My mother told us of our history. The woman I had been in my vision was my grandmother, Maive. The Witches and the Hallow had lived in two kingdoms above ground and they had lived in harmony for centuries. The king of the Hallows at that time was King Dolion's father, King Deo. King Deo, as instructed by his counsel, had his younger son, Dolion, betrothed to the daughter of the High Priestess and my great aunt, Melvina. This was a way to unite the kingdoms and keep the peace, to continue the friendship between magic and non-magic kin. But King Deo was greedy. He wanted the world and was not satisfied. He wanted the kingdom of our people. He saw how easily it thrived, thinking this was because of the land and not its inhabitants; he sought out a Prince of Hell, the demon Agares. Threatening the life of a young witch, he head her summon the demon into his castle and they stuck a deal. Agares would have his demons sweep through the land, consuming magic and killing our leaders. In return, King Deo would steal a magic artifact from us, The Mirror of Elphame. This mirror was a gift from the Queen of Elphame, the queen of the Fae. She had gifted it our people, after we had fought by her side in the Goblin Wars. We helped protect her lands. The mirror had the ability to show the future, events that fate had deemed imperative. In the hands of my people, we used it to protect the innocent, in the hands of demons, it would destroy worlds. Demons are tricky things and Princes of Hell are even more cunning. In case King Deo was to fail in retrieving the mirror, he added a clause, and a curse would descend on King Deo's bloodline, which would claim the lives of each first born. They would also be able to come into the world whenever they pleased to spread disease, steal hope and sow the seeds of suffering.
On the eve of Maive and Melvina's 21st birthday, just like what happened with me, Melvina had a vision. This one was of the future. She saw King Deo's conspiring and the destruction it would bring if he got his hands on the Mirror of Elphame. She saw death and destruction, tyranny and trauma.
That week the sisters plotted to steal the mirror from the royal vaults and destroy it. They enlisted the help of two male friends to have an equal balance of masculine and feminine energy, and they stole away to a ruined tower in a clearing of a forest. Once they had broken the mirror into four pieces, each person took a piece and hid it somewhere in the four corners of the earth. Neither one knew where the others had hidden their quarter.
The twins returned to their castle as Dolion was rummaging through Melvina's belonging trying to find the mirror. The twins had stopped just outside Mel's bedroom door to check the other had hidden their quarter well. Fearing he'd be caught, King Deo hid in Mel's wardrobe and overheard how they'd destroyed the thing that would bring him glory.
Once Maive had left and Mel was in her room, he flew into a fit of rage. He attempted to make her confess the location in which shed hidden her piece. She resisted and as a result she lost her life. He found a way to blame magic.
A year later, Prince Lucas, King Deo's first born, was claimed by the curse. King Deo said it was an attack by magic, a declaration of war. The demons also began to infect the land; slowly it began to fall into disrepair. Witches gradually began losing land, then rights to King Deo. Without the mirror to protect us, we couldn't prevent it, but we'd stopped a worst evil.
It was like all the pieces had fit into place. I watched my grandmother deal with this, Melvina's breakdown from her vision, the destruction of the mirror. I watched it all through the eyes of my grandmother. I watched her go from carefree to courageous, fighting for the safety of her people. It's just a shame I didn't see where shed hidden her fragment of the mirror.
My mother reached into her robe and produced the black frame id seen in my vision.
"She left me this." She said as she passed the frame to me.
"She told me one day, a strong female witch with raven hair and big green eyes would need it to unite the mirror."
I smiled, finally understanding why when Maive had looked in the mirror in my vision; it was my reflection she saw. It had shown me to my grandmother. I teared up at the thought that although id never met this amazing woman, she had kind of met me, even if it was just a glimpse through time and space.
Looking down at the frame, I was once again met with that strange language it was inscribed with.
"What's the inscription say?" I asked, glaring down at it as it taunted me.
My mum hung her head.
"I'm afraid we do not know. It's the language of the Fae. There was a time long before the destruction of the mirror where many were fluent." She let out a sigh then continued, "We aren't sure why our connection with the Fae was severed but if you're going to fix the mirror, you're going to have to find a way to make amends."
I stared at my mum like she'd suddenly spawned an extra head. What she's talking about, sending me above ground into the great unknown, on a quest to fix an ancient relic, amend our friendship with the Fae, all whilst not getting killed by demons or Dolion, is pure insanity.
"Mother, have you been inhaling too many herbs?" I sarcastically mocked. She chuckled at me.
"Daughter." She started in the same tone, but then softened," you have been chosen. The universe and all the gods in their wisdom chose you to see these visions. They are with you child, you are ready for this and it's time."
Of course this made sense, because I saw the visions, my grandmother saw me in the mirror, but it just can't be me!
"Why now? Deo died years ago! 36 years ago to be exact, that's plenty of time for the mirror to be fixed! It's half a lifetime!" I gasped for breath as panic stuck to be throat, oozing like gloop and seeped into my stomach. "Why now? And why me? Is it even safe?!"
My father stood up and came over to me. He cupped my face in big, weathered hands.
"Aoibheann, this is a new hope for our people. This mirror may mean we no longer have to live down here. It can restore us to our higher status and protect us. You, my child, are gifted and blessed. You will have help and the earth will provide for you." I could see the pride in his eyes, the expectation and the weight of what I had to do was too much. I abruptly jumped to my feet and ran. I had no idea where I was heading but my feet kept pushing. Thoughts whirring round my head.
'You're chosen'
'You're blessed'
'Our hope'
On a loop, each phrase to the thump of a foot hitting the stone below. I ran until I couldn't breathe. Until sweat dripped into my eyes. Until my feet hurt and my lungs ached. Until every bone in my body screamed for a break. I ran.