The Empty Mirror
Chapter 8: Ace of Wands
After a few metres and a couple of trees, the proximity of the lake finally revealed itself to my eyes, like an oasis in the midst of uncertainty and darkness.
It was indeed a lake whose fleeting appearance filled me with exhilaration, prompting me to quicken my pace. At last, I stood before the waters of the lake, experiencing an amalgam of relief and exhilaration. Kneeling humbly, I bent my hands to drink directly from the water's surface. While I admit that this action may not have been the wisest, as I was unaware of the water's potability, I can argue in my defence that its appearance was limpid and crystalline.
Settling myself on the shore, I drew my knees up to my chest as I looked at the wounds and scratches on my limbs. I dipped my hands in the water, longing to purify them, and tore a piece of cloth from the bottom of my dress. With great caution, I knotted it around my left hand, which was still oozing blood. My garment was in a pitiful state; the dress was stained and torn in several places. There was nothing I could do about it, so I just resigned myself to contemplate my pitiful condition.
I took a brief pause, about 15 minutes or so, while I tried to preserve some water for later. Unfortunately, given my circumstances and limitations, such an undertaking was impossible. How could I survive without any resources? I stood up again and gazed up at the vast sky, whose hues were beginning to tinge with darkness. No doubt the imaginary clock read around 7 p.m. or perhaps a little later. I tried to record in my memory the details of my surroundings, in case they might prove useful at some point. I could only make out nearby trees and the slope I had descended on the trail. Nothing else of relevance manifested itself before my eyes, everything seemed monotonous and overly similar.
I contemplated erecting a makeshift shelter, but an inexplicable feeling whispered to me that it was more appropriate to continue my advance. After regaining some of my vigour, I continued my march, heading into the sunset. After a few minutes, something absolutely implausible happened, something that defied all logic and lacked any established coherence.
Once again, I was faced with the steep slope I had descended in moments past. However, a nagging doubt seized my reasoning: was it the same slope, or a similar one? Its very existence seemed to defy all known logic. With a mixture of confusion and anxiety, I decided to continue my way south, ready to unravel the hidden enigmas of this mysterious place.
Suddenly, my eyes met the lake, unfolding in front of me like an ominous and fearsome watery mass. Was this the same lake I had left behind? The question echoed in my mind with unsettling insistence. The idea of being trapped in a meaningless labyrinth began to insinuate itself, triggering a sense of hallucination and paranoia. Despite my insecurity, I continued my advance, this time facing north in a desperate attempt to find a way out.
My pace became accelerated, almost frantic, as if something sinister lurked in the shadows, pursuing me with a relentless thirst for disturbance. Yet cruel fate seemed to mock my efforts, leading me back to the same places again and again, as if time and space were entangled in a macabre dance.
In an act of desperation, my hand clutched at the branches that lay abandoned on the ground, detached from the tangled trees that guarded the forest. They were sturdy branches, twisted by the cruelty of the environment, at least a metre long each.
With determination, I grasped three of them, feeling their roughness and vibrating rigour under my trembling fingers. Armed with these precarious sticks, I continued my wanderings, trying to mark the path and cling to a thread of control amidst the growing darkness that enveloped my soul.
I stuck the first branch into the earth near the lake, burying my hopes and desires in the damp soil. However, fate seemed to revel in my despair, for as I went on, I repeated the ritual twice more, sticking a branch in each path I followed, like a fanatical adept of the ace of wands.
Entering the arboreal labyrinth without clear guidance, my steps became more uncertain and hesitant. With each advance, a disturbing revelation began to take shape before my astonished eyes: all paths seemed to converge in the same places I had already visited. The branches I had buried in the earth emerged again and again, like twisted shadows mocking my anguish.
I found myself paralysed by the situation before my eyes, an indescribable horror that seemed to imprison me in its macabre yoke. My attempts to escape the torment around me led me to explore different directions: north, east, south and west. However, no matter which way I turned, they all seemed to converge towards three ominous routes.
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon, something that defied all known logic and plunged into the abyss of the supernatural.
As I watched carefully, I caught a glimpse of an enigmatic scheme that governed this grim anomaly.
Was I, by my mere existence, the cause of this nightmare that enveloped me? An unsettling theory arose in me, an insidious presentiment that whispered disturbing truths to my spirit.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I decided to put my theory to the test, bravely heading in the three main directions, keeping the cursed places in my mind: the path, the slope and the lake. No matter which way I turned, I was convinced that, in some dark and sinister way, I would be drawn into one of these infamous places. It might seem foolish, but it was the ominous pattern of this abomination that haunted me.
Having made that determination, I ventured intrepidly down each of the paths, keeping the cursed places unchanged in my mind. And to my disquiet, my predictions came true with macabre precision, with no margin for error. The occasions when I found myself in these cursed places coincided exactly with my sinister predictions.
