I am Tiger. Tiger thought as he looked through a looking glass. But yet there seems to be something off. Like someone is sitting down to observe me.

True as this was, Tiger knew it to be fallacy. He knew he was, to a degree. He returned to his seat that was near the fire place in the lobby. He sat down and read a book.

Courage was in another chair close by, sulking. This was likely due to the fight he had just had with Maple. But it was not his nose into another’s business. Courage too was reading a book. He looked at Tiger and smiled. Ignoring the smile, Tiger continued reading his book.

His mind wandered though. It was not that the book was uninteresting. It was because his mind was focused on the morning’s happenings. But knew not what to think of it.

He remembered his parents. They were dead. It had not fully sunk in yet. It was hard. Having someone you love die, let alone your parents. And it was so sudden. A tear escaped Tiger’s eye and rolled down his cheek onto his little satchel.

He remembered the not his parents had left him. He took it from the satchel and read it again.

Dear Tiger,

On Pentday the 23rd of Monsept. Your cousin Nightfall, who is visiting for the next few weeks, will keep you occupied so you don’t bother us.

Love, Mom, and Dad.

P.S. if anything happens, we will send someone to fetch you and bring you to safety

It seemed that Truth was who had come to see him and Gale the one who would fetch him. In his heart, he felt a similar thumping to the sound that he heard at the inn.

Thump. Thump. Boom.

“Tiger,” he heard his mother’s voice say. “Tiger.”

Tiger frantically looked to his left, right, behind, front and all between to see the origin of the voice. “Mom?”

Courage gave Tiger another look.

“Tiger, you need to come to the palace once again,” his mom’s voice had no source, just whispered in his head. “The god says you should.”

“Go find a looking glass and look at yourself once more,” him mom’s voice continued. “You will find yourself there.”

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Tiger went to the room that he shared with Truth. His parents were still there, chatting with him over coffee and donuts. They bid him hello and greetings as he stepped into the room.

“Hello there,” Tiger said. He walked by the couch and to the wall with the looking glass.

You are not knowing what you should. You are Tiger, none else. But then why do you feel different?

“Tiger,” Truth said, “Come meet my parents, will you?”

Tiger made his way over to Tiger and his parents.

“Tiger, here are my parents, Njin, my mom, and Shpieque, my dad.”Truth gestured toward his mother and father respectively.

“What makes you come to this place?” Tiger asked Njin. “And how did you know Truth would be here?”

“We didn’t know he was here,” Njin responded. “We were coming here to visit a friend and the Matriarch told us that he was here. Must’ve been the work of the god.”

Truth shifted uncomfortably. He seemed like he knew something about his parents' appearance. Tiger vowed to ask him about it later.

“Do you three want more time to talk? Shall I leave this room?” Tiger asked.

“Yes,” Truth said, flatly.

Tiger pushed the door open and left, leaving the door ajar. The voices were still audible partway down the hall, but only certain sounds made it that far.

The ticking of the clock made Tiger stop. He had heard it many times but had never seen the source. He went to investigate.

“Tiger,” his mother's voice said. “What are you doing? You should be heading back. They want you to do something important.”

Tiger, finding a door, ignored his mother’s warnings, and opened it to find the source of the noise. He walked down a hall for what seemed to be an eternity. The ticking grew louder and louder. Step by step, Tiger advanced down the hall.

There were writings on the walls, most of the not legible. The few that were were symbols for fire and spirit and incarnation. Those three appeared every so often with other, mossy, chipped symbols between them.

Fir incarnate. Fire incarnate. Fire incarnate.

That sounded familiar. Perhaps in the cave. The maze had tis same symbols on it. But it could not have anything to do with this, could it?

Well, a fire did take the lives of many the other day…

The fire was to distract dad’s guards so that he coil-coul-d be—

Tiger’s throat clenched at the thought his dead parents. And Truth had the privilege that his were not dead when he thought they were. Tiger envied Truth’s privilege for parents that were not dead.

Soon, Tiger came to yet another door. He opened it to a room so bright, it did not blind him, but rather lit his mind’s vision. He then, through his mind’s eye, saw a grandfather clock, pendulum swinging back and forth in a rhythmic manner. He went up in his mind to read the time, midnight, it said, last chime.It was the end of a day and perhaps an age. But Tiger was going to stop that.

He opened the window to the pendulum and held it, stopping the swinging, stopping the clock’s hand from moving forward, breaking it.

You have seen a new age begin.