Alex stumbled backward as his malevolent reflection advanced, its glowing red eyes fixed on him. “Listen,” he stammered, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t know what your deal is, but I’m having a really bad day, so how about we skip the whole murder-me-in-a-mirror dimension thing and call it even?”
The reflection smirked, its features twisting into something grotesque. “You talk too much,” it hissed, its voice a warped version of Alex’s own.
“Oh, great,” Alex muttered. “It’s evil and self-aware.”
Without warning, the reflection lunged at him, its hands elongating into claw-like appendages. Alex ducked just in time, the claws scraping against the mirrored wall and leaving deep gouges.
“Not fair!” Alex shouted, scrambling away. “Why do you get superpowers, and I get—” He tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his back. “—humiliation. Perfect.”
The reflection loomed over him, raising one clawed hand. Just as it struck, the mirrored walls around them flickered, and the claws stopped inches from Alex’s face.
The reflection snarled, its form glitching like a corrupted hologram. “What’s happening?” Alex whispered, his heart pounding.
In the distance, a faint voice called his name. “Alex!”
It was Amira.
Amira sprinted through the eerie green forest, her sidearm drawn. The wolf-like creature that had been stalking her was now nowhere to be seen, but her instincts told her it wasn’t gone. It was hunting her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Alex!” she called again, her voice echoing through the trees. “Aros!”
The forest seemed to shift around her, the trees moving closer together as if trying to trap her. She paused, her breathing heavy, and scanned her surroundings.
Then, she saw it—the faint shimmer of a figure in the distance.
“Alex?” she called, cautiously approaching.
But as she drew closer, the figure came into focus, and her heart sank. It wasn’t Alex. It wasn’t Aros.
It was her.
The figure was an exact replica of her, down to the smudge of dirt on her cheek. Its expression was cold and unfeeling, and its eyes glowed faintly with a green light.
“What is this?” Amira demanded, aiming her weapon at the doppelgänger.
The figure tilted its head, its movements unnervingly mechanical. “You are your own worst enemy,” it said in a voice identical to hers. “Your doubt will destroy you.”
Before Amira could respond, the figure lunged at her, moving with inhuman speed.
In the circular chamber, Aros stood firm as the shadowy figure circled him. Its form was indistinct, shifting and flickering like smoke caught in a breeze.
“You cannot protect them,” the shadow said, its voice a distorted echo of his own. “You will lead them to ruin.”
Aros narrowed his eyes, his staff glowing brighter. “You are nothing but a specter of fear,” he said, his voice calm but resolute. “I will not be swayed.”
The shadow laughed, a hollow, chilling sound. “We shall see.”
Without warning, the shadow lunged at him, its form splitting into multiple tendrils that struck from all directions. Aros raised his staff, creating a barrier of light that deflected the attack, but the shadow reformed almost instantly.
“You cannot fight me,” it said, its voice echoing all around him. “I am the darkness within you.”
Aros clenched his jaw, focusing his energy. The runes on the chamber walls began to glow, reacting to the light of his staff.
“If you are my darkness,” he said, “then you are mine to command.”
The runes flared, and the shadow recoiled, its form flickering.
Back in the mirrored corridor, Alex struggled to his feet as the glitches around him grew more intense. The voice calling his name grew louder, more distinct.
“Amira?” he called, his voice tinged with hope.
Suddenly, the mirrored walls shattered like glass, and Alex found himself standing in the middle of a vast, empty plain. Amira and Aros were there too, each looking disoriented but unharmed.
“Are you okay?” Amira asked, rushing to his side.
“Define ‘okay,’” Alex said, brushing shards of imaginary glass off his jacket. “Because I just got attacked by my evil twin, so… no.”
“I faced something similar,” Amira admitted, glancing over her shoulder as if expecting her doppelgänger to reappear. “What about you, Aros?”
The mage looked shaken but composed. “The waystation tests us by manifesting our fears and doubts. It seeks to divide us.”
“Well, it’s doing a great job,” Alex muttered. “What now?”
Before Aros could answer, the ground beneath them trembled, and a massive crack appeared, splitting the plain in two.
Out of the crack rose a figure cloaked in shadow, its form towering and imposing. Unlike the manifestations they had faced before, this entity radiated a palpable, overwhelming power.
“You have proven yourselves unworthy,” the entity said, its voice a deep, resonant rumble. “Your journey ends here.”
Alex stared up at the entity, his mouth dry. “I hate this place.”
The entity raised one massive hand, and the air around them grew heavy, as if gravity itself had intensified.
“Run!” Aros shouted, raising his staff to create a protective barrier.
Amira grabbed Alex’s arm, pulling him away as the ground began to crumble beneath their feet. The entity’s laughter echoed in their ears as they fled, its shadow stretching across the plain like a living thing.
But no matter how far they ran, the entity loomed closer, its power growing stronger with every step.
And then, just as they reached the edge of the plain, the ground gave way entirely, and they fell into darkness.