The Mirror Guard (chapter 8)

Eight: Eight Days in the Stark

EVA COULDN’T SLEEP. She’d stayed up and made sure Eke finally fell asleep before slipping out of the tent into the frigid night cold. The snow had come and gone, leaving the clearest of night skies. The skylights danced overhead with the mood full and bright. The Divine Doctrine claims that’s where Rainiar la Jaguar’sister dances for all eternity.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Eva nearly jumped out of her skin. She forgot that Ono had covered watch. He slipped out of his starka skin, nearly naked. “Sorry,” he said as he used the pelt to cover himself. It was remarkable that he wasn’t cold out here. The Cavaman blood in him had very strange properties.

Eva just shook her head.

Ono pat a spot on his starka for Eva to sit. Eva wasn’t sure, but she felt like the pelt could grow and shrink in size. It was the only way to explain how the starka was about to both wrap around him like a robe and allow space for her to sit, while being so form fitting and short-cropped while Ono wore it. Eva sat cross-legged, allowing for Ono to lay his starka strewn arm across her shoulders.

“How are we going to get into the bunker now? Mrs. Shimmyshanks was our ticket.”

“Eke can’t get us in?”

“He says he can’t. It was a privilege given to his mother only. But she could get anyone in with her.”

“That lady had some power.” Ono looked out into the darkness where they’d set Mrs. Shimmyshanks’ body. It was far enough from the camp to keep predators away from them, and Benjamin was left with her.

“You’re telling me.” There was silence. “We’re better off just going back to Crystalis.”

“I don’t know if there’s a Crystalis to go back to. We’re going to have to wait until they start rebuilding.”

“We’ll never make it that long.”

Ono looked up at the moon. “You know, there is a way.”

“A way, what?”

“I think there’s a way to get into that bunker.”

“I’m listening,” Eva said. She couldn’t help but notice how warm the starka felt over her shoulders. <Strange properties indeed.>

“There’s a legend about female mirrorblade wielders.”

“Oh?”

“Just hear me out.” Ono said. “It’s said that female wielders have the ability to become anything they eat. They can even become other people — other wielders, stealing their powers with the acquisition of their genetic makeup.”

“So, what are you saying?” Eva asked, looking out into the snowy darkness. She thought of Mrs. Shimmyshanks, out there with Benjamin.

“We’re too far from Crystalis to make it back alive. We’re too close to the bunker to give up. It’s a power called doppleganging. You need to become Mrs. Shimmyshanks.”

Eva shot to her feet, “Are you serious!?” A shiver ran up her spine. “You want me to eat her? You said this was a story, a legend. Who’s to say that it’s even real?”

“There’s something you probably don’t know about Cavaman and the Mirror Guard.”

“Oh yea, what’s that?” Eva felt kind of angry. “Speaking of that, how would I even become a wielder? I don’t have Cavaman blood.”

“Can you just sit down? Please, allow me to explain.”

Eva decided to sit back down, but she wrapped herself in Ono’s pelt without his help. She took a deep breath. “I think I’m ready to listen.” She looked into Ono’s dark eyes, “I’m doing this for Jono.”

“Of course,” Ono gave Eva that charming smile. It got her every time. “Anyway, the Mirror Guard. We aren’t willfully given by Cavamen in the Stark. We’re stolen.”

“What? I thought it was a high honor to be offered to the Guard.”

“That’s what little Crystalissians are told to make them feel better. We’re stolen. We’re taken from our families and trained at an early age to be killers.”

“But your life is better in Crystalis than it could be out here in the Stark.”

“Oh Eva. We aren’t fed the same things you are fed. Our rooms are made from crystal and rock. We aren’t given rugs or pelts, besides our starkas. Life isn’t easy for any of us.”

“But you’re powerful! You could kick any Crystalissian ass. You could just fight back.”

Ono snickered. He flashed his famous smile. “The Crystalissians have our parent’s information logged. From the time we are stolen, till the time that we die, the Crystalissians always have knowledge of what we love, our families, our Guardian brothers. If we step out of line they won’t hesitate to kill any of them.”

