Once Seth's vision cleared, he wasn't sure he was actually supported by a floor. All around him, grey clouds billowed and floated each and every direction, making it hard to see much of anything; until a soft, blue glow of Bracken's stone cut through the fog and soon enough, the unicorn himself became visible a few feet away.
Bracken held out a hand to help Seth up, the boy took it and stood. "Good job finding this! It was so well hidden that I couldn't detect it."
Mi'aiq padded out of a cloud behind Seth, "Of course he would find it, he is a shadow charmer; he can unlock any doorway." The cat boasted, rubbing his head against Seth's leg, causing Bracken to frown, but Seth to kneel down and hug the cat,
"You've been great, better than Nero, teaching me Shadow- charmer stuff, thanks!"
Mi'aiq purred and rubbed Seth's head with his own, "You are very welcome, Avitus."
Seth drew back and looked at the cat, "What?"
Bracken pulled Seth up by the shoulders and spun him around, "Mi'aiq once served a Shadow Charmer by the name of Avitus, he is only using you as a replacement, let's go."
Bracken steered Seth away, but the cat remained behind, it's head drooping, tail still. Seth looked back and called, "Come on, Mi'aiq! We've got to find the horn!"
The cat perked up and began following contentedly, "Forgive me, Seth. You are so like my former master that I forgot he is not you."
"It's fine," Seth said as Bracken glowered more. "What's wrong, Bracken? You've not been acting like yourself; usually you try to make jokes that only make sense to me later, or recounting some adventure of some sort, but now you're awfully hostile and on-edge." Seth reached out and grabbed Bracken by the arm, forcing the unicorn to look back at him. "Do you want to talk to me about something?"
Bracken sighed and looked Seth in the eye, "The Dark Night was responsible for the death of someone very special to me, and as a result I feel like it is my duty to wipe them off the face of this earth."
Seth backed up a little at Bracken's forceful statement, "Whoa! That might be overdoing it a little, eternal revenge? Overrated." Bracken looked uncertain but Seth continued, "Have you seen how the villains end up after years of obsession? Or some heroes like Batman!" Seth pulled his coat up over part of his face and narrowed his eyes, "'I'm the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs.'" He rasped in his best Batman voice.
Bracken turned away from Seth and crossed his arms, he looked really tense, but then his shoulders began shaking. Then laugher rang through the clouds as Bracken just let all his frustration and hatred out of his mind and let himself relax. He then turned to Seth with a bright smile that made the boy's stomach do a flip-flop.
Bracken set his forehead gently against Seth's and said, "I am so glad to have you as a brother, Seth." He then backed away and tousled Seth's hair with a smile.
"Wait… Brother?" Seth asked, then he began to panic as his mind ran in all different directions, "You mean brother-in-law? Did you already marry Kendra? No, you mean shield-brother. No-wait, you mean blood-brother! But we're not related…"
Mi'aiq chuckled from a few feet away, "Mi'aiq thinks that you are over thinking this." His tail swished in amusement. Seth looked down at the cat in bemusement, and Bracken once again took Seth's hand and pulled him along.
"I sense the horn, it's close. Stick close to me." Bracken said to Seth. "It is over there beyond those clouds."
"Uh, which clouds?" Seth asked, genuinely confused. He looked around and then noticed, "Hey, where are Warren and Vanessa?"
Mi'aiq answered his question, "They didn't get pulled through when we… ah… jumped."
They walked along for a few minutes, being led by Bracken's senses through the thick fog. Until, all at once, the mist cleared. Bracken signaled Seth to halt as he inspected the giant columns that stood like a gateway. In between the white pillars, a reflection of Shadow Charmer, Unicorn, and cat looked back at them.
Seth looked at his image and waved a hand, but his reflection didn't move. "Uh, Bracken?"
"I know; this is an obstacle." Bracken reassured him, "In a few seconds they will come out of the mirror and attack us, they can use all of our abilities, unlike Sting-bulbs. Ready yourself for a battle with yourself."
