Inner self

As they faced the silvery mirror that could transport one to the other side of reality, they each saw a different image. The mirror brought forward their deepest desire and fright. Soon the reality vanished from each of their eyes and they found themselves inside the vision they were witnessing in the mirror, facing their own deepest desires and scariest nightmares. But they were still standing where they stood apparently. None could see the other.

"What is going on? " Boshu yelled but it only came back as an echo. Some sort of sound barrier was there between each of them.

Lin found himself facing Mia. She was standing with something in her arms. As Lin approached her she started running away from him. He chased behind her calling out her name. But she didn't respond, nor did she respond until they reached the ridge. There Lin pulled her around but stepped several steps back with horror at the sight. Mia a baby in her arms covered in blood. The blood dripped from Mia's neck where the flesh was ripped off and the bone showed. The baby had a very devilish look and had the flesh in its mouth which it had bit off Mia. Lin yelled in agony. He kept calling Mia's name as he begged her to let the child go, throw it away. But she wouldn't listen. She just sat smiling and caressing the baby as it bit her off piece by piece. Lin just stood there shaking unable to do anything.

Roe had herself in front of the imperial Hall. She was all decked up in a bridal attire, complete with every jewelry possible. But as she walked she found her legs tied in huge chains, golden chains. Her hands felt heavy too. There were similar chains on her wrists too. As she stood struggling an unknown man with a big moustache, approached her. Everyone present there clapped in amazement as Roe yelled for help. The man kept approaching her and touching her inappropriately all over. She kicked and yelled, even tried to bite him off, but her chains kept becoming heavier and heavier till she could no longer stand. It made her bow down in agony and embarrassment.

Xie was standing in the middle of a battle field in his vision. He was tied in the wrong direction on the horse back. These horses were the treasures of the wolf clan. They could fly but they had no wings. Xie's horse was however not flying. It was taking him in circles. The battle drums roared but the horse wouldn't stop. Xie tried hard to control it but he found himself unable to let go of the grip he had on the animal in fear that he might be dropped. The animal however stopped all of a sudden and stared running away from the battle ground. Xie tried hard but he couldn't turn its direction. He could hear the loud roar of jeering from across the field.

Boshu found himself standing in the same spot but without his companions. As he went about calling each one by name, he realised he was inside some sort of illusion. While everyone else was engrossed in their own mental troubles, Boshu could figure certains things out. Being simple minded had it's own perks. He tried following the echo. It always came from a particular direction. As he approached he found something solid but invisible hit him.

"It must be some kind of a barrier" He thought. As he pondered over ways to break through the barrier, he remembered something. Every barrier was like a shield and specifically trial barriers like these were spherical. Being spherical it ought to have a periphery. If he could gauge that he would be able to generate the exact amount of energy wave to counter it. He immediately got to work. And surprisingly it was working. He kept expanding his field of energy till it met the requirement of that of his sphere. He was exhausting himself in the process. His nose and ear started bleeding but he kept of pushing. Finally after a few more effort the barrier did crack open and he found his friends all standing in a trance. No one responded to the huge noise the barrier made as it shattered to pieces.

He went upto each one, shook them hard but no one responded. He ran this way then to the other looking for any solution. But found none. Then he stood stopped and concentrated on what he had learnt from Lin. If anybody was inside a barrier where one could not reach physically, one could communicate through their inner self.

He immediately sat down to meditate. He gave his all to focus. As he toiled hard on his concentration he found himself standing in front of himself. There were thin threads infront of him. But they were all tangled. At the end of each thread were each of his companions. Lin's thread lead seemed like the nearest so he immediately started working on detangling it. Finally he found success as Lin opened his eyes panting from the horror he had just witnessed. Boshu calmed him down as he looked at the other two.

"I think we need to help them" Boshu urged.

Lin nodded as he closed his eyes . After a few more moments, Lin was able to untangle them successfully. It took some time for everyone to recover from the aftershock of their trials.

"Ufff... That was intense" Roe panted.

"This manifested our deepest desires and fear. We were lucky we were travelling in group. Solo travellers have been stuck in the horror for ages without anyway out. Thank you. " Xie patted Lin and Boshu on the back with appreciation for the first time on their journey.

"Don't mention it" They replied with a welcoming bow.

"Let's get going then. We still have a long way to go" Boshu said pointing towards to mirror.

"Right.we need to get to the other side of reality. Let's go" Roe jumped inside as she replied. The rest followed suit. After a few moments of intense compression, they found themselves standing on the other side.