Mirror, Mirror

[DragonSong]

Kiara smirked a bit and shrugged at his declaration that this was likely to be their last meeting. "Oh, that's just asking for trouble," she chuckled wryly. "Never say never."

She took a few steps back from him and not-her-Kit, then closed her eyes and started to reach inward, to where her magic should have been.

A slight shimmer rippled over her form from head to toe—the faintest light under her skin, the pointed tips returning to her ears—and her knees buckled.

[MadEmperor]

Dan rushed in to support her as she regained her balance. "Welcome back. You will be pleased to know that immediate danger has passed."


Grav held his Kiara much the same, but with a more loving air. "Easy, I'm here."

They were in an unfamiliar tent, being watched by a pair of human strangers: a resolute older woman and a scholarly young, bespectacled man. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't just seen it myself," said the man.

[DragonSong]

"Ah. Good." She blinked and quickly tried to shrug away from him, reaching out with relief as her bond with Kit was once more a strong thrum in the back of her mind. "So. What about the not immediate danger?"


Kiara exhaled heavily and tried to sit up properly, though she squeezed Grav's shoulder gratefully and gave him a quick, soft look as she did.

It didn't last long, as she quickly realized they were not alone. "Ah...hello," she said slowly, looking between the pair. "What's going on here...?"

[MadEmperor]

Dan quickly obliged her need for personal space. "We managed to stall the mercenaries, so we have a little time to figure out what to do about their inevitable poor reaction to having their payday ruined. We're headed to the refugee camp to talk to my parents about our next move."


Grav cleared his throat. "Right. Kiara, these are Beatrix and Lowell, the de facto leader of the refugee camp and her right-hand man. Beatrix and Lowell, this is my—our world's Kiara."

Beatrix nodded. "I'd say it's a pleasure, but considering the danger we are supposedly in, pleasantries will have to wait."

[DragonSong]

"Okay." Kiara blinked, shook her head, then nodded briskly. "Right. Okay. Where are we now, exactly? And where's--?"

Here.

Relief swamped her at the familiar feeling of the bond and she smiled slightly. "Kit's on his way."


"Pleasantries. Waiting. Right." Kiara blinked, shook her head, then nodded briskly. She pushed away from Grav a bit--though not before giving him a quick, grateful smile--and got waveringly to her feet. "I'm guessing Grav told you, well...what we know. About the lot of you being in immanent danger?"

[MadEmperor]

They were merely in the forest, heading to rendezvous with Kit. The dragon was apparently already coming to get them. Dan couldn't blame him for wanting to see his Kiara again.

"Good. Now we have no need to look for him."


The woman nodded. "Yes. We didn't know if we should believe him, but the fact that he was with someone openly magical proved he wasn't from the Church so we decided to listen. His story seemed insane, if I'm honest. Yet we just watched this swap of yours happen and, more importantly, felt it happen. That could be no illusion."

The man looked at her briefly before nodding. "What is it you suggest we do? There are few places we can go."

[DragonSong]

It didn't take long for Kit to find them, and once he had he immediately curved his neck around Kiara and tugged her into his chest with a low, thrumming croon.

"Easy," Kiara chuckled softly, though she was clearly just as happy to see him.


"Well, you could...ahh..." Kiara pressed a hand to her temple, brow furrowed. "There was--in the other world, there's this artifact. The other me was hired to, ah, acquire it so that this rebel group could help you all..." She sighed, shoulders slumping and shaking her head slightly. "But I never got the message. So maybe Vanier's stranglehold on the region is too strong in our world...shit, I'm sorry, it's all I can think of."

[MadEmperor]

Dan smiled at the rather heartwarming moment before becoming more serious. There was much to do. "As much as I am loathe to shorten your tender reunion, we need to make haste to the refugee camp to meet with my parents. There is no telling how much time our subterfuge has bought us."


"Can this rebel group get us somewhere safe, assuming they are still around? It's clear that simply keeping our heads down and obeying the law wasn't ever going to be enough for some of our countrymen, not as long as men like Lord Vannier target us for merely drawing breath." Lowell sounded bitter and it was clear from Beatrix's weary sigh that they had had that discussion many times in the past.

Only now, the idealism and righteous anger of the young seemed more undeniable. Something had to change. Beatrix straightened up. "It seems we have no choice but to reach out to these rebels of yours if we want to survive this."

[DragonSong]

"Yes. Of course." Kiara pulled back from her dragon quickly and nodded at him. "Let's get moving—here." She swung up onto Kit's back and held a hand down to Dan. "Flying is always fastest."


"Right. The rebels." Kiara glanced at Grav, her expression caught somewhere between concerned and hopeful. "I mean I guess we could... We know some names? Maybe that necromancer could help us, if we find her?"

[MadEmperor]

Dan took her hand and, with her help, climbed into position on Kit's back. Once they were in the air, he asked, "How would you handle the mercenaries when they return to demand what my brother promised them?"


Both mages went wide-eyed. "Nobody said anything about necromancers," Beatrix said, aghast at the idea.

