"What do you mean the mirrors will pass judgment?" Meera asked.

Kalrina smiled and motioned to the space between them, and a small table of mirrored glass appeared. One moment, there was nothing, and the next, a table in which Meera could see her reflection.

Despite the chaos of the cave, she looked okay. Her face was dirty, her eyes had huge black circles from lack of sleep, and her hair was laced with dirt, but she looked far better than she had any right to be. The worst part was it reminded her how badly she needed a bath.

The witch placed one of the mirrors in front of Meera and the other in front of her. "Now, the rules of this game are simple. I will ask you a question, and if you lie, you will see your reflection change in these lovely mirrors. Whatever your reflection shows will be inflicted upon you. It could be as simple as boils and warts and as bad as a plague that rots your organs from the inside. Now, what will it be? I cannot say. I do not control what the mirror shows."

"I'm sure you don't."

Kalrina chuckled. "Here, a demonstration. Ask me who I am?"

Meera was in no mood to play this sick game of hers.

"Please humor me, or do you not wish to know about the champion."

Meera set her jaw. "Who are you?"

"I am a toad."

Meera couldn't see her reflection, but Kalrina coughed out blood all over her pretty dress. Meera jumped out of her chair. Kalrina's coughing didn't stop.

"I…am Kalrina—" her coughing slowed. "A sister of the Akhessai sisterhood. Born in the fishing district of Drurith." With each word, her coughing slowed until it stopped. Kalrina huffed and smiled through bloody teeth. "See, even I cannot stop its effects on me. Now, come take a seat, and let's play."

Kalrina waved a hand, and all the blood vanished from her and her dress. It was like she had never been injured. Meera tentatively took a seat and used Identify on the mirror.

[Mirror of Dorheia]

"These mirrors belonged to my mentor, Dorheia. A decrepit woman but a more powerful truthsayer, you could not find."

"But you are a sorceress of mirrors?" Meera frowned.

"So? Aren't we all allowed two classes? Mirrors are the best way of showing us our true selves. Now, if you wish to play. Make a slight cut on your finger and drip a little on the mirror."

Meera didn't need to ask her what would happen if she didn't do that. She ran her thumb across one of her chakrams and let herself be hurt, as usually her chakrams didn't hurt her. She winced at the pain. The thin red line was ballooning to form a thicker line of blood. She rubbed her finger across her mirror, which immediately absorbed the blood.

Meera healed her cut with Vitalize.

Kalrina clapped lightly. "Now, we can begin the game for real. Why don't you ask the first question."

Meera didn't want to be too eager and wanted to throw off the witch from asking serious questions from the get-go. Though, Kalrina would definitely ask about the chakrams and maybe even Meera's armor.

"How did you get these mirrors from your mentor?" Meera asked.

Kalrina smirked. "By beating her at the same game, we're playing."

Meera gulped.

"My turn," Kalrina tapped a finger on her lips. "Hmm…how did you, a certifiable nobody, end up with a mythical weapon blessed by the Lady of Mirrors?"

She's asking that right out of the gate. Best to get it done with.

Meera had seen the effects of the Mirror of Dorheia and did not want to live through that. Besides, it wasn't like she had to tell the witch the whole truth. Maybe I can get away with a partial truth.

"I got it from a Gateway Mirror." An invisible hand tightened around her throat. Her reflection struggled to breathe, and Meera found herself short of breath as well, so she quickly dribbled out the rest. "I accidentally put my hand in a mirror at the edge of the world, and when I pulled it out, I had one of these chakrams on my wrist."

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Meera huffed as the invisible hand pulled away, and she could breathe again.

"Was my bloody demonstration not proof enough?" Kalrina raised an eyebrow. "A Gateway mirror, huh? I've traveled through hundreds of them, and none gave me such a unique gift. Which mirror was it?"

"It's my turn," Meera said. "Did you help Edwyn set up those sick experiments in the Cave of Wraiths to steal the powers of a god?"

Kalrina shrugged. "Yes, I did. It was a ten-year investment, only to yield one use."

"Don't forget the handicap. You have to find a willing soul to sacrifice, not someone under your spell."

"Oh, my naïve one, I have scores of men who would spend eternity in Rothedon's dungeons for a night with me."

Rothedon's name flashed his face back into Meera's mind. He was sitting on his throne. His fiery eyes in that skull helmet, wearing that charred armor. Meera shook her head to wipe the memory away and focus on the beautiful witch who was rotten to the core.

"All that suffering and—" Something stumped Meera. "This is why you're on the run from your sisters. They found out about your cave of atrocities, and they must not have liked what you were doing."

Kalrina clapped.

They, indeed, are like witches, sacrificing people for their own gain. Why is Neel going to them?

