"You can stop pushing me now! They haven't followed us into the library." Rose wiggled her arm free from her colleague's tight grasp as soon as they had entered the Bunker.

Alan locked the door behind them and immediately proceeded to drag one of the wooden chairs towards the door to block the handle.

"Aren't you exaggerating just a tiny bit?"

"I most certainly am not." He adjusted the chair until the handle was completely jammed. "Those elves out there are not here to invite us for a coffee." With shaky fingers he pointed at the door and the hallway that lay beyond. "We better make sure they're not getting in here."

"Why are you so worried? They're not after you." Rose straightened her coat, trying to keep her own fingers from trembling.

The entire way back Alan had refused to answer her questions, telling her to wait until they were back in the Bunker's safety. Nebula's warning words still rang in her ears, and pushing down her nervousness became increasingly difficult.

"I'm not worried about me but about you." He swallowed and pressed his lips into a thin line. "When you didn't come back from your weekend trip, I feared that something might have happened to you."

"I already told you that I had an unfortunate accident involving a fallen tree." She pressed her bag tighter against her body. "And I came back, mostly unharmed."

"I don't think that's what has happened. There are strange people outside and they are clearly after something or someone." He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, as if he was afraid the elves might hear him even down here. "I think they are after you. I don't know why or what you did to provoke their wrath, but —"

"Wait, what?" Rose raised her hands. "Why should this be my fault?"

"I'm not saying it's your fault, just look." He pointed at the mirror, and then Rose saw it.

Saw him, in the mirror.

Andor

He was looking back at her. The foggy veil had lifted and she could clearly see him, his golden eyes fixed on her. In his hand he held a pink hemisphere, almost identical to the one he had given her. Its faint glow illuminated his face, dipped it into a play of light and shadow. She didn't have time to study him, because her eyes were drawn to another figure beside him, a female elf, who appeared to be talking to him, yet she couldn't hear a word of what was being said.

Wasn't this the one who had given her the clothes? Now the female elf raised her head and was looking at her too. Yes, that was definitely her. Her sharp cheekbones and inquisitive eyes weren't something she would ever forget.

With both pairs of eyes now resting on her, the eerie sense of foreboding that had settled in her chest, clawed its way up her throat.

"This is impossible." Her mouth was dry like sandpaper, her hands clutching the straps of her bag.

"That's what I thought too, until I saw it with my own eyes," Alan said. She could feel his gaze resting on her. Three pairs of eyes were looking at her now. "You know them, don't you?"

"What?" She shook her head in automatic denial, finally looking away from Andor, whose tall figure loomed beyond the silvery surface like a spectre of a dream. "Why would you say that?" She needed to buy herself time to come up with a plan.

"The way they look at you. The way you look at them. It's obvious." He folded his arms in front of his chest and pushed his jaw forward, like he wasn't going to buy anymore lies from her.

She released a long sigh.

He was right.

There was no more use in denying, in trying to hide from a fate that had chased her relentlessly until it had her cornered in an underground vault of the library, where she now sat trapped like a rabbit, ready to be devoured by hungry beasts. Only those hungry beasts walked on two legs and were elves, beautiful and deadly all the same.

"I ... yes, I do," she whispered. Her shoulders sank, but at the same time, a strange calm rushed through her veins, as if by saying it out loud, a weight had been lifted from her chest.

"You do," Alan repeated after her, as if he hadn't quite expected her answer to be so plain and straightforward.

"Yes." Rose nodded, her gaze darting between Alan and the two elves in the mirror. "It's a rather complicated story, and I don't think now is the right moment to tell you all about it, besides, I'm still trying to figure out most of it myself." She shrugged, as if apologizing for her lack of willingness to explain herself.

Suddenly, voices sounded outside the Bunker. It was barely more than a low whisper beyond the door, but Rose could make out that several people were muttering words she could not understand. She caught Alan's gaze and took his silent nod as confirmation that he had also heard them.

