Just a disclaimer; this chapter mentions a bit of IceWing culture, so it makes a bit more sense if you've read 'Winter Turning'.

Chapter II | Prism

There is power held in the surface of a mirror.

While it may look like just a reflective piece of glass, Prism learned long ago that that was far from true. Ever since she was a young IceWing, she had for whatever reason understood the things and values that could be held in a mirror.

Mirrors represented uncertainty. Power. Beauty. Vain. Reflection. Honesty. For some reason, in every scroll whenever a beam is shot it bounces off a mirror. The Evil Queen has a magic mirror of her own that tells her who is the fairest of the all.

And when dragons look into a mirror, despite what's said, they can see more than just their appearance. A single reflection can cause a dragon to become shallow and vain, or hatred and self-doubt whenever they see their appearance. To hold a mirror is like to hold the very essence of the dragon race.

This might seem a bit obsessive, but personally, it's not. Well, Prism didn't think so. Whatever. Most dragons didn't understand what she meant. In fact, most dragons didn't understand a lot of things. They don't understand the concept of worlds beyond their own, and if they did, the last place they would look was beyond the reflective surface of a mirror.

But Prism did. Prism of the IceWings checked, and she got her answer.

Mirror jumping. That's what her and her brother Frostbite call it.

The thing about mirror jumping, is that she was able to jump between mirrors, if that makes any sense. Basically, say she's looking at a mirror in her bedroom. She can look through it, and step out into any nearby mirror. Note that she said nearby. I can't go to like, the other side of Pyrrhia or anything.

And the thing about living half in a mirror is that you see lots of dragons faces, and are able to determine their emotions and feelings, even if they don't show it. When I stepped on the school grounds, I couldn't explain it, but I could tell. I don't know why, but I could tell that things were different here.

And when Secretflame stepped on stage? Pssh, she could tell even before her wings basically became flaming dart-throwers. But that hadn't squelched her excitement. For once in her life, Prism felt like she finally belonged somewhere.

As soon as Secretflame stepped off the stage, she knew the assembly, or whatever it was was over. Dragons began to disperse here and there, some of them going over to the table and grabbing pamphlets.

Unsure of what to do, Prism searched around in the brown satchel wrapped around her waist, her long, serrated claws scouring through the contents. An artist drawing of her and Frostbite, a single handheld mirror with a silver handle, and finally, a light purple pamphlet with the words Secretflame's School for Gifted Dragonets sprawled across the top.

Suddenly, as Prism held the paper, her claws began quivering with excitement as the reality of what was going on sunk in. This was real. This was actually happening. No more having to hide what she felt. No more feeling alone in the world. No more getting by with a sixth circle ranking and pretending it didn't hurt every day.

As she held the pamphlet in my claws, Prism realized what it meant. It meant everything she hated about her life was finally over. Eagerly, she began to open the pamphlet. If they had roommates (and she assumed they did) her heart brimmed with the hope that maybe, they would have abilities like hers. Maybe. She wasn't entirely sure worked.

Prism began to read the introduction at the beginning of the pamphlet, but quickly got bored. Reading had always been Frostbite's thing, not hers. She preferred to jump straight to the point as opposed to spending time wallowing in minor details.

Dragging a claw down the page, Prism continued to skim the paper until she finally came across what I was looking for: dorms. Talons shaking eagerly, she didn't have to look long before I saw the words Prism: IceWing listed under Dorm 1. Let's see, she thought to herself as she looked at who she would be sharing a room with.

A NightWing named Bonespeaker, a SandWing named Sunset, and a RainWing named Mist. Huh. Simple enough list, she thought. However, Prism learned after years and years of experience that looks did little to portray what a dragon was really like on the inside.

But they could be different, a tiny voice at the back of her mind whispered. They could pinpoint your weaknesses. Make you feel small like before. Suddenly, Prism's eagerness dropped as this new thought came to mind. Or they couldn't be, she argued back. You don't know that!

Whatever. I had to get to my room, and anyways, it probably wasn't good to argue with voices in your head. Digging through her bag, she groped through the contents until she finally found what she was looking for: a single silver handheld mirror. Taking a deep breath, Prism closed her eyes and held the mirror straight in front of her. After a while, Prism had found that if she concentrated hard enough, it was possible to take the mirror with her.

Closing my eyes, she set it down on the cobblestone ground and took a deep breath; mirror jumping was still an eerie process that took some mastering. Making sure she was concentrating completely, Prim let every limb go loose like liquid, bit her lip, and jumped headfirst into the mirror.

Now, the thing about mirror jumping is that it kind of acts like a portal to a place Prism just called the mirror dimension. See, the mirror dimension isn't one place or another. It's in between. As Prism slowly peeled open my deep black eyes, she remembered not to jump when I saw that I was standing despite there being a lack of...well, a floor.

Shades of light blue and silver swirled around her eyes as the mirror dimension came into focus. Slowly, like a long hallway, dozens and dozens of what could only be called doorways began to open up along the dimension. Basically, it was like a rectangular shaped hole, and on the other side of that hole was a different place.

Prism saw kitchens, lounges, libraries, and all sorts of places begin to unfold before my eyes, This was the mirror dimension, and this was her safe place.

Still, something seemed a bit...different about her 'safe place'. It was weird because she didn't remember it happening when she had been close enough to the academy to mirror jump here. It was like there was something...dark here. Also, it was cold. And she didn't mean the kind of cold in the Ice Kingdom, she used to that kind of cold.

No, Prism meant the kind of cold that creeps under your scales and works your way through your body and makes you feel like you'll never be warm again.

Sighing, the young IceWIng tried not to dwell on it too much as she looked through the rooms, looking for anything that might indicate a mirror leading into Dorm 1. After much, much searching and peering through different mirrors, she finally found one that probably led to Dorm 1.

Well, okay, she was kind of certain of it. It looked like she could only see the inside of the dorm, but above it was a crest of two dragons with arched backs, their necks coiled and the number 1 between them. This was it. Taking a deep breath, Prism looked forward, then stepped through the mirror.

It wouldn't be until later that she would notice the dark, cloaked figure lurking behind me.