The Mirror

Aaralon approached the mirror carefully, like he was moving towards a animal that might gore him if he did the wrong thing. To the casual observer the mirror looks completely unremarkable, a slightly scratched mirror in a frame that seemed to be made from cheap wood with a even cheaper varnish.

He had only ever seen the thing used a few times, the Grand Master had been very very particular about the students who he allowed to even know it was existed. The only reason he had been able to find this room was thanks to a tiny scar on the inside of his thigh. Anyone without that mark would never even know this room was here.

The reason for the secrecy was pretty simple, this cheap looking mirror was easily one of the single most valuable pieces of magical equipment in the world. There exist only five known examples and those are guarded jealously. If anyone got word that one was here then the school would have a thousand factions gunning for it instantly.

Standing in front of the mirror now Aaralon ran his fingers down the sides of the frame, feeling tiny bumps that could just be points of poor sanding. However he knew better, running his fingers up and down the sides he felt the mirror start to come to life.

As he looked into it his reflection started to warp and buckle, eventually there was the sense that his twisting reflection was moving away from him before it finally buckled into a twisting mass of dull colours.

For you see, dear reader, the mirror allowed the user to see anywhere and anywhen they wanted. This might seem like a great power but it comes with the problem that most of everything and everywhen is empty vacuum. So the frames were made for them, these allowed the user to lock in on a pre-set place in space-time.

In the case of this mirror it would lock on to the office of the Grand Mistress of the Womans School of Magic that sits at the opposite end of the valley from the academy. Once the mirror is locked on to a place it can project image and sound into that place.

The sweat was stinging Aaralons eyes now as he steered the image to the correct time and place. He felt a hum in the air as he managed to match up the time and then the hum increased in pitch as he got the right space.

Now all he had to do was remember how to project and he could…

“Well done pet,”

The words came from behind him, strong, masculine and impossible to deny.