He put a finger over his mouth, indicating her to be silent and then they both stared at the doorknob. At first, it didn't move but when the voices died down it began turning. Rose bit her lower lip and held her breath.

These had to be the elves that were after her. How had they found her so quickly?

What if Nebula's words were true?

What if there was a war brewing and she was going to be caught right in the middle of it?

What if this was just the beginning?

Her thoughts tumbled through her head like leaves in a gust of wind.

The doorknob rattled, but didn't budge. Then it stopped and the silence that followed was worse than all the noise.

"What do we do now?" Rose whispered, trying to keep her voice down, clutching the straps of her bag as if they were her lifeline.

Alan frowned as he surveyed the door and readjusted the chair blocking it. "This should hold them off for a while, but for how long I don't know. They might carry weapons or try to use magic."

The blood froze in Rose's veins. Those were thoughts she hadn't even considered until Alan had mentioned them. The doorknob rattled again. This time followed by a loud thump against the door.

Rose's eyes widened in shock. She threw a glance over her shoulder and then her gaze met Andor's in the mirror, who still held the pink hemisphere in the palm of his hand and was now pointing at it with his finger, then at her and then back at the stone. She stared at him in confusion and then caught Alan looking between her and Andor as if he was trying to decipher a riddle.

"The stone," Alan murmured. There was another bang at the door. Dust motes fluttered like grey specks in the air in between them.

What if this stone, this so-called Elantymon, would indeed allow her to communicate with Andor, who looked like he was trying to tell her something?

Another bang shook the door. The wood creaked as if it was getting tired of resisting. Sweat beaded on Rose's forehead.

"Open up!" a deep male voice shouted from behind the door. "You cannot hide from us. We know you are inside and we will not leave this place without you."

The tone in his voice left no doubt about their intention. They would drag her out, and she had no way to escape their clutches. 

The tension in the room rose to dizzying heights.

"The other half, I ... they gave it to me," Rose muttered. Her mouth was parched.

Maybe Andor was her only hope. Maybe he would be able to provide her with a solution for her predicament.

"You have one of those ... those things?" Alan's eyes widened as if she had suddenly sprouted a pair of wings.

"Yes." She dug into her bag, frantically shoving things aside, while another series of bangs rained down on the door. If they kept on with such vigour they would break it down in a matter of minutes. The wood was groaning like an old ship beaten by a storm. The chair began to slide, just a little but enough to make Alan jump and push it back in place.

"Then use it, whatever it is for," he said while he readjusted the chair. "It seems that we are running out of options with those lunatics trying to pulverise the door."

While her hands roved through the contents of her bag she threw a quick glance at Andor in the mirror, who appeared to be speaking to the hemisphere in his hand while he kept his eyes on her.

Where was that darned thing when she needed it?

"Open, human! Or we will force our way in!" the voice boomed, the menace seeping through the wood like poison.

Finally, there! Between a pack of tissues and her keys, she felt the smooth surface of a stone under her fingers. She grabbed it tightly and pulled it out, clutching it against her chest.

There was another loud bang at the door, followed by a beat of silence. Then the voice started again. "If by the count of ten you have not opened the door, we will break it down. Enough time has been lost because of you. We will not waste any more."

The hair on Rose's neck rose as the meaning of those words sunk in one by one. She was to be dragged back to Elysse like a lamb to slaughter.

"One!" called the voice.

No! No, she wouldn't accept that fate. She would fight back, even if she had no weapons and no idea how. Even if she was just an insignificant human.

The stone warmed in her hands, as if whatever magic slumbered within had awoken. She stared at it and then at Alan, who threw his body against the door in an effort to hold back the assault of the elves. "They mean business. I'm not sure how long we can keep them on the other side of the door."

"Two!"

"I know, I know, but I don't know how this works and if it can even do something to help us."

"Not us, you," Alan retorted, while an even heavier blow hit the door, cracking the wood until splinters and sawdust rained down.

