Chapter 190: The Mirror Dimension (3)
Dorian raised both hands.
Green support magic began swirling around his fingers like tiny streams of light.
"I hope this doesn’t end badly."
"It’ll be fine," Max said.
Dorian looked at him.
"You always say that right before we do something dangerous."
"Because it always turns out fine."
Seraphine crossed her arms.
"Less talking."
The green light left the elf’s hands and began flowing across the sleeping caveman’s body.
The energy slid over his arms, chest, and face.
Little by little, the Awakening spell began to take effect.
Max watched the giant.
Even asleep, he looked terrifying.
"Seraphine."
"Yes?"
"Stay calm."
The mage raised an eyebrow.
"Stay calm?"
"I trust you."
Seraphine smiled.
A smile full of confidence.
"Relax."
She opened her grimoire slightly.
"I’m an expert."
Dorian muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "That’s what worries me."
The caveman’s eyelids began to twitch.
One hand tensed.
Then the other.
His fingers slowly curled.
"He’s waking up," Max said.
The creature’s eyes opened.
And at that exact moment, Seraphine stepped forward.
Her voice rang out, charged with magical power.
"LET GO!"
Imperious Command took effect.
The caveman’s eyes froze.
Immediately, his enormous hand opened.
Don fell to the floor.
Free.
"It worked!" Max exclaimed.
"Of course it worked," Seraphine replied proudly.
Don rolled across the ground.
Unconscious.
Max gave a thumbs-up.
"Good."
He looked at the caveman.
"So now what?"
Dorian pointed at the giant.
"Now?"
The creature was already beginning to rise.
"Now you tell her to use the Song of Sleep again."
"I agree," said Max.
"Very strongly."
The caveman placed one knee on the ground.
Then the other.
His massive back began to straighten.
Seraphine sighed.
"I’m sorry, strong man."
The creature looked at her in confusion.
Then the mage raised a hand.
Dozens of runes lit up around the room.
The chains attached to the wall began to vibrate.
CLANG.
CLANG.
CLANG.
The links shot forward.
Like metallic serpents.
The caveman barely had time to react.
The chains wrapped around his arms.
Then his legs.
Then his torso.
And finally dragged him against the wall.
BOOM.
The room shook.
The creature growled.
It tried to break free.
But the magical chains tightened.
"Wow..." Max murmured.
"That was impressive."
"Thank you."
Dorian removed one of his earplugs.
"Here."
Max accepted it.
"Thanks."
"If you fall asleep again, I’m not carrying you."
"Noted."
Seraphine closed her eyes.
"Now then."
The caveman continued struggling.
The chains groaned.
The muscles in his arms looked strong enough to break stone.
But then the mage’s voice filled the room once more.
A gentle melody.
The Song of Sleep.
The creature blinked.
Its resistance weakened.
Its movements slowed.
Until finally, its head drooped forward.
Asleep.
Again.
Dorian let out a breath.
"Perfect."
Max did the same.
Seraphine smiled, satisfied.
"Problem solved."
"Temporarily," Dorian corrected.
The elf walked over to Don.
The butler was still sprawled on the floor.
"Let’s see."
A small green light appeared above his hands.
The Awakening spell.
Don opened his eyes.
He blinked.
Then placed a hand on his forehead.
"By all the gods..."
"Good morning," Max said.
"What happened?"
"You hit your head."
Don grimaced.
"My head hurts terribly."
Max pointed at his forehead.
"Understandable."
"Why?"
"Because you’ve got a huge bump."
Don looked confused.
Dorian summoned a small sphere of water to use as a mirror.
The faun looked at his reflection.
And his eyes widened.
"There’s a mountain on my forehead."
Max burst out laughing.
"You look like a badly made unicorn."
"Sir Max."
"Yes?"
"That is not funny."
"It’s a little funny."
Dorian smiled too.
Then he placed a hand on the butler’s forehead.
Healing energy began to flow.
The enormous bump slowly started shrinking.
"Ah..."
Don sighed.
"That feels much better."
"There."
The swelling had almost completely disappeared.
Don smiled gratefully.
"Thank you very much."
"No problem."
Meanwhile, Seraphine continued staring at the sleeping caveman.
With far too much attention.
Max noticed.
"What?"
The mage stepped closer.
Fascinated.
"It’s incredible."
"What is?"
"His anatomy."
Max looked at the giant.
Then back at Seraphine.
"You’re studying a naked man."
"I’m conducting research."
"Sure."
"It’s different."
Dorian chuckled.
Seraphine ignored both comments.
"He looks nothing like Chloe."
"Or me."
Max examined the caveman’s enormous muscles.
His chest.
His arms.
His back.
It was absurd.
"He looks more like a beast than a human."
Seraphine nodded.
"Are humans from your world really that different across time?"
"Very."
Dorian crossed his arms.
"So we found the supposed caveman."
"Yeah."
"But we still know nothing about the lovely Vesper."
