Alden's Pov
Alden had been cooped up in the library for the last few hours he had read many books but there were still some left. He was sure that he would find the Eclipse Codex in some days.
Alden got up from the desk to take the books back to the shelf and take some new ones for reading.
He was just arranging the books on the shelf when his foot stumbled and he fell toward the shelf and all the books on the shelf fell on him.
'F**k' He cursed groaning in pain as he got up from the pile of books that buried him when something caught his eye.
One of the books....it was just a plain, ordinary book. It was as if the book was calling him. There was nothing fancy about it.
No fancy cover, no title. But for some reason, the book was all he could focus on.
He stared at it in a daze, Not quite awake, but not exactly asleep either. Just...dazed.
Then suddenly he jolted back to himself. "What the hell was that?" he muttered, shaking his head as if trying to snap himself out of some kind of trance.
He looked at the book again, but now it seemed as plain and boring as it could get.
"Guess I'm losing it," he mumbled self-deprecatingly, almost embarrassed.
'Could it be The Eclipse Codex ' Alden thought his mind racing. He reached out to touch the book.
The moment his fingers touched the book cover, a sudden, blinding flash of light shot out.
It was so blinding, so fast, he barely had time to process what was happening. The world seemed to warp around him. One second, he was there, and the next he wasn't. Gone. No sound. No ripple. Nothing.
He didn't even have time to breathe before the world disappeared.
---
In the now empty and silent library, a soft voice spoke, barely a whisper, yet full of purpose.
"So... the succession begins."
Ellara's sharp blue eyes were fixed on the spot where Alden had vanished.
She spoke again, her tone now lower, filled with hope and slight concern ...
"I hope you pass the trial, Alden..."
---
Alden's vision went dark for what felt like forever before it cleared.
He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to a new space, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
The world around him seemed..... wrong. The air felt different. And as his eyes focused, he realized he was standing in the middle of a vast plane.
The vast plane stretched out in all directions, the sky above him filled with shadows and streaks of light an odd but beautiful contradiction.
He frowned as he tried recalling any information about this place mentioned in the novel but there was none.
"Okay, this... wasn't in that damn novel. Where the f**k am I?" Alden mumbled nervously his voice shuttering. He didn't know if he was angry, scared, or just plain confused. Probably a mix of all three.
As the shock was wearing off a new emotion was bubbling inside him. He was feeling excited, he didn't know why but his heart was thumping with excitement.
The thought struck him like a bolt of lightning, and for a second, he didn't move, frowning slightly.
'Why the hell am I excited here?'
It wasn't his usual nervousness or any other emotion it was ...just raw excitement.
Almost as if his soul was resonating with this weird place. 'But why?'
Before he could figure it out, the world around him started shaking violently.
"What the actual---?" His voice caught as the ground under him started shaking violently.
The entire plane felt like it was collapsing. He looked around, trying to find the source, but there was nothing. Just the endless horizon, stretching out forever.
And then, as tremors started settling, something appeared. There was something in the center of the plane. He couldn't see it clearly but it felt like some reflective surfaces.
"Is that... a mirror?" He blinked his eyes in disbelief. There was no reason for it to be here.
No reason for anything in this place. But there it was, clear as day, standing out.
Of course, standing there thinking about it wasn't going to get him anywhere.
" Well, It's not like something going to change by standing here" Alden grumbled, shaking his head. "Might as well check it out."
He started walking toward the mirror, his steps filled with uncertainty. The air was getting thick as he started walking, and the darkness was as if whispering something. It was getting harder to move with every step. But he kept going ....
There was something or someone in the air watching his every step. But he didn't notice it and it's not like he could have, even if he tried.
It was made up purely of shadows.
The shadow's form started changing forming a human outline, although it was hard to see its facial expression it seemed like the shadowy figure was smiling.
Alden felt a chill run down his spine. He paused, turning around to see if someone was there, but there was nobody in this vast space.
"...Huh. Thought I felt something," he muttered, shrugging it off. "Maybe I'm just imagining things."
He kept walking, or at least, he thought he was. Every step was feeling heavier, and the distance was endless, no matter how many steps he took.
.
.
"Three hours. Three f**king hours," Alden snapped, clenching his fist in anger. "I've been walking this whole damn time, and it's like I haven't moved an inch. Is the mirror just screwing with me or what?"
He glared at the mirror, at the same distance. It wasn't getting any closer. "Great. Just great," he muttered. "This is fine. Totally fine. Not losing my mind at all."
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Author's Note:
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