I run along the track, trying to keep my head down. A dusty road in the middle of the green grass. Sparks in the air. I wave my hand in front of me and suddenly fall through the snow. Fortunately, it's only a few steps! Another passage that makes me dizzy, and I'm on the sandy shore of the sea. It's dusk, but there' not a soul around. The smell of fish and seaweed. I keep running. It's cold, I' m in a T-shirt and jeans, and my feet are frozen in sneakers. I just do as I'm told. I clutch the heavy amulet in my hand so it doesn't hurt my neck.

Finally, when I found myself on the outskirts of a village, I caught sight of a sorcerer, a man in a dark cloak, opening another passageway. I hurried after him. A few more passages, and I would catch up with him, and we would return home together! But it turned out not to be that easy.

In this place the stuffy air was saturated with autumn, and heavy clouds hung over a field of wheat or something similar to it. Women were mowing golden spikes. Folded brown cloaks were neatly folded at the edge of the field. The sorcerer halted, and I was about to approach, but at that moment a second man appeared out of the air, splashing silvery sparks all around. I didn't make it! I ducked into the spikes, frightening a flock of gray birds. Of course, mistress Sai had said the amulet would ward off glances, but she'd said a lot of other things, too, like how fast and safe the journey would be.

The men hugged each other. The other sorcerer was athletic and broad-shouldered, and his blond, short-cropped hair had a touch of gray at the temples, so I assumed he was in his forties. I wouldn't have thought the mirror sorcerer was more than twenty-five years old. He looked deadly tired, but still young, even though he was painfully thin and untidy. His stubble made his face look dirty, and his long, shoulder-length, dark hair hung in dull strands. His cloak was either faded or discolored by the dust that covered it. The other man also wore a cloak, burgundy, new, and obviously warm. I suddenly began to shiver and my teeth chattered.

What should I do? Approach? Not approach? Quickly run away? I don't even know how to do that! There were no silvery sparks-trace marks left behind me. Slowly, trying not to move the spikes more than necessary, I crept closer.

“Jay! I felt your call right away, but I have a travel block, if you remember.”

“I remember,” the sorcerer said quietly.

I could barely hear his hoarse voice over the wind blowing through the golden spikes.

“How did you get out?”

The sorcerer murmured something in reply.

“Of course! What am I thinking!”

This one didn't seem scary. If the sorcerer in the mirror won't agree, maybe his friend can help?

“Cut a path through the butterflies? Are you sure?”

Whoa, wait a minute, where are you going? I distracted myself for a second, and they skipped off into another passageway. I pounded my fist on the ground. I was sick and tired of being freezing and running, running and freezing. I stood up, looked around to check if anyone was looking. I put on one of the brown cloaks the girls had left. It was a little dusty, covered in grass and golden spikelets, but the important thing was that it was warm!

If I had known what those woods were back then, I never would have entered them. I couldn't have imagined how dangerous it was. But that time I was lucky. I waved my hand over the trace, habitually took a step and found myself in my nightmare. Moss, green moss everywhere, a light road winding through that green. Bare trunks of bright red, going so high that their white branches merged with the clouds. The trunks themselves seem to be liquid, shivering. The air is damp and thick, soaked with the smell of moss. The sorcerers didn't get very far. They walked slowly down the trail, heads down and hands over their ears for some reason. I did the same, just in case.

I don't know what happened, maybe a branch crunched under my foot, but the nearest tree suddenly came to life, fluttering with hundreds of wings, and scarlet butterflies flew into the air. The exposed trunk of the tree was white, as the branches above. The butterflies swarmed toward me, and I almost screamed, but kept my hands to my ears. The scarlet butterflies fluttered around, but they didn't land. The sounds their wings made were still audible. They merged into whispers, and for some reason it became very important to me to hear what they were saying. I stumbled, and the amulet hit my chest. Only then did I remember where and why I was going. The sorcerers had already ducked into the next passageway. I hurried toward the silver sparks. How on earth do I open it? I took my hand away and immediately clamped my ear with my shoulder, but I still was able to hear the insistent rustling of wings. "A different life..." I need, I have to know what they're talking about! But I had already waved my hand in the air and fell into a cluster of silvery sparks.

