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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Rogue Reflection (Mirror Trilogy 1, #1)

Acknowledgements

Also By R. A. Lanewood

“I don’t need a guide anyway,” Claudius said to himself as he clumsily climbed over a fallen tree heading away from the rugged man who Claudius had hired to lead him through this forest to the city on the other side of the mountain. He had assured Claudius that the dangers of this venture weren’t enough to dissuade him in the face of so much gold.

“What a liar Jasper is and what a bigger fool Claudius is.” Claudius said this aloud as was customary to alert the Gods that he knew where he had blundered. They need not do anything else to try to show him his mistakes. Claudius did not really believe that the Gods listened to the mutterings of mortals, but he said the phrase because it is considered rude in his homeland not to and it wouldn’t hurt if it was true.

Claudius wasn’t one for tempting the fates, but Jasper should have been even less inclined; with his superstitious talk of “how the woods had marked them” and “you didn’t notice that sir?”

“No, I didn't notice that. What is this ‘that’ you have been ‘noticing’ for days now? And why in the seven hells do you never say ‘see’ or ‘hear’ or even ‘feel’ when you talk about it?” Claudius had been listening to the middle aged woodsman go on like this for almost a week now. They had crossed the stream that marked the beginning of the ‘cursed peak’ as the region called it, the locals went so far as to not even let forest debris bridge it.

This talk was wearing on his normally bountiful patience toward humans and other shorter lived races. The woodsman’s only reply was a plea for them to turn around and pray to anyone that would listen that they make it back out of the forest without being drawn in. Claudius had tried to ask him what he thought would draw them in, but Jasper wouldn’t listen anymore. He merely packed up camp and started walking as quickly as his thick legs would carry him back toward the village they had left more than a week ago.

Claudius suddenly stopped right before a drop off in the ground. If he hadn’t stopped when he did, he felt it would have swallowed him up like a vicious jagged mouth. Where was he and how long had he been walking without heeding his steps? As Claudius looked around he realized that nothing looked familiar at all. The sturdy ancient trees all looked the same and the light underbrush and ground cover, combined with his light elven footfalls, have made it impossible for him to find his way back to the last place he saw Jasper.

After determining that he was in fact hopelessly lost Claudius had decided to try to find shelter for the night and evaluate his resources so he could regroup in the morning. As he began meandering through the forest picking up useful things like kindling, supplies to make torches, and edible greens he spied a small opening to what seems to be a larger cave.

“Well I can’t have a fire with only this small mouth to draw the smoke, but at least I won’t be out in the open and I won’t be wandering around in the dark,” Claudius thought aloud to himself while inspecting the cavernous space inside. After he squeezed through the narrow entrance and climbed down the precarious stones it became clear that the area within was so spacious that the light of his torch couldn’t reach the far walls. Claudius took his time inspecting the cave trying to determine whether this would be the best place to spend the night or not. He noted there were obscured cave drawings on one of the walls, but due to their age he couldn’t make out what they were depicting. When he reached the back of the cave he came to a passageway that he had to slightly stoop in order to traverse.

He made his way down this newly discovered passage, touching the smooth walls and noting that they were rather dry for a cave. Then a dawning realization hit him. The walls of the cavern he had just left were also as dry, though he was not yet sure what significance there was in this. “Well it doesn’t really matter what the reason is for dry cave walls. It makes this cave all the more inviting. It is a much better choice than wandering around the mountain in the dark with those massive drop offs everywhere.” Claudius reasoned aloud. He would just have to finish exploring the cave and try to find the best place to spend the night. He would continue his journey after the sun rose to provide him with light and a compass of sorts.

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