Graham Ingram approached the mirror, apprehension filling his every step. All the confidence in the world that he was right meant nothing to the consequences if he was wrong. But, he had a duty, and that duty demanded that he make the summons and present his findings. With trembling fingers, he touched the glossy black surface of the mirror, and from his touch, a ripple of darker black flowed across. Then, all was still for a moment, until the silence was broken by a voice, like centuries old parchment rasping together, though still clearly female.

“Yes?”

Graham swallowed. This was the precipice - no, the precipice had already been crossed. This was the judgement. All he could do now was present what he had found, and pray to a god that may not be listening any longer.

“My lady, I come with good, no, grand news. I-I think I have found the source that you have been looking for.”

Silence reigned once more. All Graham could hear was the sound of his own heart, pounding in his ears, the sound of his life that may soon be stopped.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“…How certain are you?”

“The device you gave me, it pulled me towards her, so-”

“Her? It is alive?”

Even through the voice’s monotonous scraping, surprise could be felt. That spoke to Graham that he had found something even his mistress did not know. The stakes had been raised higher. No longer could he count on losing his gifts if he failed - she may actually kill him if he is wrong.

“Y-Yes, lady, she is. Or at least, she thinks she is. I am unclear, this is occult knowledge beyond me.”

“Hmm… very well. I will take the time to parse this. Follow this… source, and preserve it until I arrive. I will not take long.”

And with that, the deeper sheen of the mirror shattered, leaving only a deep black behind. In the darkness of the hidden chamber, Graham shivered. Though he could not understand them, he could feel the weight of the complexities weighing down on him. He wished once more that he could glean from them an understanding of what his actions would entail - perhaps, if he was right, the lady of the night would grant him that knowledge.