As I followed the sorcerers through the archway in the city wall, I was momentarily disoriented. It was as if I'd gone back in time, on a tour through one of the small towns. Behind the red roofs and green trees stood the spire of the cathedral. Low stone houses stretched along the streets, the cobblestone sidewalk descending to the rocky banks of the river. The riverbed, paved with the same cobblestones as the road, ran in broad stages down the hill. The place was crowded, and I got scared I was going to lose the sorcerers. I wrapped in my cloak, put the hood on, and clutched the amulet in my hand. I could only hope that it really wouldn't let them see me unless I wanted them to. And I didn't really want that! My only wish was to get home as quickly as possible.

I risked approaching the men to listen to what they were saying.

“You were supposed to be locked up for forty years,” the second man said in a low voice. “I thought if I ever saw you, it would be... Thirteen years have passed, that is, in twenty-seven years! We would both have become respectable old men with long gray beards!”

He laughed. So that is where the figure comes from. But thirteen years ago the sorcerer would have been just a boy! Something doesn't add up.

“Let's look in that little place over there; it's empty at this hour.”

He pointed to a door with a round wooden sign with a bunch of grapes carved on it. The mirror sorcerer nodded and suddenly turned around. His swamp-green eyes looked directly at me, and I was stunned with fear.

“Are you coming with us?”

“Who's that?” The second man was surprised, but immediately noticed an ear of wheat stuck to the edge of my cloak. “Did we pick you up from the golden field by any chance? Come, you'll get warm, and then we'll bring you back.”

All I could do was nod briefly. Maybe the mirror sorcerer did not recognize me? What should I do now? Should I tell the truth...? I'm sorry, but you've made a mistake. In fact, I've been following you for quite some time. And don't mind the cloak, I borrowed it, so to speak.

We went into the tavern and took a table in the corner. I had my head down so that the hood hid my face, and all I could see were my stained sneakers. The drink the waitress brought beckoned with a spicy aroma, but I dared not touch the mug. I concentrated on the conversation, making sure I didn't miss the moment when I could step in. The mirror sorcerer took a sip, and his voice seemed to clear a little of the collected dust.

“There was a boy there who thought I was a mirror demon.”

“Oh, those fairy tales!”

“A self-taught guy. Almost like you and me,” the sorcerer grunted.

“So, what did you do?”

“There's a way to get out of the mirror before your term is up: you have to find someone to take your place voluntarily. And he came to me on his own.”

“Did you leave him like that?”

I tensed up. Now I could jump into the conversation!

“Yes. Unpleasant sort of a man. He could be a danger to the world with faded magic. It would not do him much of a harm. I thought I might take his soul, for good old time's sake, but I figured I'd have no use for such a helper. Besides, that world is too far away from ours.”

My stomach felt all squeezed. It looked like he wasn't going to be much of a help. I'd better get out of here before he takes my little soul.

“Modern times are even less good, Jay... Since your case, the Council has taken up the issue. Somebody reports it right away, and the Council comes to see if it was voluntary.”

“So, did our teacher get in trouble, too?”

He seemed to spit out the word “teacher”.

“At first he ran away, and when he returned, he got more cautious. For ten years he couldn't do what he used to do, and later he wasn't allowed to enroll more than two boys at a time.”

“I can imagine him raging,” the mirror sorcerer said, with a tone of gloating.

They went silent, and I still hadn't decided what to do.

“Why don't you drink?” The second sorcerer asked me caringly. “Are you hungry?”

I shuddered and shook my head negatively. My hood slid back a little.

“Don't worry, Robin. You've been saving little birds since you were a kid.”

“So have you," Robin said.”

Birds...? I looked up in disbelief. The sorcerer stared at me, like mistress Sai did at dinner - it was only yesterday! - as if he were dismantling me to study the insides. The moment he shifted his gaze back to his friend, even just before his lashes fluttered before he blinked, in that infinitely long moment, I jumped up and rushed for the exit.

I pushed the door open and found myself on the street. It didn't matter where I ran, as long as I got away from that stare! I crossed the river over the small stone bridge, pushing people out of the way. They didn't notice me - the amulet was working. Oh, I wish it had worked before! Thanks to my long legs, I ran as fast as the wind. I passed the houses, crossed the river, and ran through the arch in the city wall. The houses behind it were more basic. I hurried on, constantly checking behind me, but the sorcerers didn't follow. Maybe they decided they didn't need me.

