Aria carefully put the journal down, her hands shaky and a deep breath leaving her wide open mouth. She tried to make her mind go blank. She had to stop herself from trying to process all the information. It was just too much to take in at once.

So she sat on the floor, before taking out three scrolls from her backpack. In view of the information and clues that she had discovered, she had realized that she could no longer leave Thalia to face the entity alone. No, 'It' was called Kor'moros and from now it would be appropriate to address it by the name given to it, when it was created.

'Kor'moros, an ancient evil created by a dark mage eons ago. It derived its name from the ancient rune "Korou" which meant "to devour" and "Moros" which was used to depict all aspects that made one a living being.'

The complete interpretation of its name, according to the notes, seemed to imply that Kor'moros did not only devour the emotions of the living beings. Emotions were only one aspect that made up a living being. There was so much more that the entity could devour if allowed to break free. If allowed to grow stronger.

There was the fact to consider that it was an artificial creation of some dubious, dark mage. Sylas had expressed his doubts about believing in the entity's claims, mentioning that he had come across it in a weakened state and decided to trap it and perform his own experiments on it. That perhaps the creation wasn't as powerful as it claimed. And just maybe the name was supposed to imply a much more grandiose meaning than what it could actually do.

These were all doubts that Sylas had, and Aria too echoed them. How could something created by a human possibly have the power to destroy all that was living? There was no way such a feat was possible.

But just the tiny doubt and possibility of the claims being truthful created a havoc inside her heart. So keeping her fears in mind and keeping in mind all the information she had discovered was immensely helpful to Thalia, she arranged the three scrolls in her hand carefully. She would fulfill her task of calling for reinforcement, but in a roundabout way.

The three scrolls were a creation of hers. She made them to communicate with someone far away, but the method was unique to her. Only someone else with the same three scrolls could receive her call for communication. And there was only one other person who had them, who she trusted to reach out right now, to have her back.

She placed the three scrolls atop one other, layering them carefully such that it created a larger runic circuit. It was like connecting three pieces of art to create a much more beautiful piece. Next, she took out her quill and began to add a sequence of runes. This last addition to the circles was something that acted like an identifier, used to pinpoint the other party who held the other scrolls.

After she was done, she waited. Most times, it took a while for the call to connect. And if her friend was not home, it might take longer, in which case she could only leave a message for him to read. She held her hands, hoping that wouldn't-

*TRING*

*POP*

Suddenly, a floating image appeared before her. The projection was only as big as her palm. But she could make out a young man standing before it. He seemed to be in a smithy and was sweating profusely. Messy blond hair and donning a loose vest that looked more like a rag, he beamed brightly at Aria.

"How's Serenbrook been? I bet the mirrors have been a thrill so far. I remember the last time I was there. It was an ethereal experience, honestly. So tell me, why have you remembered me, O Rune Adventurer? " Aria chuckled at that form of address. It was something that she liked to call herself, a travelling rune adventurer. She looked at her friend, who seemed to have been working.

He did not seem to have noted the distress on Aria's face, maybe due to her dim surroundings. But without dallying any further, she decided to recount her experience.

"Apollo, I need your help. I need you to contact the Silver Tribe of Aranya to immediately send their strongest mage and ritualists to Serenbrook. The village is in grave danger..."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It took her about thirty minutes to not only explain the strangeness of the villagers and the mirrors, but also tell him of the information that she had learnt here in the shack. Apollo's jovial expression disappeared as the gravity of the situation properly registered with him. By the time Aria was done with her explanation, he had changed into different gear, one that made him look as if he were ready to go to war.

"By now, I should have gotten used to your fated luck. It always lands you in the most dangerous situations. Knowing you, your next step should be retracing your steps to the village and inform the elf mage Thalia. I'm not gonna discourage you, but do not charge blindly into its prison. Wait for me and Karthis to reach you. It shan't be longer than half a day for us to reach you."

Aria could hear the concern in his voice, and wanted to promise him, that she will wait. But - "There is no way to know how far Kor'moros has broken free. I will promise to be careful, but I will have to act depending on the situation. So make sure to hurry up."

Apollo smiled at her and nodded. And with that, the connection broke, as they both knew what they had to do next.

Aria quickly shifted, packing her stuff. She gathered the journal and some other books from the shelves that she believed might come handy, before making her way out of the shack. Next, she took out two scrolls from her backpack. One of them looked like a map, an enchanted map that would guide her back to the village. The other was supposed to be for protection.

She tore the scroll in the middle and watched it ignite into sparks. The magical runes that appeared and disappeared into her being. For a moment, a tattoo like structure glowed over her before disappearing beneath her skin. This was supposed to protect her from the intrusion of the vile entity.

Thalia had told her that she had some sort of natural protection from the entity's intrusion, but so far Aria had not found herself immune in any manner or so. But she had also managed to fight its invasion and resisted it for long enough to find this sanctuary. This showed that she was indeed special. But exactly how? Maybe she would get to find what it was soon enough.

.......

Serenbrook, Burnt safe house

Thalia finished covering the interior in runes, marveling at her own artwork. The rune circuits covered every inch inside the house, creating a dense network that hummed with magic. The house was truly a safe house now. Strongly enchanted to resist the monster in the mirrors for twenty-four hours. That's the time-line she had set for herself. If Aria did not return soon, well, she did not have any plans for that.

'Now onto the difficult task.'

She stepped forward and disappeared from the room before reappearing in the village square. Glancing at the mesmerized crowd around her, she sighed. The crowd did not notice her existence, swaying left-to-right while holding hands in concentric circles around the huge mirror in the center of the square. The scene was eerie, sending chills across anyone who might have witnessed it. But Thalia did not mind it, as she had seen this exact scene a month ago as well, at the full moon just like tonight. It was when she had started feeling the entity spiraling out of its limitations. Out of control.

She could recognize that this was some sort of ritual, but the exact purpose it served eluded her. But her gut feeling warned her that this time was different. That her and Aria's actions had finally tipped off the scale and the entity might attempt something extreme this time. And so she was here, ready with her preparations to stop the ritual.

Knowing that she would only have a small-time frame to complete her actions, she started forming a very tiny magic circle within her palm, creating dense runes that overlapped over and over. She had to make sure to keep her presence hidden, to contain the magical vibrations emitted from her being, lest the entity be warned of her actions. So, she waited among the swaying crowd, channeling and controlling her magic, for the moment when she could break the ritual and set the events for the night in motion.

The wait wasn't long, as just when the clock hit nine o'clock, the mirror in the center produced a vortex. A powerful force appeared above the crowd, that wanted to devour, suck in all and everything around the square.

Alerted, Thalia swiftly spread her palm and hit the ground beneath her. An alarmingly huge magic circle sprung forth and immediately covered the surroundings in its magic. The vortex above dimmed, as if surprised by the turn of events. Thalia did not wait for things to escalate before she grasped her fist, motioning for the magic circle to activate.

The circle immediately shrunk, targeting the mirror and caging around it. For an instance, there was silence, before the crowd gasped in shock and fear. The people in the square broke out in panic and started running and shouting, unaware of how they had appeared in the square. They had just broken from the entity's control, and surely were unaware of their predicament, as they bumped around like headless chickens.

And it was in this mayhem that the village Head noticed the struggling mage on the ground, trying her best to hold the cage around the damned mirror. The old head lightly approached the mage, whose existence the villagers had forgotten for more than three months. Gently sitting beside her, he asked.

"Guardian Thalia, what instructions do you have for us? How can we help ourselves and the village from this danger that surrounds us?"