Xopyin

In five thousand nights, Aqila, the mage of the desert, gathered moonlight in a mirror of burnished silver and opal, and with it, cast a spell to solidify the form of all her desires, but she misspoke and instead solidified a reflection of herself, which she named Maram.

Maram was tasked with gathering the moonlight for the ritual once more, and Aqila taught her reflection magic in order to accomplish this, for though their appearances were indistinguishable, Maram was born empty, without knowledge or desires.

And though Aqila had initially thought nothing of her reflection other than the byproduct of a failed spell, Maram proved to be a worthy student, progressing with a pace and dedication that few would’ve matched, and Aqila, despite her disappointment, taught her student with grudging enthusiasm, for though her own teacher had told her of her potential, she did not realize it until she witnessed her reflection learning much as she did herself.

But over the five thousand nights, Aqila diminished while Maram remained the same, and the teacher grew jealous of her student as an unchanging image. At the same time, Maram came to desire something beyond knowledge, and slowly but surely, a wedge was driven between the student and teacher.

On the night of the second ritual, Aqila proceeded alone, though the spell had long since become an effort of both herself and her student. Maram instead walked into the desert alone, and gathered the moonlight as she had done for sixteen years.

Her path took her across the dunes, but she found that she had impossibly walked back to her home, and, as if struck by lunacy, she wandered into the home, and found her teacher upon the very brink of completing the ritual.

In a fit of madness, her unspoken desire to become real overtook her, and she struck the mirror, shattering it. In the same moment, Aqila’s jealousy became her desire, and, as she aspired to be like Maram, she was reflected into Maram, but the mirror breaking caused her soul to fracture, and the mage known as Aqila perished, her soul suspended in the broken shards.