I was quickly out of breath-it wasn't often that I had to switch to running. Come to think of it, the last few years my only sport had been walking around the duck pond. The houses were getting smaller, and the distance between them was growing. I found myself on the outskirts of town, resembling more of a countryside. I stood by the side of the road not to disturb the carriages, and clutched the amulet with both hands. It brought me here, it must bring me back somehow! I remembered the slight dizziness during the passages, and how the metal would briefly become warm. I shook the cold amulet and whispered, “Come on, come on!” A beautiful spell, Katherina, but you obviously need something more serious.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Suddenly the amulet actually heated up. But just as I rejoiced, the old man jumped out of nowhere, raising a fountain of silver sparks. The narrow black pants and shirt were hidden beneath a striped black and red cape. It would have looked ridiculous if the sorcerer hadn't been panting with rage.

“Thief! How dare you! I've been looking for it for ten years, and you have the nerve to use it right under my nose?!”

He tried to grab me, but I dodged and ran toward the trees behind the houses. The old man caught up with me, grabbed my cloak, and I fell. Quickly turning over on my back, I noticed that the mirror sorcerer and his friend were approaching from the direction of the city. What do they want?! The sorcerer in the striped cape reached for my neck. I shoved him away and tried to get up, but he stepped on my cloak, leaving me unable to wriggle out of it. He grabbed me by the hair, and I thought it was the end of me.

“Stop!”

The old sorcerer turned around, not letting go of my hair. Tears flowed because of pain, and everything in front of my eyes was blurred. The mirror sorcerer walked over, and his friend remained standing on the road, where a curious crowd had already gathered. The old man finally let me go.

“Give me the amulet,” the mirror sorcerer said to me.

Now it's the end for sure! What was I going to do without it? But I had no choice. I took the amulet off, and, strangely enough, I felt more free, which, of course, was not really the case. It didn't even occur to me to get up from the ground. I simply held out the heavy jewel to the mirror sorcerer. The old man beat him to it: with a triumphant shriek, he snatched the amulet from me, and, hiding it in the inner pocket of his cloak, snarled to the mirror sorcerer:

“Watch her.”

“You better watch your own things,” the young man replied sharply.

The black-and-red old man disappeared into nowhere, leaving a silvery, shimmering trail that instantly went out. A hum of voices came over me, speaking in a language I didn't know. I could understand it only as long as the amulet was around. There was one last chance that I could make myself understood in gestures, and the sorcerer would be kind enough to help me without payment, or at least throw me back into my world.

“Get up,” the sorcerer said in English.

I stared at him and blinked. He was waiting. Right, he was talking to a nervous guy. One can learn a language in thirteen years, even several. I got to my feet reluctantly. My clothes were soaked in road dust and dirt, and my hair was sticking out in all directions. More than anything, I wanted to lie back and be left alone. The sorcerer made a sign for me to follow him, and headed back toward the city.

On the way, his friend kept looking back with such a caring expression on his face that I wanted to cry. Just send me home! The mirror sorcerer didn't turn around, as if he didn't care at all whether I was coming or not. And he was right; I wouldn't be able to escape without the amulet.

The two sorcerers were talking about something, as if they hadn't parted for thirteen years. The second sorcerer chuckled, looked at me anxiously again, and asked his friend something. He shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

I was dizzy with fear, and I slouched down. I'm not a hero of the TV series, just let me go home! Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I hurried to wipe them away before the caring one would turn around again. Maybe they were conspiring and playing the “good cop, bad cop” act?

To my relief, I was not led into a gloomy mansion with damp basements and rusty lattices. We returned to the same tavern. This time the second sorcerer whispered something to the owner, and he took us to a modest cabinet on the second floor. The window faced the courtyard. A blue-headed turtledove was perched on a branch of an ivy-covered tree, cooing. It gave me a headache. A second sorcerer tapped on the murky glass. The bird flapped its wings and dived down heavily. Without waiting for an invitation, I sank into one of the padded chairs set up by the round table. “Where are your manners, Katherina?” Lay off, auntie, Katherina has gotten herself into something unspeakably awful, and her legs aren't holding her up. At once all the accumulated fatigue came on. It was as if I'd gone to the kitchen for tea in another life.

The waitress brought three mugs of steaming drink and a bowl of round buns that looked like sofa cushions. Each one had a nut, a raisin, or a herb in the very center of it. In another situation, I would have definitely tried a couple, but right now the thoughts of food were not on my mind.

