Song of the Mirror Maker: Chapter Sixteen (The End)
Admar was lying on his side in his jail cell in the middle of the night, looking up at the one brick-sized window along the wall, where the moonlight spilled in and gave the only illumination in the room.
“I’ll never see the sun again,” he mourned to himself as a sharp pain shot through his lungs.
His broken rib made it nearly impossible to speak, not that he was doing much of that these days. He’d been left in solitary confinement for the last 72 hours, and wasn’t likely to get any visitors any time soon. He made a concerted effort to roll over, and after adapting to the agonizing cramps and pains that wrecked his body, trained his eyes in a dark corner of the room.
“Who’s there?” he asked suspiciously, as he quickly perceived the outline of a figure.
The stranger swept out of the shadows, and created a soft tingling sound as she moved, her checked costume made out of several layers of some kind of black and white metal. Over her face was a harlequin-patterned mask.
“Why does such a conqueror languish here?” her soft, distorted voice asked.
Admar half-snorted and raised an exhausted eyebrow.
“Conqueror of what?” he asked in a frustrated voice. “Can’t you see I’m defeated?”
The stranger edged closer to the cage, holding out a box wrapped in white tissue paper.
“Everywhere I look, I see opportunities,” she replied. “You’re one of them, waiting for your chance. And that’s what I do. I could give you everything.”
Admar eyed the package, longing to reach out from the bars and draw it closer to him.
“What do you have there?” he asked greedily, licking his chapped lips.
The stranger pushed the item between the bars and drew back, folding her arms as the Inquisitor ripped the gift apart. Inside the box, was the charred mask of the Could’ve Been King. Admar threw it down in disgust.
“You mock me!” he snarled.
“No,” the woman answered calmly, as she held up a staying hand. “I show you all that was, and all that could be.”
“What the hell does that mean!” Admar demanded. “Who are you?”
The stranger pushed up against the bars before pulling off her mask and revealing her hideously scarred face. Admar was so repulsed that he nearly wretched.
“I sing the song of the mirror maker,” she responded harshly. “And that means that the future is OURS for the taking!”
Theta sat up in the middle of the night, a horrific pain echoing in his head. His movements were so sudden that he awoke Rose, who was sleeping beside him.
“What is it?” she asked groggily. “What’s wrong?”
Theta slid off the end of the bed and went to stand in front of the large windowed doors that led outside to the balcony.
“I don’t know,” he said in a pinched voice. “It feels like…aggh!”
He buckled under the pain as Rose ran to his side, brow furrowed with concern as she touched his face.
“Doctor,” she started. “Tell me where it hurts…oh my god!”
Theta’s eyes snapped back up to hers urgently as Rose pulled away one of her hands and stared down uncertainly.
“The Gleiss,” she said in a nervous voice. “It’s coming off!”
Theta stared hard at her hand, where the black glitter shone back in evidence of the fact.
“Can’t be,” Theta said, even as he saw it for himself. “I don’t understand…”
Shouts from the hallway signaled that others were starting to feel the same effects, as howls of pain quickly followed. Theta jumped up and threw open the door, trying to help in any way he could, but there was nothing to be done. All of the castle residents were losing their Gleiss.
“The Gleissen!” the Overlord shouted in panic, as he jumped over the prostrate bodies of his servants.
Rose followed behind him as he tore down the hallway and ran down the long set of stairs leading to the main entrance. There, one of the guards was lying helplessly on the floor. Theta ran to her side and propped her up so that he could see into her black eyes.
“What’s happening?” he demanded. “What’s wrong with you?”
The Gleissen stared back up at her master and blinked heavily, almost unable to respond.
“We are dying,” she said faintly, her robotic voice barely a whisper.
“Dying? But how?” he asked desperately.
“Our song is being unsung,” she replied. “Our service is at an end. We are undone.”
The guard’s eyes froze, signaling that her life had come to an end, and Theta sputtered, barely able to contain his grief. The Gleissen were a part of the Mirrorverse, regardless of what had happened before when Admar had taken the ring. Theta glanced down at his sapphire ring, as if just coming to a conclusion.
“Admar!” he bellowed.
Rose raced to follow as he took off, hell bent on finding the Inquisitor. He nearly tore the wooden door off its hinges as he ran down the shadowy steps leading to the dungeon. Rose barely had enough time to grab a small candle before she descended, not trusting herself to find the way in the dark. As she struggled to keep up with Theta, Rose had to skirt around several of the Gleissen’s bodies. They had died where they fell, while guarding the steps and passages to the dungeons. Rose held back tears as she glanced at their ashen faces, the glitter flaking away from their skin in death.
