Aldrec did the same.
She slowly relaxed her hand, letting it fully rest on the surface of the glass. Aldrec mirrored these motions as well.
And then she waited.
Aldrec had closed his eyes, and begun to speak.
Riorrim ud srevart ua sneiv. Oim zehc. Oim zehc.
The moment he ended the last consonant of the phrase, the room seemed to resonate with a great swelling of magic so powerful it was like the ringing of a great chime. Abruptly, Mericlou's hand sank into the glass, and before she could pull away, it was gripped by another, stronger one.
She yelped in initial fright. Don't be afraid, Tulyr, Aldrec quickly said as her hand sank deeper into the mirror, followed by her arm. Step forward. She obeyed, and gave into the forward momentum as she closed her eyes and plunged her entire body fully into the odd veil of nothingness that was once glass.
All sensation of up or down vanished as Mericlou stepped forward, replaced by the sickening lurch of freefall. Mericlou opened her eyes, and discovered that reality had vanished into a black void.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she surrendered to gravity -or the lack thereof- still gripping her fingers securely around Aldrec's. They should not have been there in this empty void, but as if in defiance of logic, they existed, determined to reassure her of his presence, comforting her in this nowhere place.
The fall, she discovered, was surprisingly brief. The very next moment, she felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace by a pair of the very same hands -arms accompanying- that had held onto hers in the fall.
"It's okay, Tulyr," Aldrec's voice said as sensation returned to the feel of soft fabric upon her right cheek. "I have you now."
Mericlou opened her eyes. Her face was pressed to Aldrec's blue and gold-trimmed tunic; his soft, fresh scent was familiar and welcome, as were his hands, which now ran soothingly through her hair.
Feeling free at last, she released all of her pent-up anguish in a gasping wail. She pressed her face deeply into his chest, bawling torrents of tears into his shirt, saturating it unlike any time she ever had since he found her that day that they first met. Her entire body trembled as she clutched her hands tightly on the fabric of his tunic. "Aldrec … Aldrec … Thank God! I … I was so scared! S … so scared!"
"Shhh … It's okay now, my Tulyr," Aldrec whispered gently as his hands continued running through her hair and on her back. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."