Seth swallowed uneasiness and pulled out the sword he had gotten from the satyrs the year before and readied himself for an oncoming attack. Bracken looked over to Seth and than calmly looked back at his reflection. He saw a stir of movement and whisked out his second horn.
All at once the figures jumped out the mirror, each reflection going to its doppelganger and attacking. Seth barely had time to register what had happened, but his sword was already in position to block the fierce swing from himself.
Bracken was in a fierce duel with his mirror image, each wielding a bright sword and bearing an angelic face, it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
Mi'aiq and the other black cat were nowhere to be seen, but their yowls of fury and hisses could be heard ringing through the mist.
Seth and his doppelganger locked sword's again, and were each thrown back due to the equal force and strength. In between swings Seth gasped, "Wow, I'm pretty good!"
The other Seth's eyes widened, then he smiled, "Really? You think so?" and his sword came whistling near Seth's ear, which he dodged.
"Yeah! We've both improved a-" Seth lunged with his sword, "lot from Bracken's training." He huffed, blocking another parry from his twin.
His mirror image grinned and slashed out again, "I love Bracken!"
Bracken glanced over to Seth from his current battle, but then got a bloody scratch from his own mirror image.
"You're wide open." Bracken's twin stated, going in for another stab, "You are weak."
Seth side-stepped over to get closer to Bracken and help out, but his current engagement kept him away. "You want to play dirty? Alright." Seth blocked another down swing from his foe and turned to Bracken, "Hey! Bracken number two! You smell, real bad. Like a troll." This did little to distract the mirror image of the unicorn, but it did earn Seth a bloody cut on his shoulder.
Seth's twin laughed and fought harder, seeking another opening, "My Bracken won't be distracted by you. He has a will of iron, unlike your Bracken."
"But aren't we the same person? Why are you even fighting me?"
The other Seth shrugged, but as he did so, he left a wide open area near his neck, which Seth slashed at, cutting into his own flesh. Blood spurted out of his own neck wound and his doppelganger fell to the ground, eyes wide in fear and disbelief.
The mirror image of Bracken a moment later came running over and knocked Seth aside, kneeling down to cradle Seth's twin in his arms. He started to heal the wound, his hands glowing brightly, and murmuring words of encouragement to the boy.
Meanwhile the real Bracken came over and watched this happen for a second and raised his sword, preparing to kill them both in one downward stroke. Both Seth and the other unicorn stopped him with their cries of 'No!'. Bracken stopped and frowned at both himself and his companion.
The Bracken from the mirror still had a hand on Seth's shoulder as he faced himself, "Please, just let him go. Seth has done nothing. Kill me."
Seth's wounded counterpart on the ground coughed up some blood and rolled to his side to grip his Bracken's coat sleeve. "No, don't leave me!"
Bracken watched this all with disgust flickering in his eyes as Seth felt a little tremor of pity and pain.
Seth didn't want that kind of fate forced on anybody, even enchantments. "Bracken, let them go."
Bracken turned to Seth and for a moment worry glimmered in his eyes, then it clouded over and the Unicorn sheathed his sword. "Don't let yourself die like this, Seth." He whispered and embraced him briefly, then turned to their counterparts, "I'll let you live, but we must pass through the mirror unharmed, understood?"
Bracken's image nodded and waved a hand, the mirror parted like a curtain, this time, grey fog clouded what lay beyond. Then the doppelganger glared up at the two, yet spoke calmly. "You will one day find yourselves in a position quite like ours, and the man on the other end of the sword may not be as merciful."
"I'll keep that in mind." Bracken said coldly as he walked through the curtain and into the fog.
Seth looked one more time at the enchantments; they looked back at him with haunted eyes, holding each other. Then he turned and ran after Bracken into the darker fog. He defiantly wouldn't let anything happen to Bracken on this mission.
Bracken marched solemnly through the ever growing darker clouds,
He will not die in my arms like that. Not if I can help it.