"What do you mean?" A dark premonition rose within her, while her attention was suddenly drawn back to the stone. From within its depths a faint voice seemed to be calling her name.

"Rose," it murmured. She knew that voice, would recognize it amongst hundreds of others. A chill ran down her spine.

"Three!" boomed the voice from outside.

She peered into the stone. A pink fog eddied inside as if the stone had turned liquid under the surface. There was no image, only a pulsating light that grew brighter by the second. "Rose, can you hear me?" the familiar voice called.

"They even know your name." Alan gaped, his expression oscillating between awe and fear.

"Yes," she said without thinking if she was answering Andor or Alan.

"Good, because you need to listen to me, Rose. You are in grave danger. The king has sent his henchmen after you and they might get to you at any moment."

"Four!"

"They're already here," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

Andor's eyes widened, if it was in shock or disbelief she didn't know. The female elf beside him whispered something to him, which Rose didn't understand.

"King? Henchmen? This is starting to sound like the nightmare version of a fairy tale," Alan said, throwing the weight of his body against the door that seemed to bend with every hit pounding against it from outside.

Rose stared at Andor, who pulled his eyebrows together in a deep frown. The female elf kept pointing at the mirror and then at Rose, while Andor vigorously shook his head.

"This is madness," she heard Andor say through the stone. "It is like serving her to the king on a silver platter."

"Five!" the deep voice boomed, accompanied by another thrust against the door that had Alan clutch at his shoulder.

"What is? What are you talking about?" Rose shouted into the stone, while her gaze went from Alan back to Andor beyond the mirror. Fear and anger mingled inside her chest into an ever growing fire.

"It is the only logical thing to do," she now heard the female elf's voice. "You control the Eternal Silvers. You can let her pass and then seal it again. That will throw them off track for a while."

"Let me pass?" Rose swallowed hard. Her throat felt dry and constricted. If this meant what she thought it did, then this was truly madness.

"E—eternal Silvers?" Alan stammered. "Is this was this mirror is called?"

"Apparently." Rose nodded, remembering Nebula's words.

"Six! Don't be so stubborn, human. You are running out of time."

Yes, she was running out of time. That much was for sure. Her hands were sweaty and a shiver ran down her spine. But what to do and where to go?

"What does she mean?" Rose asked Andor through the stone almost mechanically, even though she thought she knew the answer to the question already.

Jump right into the pit of hell. Throw herself into the eye of the storm. That was what Nebula had told her. The safest place when the storm hit was to be right in the middle of it. This might buy her some time to think about what to do next. If she stayed here, the elves would surely get her and then —

"Seven! Surrender yourself and this will be a lot less painful for you." Another loud bang and the door finally began to splinter around the hinges.

"Oh, I don't think so!" she yelled over her shoulder, panic eating away at her.

The female elf took the Elantymon out of Andor's hand and said in a clear and commanding voice: "You have to step into the mirror and come to Elysse. It's the only way to keep you safe. This is the one place the king will least expect to find you and it will give us some time to come up with a plan. We will keep you safe, I promise you this. But if you stay where you are, your death is as sure as Andor being the most stubborn elf I've ever known in my entire lifetime." She looked at Rose with raised eyebrows and shoved the stone back into Andor's hand, who only gaped at the elf beside him.

"Eight!"

"Do what this lady-elf says! Leave!" Alan was breathing heavily as he struggled to keep the door from unhinging. It was one human and a rickety chair against three elves. He wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer. 

She stared at the mirror in front of her, clutching the Elantymon to her chest, yet her legs wouldn't move.

"Nine! This is it, human. Your time is up!" it thundered from behind. There was cracking of wood and a muffled cry from Alan.

Suddenly she was being shoved forward and lost her balance, tumbling towards the mirror.

"Go! Now! And don't look back!"

"Wait! Don't!" She gripped the Elantymon tightly in one hand and held up the other in front of her as if she wanted to shield herself from crashing right into the mirror, but it was too late.

"Ten!"