Shards

Just then, golden light filled the dark cave. A bright entity flew right in from up in the sky, through the crater at the very top of the Mountain. It stood before the robed man, unmoving; it was studying his every move. The robed man stepped backward, hiding the mirror in his cloak.

“Unhand this vile thing you have made, sorcerer,” said a deep voice. It resonated in the cave, shaking it till stones became dislodged.

“What vile thing? What lies are you accusing me of now?” said the sorcerer with a scowl. He knew very well whom the deep voice belonged to. How could he forget, when this man had him locked up for a hundred years?

“It is you who are telling lies,” boomed the voice. “Let it go at once, or suffer the consequences.”

“Never!”

The sorcerer grabbed ashes from the cave floor and tossed it in the air. Immediately the light died down, and he was able to escape unseen using the shadows. He shot out of the hole made by his spell and zoomed through the terrain that went beyond the Mountain. He tucked the hand holding the mirror in his cloak and held it tightly for all his life’s worth.

When the shadows and dust cleared, the pursuer’s light had dimmed. He was a warrior in full bronze battle armor. He held a shield with the emblem of a flaming eagle. In his right hand he held aloft a crystal sword. He was slightly muscled, but his authority and power came not from his lean frame but his stature, and the wings expanding from behind his back. They were pure bronze eagle wings, glistening from the sun. He too, shot out of the hole and pursued the dark magician until he got him cornered between two rock walls.

“Give it here, Woohyun,” said the winged warrior. “What you have in your hands has been made by forbidden sacrifice. This is an abominable thing to do. The mirror must be destroyed.”

The sorcerer he called Woohyun laughed. “And ruin what I’ve waited for a century to create? Certainly not! Step aside or I’ll blast you back to where you came from.”

“A hollow threat, minion,” said the warrior. His voice sounded calm, as if the evil sorcerer was just a child he was reprimanding.

Woohyun sneered. “I have grown stronger since you last saw me, Kris. You wouldn’t dare underestimate me.”

“I’ve been watching you, Woohyun. How else do you think I know where you were hiding?” said Kris, barely even moving.

Woohyun scoffed. “Fine. You’ve been warned.”

He outstretched his empty arm and shot a ray of black from his palm. The bronze warrior simply lifted his shield and deflected the spell.

“I warn you, yield! You know the cost of going against a warrior of the Sun,” warned Kris again.

“And you should know what happens to those who fight the followers of Darkness!” retorted Woohyun. He sent another beam of light in Kris’ direction, this time ricocheting off his crystal sword.

Kris shook his head. “You give me no choice.”

The Sun warrior lifted his arms and face toward the sky. His body started glowing and pulsating with warm energy. His aura doubled in size and became more radiant; it reached the darkest crevices of the valley they were in. His wings extended to their full length, blocking out any escape route. Woohyun cowered away from his light; it was too much, and at such a short range.

Kris lowered his head and Woohyun caught a glimpse of his eyes: they shone with white light and they pierced through the magician's core. Woohyun grasped the mirror harder, and then brought it out. But instead of giving it to Kris, Woohyun recited a new incantation, using magic. The mirror shook violently in his hand, and he raised it and turned to glass towards Kris.

Kris frowned deeply. He raised his sword and pointed it straight at the mirror. For a few fleeting moments, nothing happened. Then, a dark ray burst from the mirror, aiming straight for Kris’ chest. As a counter-attack, Kris’ sword shot out a white light to meet the shadow half-way. They fought like this for a while, testing their strengths. And Woohyun was losing. The dark ray protecting him was getting shorter and shorter, making the distance between him and white light smaller. And then it reached him.

Woohyun yelled in pain as the light wrapped around him, slowly diminishing the dark sorcerer. When the light died, all that remained was a stained midnight-blue robe smoking from the heat. As for the mirror, the light touched it at the dead center of the glass. It shattered in four pieces and disappeared from view. Kris nodded contentedly and vanished in a sunbeam.