Grav put up a placating hand. "I reacted the same way, but she's more of a spirit medium. She hardly goes around raising corpses for fun. That said, I don't know if getting her involved would accomplish anything but put a bigger target on her back."

[DragonSong]

Kiara sighed and shook her head. "Honestly? I don't know—I've only ever dealt with mercs from the perspective of another blade for hire, never the employer. Something tells me the tenuous wouldn't exactly translate." She frowned and glanced back at him. "How did you two convince them to back off, anyway?"


Kiara shook her head slowly. "No, I'm not thinking we should try to drag her back into this—but she's the only other unaffiliated mage in the area we know. She might have an idea about this rebel group, right? Where we could find them?"

[MadEmperor]

"Your double is either a very adept liar or we were insanely lucky. She convinced them that plans had changed and to wait for the new plan. It won't delay them long once they piece together that my brother is dead."


Grav exhaled and nodded. "Right. It can't hurt to ask. Of course, that's only if we can find her again while also not letting the mercs know we're sneaking around."

[DragonSong]

Kiara sighed and shook her head wistfully. "I miss lying," she muttered.

Drumming her fingers on Kit's scales, she started thinking aloud, "We need some sort of...backup. The refugees can't defend themselves on their own, once the mercs..."

The idea occurred to both her and Kit at the same time. They both groaned. "We have to find the rebels."


She nodded, starting to climb to her feet. "Regardless, the lot of you should be ready to move," she said to Beatrix and Lowell. "The mercs in our world haven't been called off--they're supposed to be setting the fires tonight..."

She trailed off and glanced around, realizing that in all the world-hopping and imprisonment, she'd quite lost track of time. And--

She looked at Grav. "You doing okay? You and Dan have been awake at the same time for a while now--can you keep it up?"

[MadEmperor]

Dan raised an eyebrow. "You mean the rebels that tried to kill us? Those rebels?"


Grav was, indeed, looking a little worn out. Still, he nodded. "I can't afford not to. Not until we end this."

Beatrix watched him for a moment and seemed to resolve herself to something. "I vowed long ago to not use my magic, even when no one could possibly find out, but this... is a unique situation. I can give you an energy boost to compensate for your fatigue, at least for a time."

Grav blinked. "You don't need to put yourself at more risk than you al-"

She cut him off. "It's alright. What's the worst they can do that isn't already being attempted? Besides, I'm old. The remainder of my life is worth risking to protect everyone here."

[DragonSong]

"Yes. Those rebels." She sighed. "I know it's kind of mad, but...what choice do we really have right now?"


Kiara frowned, though the expression was more confusion this time than anything else. "Wait wait wait—what do you mean the remainder of your life?"

[MadEmperor]

Dan didn't like it at all—not one bit—but he had to admit that they had few options. Convincing his parents of that, however, was a whole different matter.

"I was hoping to avoid the fighting altogether."  He sighed. "But if it comes to that, House Vannier isn't so prosperous that we have the manpower to defend against a seasoned mercenary brigade. And involving duchy soldiers is likely a bad idea. So, it certainly can't hurt to propose such an unorthodox solution."


The old woman chuckled. "Nothing so dramatic as giving the young man my life force. I just mean, if anyone here is to be caught using magic, it's better if it's someone with less life to lose."

[DragonSong]

"I mean, the rebels probably won't want to fight either," Kiara noted pointedly. "They might have...I dunno, escape routes. Some sort of plan in place to get the refugees over the border before the mercs close in."


"Well...I mean, ideally we'll be able to keep you lot safe from these stupid backward laws, so..." Kiara shrugged. "Go for it, I guess?" She glanced at Grav for confirmation.

[MadEmperor]

"Right." Dan nodded. "I think I can convince my parents to look the other way long enough for that to happen."

"Which begs the question of how to contact them."


"Go ahead," Grav answered.

"Then I suggest you brace yourself. I'm told it can be quite intense," Beatrix advised. When he nodded that he was prepared, she placed a hand over his heart and pushed glowing energy into him.

He gasped as his entire body became energized. "Wow... Yeah, I'm not tired now! Woo!"

[DragonSong]

"...I should be able to handle that part," Kiara said, her tone going expressionless and hard. "But I'll need to be on the ground to do it. And as close to where we wanna have this meeting as we can manage--I don't want to potentially get the refugees caught in crossfire, but we should be close to them if we wanna head off the mercs."


"Puppy?" Kiara started forward slightly, worried by the way he shuddered and gasped. But--no, he just seemed alert. Much more alert.

She still eyed him warily for a moment. "Sooo, you good?"

[MadEmperor]

"You heard the lady, Ser Kit. Bring us close to the refugee camp but far enough away  not to be a danger ourselves." It was, perhaps, a bit presumptuous for him to tell Ser Kit to do anything, but he had become somewhat attached to the young dragon in the short time he's known him.


Grav seemed almost too energized, but was quickly leveling off. "I'm better than good." He grinned. "I feel like I could take the Black Talon on by myself. I mean, obviously, I won't try that, but I feel amazing."

"Thank you, Beatrix. That helped a lot," he told the woman.

Turning back to Kiara, he asked, "How do we find the medium again? The only thing I can think of is hoping dragons can track by smell."