The mirrors in the castle were giving incorrect reflections.
Proportional faces and figures in them turned into disfigured and crooked ones. An evil mockery of an already grim reality.
They were warped mirrors.
When dark clouds surrounded the castle and crooked bolts of lightning began striking continuously from within them, some reflections disappeared, and in their place appeared images of a weird, mysterious stranger in a wide-brimmed hat and a long coat with long tails. His thin-lipped mouth stretched into an ominous smile. The sharp teeth did not bode a positive ending.
Initially, this put them on combat alert. Blades flew out of their sheaths, and hands with long nails rose in spellcasting gestures. But after lingering briefly, the image completely disappeared, changing into the disfigured, tense faces of the squad.
They stopped paying attention to the stranger.
And then, for the first time, he stepped out of one of the mirrors. He swung a leg in a black boot with red laces over the ancient, ornate frame and placed it on the floor of the room. Then he climbed out completely and headed straight toward the squad. What gave them a terrible feeling was that he moved completely silently. And at the same time, he continued baring his teeth like a madman. His red eyes seemed to look right through them.
The Cloakroom Attendant struck him first with a hand that had grown to an enormous size and transformed into a clawed limb with black talons. It barely tore the stranger's jacket on the shoulder, as though he were transparent and beyond the reach of their blows. Black powder poured from the cut in the jacket, falling to the floor with every step the stranger took.
As though not noticing what had happened, he approached one of the locked doors, opened it with a key, and stepped inside.
The squad followed him in.
They found themselves in a spacious hall with a high ceiling. Five large vertical portraits hung on the walls of the hall, forming a ring. Each of them was more than ten times the size of a human being. There was nothing inside the portraits except black canvas.
The stranger's figure walked toward one of the portraits, stepped over the frame of the empty painting, and disappeared inside. At that moment, an image of a grim figure gradually appeared on the portrait. It was a creature with white skin and white hair, clad in snow-white armor. Its eyes burned with blue lights. Arrogance and contempt were frozen on its cold face.
The next moment, the walls of the room and the four empty portraits dissolved. Only the portrait of the grim white warrior remained, hanging vertically in the air before them. Then it too dissolved.
They found themselves in a nighttime forest. Black, bare trees surrounded them. Ahead, a large castle with blue lights could be seen. To the right, an estate stood on a hill. Its windows burned with an ominous red light.