Chapter 31: The Shadow in the Mirror

  Lei Fei’s lips curled into a mirthless smile, his gaze pressing heavily against Ronen’s face. "Aren't you here for the tower? Something went wrong up there—and you’re telling me you don't know what it is?"

  Ronen leaned in, his voice dropping an octave. "We know the tower went silent. We want to know what you saw."

  Lei Fei fell silent for a long moment, a sigh rattling deep in his chest. "When things first started going wrong in the village, I took a few men up there myself." He looked toward the window, his eyes drifting as if he were seeing that pale, frozen wasteland again. "But we never made it inside. We never saw a single mage."

  He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "We were ambushed. By monsters."

  "Monsters?" Ronen’s pupils contracted. "Humanoid? Shriveled, as if the life had been sucked out of them?"

  Lei Fei snapped his gaze back to Ronen. The fragile mask of composure he had been wearing finally cracked, and raw terror leaked through. "So... you’ve seen them too."

  "In the past, whenever we needed help, we just had to approach the tower and the gates would open on their own," he continued, his words coming faster now, as if he needed to purge the memory. "But that day, the gates stayed shut. We knocked, we shouted. Nothing. Finally, I had the Zhao brothers try to force it open..."

  He stopped abruptly, his fingers white-knuckled as they gripped the edge of the table. "The moment the door creaked open, those things poured out. We’re just villagers—we don't know how to fight, we don't have magic. We only survived because the Zhao brothers threw themselves in the way to buy us time to run."

  "How many were there?" Ronen asked, his voice tight. He was thinking of Wolf, Mary, and the others.

  "Who had time to count?" Lei Fei shook his head, his movements jerky and weak. "They were just there. I only caught a glimpse inside before we turned and fled. There was more than one. I think... I think the mages are all dead. Killed by those things."

  Ronen’s brow furrowed, a cold knot forming in his stomach. Beside him, Vivian leaned in and gave his shoulder a reassuring nudge. She offered a small, confident smile. "Don't worry. I haven't seen Wolf in a real fight yet, but I know his type—he’s a survivor. And Emma isn't exactly a damsel in distress. With Ethan’s magic backing them up, they’ll be fine. Even if they run into trouble, they know how to retreat."

  Ronen took a deep breath and nodded. Vivian was right. Worrying about the tower group wouldn't help anyone here. He needed to focus on the village.

  He reached into his cloak and pulled out two tattered pieces of cloth, sliding them across the rough table toward Lei Fei. "Do you recognize these?"

  One scrap had been torn from the monster that attacked them the night before; the other was from the skeletal remains in the bear cave. The fabric lay on the table, faded and stained, like a shroud over a buried truth.

  Lei Fei stared at them. He stared for so long that Ronen was about to speak again when the village head finally looked up. His mouth twitched, but he simply shook his head.

  "...It looks like local work. But whose clothes they were? I couldn't tell you."

  Ronen didn't look away. He was young, but a mercenary’s life had sharpened his instincts. He saw the flicker of hesitation in Lei Fei’s eyes—the subtle, jagged catch in his expression. The man was lying.

  "Has anyone gone missing lately?" Ronen pressed, his voice low and relentless. "This is a small village. Someone disappearing shouldn't be hard to notice."

  Lei Fei was silent, his fingers tracing the rim of his tea cup. "People haven't come back," he finally admitted, his voice devoid of emotion. "But that’s not strange. In a place like this, who wouldn't try to find a way out? You saw the map—there’s nothing else for miles. Maybe they got lost in the storm. Or maybe... maybe they actually made it. Maybe they’re far away by now."

  He looked out the window at the blinding white snow, a faint, self-deluding smile touching his lips. "Maybe any minute now, they’ll come marching back with the Mages Association behind them... and this curse will finally be over."

  At that moment, Jiu let out a soft "Ah," as if a sudden thought had struck her. Her voice was gentle but clear. "By the way, Village Head... how many families are still living here?"

  Lei Fei pulled his gaze back and thought for a moment, counting on his fingers. "It’s a small place. The Zhao brothers by the entrance. Feng Chen the hunter and his kid by the Frostwood. Old Zhang and Old Yang, the woodworkers. Widow Wang and her husband. And my family."

  He paused, his voice dropping. "Six houses. Barely a dozen souls left."

  "And the ones who didn't come back? Which house were they from?"

  Lei Fei answered quickly this time, his eyes drifting toward the village entrance. "Old Zhang and his wife. Haven't seen them in a few days."

