The forest had changed back to what it was before the echo began. The air was quiet again as the fire had done the job it was assigned. The ground under their feet was still warm and there was still the scent of burnt earth in the air. It actually felt quite peaceful. She still had some ash on her but they were slowly turning into dust and she brushed them off herself.
For a short while, they both said nothing to one another. Kael was a few steps in front of her. He moved with intent, he wanted to get to the next echo as soon as possible, he wanted Leira back. Or the woman that Leira would be. Leira was right behind him, her mind still in awe at the fact that she had passed the second echo. It may have ended but when she blinked, she still saw flickers of flames, hearing the voice that whispered her name and the face of the same man she kept seeing… Cassian.
Finally, she said, her voice soft. "I remember things."
Kael slowed down to hear what she had said. "Really? Like what?"
Leira replied, his back still to her. "I remember faces, voices. I remember… a city. A city by the water" Her expression was like she was trying to remember everything she had seen. "And… a man. His name keeps echoing in my mind… Cassian."
The way she said it, the familiarity in her voice when she said his name made Kael's hands curl into a fist. For a long moment, he didn't respond, he just kept looking straight ahead and then replied, "I see." That was all he said. In fact, that was all he wanted to say about the topic.
Leira frowned. "I see? That's all you have to say?"
"What would you like me to say, Leira?"
"You know him, don't you?"
Kael exhaled slowly, as if he was trying to calm himself down before speaking. "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do. When I say his name, you almost look upset, but not surprised."
"That's because I'm not surprised."
"Why?"
Kael hesitated, exhaled once again. "Because Leira, the echoes don't just test your strengths, They also test your memories, they force you to face the things you may have buried, things from your past lives, and… Cassian was a strong part of that."
She noticed the brief pause before he said the name, as if it literally burned his tongue to say. "Kael? What aren't you telling me?"
Kael didn't answer.
She quickened her steps to catch up to him and walk beside him. "Kael, who is he?"
He stopped walking almost instantly, his face looked different. Usually he was intense but this wasn't intensity, this was… anger. His jaw tightened. "Leira," he said quietly. "Don't."
She blinked, confused. "Don't what? I'm just asking a question."
He turned to face her, and for the first time since they'd met, he didn't look at her with the usual kindness or patience, he looked at her with something raw, something she didn't want to believe maybe. "We have a long way to go before we reach the next echo," he said with a stern voice. "I'd rather not spend the entire time talking about your… about Cassian."
The way he said it, as if he was about to say 'her Cassian' made her chest tighten a little.
She stared at him, shocked and confused by what he had said. "My what?"
Kael turned away, as if he felt shame for the sharpness in his voice. "Leira, I can't help you with this, the echoes will show you what you need to know."
Leira's voice softened, almost pleading. "Why do you sound so upset?"
His jaw clenched. "Because I don't want to talk about him."
She frowned, taking a small step closer. "Whatever he may have done to you, I think…"
Kael turned on her suddenly, the control he was trying to keep snapped immediately. "He didn't do anything to me, Leira. You did."
His words hit her hard.
She opened her mouth slightly, but she couldn't find the words to say. Kael's eyes were on her, unshaken, filled with anger, betrayal.
"You chose him," he said, his voice breaking as if he had been trying to bury this thought for centuries. "Again and again. While I was being punished for your choices, you spent lifetimes choosing him!"
The forest around them seemed to go utterly still, even the wind stopped for a moment.
Leira's breath shook. "Kael…"
But he didn't look at her, he couldn't. He stared at the ground, his hands were shaking beside him, his voice lowered into a whisper. "Do you have any idea what it's like to remember someone who's forgotten you? To wait for them for centuries, only to find them and have them walk past you… holding someone else's hand?"
Leira's throat tightened, she had no words to offer him, no memory vivid enough to explain the pain in his voice. For a long moment, they stood in silence, both of them breathing very shallow, stuck under the weight of a situation they couldn't undo.
Finally, Leira turned away. Her voice was quiet, shaking but firm. "I… I think um… I think we should keep moving," she said. "We have a lot to do."