When she reached the bottom of the steps, Rose rounded the corner and came upon Theta, who was standing in the middle of an empty room.
“No,” he breathed as he stared at the open cell door.
Rose came into the room slowly, hardly daring to breathe.
Theta then saw something at the bottom of the cell, and ran forward to pick it up, turning it over in his hand and letting it flash against Rose’s single candle’s light.
“What is it?” she asked tentatively.
The Overlord turned around and looked at her for the first time, and she noticed much of his glittery shadow had abandoned him. Theta held out his hand so that she could see the mask of the Could've Been King. She covered her mouth and shook her head silently.
“Does that mean he’s back?” she asked fearfully.
Before Theta could respond, a rough voice cackled from all around them, causing Theta to pull Rose close to his side. They both peered around, but couldn’t find the source of the ominous voice.
“This way,” it sang from a single point down the hall.
Theta moved to follow, but Rose tugged on his arm.
“It could be a trap!” she warned. Her eyes were wide with anxiety.
Theta kissed her forehead and nodded quickly.
“We have to take that chance,” he whispered. “Follow me, Rose. Stay close.”
As they followed the sound of the voice, like chafed whispering, they navigated through the dark dungeon. They passed several cells holding enemy soldiers, who looked out mournfully from their prisons. One jumped up as they moved past, and clutched at Rose’s dressing gown with one hand.
“Do you hear it?” he begged. “Do you hear the voice? It won’t stop calling to me! I hear it in my head!”
Theta wrenched Rose away from the prisoner and held her tightly in his arms. He was going to yell at the wretch, but quickly realized he’d completely lost his mind.
“It’s okay,” he told Rose. “Let’s keep going.”
Rose was shaken, but followed after Theta dutifully, being called ever on by the soft voice. At last, they reached a private chamber, and pushed the door open to reveal a room likely used by one of the warden’s who managed the Gleissen. The chamber was sparsely decorated except for one ornate mirror hanging on the far wall. Inside, it held the reflection of someone who wasn’t in the room.
Rose bit her lip as she regarded the figure, dressed in a checkered gown and wearing the diamond-patterned mask tightly fitted over their face.
“Doctor,” the voice called out lightly. “You came!”
Theta jerked as he heard the familiar nickname uttered by this stranger, who for all ostensible purposes wasn’t even there.
“Who are you?” he demanded. “Why do you call me by that name?”
The voice giggled, revealing herself to be female as she leaned closer to the gilded frame.
“I’m a nightmare and a reflection and a gift and a memory,” she sang. “I’m what was lost and found. I’m the mirror.”
“What is she on about?” Rose asked nervously as she tightened her grip on Theta’s hand.
“When the mirror enters into other houses, it will efface the known faces,” the strange woman whispered. Then her voice changed and turned into a song. “Some people construct jails, bars for cages, but I make mirrors. To horror I add more horror.”
Theta’s eyes bulged as he listed to the words.
“Where did you learn that?” he cried. “You sing the song of the mirror maker! But you’re not Saman! Tell me where you stole that song!”
“Through a glass darkly,” the woman replied easily. “But now’s not the time for such stories. I’ve come to make my demands.”
“You’ve murdered the Gleissen!” Theta roared. “I will not bargain with you!”
“No bargains,” the woman returned curtly. “No trades. No exchanges. I just want one thing, and I’ll have it whether you're willing or not. You will die, Overlord, and I will take your soul! Tonight, the Mirrorverse will break, and through the crack comes the Skaro Degradation. I sing Saman’s song, and I bring death. Your realm and your life is over, Doctor. I am Davros! And I have come to wreak vengeance upon you: last of the Time Lords!”
As she screamed her last words, the mirror broke apart into a thousand pieces and burst into the room. Theta turned his back on the explosion and cradled Rose in his arms, shielding her from the worst of the sharp shards. As the room rocked with the force of the impact, Rose’s single candle fell to the floor and extinguished itself with the force of the fall, the hot wax mixing with the broken glass littering the floor.
Rose blinked up in the darkness, barely perceiving Theta just above her. He was holding her so tightly that it almost hurt.
“Are you okay?” she asked timidly, hardly able to believe what had just happened.
“I’m always okay,” he answered uncertainly, before brushing his lips against her forehead.
“We’re going to get through this,” Rose said, already rallying to the next challenge. “We’re going to be alright. Right, Doctor?”
Theta hid his face in her hair before looking back toward the wall, where a gaping hole had been left in place of the mirror. In the shadows, he could almost perceive something moving there.
“Doctor?” Rose’s voice broke through.
“Yes, Rose,” he answered firmly, after swallowing thickly. “We’re going to be alright.”
To be continued...