The light from the trees surrounding her began to flicker, and each silvery leaf seemed to whisper words she couldn’t quite make out. Melania stood in the heart of this enchanted forest, feeling something invisible pulling her forward. The cloaked figure she had seen earlier had vanished as abruptly as it appeared, leaving behind a crystal glowing with a deep blue light where it had stood.
Melania approached cautiously. The crystal seemed to breathe—its light pulsating, fading and flaring up again, as if mimicking the rhythm of her own heartbeat. She extended her hand, and in that instant, a whisper echoed all around her:
— “Touch me, and you shall see what you have never known. But be prepared to pay the price.”
Her fingers hovered just above the crystal’s surface. The price… What could it mean? But there was no point in hesitation. She had already accepted that change was inevitable, and to move forward, she had to take risks.
When her hand touched the crystal, its cold surface sent a shiver through her, like an icy wind. In the next moment, her eyes filled with light. Everything around her transformed. She was no longer in the forest—instead, she stood within an endless hall of reflections. There were no visible walls, only an infinite number of mirrors staring back at her from every direction.
Each mirror reflected her, but every version was different. One showed her as a fearless warrior, with scars across her face and a sword in hand. Another depicted her as a scholar, her hands stained with ink, surrounded by unrolling scrolls. In a third, she was a queen adorned in gold, encircled by a crowd of followers.
The reflections kept shifting: in one, she was a child; in another, an old woman whose face bore the weight of wisdom. But the most unsettling was the central mirror. In it, she was… no one. A blank reflection, like a shadow without form or substance. This mirror trembled as if struggling against its own existence in this world.
— “Is this you?” asked a voice, resonating within her mind.
— “It’s what I fear,” she replied, her voice echoing through the hall. — “Becoming nothing. Losing myself.”
— “Then do not let yourself disappear,” the voice was quiet yet commanding. — “To become whole, you must embrace both strength and weakness, both fear and courage.”
Melania took a step forward and touched the empty mirror. Her hand passed through its surface, and a cold sensation wrapped around her wrist. The mirror glowed with a dark light, and from it emerged a figure—her exact reflection. But it was no mere duplication. This was a living entity, breathing, moving, alive.
— “I am your doubt,” the figure said. — “I am the part of you that you’ve always pushed away. Why do you seek to defeat me when I am you?”
Melania gazed at her reflection. It no longer seemed like an enemy. She understood now that this part of her soul was not something to be overcome but something to be accepted.
— “I don’t seek to defeat you,” she said. — “I seek to understand you.”
The figure smiled, and in that moment, the mirrors around them began to shatter, releasing light. Each shard flew upward, disappearing into the starlit sky. The hall dissolved, and Melania found herself back in the silvery forest. The crystal in her hand no longer glowed. It was now empty, like a shell that had fulfilled its purpose.
Ahead of her, the cloaked man reappeared.
— “You are beginning to understand,” he said. — “But this is only the beginning. What you seek lies much deeper.”
— “Who are you?” she asked.
He did not answer but extended his hand. Resting on his palm was a key, glowing with the same light that had once filled the crystal.
— “Take it. It will open doors that will lead you further.”
Melania hesitated for only a moment before taking the key. Her journey was just beginning, and she knew each step forward would demand even greater strength and understanding. Yet now, in her heart, something new stirred—a certainty that change did not come from the outside but from within.