  "We should go check their place," Ronen said, looking at Vivian. She nodded, then turned back to Lei Fei.

  "You warned us not to go out after dark yesterday," Vivian said, her smile gone, replaced by a sharp, scrutinizing gaze. "It wasn't just the cold, was it? You knew those monsters were active at night."

  Lei Fei looked at them with a strange, knowing expression. "After we fled from the tower... they started appearing nearby," he said, his voice raspy. "But they seem to hate the light. They hide in the shadows during the day and only come out when the sun drops. So, when the light fails, we lock our doors."

  He rubbed his temples, a gesture of profound exhaustion. "We’re just ordinary people. In the past, if a beast attacked, we could call on the mages or send word to the city. But now..." He let out a bitter laugh and didn't finish the sentence.

  Ronen was silent for a moment, then spoke with a note of careful testing in his voice. "I’ve heard rumors that the Dragonwood area is haunted by legends of 'Snow-Blind Demons'."

  "Snow-Blind Demons?" A flicker of something passed over Lei Fei’s face—a momentary loosening of tension, as if the topic were a relief. "Ah... those are just old wives' tales to keep the children in line. You know how it is. The snow is everywhere, the kids want to play all day. The elders made up stories to scare them into coming home before they froze their eyes or caught a death-chill."

  Ronen felt a slight sense of relief. It seemed Ethan’s theory was right; the legend was just a story. Perhaps he was overthinking things.

  But in that exact moment, the words from the note slammed into his mind—

  The eyes are lying.

  He froze.

  In that heartbeat, the Lei Fei sitting across from him warped. His skin shriveled and collapsed, his eye sockets hollowing into pits of absolute black. The once-kindly face of the middle-aged man was gone, replaced by the skeletal, eyeless visage of the monster from the night before!

  Ronen jerked, nearly leaping from his chair.

  "Ronen?"

  Vivian’s voice snapped him back. He blinked hard, his forehead slick with sudden sweat. Lei Fei was still there, looking at him with mild confusion.

  "Are you alright?" Vivian’s hand was steady on his shoulder.

  "I’m fine..." Ronen forced a weak smile. "Just haven't been sleeping well. This mission... it’s taking its toll."

  He took a deep breath, trying to still his racing heart. Vivian gave his back a reassuring pat, then turned to Lei Fei with a polite smile. "Thank you for sharing this with us. We have some magical equipment with us; we’ll try to establish contact with the outside world."

  "Wait."

  Lei Fei called out as they stood to leave. His brow was furrowed, and for the first time, he looked genuinely urgent. "I’ve wanted to ask since yesterday—if you’re here to investigate the tower... do you know what happened? Where did the mages go? Where did these monsters come from?"

  Ronen shook his head, his voice heavy with honest frustration. "We don't know any more than you do. The communication went dead, and we were hired to find out why. That’s all."

  Lei Fei let out a long, ragged sigh, a sound of profound resignation. "What a world... that we should be the ones to suffer this."

  They asked a few more questions, but Lei Fei either shook his head or gave vague answers. He seemed to have emptied himself of everything he was willing to say.

  The light in the room had shifted, long shadows stretching across the floor. As they stepped out of the village head’s house, Ronen and Vivian both turned instinctively toward the small hut where they had stayed the night.

  The space in front of it was empty. The deep ruts in the snow told the story—the camp carriage, along with the snow-hounds, was gone.

  Vivian rested a hand on Ronen’s shoulder, her tone light and teasing. "Well, Ronen... how much of our dear Village Head’s story do you believe? Are we truly 'trapped' here?"

  Ronen’s mouth twisted into a dry smile. "I don't see what he’d gain by lying about that. From the look on his face... they tried to leave, and they failed."

  He paused, his gaze following the carriage tracks toward the village entrance. "As for whether we can actually get out—there’s only one way to find out."

  Vivian nodded, looking up at the sky. The northern sun was thin but clear, shining brightly over the white expanse. It didn't look like a blizzard was coming. She let out a short laugh.

  "Well, it looks like little Zoe... has decided to test it for us."

  Ronen’s smile widened slightly. He had seen through Zoe’s "study the carriage" excuse the moment she said it. She had never given up on the idea of running away. He had planned to catch her in the act, but after hearing Lei Fei’s story, he had changed his mind.

  The village head’s claim needed a witness.

  "Still..." Ronen frowned, a new thought occurring to him. "Does that girl even know how to handle snow-hounds? I hope she doesn't wreck our carriage."