Kael's heart sank in that moment. He saw the flicker of tears in her eyes as she turned away from him. Regret hit him instantly. "Leira, I…"
She walked past him, cutting him off and she didn't say a word. Her expression was cold, hurt, distant, and for the first time since they met on the bridge, Kael felt her walls go up completely.
For the next few hours, she stayed in front of him, her pace steady and silent, the distance between them stretched with every passing minute. She didn't look back except when she needed to know which way to go. Every attempt Kael made to speak was futile and useless.
The silence was louder than any argument, it was painful.
Kael tried again. "Leira," he said softly, almost appealing to her. "Can we talk?"
She didn't look back. "Are we close to the next echo?"
He exhaled slowly. "Yes, it's not far now."
"Okay."
Her tone was sharp, straightforward, almost professional, like she was speaking to a stranger.
Another hour passed and now, Kael's guilt became too heavy for him to bear. "Leira… I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have spoken to you that way."
She still said nothing.
He tried again. "Leira, please. I lost my temper. That topic isn't something I can easily talk about. But I really am sorry. Please."
Again, nothing.
He stopped walking. "Leira!" he called out, louder this time. "Please say something. Leira?"
That's when he noticed. The air around them had changed.
The forest all of a sudden looked wrong. He saw the same tree, the same patch of moss, the same fallen branch he had passed before. He turned in a full circle, and the realisation hit him, the path was looping.
"Leira?" His voice rose, panic beginning to creep in.
No response.
He reached for her but no matter how fast he walked, he couldn't catch up to her. He even began running, but still to no avail. His surroundings blurred, the forest blended together. The realization hit him like a gush of cold water was poured on him.
Leira was no longer there.
The echo has begun, and it had separated them a while ago.
Leira turned at the sound of her name, she expected Kael to be behind her, but the forest was empty.
"Kael?"
The trees danced as the wind blew through them, the ground began to shake, a low hum filled the air. Then it came, the sound of glass shattering, sharp, loud, almost thunderous. And then, twelve massive mirrors crashed down from the sky, slamming into the ground around her in a perfect circle. The impact of the mirrors hitting the forest's soil shook the grounds beneath her feet.
Leira stumbled back, her eyes were wide. Each mirror stood impossibly tall, stretching beyond her eyes could fathom, their surfaces were smooth, clean. Her reflection stared back at her from every direction, countless Leiras, moving, blinking, breathing, each looking just as lost and confused as she felt.
"Kael!" she yelled, fear creeping into her voice, but he was nowhere to be found. No Kael, and no forest. Only mirrors.
"Kael!" she shouted again, panic began to overwhelm her tone. SHe ran toward one of the mirrors and slammed her palms against it, her reflection mirrored her emotion perfectly well, her eyes were wide and desperate. "Kael can you hear me?"
The reflection mouthed her words but no sound came. Her heart pounded in her ears, the silence in the circle was almost suffocating, as if sound itself had been taken away.
She banged her fists against the glass again, even harder this time. "Kael!"
Outside the circle, Kael could see her, trapped inside a cage of what he could only see as glass. Her mouth moved, her fists hit the mirrors, but no sound reached him.
He walked toward the mirror Leira was hitting carefully, afraid that any wrong move and the echo might shatter what little control it allowed him. He pressed his palm to the cold surface, it seemed to have a very subtle pulse. "Leira…" he whispered, voice breaking. "Your third echo has begun." He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the mirror. "I believe in you."
Inside the circle, Leira froze. Something stirred inside her chest, a surge of warmth ran through every nerve in her body. She couldn't hear him, but it was as if she felt him, like she knew he was outside the mirrors waiting for her, rooting for her, waiting for her.
Her heartbeat began to steady, the panic began slowly dissolving. She lowered her hands from the mirror slowly and gradually started catching her breath. Her reflections did the same, moving in creepy sync.
Leira turned away from the mirrors and slowly walked toward the center of the circle. The air was heavy as each reflection watched her with an intensity that made her skin crawl.
She didn't know what the mirror of souls would test, what it would show her, but she knew that whatever it was, she was going to fight it with everything she had. She had gotten to the realization that she had a lot to stay alive for; Kael, herself… maybe even Cassian.
She was determined to win, she had to know who she was. If it was the last thing she'd do... and it very well might be.