He looked all wrong. His eyes were dark and frightening. His expression cruel and hardened. Something wasn't right. It couldn't be him. I looked more closely. He was covered in seaweed and grime. He had come out of the water. I looked towards Ember and Edge. It seemed that only I could see him. He was some kind of apparition. Soon enough another figure joined him. Someone who had the uncanny resemblance to the old Headmaster of the Mage's Academy, who had tried to bind me to a demon. He looked frail and sickly. Yet, I couldn't help but feel a tense whisper of anxiety at the sight of him. He too had emerged from the sea. The Infinite Sea, they had called it, seemed to have some strange spell upon it. It was calling up my deepest fears and desires and commingling the two of them. The shadows of Kairn and the headmaster followed behind me. They did not draw too close, but they did not fall away. They stayed right in step with me as we journeyed along the edge of the shore.
10
The Infinite Sea
Ember and Edge were none the wiser as I trailed them with a collection of deepest nightmares following behind me. They led me to a place where the shore became slightly rocky. Soon in the distance, a large marble structure appeared. It had to be the shrine of the Guardian of the Gates. The structure was almost shining in white stone against the dark infinite ocean, and yet I could see the familiar jagged peaks. It was the same general shape as the Shrine back at the Mage's Academy. My mother's shrine. She was the Guardian of the Gates after all. The shadow figures followed behind me still, but they didn't seem to want to harm me. They only watched with dark and distant eyes.
When the two mercenaries made it up to the shrine, I heard them begin to strategize.
"Get your dagger ready, Ember. We need her blood," said Edge with a sharp tone in his voice. He held something small between his fingers. Maybe it was a vial. Why did they need my blood?
"We can't let her activate the shrine," He replied fiercely.
"Blood first, anything else is secondary," His partner hissed. "Lord Morningstar only cares about getting her blood."
I stayed back. Whatever they wanted my blood for, it couldn't be a good thing. Edge grew angry when they reached the empty shrine and saw that it was empty. I hid behind a sheer rock face on the outer edge of the shrine. Ember was growing jumping and I saw him turning to look behind him. Did he see something? My own horde of personal demons was behind me. Perhaps he was starting to see his own.
"She's probably gone on already," Ember cocked in a frightful voice.
"Nonsense," said Edge.
"Edge, did you see something back there." He said in a hoarse whisper. The sea was baring its teeth at him. I was sure of it.
"You're imagining things. Don't let your mind run away with you." He said. Edge seemed the more serious one.
"I'm certain she's gone already, let's just get out of here." Ember pleaded.
The shadow of Kairn moved passed me with an empty face. His lips parted in a hollow smile. I watched as he moved past the two cloaked men. He walked along the beach on the other side of the shrine. He left no trace except for a single pair of footprints. He walked until he reached the water then disappeared, melting into the surf. The others followed him, each of the shadows stepping in the same set of footprints. Each memory and image from my past disappeared back into the dark Black Sea.
Something finally spooked Ember enough that he jumped off the platform. He saw the single pair of footprints, the gift left by my shadow followers.
"Edge, come here and look. These must be her footprints." He shouted over the roaring of the surf. The waves had increased to a large size and the sky looked stormy.
It was all he could seem to do to hold himself back from running in the opposite direction. Finally, Edge and Ember departed, led by phantom footsteps down the white shores of the infinite sea.
I gave it enough time that I could be sure they were gone. I couldn't see anyone around the shrine at all. Simply put, I couldn't see very far anyway. I would have to be careful. Nox flew up to the top of the shrine and made his perch on one of the spires.
"Keep watch for me," I asked him. He gave a quick trill in response.
The white marble of the shrine was cool and covered in dew. It was the brightest thing I had seen since I'd been in the Liminal World. I walked up the steps to reach the marble platform in the center. The outer walls of the shrine, which I had at first thought to be openings to the sea, actually appeared to be mirrors on closer inspection. I could see my own reflection all around me. Was my appearance different? I couldn't help but think that my dark hair had grown wilder, and my eyes seemed brighter. I looked somewhat unnatural, more like a creature than a girl. Is that what living in the liminal world would do?
What was the purpose of the mirrors? The Shrine at the Mage's Academy had opened up to a chamber when I activated it, as well as defended me from the banshee attack.
