Mia , though comfortable in the ridge, felt very very lonely. The days and nights were all alike.
She had her little storage of food. Lin had left behind some books and papers to keep herself . But she couldn't do much other than overthink and worry. Some time Or the other she take out a book and flip through, other times she would scribble something and then the papers and throw it away disheartened. She wanted to help Lin too. She wanted to a way out of the mess too.She was feeling she was losing badly at this game of waiting.
She didn't want to be a liability, she wanted to be an aid, an ally.
One such lonely morning, as she paced up and down in her tiny confinement, she heard a . She wasn't sure what it was so she followed it to check. It took her to the opening. It was with Lin's power, which was pretty strong. She saw an injured animal whining in the bush front. She tried calling it but apparently it couldn't hear her. The animal slowly shifted into a large man. He was in a lot of agony. The day set into night. She could no longer ignore his . She tried pushing the barrier open. There was no luck in the beginning. She tried . All her life she had only seen immortals practice their magic, but had she ever it herself. This was her first time. She tried her best. But she was failing badly. The barrier pretty strong. But she could neither ignore the injured person suffering infront of her.
After several attempts she sat down exhausted. Then after a while she thought to herself "one time" and barged in with all her might with closed eyes.
She opened her eyes and found herself standing outside the ridge, the barrier behind her.
"Yes! " She exclaimed in joy.
The man looked up as she composed herself again.
"Excuse me.Are you alright sir. You have been in pain all day" She asked, going near him.
The man made a grunting sound that clearly showed that he was annoyed. She backed off a steps and exclaimed "calm down sir. I come in peace. I just want to help you if you allow "
"Who are you? " The man growled.
"Umm... I am Mia" Mia no longer knew how she should introduce herself " May I? " She asked she bent down to examine his wounds.
He seemed rather agitated by her touch but nevertheless allowed her to take a look.
"These are some really serious injuries. What sort of a weapon did tear your flesh? " She asked she went on examining the rest of his wounded body "sir try to rest a bit . I will go look for to clean your wound and make an ointment to apply on the affected areas. "
She went ahead looking for some water source. There was one inside the barrier but she was she might not be able to break out of it again if she went inside. After looking for her, she a little pond under some rocks. She tore a portion of her cloth to carry the water to the .
"Here let me clean the wounds. Please bear with me. It might be unpleasant. " She gave him a but he seemed to totally ignore her. As she finished her cleaning she went ahead to if she could find any medicinal herbs to apply on the wounds. It took her some time but she find a handful.
"Here you go. I have been collecting these with my mother for some time now. Lucky that I them here. Mr...? " She was happily mumbling but stopped mid track when she realized patient was gone.
"How rude. He couldn't even wait for a little thanks giving " She looked here and there then it would be best for her to get back inside the barrier after all.
" Are you hungry? I am" She asked her baby bump " Let's go and eat then" .Her mood seemed have cheered up immensely.
Lin, Boshu, Xie and Roe tied themselves with the ropes they assembled . They had made it with net on which Line and Boshu had got trapped. As they got ready to climb out a swarm of attacked them. Each one fought bravely. Though badly scratched and injured, they made way out. Each helping the other.
"Now what" Roe asked, huffing from the excitement.
Lin took out an ancient compass-like device from his pocket.
"Wow.what is this? " Roe was excited at most new things.
"It's a family heirloom. It helps us to identify reality. " Lin explained " Once we identify the where reality goes, we have to travel the other way. The mirror will then take us to the side ".
" How does your family have the reality identifier? " Xie was looking at Lin with an expression could burn him.
"Aren't we happy that he has that? Otherwise how would we make out the real from the fake in maze? " Roe intervened to diffuse the situation.
"The lady is correct. We must co-operate since we share the same goal" Boshu tried to help and Roe at the same time.
As they started walking the reality identifier began vibrating " This way" Lin pointed after . As they walked ahead, they came face to face with a huge silver mirror that seemed hold a silvery liquid inside instead of glass. All four marveled with awe.
