Book One – Chapter 2

As Yves carefully placed the mirror on the floor and then the crystal half ball into the socket, the surface of the mirror rippled, showing but a distorted, fractured reflection of Yves looking down onto the glass. The warm light of the two orbs casted ephemeral patterns upon the dark crystal. Within this interplay of radiance and reflection, the mirror’s surface remained opaque, concealing the ethereal realm that lay beyond. There was always a sense of dread lurking just beneath the surface. This was a realm where the boundaries of reality bent, where the laws of the known world held little dominion. In this dimension, Yves was both corporeal and insubstantial. He existed as an enigma, where his identity teetered between tangible form and ethereal abstraction, where he was never fully real.

Despite the vulnerability that came with submitting himself to a realm that he just began to understand, despite the terror of being deprived of his physical form, there was an undeniable undercurrent of anticipation that surged within through Yves whenever he dared to transgress dimensions once more. In the past three years, he had painstakingly honed his ability to navigate this mysterious plane of shards, which meant that he had learned to walk and see in the most literal sense of the words, to roam an uncharted domain teeming with potent magical energies. But now, as he stood before the mirror, dread gripped him.

Taking a steady breath, Yves initiated his ritualistic spells, a cascade of his own magic surging through him. He stepped onto the mirror and, with an orchestrated release of energy, vanished from this dimension.