“They’ve killed other Guardians?” Eva shivered. “This can’t be real.”

There was silence… “I’m sorry that it is.”

“Ono — I’m so sorry. My family was killed when I was younger. I have no idea what it’s like to be taken from my family, but I have a glimmer of an understanding of what it’s like to have your family taken away. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. We all learn to cope — in our own ways. We find distractions.” Ono’s arm brushed Eva’s.

“Do you remember your parents?”

“I remember my mom… Because when I was a young teenager, she tried to come save me, to free me.”

“What?”

“Yea,” Ono continued, “She snuck into Crystalis. She found my dorm.”

“There’s no way she got that far! How did she do it?”

“She doppleganged.”

“So it is true…?”

“Yes, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“What happened to your mother?”

Ono seemed to grow sad, like something washed over him. Eva reached over and took his hand. “The Crystalissians had already brainwashed me. They made me believe I was one of them. I was raised in the city. There was no way that I could survive in the Stark. There was no way that I even wanted to. Could you give up your city comforts for the Stark? Granted, my comforts and yours are very different as far as the Crystalissians are concerned. But what I got was better than freezing all the time, constantly hunting and scraping for food, constantly on guard from other predators and snow wyrms that were just as hungry as you. I couldn’t give my life up in Crystalis. …Plus — I knew you.”

“Oh Ono, shut up. You’re like a brother to me. Plus you’re a Guardian. No one could ever know.”

“Is that really how you feel?”

<No… Maybe…?> Eva thought.

“…Then you might not like this next part.” Ono warned.

“What part?” Eva asked.

“Well — in order to dopplegang, you’ll need to become a finly.”

“But I thought…”

Ono smiled and Eva stopped dead in her thoughts, “There’re two powers that make up mirrorblade wielding…”

“Yea, I know. You’ve told me. The Essence of Emotion and the Essence of Color.”

“Right. In order to process emotion essence you need to be a finly. In order to process color essence you need to be…”

“A Cavaman,” Eva answered.

“Well, yes. But, there’s a little known fact about your Crystalissian genetics that your history and science teachers don’t often talk about. You see, in order to use color essence, you need to be a weremane, a shapeshifter. Weremane abilities are carried down bloodlines, genetics. Cavamen are one type of weremane, but Crystalissians are weremane too.”

“What?”

“Your crystal horns and the armor that appears on your shoulders and knees when you’re scared. Those are all products of your weremane heritage.”

“But I can’t shapeshift.”

“No, Crystalissians lost their ability to fully shapeshift generations ago. But you still carry enough of the bloodline to consume and use color essence. You’ve just never been taught how to do it.”

“Why didn’t we learn this stuff in school? Shards!” Eva was frustrated. So much of her life had suddenly become a lie. Without realizing she was doing it, she was rubbing the crystalized carapace that had formed on one of her elbows. It was cool to the touch, smooth. “How do you know all of this?”

“The Guardians are an important part of the government and the survival of Crystalis. We are taught all of this to help us use it when we need to to survive. So, I’m asking if you want to become a doppleganger and save your brother. Save all of us.”

“Well — if I’m a weremane by blood, I’m not a finly.”

“Finlyism is passed in a different way.”

“Will I shapeshift into a norwotter?” Eva asked. She needed to break the tension with a laugh. Her head was spinning.

“I’m not sure how your weremane genetics will effect what you can do. It makes sense to believe you might not have all weremane abilities.” Ono said, so seriously. He was preparing for something. He took a deep breath.

“What is it?”

Ono was blushing, “The way finlyism is passed.”

“How…?” Eva asked as Ono suddenly let go of her hand.

“Well… Promise you won’t freak out.”

“I’m not sure…” Eva said suspiciously.

“Ugh — we’d have to have sex.”

Eva quickly turned away from Ono, landing on hands and knees in the snow besides them. …And she threw up.