*****
Inner self
As they faced the silvery mirror that could transport one to the other side of reality, they each a different image. The mirror brought forward their deepest desire and fright. Soon the vanished from each of their eyes and they found themselves inside the vision they were in the mirror, facing their own deepest desires and scariest nightmares. But they still standing where they stood apparently. None could see the other.
"What is going on? " Boshu yelled but it only came back as an echo. Some sort of sound barrier there between each of them.
Lin found himself facing Mia. She was standing with something in her arms. As Lin approached she started running away from him. He chased behind her calling out her name. But she 't respond, nor did she respond until they reached the ridge. There Lin pulled her around but several steps back with horror at the sight. Mia is a baby in her arms covered in blood.
The blood dripped from Mia's neck where the flesh was ripped off and the bone showed. The had a very devilish look and had the flesh in its mouth which it had bit off Mia. Lin yelled in . He kept calling Mia's name as he begged her to let the child go, throw it away. But she 't listen. She just sat smiling and caressing the baby as it bit her off piece by piece. Lin stood there shaking unable to do anything.
Roe had herself in front of the imperial Hall. She was all decked up in a bridal attire, complete every jewelry possible. But as she walked she found her legs tied in huge chains, golden . Her hands felt heavy too. There were similar chains on her wrists too. As she stood , an unknown man with a big mustache approached her. Everyone present there in amazement as Roe yelled for help. The man kept approaching her and touching her all over. She kicked and yelled, even tried to bite him off, but her chains kept heavier and heavier till she could no longer stand. It made her bow down in agony embarrassment.
Xie was standing in the middle of a battlefield in his vision. He was tied in the wrong direction on horseback. These horses were the treasures of the wolf clan. They could fly but they had no . Xie's horse was however not flying. It was taking him in circles. The battle drums roared the horse wouldn't stop. Xie tried hard to control it but he found himself unable to let go of grip he had on the animal in fear that he might be dropped. The animal however stopped all a sudden and started running away from the battleground. Xie tried hard but he couldn't turn direction. He could hear the loud roar of jeering from across the field.
Boshu found himself standing in the same spot but without his companions. As he went about each one by name, he realized he was inside some sort of illusion. While everyone else engrossed in their own mental troubles, Boshu could figure things out. Being simple had its own perks. He tried following the echo. It always came from a particular . As he approached he found something solid but invisible hit him.
"It must be some kind of a barrier" He thought. As he pondered over ways to break through the , he remembered something. Every barrier was like a shield and specifically trial barriers these were spherical. Being spherical it ought to have a periphery. If he could gauge that he be able to generate the exact amount of energy wave to counter it. He immediately got to . And surprisingly it was working. He kept expanding his field of energy till it met the of that of his sphere. He was exhausting himself in the process. His nose and ear bleeding but he kept pushing. Finally after a few more efforts the barrier did crack open he found his friends all standing in a trance. No one responded to the huge noise the barrier as it shattered to pieces.
He went up to each one, shook them hard but no one responded. He ran this way then to the looking for any solution. But found none. Then he stood stopped and concentrated on he had learnt from Lin. If anybody was inside a barrier where one could not reach , one could communicate through their inner self.
He immediately sat down to meditate. He gave his all to focus. As he toiled hard on his he found himself standing in front of himself. There were thin threads in front of . But they were all tangled. At the end of each thread were each of his companions. Lin's lead seemed like the nearest so he immediately started working on detangling it. Finally found success as Lin opened his eyes panting from the horror he had just witnessed. Boshu him down as he looked at the other two.
"I think we need to help them," Boshu urged.
Lin nodded as he closed his eyes . After a few more moments, Lin was able to untangle them . It took some time for everyone to recover from the aftershock of their trials.
"Ufff... That was intense" Roe painted.
"This manifested our deepest desires and fears. We were lucky we were traveling in a group.
Solo travelers have been stuck in horror for ages without any way out. Thank you. " Xie patted
Lin and Boshu on the back with appreciation for the first time on their journey.
"Don't mention it" They replied with a welcoming bow.
"Let's get going then. We still have a long way to go" Boshu said, pointing towards the mirror.
"Right.we need to get to the other side of reality. Let's go" Roe jumped inside as she replied.
The rest followed suit. After a few moments of intense compression, they found themselves on the other side.