The fact that this woman didn't even show a tiny iota of remorse for all the suffering she caused just rubbed Meera wrong. If she didn't need the information out of her, she would have severed her head clean off.

"Speaking of Crystal of Darthin, who used it?" Kalrina asked.

Meera's first instinct was to say that Edwyn used it, but that would cause a lot of pain. Meera moved her hands under the table and pulled off her chakram, expecting violence. "I used it."

Kalrina squinted, then her face returned to normal. "From where did you get two willing souls, I wonder."

Meera gave her nothing.

"At least tell me what you got in return."

"It's my turn, now."

"Don't be so stingy."

"Ask it on your turn if you really want to know. Now, tell me what the Champion wanted with you?"

Kalrina smiled. "That sweet boy had a little conundrum regarding the same relic you asked me about."

Meera's eyes widened.

"Yes, he was looking for the Reflectora. As per some oracle, that item will be key in defeating the great scourge of the worlds."

At first, Meera thought she was talking about Aetheron, the dragon, but then she remembered Oril, Ebonton's healer, calling Rothedon, the scourge of the worlds. Why is Neel going after Rothedon?

"Rothedon? But isn't the Champion supposed to defeat the great dragon, Aetheron?"

The witch shrugged. "He said he had his reasons, which he didn't share with me. Say, didn't you want to know about a Reflectora?"

Meera nodded. "Yes."

"Well, ask it on your turn if you really want to know," Kalrina said, imitating Meera.

Meera gave her a blank stare.

"Now, what is your relationship with the Champion?" The witch sat back with a smirk. "What? You think I wouldn't notice your resemblance."

She had cut to the heart of it. This would open a deluge of questions from the sorceress. Meera looked at the mirror, which literally held her life in its hands, and sighed. "He is my brother."

Kalrina smiled. "Now, that is some juicy information. You do realize that if this information leaks, you will be hunted just as much as your brother."

"I know." Meera tightened her grip on her chakram. "And you will sell this to your sisters to get them off your back."

"I might." She looked out the window. "Unless someone offers me a better price."

Meera clenched her fists and was about ready to slash her neck, but there were still things she needed to know. "What is a Relectora?"

"Let me tell you a little story. Now, how much of this story is true, I do not know, but this is what I've heard. In the very distant past, when Mirithia had just finished creating her worlds. The gods still walked the three worlds and had not settled into the great big round ball that hangs in the sky. I mean, Mirithia, the world, not the goddess."

"Yes, I got your meaning."

"Awesome, and here I thought I would have to spell everything out for you. Moving on, Aetheron was smaller than he is today. Some even believe he was a simple man who gained enough power to become a threat to the gods. While others say he was always a dragon who could take the form of a man. Sorry, these myths are thousands of years old. Hard to say what is the truth and what is not. Anyways, the gods tried to keep him under their control by offering him the hand of the fairest in all the lands, Midiea, our very own Lady of Mirrors. Midiea's job was to contain him and keep him under control, but the two fell in love, and she told them of the gods' schemes. Aetheron grew angry, and rightfully so."

"He waged such a terrible war on the gods that even the Mother of all could not hold him back. He only stopped his carnage for one person. Only his love. Midiea begged him to reconsider, but he wouldn't listen. Our poor Lady had no choice but to entrap her love in a…"

"…Reflectora?" Meera answered.

"Right you are, Champion's sister. It was an artifact of Midiea's creation. She had hoped to seal him in the Reflectora, but Aetheron proved too powerful to contain. The artifact separated the dragon from the world of the living and flung his body into the heavens, earning its name—Reflectora. Aetheron never forgave Midiea of this betrayal and vowed that he would return to wreak his vengeance upon the worlds. Midiea could not live with what she had done and joined herself with her mirrors. Never to be seen again."

I think I have. At least, I've talked to her…or I hope that was her.

This story raised more questions in Meera's mind, which no doubt would raise more than a few eyebrows. So, she kept focus on the thing Neel was after. "So, the Reflectora is a powerful artifact meant to seal powerful beings such as Aetheron."

"Right again. It's shown up over the years, and whenever it does, terrible things have happened to those who have used it. And now, the most important person to have ever lived since Aetheron's defeat is looking for it to defeat an evil about as bad as the great dragon when he should be preparing for the big, bad dragon. The only problem is it hasn't been seen in more than a thousand years, as far as I know."

What are you doing, Neel? Why are you chasing after this thing? Meera wanted to ask more questions, but she had to play by the rules of this stupid game.

"I think it's my turn…" Kalrina rubbed her hands. "Which world were you and your brother born in?"

Meera's eyes widened. She tried to think of a way to get out of this but couldn't see one. So, she said, "Earth."