Elven Roses

"I'm sorry, friend," she quavered, once again taking the ferret into a gentle embrace. "It's just that I'm so scared … I don't know why they're doing this!" Her voice cracked, as she broke into another stream of painful sobs. "I wish so badly wish that Aldrec were here!"

Tulyr … A faint voice said above the pattering din of rain.

Mericlou sat bolt upright, her irritated eyes wide in fear, and yet faintly palpable hope. She heard it. She was sure of it! It was Aldrec's voice.

Tulyr … Please answer me …

"Aldrec?" Mericlou said, sniffing back the tears as the fear in her heart at long last gave way to the growing hope. Even the endless call of the imse ether seemed subdued. Was it really him? "Love?"

My sweet Tulyr … Come to the mirror …

The air of fear and terror now seemed to thin and fade away like morning mist as she heard Aldrec's now very real and very present voice calling to her.

As she gathered the strength to rise from the bed, it was if a soothing warmth had filled her heart, and hands had wrapped around her, shielding her from the night, and deafening her to the imse ether's horrible, repetitious call.

Needles crawled onto her usual perch around her neck as Mericlou walked across the room to her full-length mirror. Oval-shaped and wooden framed, she placed it in front of the wall across from the foot of the bed when her family had moved into the house.

And as she approached it, her reflection, as if in a dream, began to fade away, rippling into vapors with every step she made towards it.

She paused, staring puzzled at the reflection of her bed, nightstand, and the opposite wall, now eerily deprived of the image of herself and Needles where they should have been.

But then, a new image began to take shape.

It remained blurry and nondescript at first, but started to solidify as she came closer. Mists and vapors took shape until Aldrec stood before her, his tall, handsome form standing where her reflection should have been.

"A … A …Aldrec …?" Mericlou stammered.

Tulyr … He smiled, radiant and confident. Place your hand on the glass. Tentatively, she reached out, and to her confusion, noticed that Aldrec was following her movements exactly. From the trembling of her hand, to the small, hesitant rises and drops in her arm, he mimicked them perfectly.

At last, she touched the glass surface of the mirror with the tips of her fingers.