This experience left me bewildered and bewildered, in a tangle of displeasure and fear. I could find no explanation for this strange anomaly that seemed to envelop me like a malevolent shadow; was it possible that, through the inscrutable influence of my dalliances, I was altering the very course of the forest? It was a chilling thought, but the only explanation my tormented mind could conceive in the midst of this abominable nightmare.
Was this an inexorable fate, a curse hanging over me? I underwent more tests, but in one of them, restlessness gripped my being.... As I walked, I stopped to contemplate a pair of swallows hovering above my head. It was an unusual scene in that dense and dreary forest, and this added to my uneasiness and restlessness.
However, this singularity no longer surprised me as much as the dark and persistent situation in which I found myself, as if something sinister condemned me to wander eternally lost in this state of endless nightmare...
I checked my back thoroughly to make sure I wasn't carrying a bulky backpack or an extravagant ponytailed hairstyle, and to my relief, I found neither. "I'm no snail's child," I whispered with a hint of humour, though my words did little to alleviate my growing unease.
I proceeded with purposeful stride, firmly intent on reaching the slope that was my unpublished becoming. However, in a strange turn of events, my attention was diverted along the way, and I found myself wandering in one of three random places.
The forest seemed to have a will of its own, toying with my senses and diverting me from my intended course. Though I tried to focus my mind on the desired goal, I found myself hopelessly trapped at the edge of the lake once again.
Despair began to take hold of my being, embracing me with its sturdy hooves. In my eagerness to find an escape route, I scanned every corner of my mind in search of a strategy capable of counteracting this inexplicable phenomenon. However, my hopes were dashed, as all my efforts proved to be in vain and fruitless.
Every attempt to devise an escape plan turned out to be a complete failure, and I was dragged back to the same three places over and over again, no matter which direction I took or how much I thought about it. At that moment, a grim truth seized my consciousness, as if an unseen presence was whispering deep inside me: there was no choice but to analyse and assimilate all the information I had gathered so far.
With a sharp mind and steely determination, I began to enumerate the factors that had emerged from this strange experience:
1. Three places exercised an ominous control over the future of my existence: the path, the slope and the lake.
2. If I held firmly in my mind the resolution to head for any one of them, no matter how winding the path, the outcome would be inevitable.
3. Any external distraction, no matter how insignificant, had the power to divert my thoughts and lead me inexorably towards one of the three randomly cursed places.
4. Cardinal directions, whether north, east, south or west, seemed fruitless...
5. Even if I tried to leave the forest, I would be dragged uncontrollably towards one of these three places, with random but relentless precision.
6. Apparently, there was no obvious solution to this macabre enigma that trapped me in its suffocating embrace…
As I pondered these revelations, an icy feeling came over me. The forest appeared as a malevolent being, a dark and twisted entity that delighted in manipulating my existence and mocking my desperate attempts to flee. A suffocating oppression clung to my soul, and the thought of being trapped in this endless cycle, doomed to repeat the same sequence of events over and over again....
It is clear that there is no escape route from this tortuous loop. Something I hadn't noticed until now is that, despite the fact that hours had passed and I felt exhausted, the firmament remained unchanged. It had not changed at all, as if time itself had stopped. Although the firmament showed 8 p.m., this could not be reliable; it should have gone on at least until midnight…
This situation is becoming more and more entangled, each passing moment a process of decay. I must find the answer to this enigma that defies logic and the conventions of what we know.
It seems an impossible undertaking, perhaps it is... but I am determined to face it and confront this manifestation of evil. The dilemma lies in how to do it; I don't have the faintest notion...
I almost want to shed tears of despair and frustration, but I must maintain my composure at all times. After countless attempts, I returned to the lake one last time and, facing its shores, drank from its waters to keep myself hydrated. I rested briefly by the lake before standing up a few minutes later and beginning my hypothesis: I must return to the castle from which I had departed that afternoon. If I couldn't leave the forest, then I should head for the castle. It was inside and, I suppose it is possible, and I sincerely hope, that staying there was my most vehement desire.
Ah, I mean... it was the safest place. I rejoined the path and headed north, but this time with the purpose of returning to the castle...As I made my way towards my destination, I began to question the reason for my need to visit those three specific places. I had no clear answer, so I could only evoke how I felt in each of them. Each place evoked different emotions:
On the path, I experienced determination and security, as if I was following the right path, but something inside me raised doubts about its veracity....
On the slope, I could only perceive a sense of danger and risk, which led me to question my ability to reach my goal…
As for the lake, it gave me a sense of calm and tranquillity, as if in its waters I could find a supposed rest and renewal of strength.
However, I now realised that it was perhaps only a false goal, as I was not getting any closer to my objective...