The sky was cloudy when they arrived at the village of Koren. A small village, surrounded by calm woods, with houses made of white stone and dark wood. There was a strange tranquility in the air. Too much tranquility.
As soon as they passed through the village gate, a woman wearing a floral apron pointed at them firmly.
"You two… are adventurers, aren't you?"
Kael and Elira stopped at the same time.
"Depends on what you want, ma'am," said Kael.
"We have a dungeon here," she whispered. "But no one wants to go in anymore."
"Why?" asked Elira, suspicious.
The woman looked around and replied in a low voice.
"It shows… things. Things no one wants to see."
The dungeon was hidden inside an abandoned house on the outskirts of the village. Inside, a staircase led down to a basement where the only thing in existence was a huge mirror, almost the size of a wall.
"That's it?" asked Kael, touching the mirror.
As soon as his hand touched the glass, the floor trembled, and the entire room distorted as if it were made of water.
"Kael…" shouted Elira, but before she could move, she was pulled in as well.
When Kael opened his eyes, he was no longer in the basement. He was in an identical version of himself… but older. Stubble on his chin, tired eyes, and… armor stained with blood.
He was staring at himself, like a reflection that had aged ten years.
"Is that me… in the future?" he asked, confused.
The figure in front of him smiled.
"I am who you could become," it replied. "And if you keep running from what you feel… you'll end up alone."
Kael tried to touch the reflection, but it disappeared. When he blinked again, he was no longer there.
Elira, on the other hand, appeared in a room full of smaller mirrors. In each, she saw different versions of herself.
In one, she was holding Kael's hand.
In another, she was crying alone.
And in the last… she was kissing him, wearing a shy smile.
She blushed immediately.
"What is this…?" she murmured, placing her hand over her heart, which was racing.
From the kissing mirror, her image looked directly at her.
"You feel it, but you don't understand yet. And that scares you, doesn't it?"
Elira frowned.
"Shut up," she whispered.
But the image just smiled.
Suddenly, both were pulled back into the original room. The dungeon spat them out as if its purpose had ended.
Kael fell to the stone floor. Elira did the same, on the other side of the mirror.
"You… saw anything strange too?" he asked, taking a deep breath.
She hesitated for a second, then replied.
"Nothing unusual."
Kael laughed, nervously.
"Yeah. Nothing unusual here either."
They stayed silent for a few moments, until Kael said:
"Hey, Elira…"
"Hm?"
"If one day you… feel something, like, confusing… you can tell me, okay?"
Elira looked away, fidgeting with the ends of her braid, as she always did when she didn't know what to say.
"You too."
Kael stood up, extending his hand to her.
"Let's get out of here before this mirror decides to pull us in again."
She grabbed his hand, standing up.
"And if it does… I hope the next version of me is less embarrassed."
Kael smiled, surprised.
"So you saw something!"
She quickly let go of his hand, pretending to lightly punch his shoulder.
"I said it was nothing unusual!"
And the two climbed back up, leaving behind the Mirror Dungeon… and some images they might never forget.