I'd take off my dirty coat, but I didn't want to be dressed in just a top. Robin nestled on the windowsill. The mirror sorcerer sat down beside me and grabbed my wrist. His skin was dry and cold, and he smelled the same way - of cold, dry dust. Maybe that's what mirrors smell like. I tried to free my hand, but he wouldn't let go.

“Without the amulet, you don't understand the local language. As long as I hold your hand, I can make you understand both of us and be able to speak yourself.”

I looked at the other sorcerer, who seemed more trustworthy. He asked:

“Do you understand what I'm saying now?”

I forced out: “Yes.”

“Tell me why you followed me,” Jay said.

I didn't know where to begin. How about “Let me go home!”

“She doesn't know how to start. You have to help her,” Robin said, breaking the silence.

Jay turned to his friend:

“You said you have a new job?”

“Yeah, I know how to ask a question and get people to answer.”

It made me think of torture chambers, and I swallowed to get the lump out of my throat. A good cop, huh?

“My name is Robin,” the man said in a soft tone, “and my friend's name is Jay. Jay's just come home from being locked up in a mirror, and a lot of people aren't going to be happy about that. And now you happened to show up. So we're wondering who sent you. For starters, what's your name?”

“K... K... Katherina,” I mumbled, not in a very heroic way.

Robin whistled in surprise.

“They are allowed to have longer names in her world," Jay said, and then he spoke to me: ”We have short names here. A one-syllable name for a man born of a simple family, a two-syllable name for a man born of a wealthier family. You can earn an extra syllable if you work hard or do something outstanding. Four syllables is an exception.”

The sorcerer was suddenly silent, as if out of breath. He took the mug of drink with his free hand and took a cautious sip of it. He winced. Robin looked at him sympathetically:

“No...?”

“I'm not used to drinking,” Jay muttered.

He took another sip of his drink, sighed, and put the mug back down.

“So, Kath-whatever-rina. A simple question: where did you get the amulet?”

I can do it! I've been practicing all the way, what to say!

“I was sent for you... sir?..”

“Without “sir”, the Sorcerer said patiently, as if helping me to get the words out.

“Mistress Sai sent me for you and gave me this amulet to pay.”

I exhaled. It was a very long sentence. Robin asked in surprise:

“Mistress Sai? Seriously? You said the mirror was kept by the sai, but “mistress”?

“That's what she calls herself. She has a lot of human blood mixed in.”

“Very nice!” Robin shook his head. “The nerve of the creature.”

My head was spinning, and I kept looking from one wizard to the other, unable to comprehend what was going on.

“Sai,” Robin began to explain, “is a kind of...”

“...a creature,” Jay said, staring at the drink in his mug.

“ With a flair for magic. They're incorporeal, and they crave their own body.”

“The innkeeper is an exception.”

“Maybe one of her ancestors was a sai who got a human body. They usually come in the form of magpies, squirrels, mice...”

“Who collect all sorts of magical junk and haul it into the burrow,” the mirror sorcerer looked at me again. “To pay for what?”

“The nervous... the one who mistook you for a mirror demon had some kind of pearl, and he's dangerous, and he needs to be... dis-disarmed?”

“How did you follow me?”

“The amulet showed me silvery traces.”

The mirror sorcerer looked at his friend. Robin asked:

“ It was a simple apprentice amulet, wasn't it? The one that strengthens the bond between the apprentice and the teacher?”

Jay merely nodded. Robin threw up his hands:

“Sorry, I haven't looked into it... After you were locked up, I didn't spend much time as an apprentice to our dear teacher. The war broke out, and I went off to fight.”

“But how did he let you go?”

“He had to. It turned out to be a pretty big mess, with the highlanders. A royal decree had ordered the release of all the young men, and the Council had just nailed our dear Tin. So what's with the amulet?”

“The standard one with a double bond. There's no magic in the amulet itself. Naturally, since it hadn't been used by a sorcerer's apprentice, but by an outsider, the energy for the transitions had been drained from the old man. I imagine he'd had a sleepless night.”

Robin nodded thoughtfully.

“An amulet that shows traces. Sai, who can't handle a mirror. What does it look like to you?”

“Like a hoax,” Jay said simply.

I tensed, but they weren't paying attention. It wasn't referring to me.