Max sighed.
It was true.
They had crossed half the mirror dimension.
Found a secret room.
A laboratory.
A caveman.
But no Vesper.
"Apparently she isn’t here."
Seraphine closed her grimoire.
"That doesn’t mean anything."
"You still don’t trust her?"
"Of course not."
Max shrugged.
"I still think Thara is the main suspect."
One of Don’s ears twitched.
"Why?"
"Because this place has clearly been in use for a long time."
Max pointed at the books.
The chains.
The notes.
"None of this appeared yesterday."
Dorian nodded.
"That’s true."
"And Vesper only arrived recently."
Seraphine remained thoughtful.
"Neither of them inspires confidence."
"That’s fair."
Dorian sighed dramatically.
"What a tragedy."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
"That one of them is probably a villain."
"So?"
"I like both of them."
Don rubbed his temples.
"Please tell me you’re joking."
"No."
"Of course you’re not."
Max shook his head.
"You need help."
"I need love."
Don looked at the caveman.
Still bound.
Still asleep.
Still enormous.
He swallowed.
"Honestly."
"Yes?"
"I feel very uncomfortable sharing a room with that thing."
Max followed his gaze.
"Understandable."
"We should leave."
"Also understandable."
Seraphine nodded.
"I agree."
They hadn’t found much else.
And staying there seemed like a bad idea.
"Let’s go back."
Everyone agreed.
Max headed for the door first.
He opened it.
And stepped through.
Seraphine frowned.
Something felt wrong.
A magical disturbance.
"Max, wait—"
But it was too late.
The young man crossed the threshold.
And vanished.
"Hey, what the—?"
His voice drifted away.
Then came a scream.
"AAAAAH!"
Everyone jumped.
"Max!"
Seraphine ran to the doorway.
And immediately understood what had happened.
Outside the room...
The dimension had flipped upside down.
The floor was now the ceiling.
The ceiling was now the floor.
And Max had just "fallen" upward.
Fortunately.
Very fortunately.
His Featherfall Boots were active.
The young man floated gently near the ceiling.
Or the floor.
Depending on how you looked at it.
"That was close!"
Max waved.
"I almost cracked my head open!"
Dorian leaned halfway through the doorway.
"What the hell?"
Seraphine pressed her lips together.
"I don’t like this."
"Why?"
"Because someone activated the mirror dimension’s trick."
Max immediately understood.
"They found us."
The mage nodded.
"Exactly."
Dorian swallowed.
"I don’t like that either."
Seraphine stepped forward.
A magic circle appeared beneath her feet.
Energy lifted her into the air.
"We need to move quickly."
The altered gravity didn’t seem to affect her at all.
She simply floated out of the room.
Descending elegantly toward the new floor.
Max watched with a bit of envy.
"You always make everything look easy."
"Because I’m amazing."
"I can’t argue with that."
Dorian looked at Don.
The faun was completely frozen.
"I’m not jumping."
"Come on."
"No."
"Come on."
"No."
"Come on."
"No."
Dorian picked him up.
Like a child.
"What are you doing?!"
"Saving you."
"Put me down!"
"No."
"Sir Dorian!"
"Trust me."
"I don’t trust you."
"That’s reasonable."
And he jumped.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Don screamed the entire way down.
Until a fluffy cloud appeared beneath them.
Created by Seraphine.
BOF.
They landed softly.
It took Don several seconds to realize he was still alive.
"I think..."
He took a breath.
"...I hate adventures."
Max smiled.
"You’re part of the group now."
"That is exactly what worries me."
Finally, all four gathered in the inverted hallway.
Everything looked strange.
The doors.
The windows.
The torches.
Everything was upside down.
Don looked at Dorian.
Then blinked.
And looked again.
"Uh."
"What?"
"You’ve got a pimple."
Dorian froze.
"What?"
"There."
He pointed at his forehead.
The elf immediately touched it.
"Impossible."
"I can see it."
"That can’t be."
"It can."
Dorian instantly pulled out a small mirror.
And looked at his reflection.
"NO!"
There was a tiny red dot in the middle of his forehead.
"I take care of my skin every day!"
"Well..." Don pointed.
"Today you lost."
Max stopped paying attention.
Because something had just caught his eye.
Something small.
Red.
Right on Dorian’s forehead.
His smile vanished.
It wasn’t a pimple.
It was a laser sight.
And it was coming from the far end of the hallway.
Max’s eyes widened.
"Get down."
"What?"
"NOW!"
Dorian and Don reacted immediately.
Seraphine did too.
Max pointed ahead.
At the end of the inverted corridor.
Among the shadows.
A metallic figure stood motionless.
Humanoid.
Cold.
Expressionless.
And resting on its shoulder was a strange long weapon.
A rifle.
Exactly like the ones Max had seen in movies and video games.
The red dot remained fixed on Dorian’s forehead.
The android had found them.
And it looked ready to fire.
