around the room a little. Taking point to observe and note the titles on the books and content of the notes that she could glean from her position.

After a minute, she was pretty sure about what this place was.

This was the abandoned lab of the Mage who had battled the Unraveling. Sylas, an Archmage of his time. The wealth of knowledge that was present in this rundown and small shack was incomparable to all the books would ever see in her life. It was the life research of a mage, and from the conditions of the place, she believed that whatever that they kept here never saw the light outside of this room. Her first thought was that Sylas had probably researched the making of the mirrors and even the entity here in this place.

The idea ignited the researcher within her, as she started going through the stuff, sorting and arranging the notes according to the dates mentioned on the top, putting the books related to runes in one book shelf, books on artificing in one place, books on dark magic in one place(more clues?). She did not spend time reading through all the stuff she glanced over, making sure to finish first. And once she had the place organized according to her arrangements, she started off with a thin diary.

This was the journal of the Archmage. Every mage had the habit of keeping a journal, as far as Aria had observed in her adventures. Maybe it was an occupational habit, she joked.

'Let's see what secrets the mirrors of Serenbrook are hiding'

......

It was dusk when Aria had left the village to call for reinforcements and alert the people outside the village. About the ancient evil lurking here. Of the unseen danger that was trying to spread its influence. As the young adventurer exits the village, Thalia had chosen to remain in the safe house for the evening. Pondering on something. Her thoughts unclear, eyes out of focus. It looked as if she were reminiscing?

Thalia was considered young by the standards of her tribe, a young adult, to be exact. She had taken the position of a Guardian as soon as she had come of age, which was approximately sixty years in human terms. For twenty years she had protected the village well, before one day she had noticed it.

The dark cloud that loomed over this region, a chaos that was formed from all the irregular and artificial emotions that were overflowing the village of Serenbrook. She could not understand how this had gone unnoticed for so long. How had the entity managed to evade detection for so long? What had happened for it to suddenly reveal its traces so obviously after being hidden?

She felt there was something that was missing, a piece of clue without which she was confused.

But right now, it wasn't time for these doubts.

The entity had become aware of her actions and Aria's successful escape from the village. Now it was her job, not only to protect the villagers, but also to make sure that the entity did not escape from the village. Not until Aria returned with the reinforcement.

Lifting her head and glancing beyond the walls of her safehouse, she seemed to peer at the large mirror in the village square. Her eyes had regained their stormy look, reflecting the surface of the mirror.

'I am asking for a decade long vacation once I'm done with these mirrors.'

Exasperated, she started drawing runes in the burnt safe house. It was going to be a long wait.