Page 107 of Reign of the Talon
A truth I know damningly well. My heart squeezes in my chest at the thought of the other parts of myself that surely lurk in this maze, waiting to be confronted. The Sister gives Eunbi one more tender smile before the glass closes around her face and she disappears.
“What did you say to her?” Eunbi asks quietly.
My smile trembles.Only the truth, I reply, my words drifting delicately in the air.
Eunbi looks as if she has more to ask but, apparently deciding that now is not the time, tugs insistently on my arm. “Come on, Lili. We have to go fast, remember?”
Right.Right. Forcing myself to keep up with Eunbi’s quick pace, I keep my eyes wide for other Linas, other plaques. When the next one comes, I shove Eunbi behind me as THE ASSASSIN steps out of the mirror to our left, a droll smile on her face as she leaps through the air, a vicious glint in her eyes as she tackles me.
My breath leaves me at the impact, but old training is taking over, and I am flipping myself upward and over, pinning The Assassin to the ground. Her long, dark braid—the same way I used to wear it—flicks into the air as she shoves upward, as I stumble back and hit the opposite mirror hard. The Assassin smirks, cocking her head, ignoring Eunbi as my little sister gapes and gapes.
“So eager to fight what you are,” The Assassin says as she approaches. “It’s pathetic, really.”
So eager to hurt and maim, I retort, hand movements sharp.To hold tight to false deniability, saying you only follow orders.Rui’s words from so long ago float back to me.Demands do not always hold dominance over what is right.
The Assassin flinches, face paling. “Stop it,” she snarls. “You know nothing.”
Your actions brought consequences.Panting, I roll my shoulders and eye her small frame, the frame I know so well. The weak spot of her left leg that I know must be throbbing.You could have found other ways to survive. You chose the easiest way, each time. And it damned you. It damned your sister.
“Stop,” The Assassin snarls, eyes sparking.
I know the combat route she is planning to take, know what angle she will come in at, know the speed at which she attacks. So when it comes—that launching at the throat—I am able to shift out of the way, and with a sharp movement, I grab her shoulders and slam her back onto the mirror from which she came. She struggles, the surface not yet turning to liquid, and I grit my teeth, pushing harder.
Only as she finally sinks back into those mercury depths do I finally breathe a sigh of relief, turning to Eunbi as I push a strand of sweaty hair away from my face.
Eunbi’s eyes are very wide, and she stares at the mirror from which The Assassin came. I wince, knowing that this self was—wasugly, wasviolent—but Eunbi only swallows hard and whispers, “She didn’t hurt me.”
She never would, I tell her, still breathing hard. It’s true. Even at my worst, I would never—ever—do anything to harm Eunbi. I need her to believe it—need it so badly that the ground seems to lurch beneath me. Eunbi nods slowly, still looking half in shock from the sudden attack. Her hand slipping into mine again, we launch back into our desperate run through the maze of mirrors.
THE ADDICT is next, an emaciated shell of a self. As she stands before me around the next turn, a cigarette held between her fingertips, I swallow back the sudden craving for a smoke. My throat itches violently, and my fingers twitch in longing.
“I can’t stop,” The Addict says quietly, shamefaced. “I can’t… Ineedit.”
Part of me wants to recoil from her, humiliation heating my blood as Eunbi stares at her. This is yet another secret I kept from Eunbi, hiding my dependence on halji from her, never wanting her to see her older sister so completely lost to the pull of the drug.
Yet I do not shrink away. Not now. I will not recoil from these broken pieces that compose me. Instead, I step forward and slowly pluck the cigarette from The Addict’s fingers. She watches, waiting for me to take a drag. And gods, it’s tempting—so tempting that I nearly do it.
But instead, I let it rest between my fingers for a long, long moment, watching as The Addict waits breathlessly for me to give in. When I don’t, she begins to smile.
“How?” she whispers as she takes the cigarette back.
Not easily, I reply with slightly trembling fingers. The effort of resisting was exhausting. My mouth burns with longing. Fury beats in my heart, fury that the Prophecy has held a cigarette tomybody’s lips, has surrendered the battle I worked so damn hard to win.It hurts. And it’s hard. It will feel like it’s impossible. But in time… In time, it will become easier. And you don’t—you shouldn’t feel ashamed.I am so conscious of Eunbi’s gaze as she watches The Addict, taking in her flushed skin and hollow eyes.Never feel ashamed for the battles you have fought, Lina.
“Thank you,” she whispers and, with a look of hope, steps back into her mirror.
Eunbi slips her hand into mine and squeezes. She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t need to. Her shining eyes and tiny smile say it all.
And I smile back—just a bit.
We hurry through the labyrinth for a long time without encountering another reflection. Eunbi is the one who chooses which paths to take in the maze, squeezing her eyes shut and then pointing hopefully in either direction. It is as reliable a method as anything, and it amuses her. She’s turned it into a game, and her hand is still in mine as a small skip returns to her step. It makes my heart swell so dangerously large to see her with even just a tiny semblance of that natural buoyancy again.
The world is silent save for our echoing footsteps as we traverse through the cold twists and turns. There is no telling where the exit may be, yet it comforts me that with every turn, there is something we have not seen before: whether it be a differently shaped mirror, a scuff on the glossy obsidian floor, or a scratch on the glass. I feel that we are, somehow, on the right path.
It is when a soft sigh reaches my ears that I freeze, glancing down at Eunbi, who is also frowning.
“It wasn’t me,” she says, nose wrinkling in concern as she glances over her shoulder. Nothing is there, yet I feel another presence, as surely as I feel Eunbi’s hand in mine. “I think it’s another one of, well, of you.”
Swallowing hard, I wonder which aspect of myself we will soon be forced to face. How many are left? The Sister, The Assassin, The Addict… What if the next one is The Monster? That serpentine beast of a girl?
