Blocking out the moon prevented the mirrors from getting light in order to reflect it, but it also prevented the cohort from using their natural vision.
This wasn't too much of a problem for Noble, who could manage with the second sight, but the others were less capable in the impenetrable darkness.
"I'll lead…" Noble fumbled her way to the front.
If the rest of the group had a better idea, they didn't voice it. Roan took up the rear. The warriors joined hands. If they got separated in the dark, things would get complicated very fast.
Syrce had the mirror tied up in her tunic as she kept her place in the center of the line; if anything wanted the looking glass, they would not get it so easily.
"Which way, Bel?" Syrce whispered.
"Uh, one moment," Noble gritted her teeth. Internally, she had the directional ability of a goldfish.
Fortunately, she had no intention of relying on her own skill. Unfortunately, her ability to lead would be completely dependent on luck.
'Please work. Please work!' Noble shielded her thoughts from the Memory.
"Cover your eyes."
Sparks of light temporarily lit the hall as the Bread Crumbs manifested. She had summoned them last time they were in the maze to keep them from going in circles. This time, she simply hoped to pick up the trail.
None of them had any idea how large the maze was. Was it an extension of the Mirror Realm, the manifestation of it, or simply a pocket place where Mirage kept her Others for her purposes?
The latter made the most sense to Noble. It was also their best option since the size could conceivably be much smaller.
To Noble's dismay, no green trail appeared before or behind her in the long passage. They would have to go searching.
Noble straightened her back. "This way," she decided.
They moved along the passageway in silence. The footsteps of her companions seemed like shouts in the silent hall. In reality, they were quieter than a pin drop.
The sound of cracking glass filled the air.
Everyone froze. That had not happened on their last trip.
Were they walking into a trap? Had someone stepped too hard on the reflective floor?
"Be careful," Noble squeezed Helie's hand twice to let her know that they would continue.
She received three squeezes in response. That was the signal that she had passed along the message, and they were good to leave.
Two more turns yielded no results, and by the third turn, Noble was tempted to turn back and search for another entrance. But then a pale light caught her eye in the darkness. It didn't reflect hundreds of times in the mirrors, which meant that it hadn't manifested in the physical world. It was a light that only she could see.
Noble sped up, hurrying to the spot she had seen. Sure enough, a trail of luminescent bread crumbs ran perpendicular to her passage. The light color of the trail told her it was old. This was their initial path!
Reaching down, Noble touched the invisible trail. Her instincts told her she needed to go left.
Child of Promise smiled. 'Got you.'
But then her smile faded. Although the light was not reflected in the mirror, somehow it was still able to lightly illuminate it for her to see, and what she saw were two feet in the glass.
They weren't hers. A face bent down to greet her, a manic smile on the Other's empty-eyed face.
Noble jumped backward, releasing Helie's hand. "Ah!"
"What?!" The rest of the group reached for their weapons blindly in the darkness.
Noble calmed her breath. The monster was still behind the glass. The barrier between them prevented the creature from carrying through on its unspoken threat.
"It's not a huge problem," Noble answered at last. "I just found an Other staring at me from their side of the glass. On the bright side, I found the trail."
"What do you mean staring at you?"
"What do you consider a huge problem?"
"You didn't have the trail before?"
"If one of them knows, does that mean they all know?"
The questions overlapped, and Noble was either unable or unwilling to answer any of them.
"We need to keep going," the floating Master brushed the comments aside. "Join hands, and we will move along."
Helie's hand found hers quickly while Noble wielded the Zenith in her right palm.
She squeezed twice.
Helie squeezed once in response.
Noble felt for the woman's emotional signature and looked behind her with her second sight.
"Helie?"
"Yes?"
"Back up!" Noble turned on her heels.
The Zenith met resistance as it plunged into the person behind her. Noble pulled the Zenith to one side, making quick work of the creature before it could even cry out.
Noble kicked at the body before the Spell confirmed the kill.
[You have slain an Other.]
Another sound of tinkling glass sounded in the distance.
'Are…are they escaping?' Helie's fear threatened to infect Noble, but she pushed back both of their emotions.
"Nothing to worry about," Child of Promise answered aloud. "Stop and stab at anything that isn't one of us. Don't think too much about what they are. I am pretty sure it will only give them more agency. Roan?"
A grunt was heard from behind them. Roan answered her evenly. "I agree we should get moving, Lady Bel."
Noble saw the man swing at the Other with her second sight. Her warning had been understood just in time.
After making sure there were no other interlopers in their line, the group moved on.
They ignored the occasional pounding on the walls around them, and quickened their pace whenever they heard the sound of tinkling glass.
It was surreal for Noble to reach for Helie's hand after each altercation, only to wait and see if it was really her.
The number of bodies the group brought to the ground mounted with each turn. Noble grew numb to having to kill anything that moved in front of her. At least these Others here were not armed with weapons.
That did not stop some of them from being violent.
They were as unpredictable as the weather.
'We are getting close…' Noble could sense a change in the passage up ahead.
She turned her head to relay the information over her shoulder when two hands wrapped around her neck and twisted her head to one side. Noble felt her air cut off. Her elbow instinctively raised to hit her attacker in the nose, only she wasn't sure which side they had come from. She guessed wrong. Noble's head whipped backward. Her Zenith wouldn't make it in time, but the dagger in her belt would. Noble grabbed it, and the creature screamed before Noble had even made her stroke.
Air finally filled Noble's lungs as her hit landed in the Other's gut.
[You have slain an Other.]
'That's going to bruise…'
At least the monster hadn't managed to snap her neck.
Noble took Helie's hand and dragged her around the corner.
The dark passage opened into a wide hall.
The Hall of Imagination.
In the center, a great mirror occupied the space, filling the room with an otherworldly light. In the center of the mirror, a lone figure was waiting for them.
The Advisor.