What he didn’t notice was a pillar of smoke rising from the robe. Woohyun the sorcerer used the last bits of his existence and power, and uttered a spell for the mirror, and whoever picks it up.

Each fragment of the broken mirror sailed toward each compass point. One glass shard got thrown towards the north, another to the south, another to the east, and the last one went to the west.

Since then no one has ever heard of the mysterious mirror ever again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A young girl and a boy a little older than she blinked up at their uncle, obviously enchanted by the bedtime story he had just told them. He caught their look and smiled.

“Is it true, uncle? Was there really such a mirror?” asked the girl. “And was there such a storm?”

“It’s true! What happened then is a historical event. No one likes remembering it, of course, but it’s real,” replied the uncle.

“How do you know, uncle?” asked the boy suspiciously.

The uncle smiled mischievously. “I was there when the storm happened.”

The two children looked at their uncle with even more awe. The girl even gasped.

“Uncle Jungryeol, where are the mirror pieces now?” asked the boy.

Jungryeol ruffled his hair. “I told you, no one knows what happened to them. They got lost, and forgotten over time.”

“I want to see one, just to know that you weren’t telling me a fairytale,” said the boy.

“Me too!” squeaked the girl.

Jungryeol laughed. “These kids... You don’t believe your uncle Jungryeol?”

The boy and the girl laughed. Jungryeol laughed along.

“Alright, it’s time you were in bed,” he said. He tucked in the girl first. She smiled at him and patted his cheeks with her small, childlike hands.

“Good night, uncle. Thanks for the story,” she said.

Jungryeol smiled tenderly and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Good night, Sungjin,” said her uncle.

When he turned to the boy, he was tucking himself in. Jungryeol chuckled softly.

“Look at little Sungjong, acting like a grown up already,” he said. “Well, since you’re a big boy, I don’t think you’ll need me to tuck you in anymore. I’ll go out now.”

Sungjong pouted. “I am a big boy. Hmph.” He buried himself under his blanket. Jungryeol shook his head with a smile. Just as he was about to reach for the door, Sungjong threw his covers back.

“Wait, uncle! Say ‘good night’ to me too,” he said softly. Jungryeol smiled softly and consented. He sat at the edge of the little boy’s bed.

“Alright, there we go,” whispered Jungryeol as he pulled the blanket up to Sungjong’ chin. “You’re a big boy, right, Jonggie?”

“Yup,” said Sungjong proudly. “I’m ten years old.”

“Ah, you are ten years old now? You are all grown up,” mussed Jungryeol. “Take good care of your sister, okay?”

“Of course, uncle. She my repson… respon…”

“Responsibility, my boy,” offered Jungryeol. “She is indeed you responsibility. Watch over Sungjin, okay? Promise?”

“Prom—” Sungjong’s speech got interrupted by a yawn. “I promise, uncle. Good night.”

Jungryeol smiled. He gazed at the two kids before him. He kissed Sungjong’s forehead before blowing out the candle that kept the room lit. When he got out of the room, a woman wearing a cloak with a hood met him. She was holding the reins of two black horses.

“Are you ready?” she asked, her voice raspy and full of years.

Jungryeol hesitated. “What will happen to them? Who’s going to take care of them?”

“I already left a letter at our neighbor’s door. They’ll take care of the children,” she replied.

“But they’ll ask for me. They’re just kids,” asked Jungryeol again.

The woman regarded him coldly. “You’ve made quite a connection with those children. They’ll be fine without you. Or do you want to back out?”

Jungryeol took a moment. “No, I’m going.” He threw on a cloak and pulled the hood over his head. He hopped onto a black horse and took the reins from the woman. She did the same and the two of them rode away, the night swallowing them up until they were mere shadows under the moon’s dim light.

When they reached a hill, Jungryeol stopped and looked back at the darkened house. It was at the edge of the village, a sorry-looking shack compared to the other stone and wooden houses that stood in rows before it. Then he turned his horse and galloped away.

Remember your promise, Sungjong. Take care of each other. And I’m sorry.