“What were you doing for the sai while you were in the mirror, Jay?”

“Tipped her on where and what she could trade or buy. While I had several mirrors, I could see the contents of antique shops. Some information I found in books.”

“So it's a kind of payment for services. Very much in their spirit. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” the sorcerer turned to me, looked at me as if assessing me, and said:

“I don't work for free.”

I opened my mouth, but didn't know what to say. We were talking so nicely, I was beginning to get my hopes up, and here you go!

“But... but! There are people there! He will... He! Them!” I waved my free hand like a penguin flapping its wings in an unsuccessful attempt to fly. “Mistress... the sai has plenty more stuff, she'll find something to pay for it!”

“I don't need her junk. What can you offer?” he asked, putting emphasis on the word “you”.

“I have nothing!” I exclaimed in confusion.

“Offer me your soul.”

“What?” I laughed, and then I looked at his face and coughed. It wasn't a joke.

“Jay!” Robin exclaimed.

“Just send me home, that's all I need! They can take care of it themselves in the hotel!” I yelled, glancing from one to the other.

“It's a job, too,” said the mirror sorcerer.

That's it. He trapped me. I looked back at the second man. He was as surprised as I was:

“Jay, why would you want to do that?”

“I'll explain later.”

“You know what,” Robin was suddenly angry, “you don't have to explain it to me. But you have to explain it to her if you want to drag her into this.”

Robin didn't get an answer from Jay so he turned back to me:

“It's an ancient name for a ritual. That silver amulet helps the apprentice-teacher bond work, meaning that if the teacher lacks strength, he or she takes it from the apprentice, and if the apprentice lacks strength, he or she takes it from the teacher. What my friend offers you,” he sighed, “is a one-way connection. It is often used by sorcerers who need more magic. Whoever "gives their soul" becomes a servant and an additional source of magic. People would often do it for money, but Jay...”

“I suggest you pay for the services. Enough talk. Robin can't help you, he can't go far across worlds. So? One bird soul for, what was it? - Twenty lives? Is that a bad calculation?”

A bird soul?! But what choice do I have? Whether I agree or disagree, I'll stay here anyway. Only in one case I'll be tied to the sorcerer. And in the other... I remembered how I had experienced adventures with the characters of my favorite TV shows. How often had I managed to survive, even in my fantasies? I sat staring at the floor, my mind racing with incoherent thoughts.

“What's going to happen?”

“You'll stay here, and you'll run errands and share your energy. Maybe I'll let you go later, we'll see.”

My mind went staggeringly blank. The question, "What should I do?" was hitting the walls like a tennis ball. No thoughts, no voices. No one mentioned chicken brains, the Auntie didn't exclaim angrily her eternal " Katherina!" when I uttered quietly:

“All right.”

The mirror sorcerer nodded and turned to his friend.

“Robin. I need a witness.”

“Jay, seriously? A witness? Are you going to...?”

Jay let go of my hand, and their speech became an incomprehensible set of noises again. The mirror sorcerer was explaining something, nodding at me from time to time. Robin kept interrupting him, arguing, vaguely pointing sideways. I tried to catch a glimpse of a familiar word, but I couldn't. A bird came back, and raised its muffled whistle again.

Robin folded his arms across his chest and turned away to the window. Jay grabbed my wrist again, and his friend muttered:

“If the Council finds out, I won't be able to cover for you.”

It was quick and not at all magical. No candles, no bubbling potions that needed blood added to them. Maybe that was part of the reason it didn't seem serious. I was sure that once I got back to my own world, nothing would make me go back with the sorcerer. Robin stood at the table and watched. The mirror sorcerer squeezed my right palm in his and told me to repeat after him. I couldn't see the silver sparks anymore, but something was happening around me and to me.

He was speaking the text of the oath in his own language. I was dizzy, and everything around me was dancing with colored lights, and I repeated without thinking. There was something about soul and body, heart and thought, arms and legs, wings and feathers. Okay, not about that. The main point was that I wouldn't be able to watch a new episode of my favorite TV series.

When the sorcerer let go of my hand, there was a black blot on my palm at the base of the thumb. I scrubbed it with surprise.

“It doesn't rub off,” Jay informed me dryly. “This stain means that we are connected.”

Robin called out:

“Let me see! Is our teacher's mark gone?”

Jay looked at his palm.

“No, it's overlapped now. It's not that simple.”