The Forest of the Forgotten

"We need somewhere quiet," Ellie said, clutching her bag closer as they walked down the busy sidewalk. The Starbucks coffee still left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth, but the stolen money felt reassuring in her pocket. "Somewhere private where no one will see us disappear."

Amnity nodded eagerly, her eyes darting nervously at every passing stranger. A businessman bumped into her shoulder without apologizing, and she pressed even closer to Ellie's side. "How private? Like, completely alone?"

"The mirror magic needs concentration," Ellie explained, remembering Eleazar's careful instructions. "Any distraction could send us somewhere we don't want to go. Or worse, split us up between worlds."

They tried a small park first, but children were everywhere—climbing on playground equipment, their laughter echoing off the surrounding buildings. Then an alley, but it reeked of garbage and something else that made Amnity gag. Finally, after nearly an hour of searching, they found themselves standing outside a department store with multiple floors.

"Public restroom?" Ellie suggested, pointing to the small sign near the elevator.

"That's..." Amnity paused, considering. "Actually not terrible. People expect privacy there."

The third floor restroom was mercifully empty, with stark fluorescent lighting and white tile walls. Most importantly, it had a large mirror mounted above the sinks—not as ornate as Ellie's traveling mirrors, but reflective surface was reflective surface.

Ellie locked the main door and wedged a trash can against it for good measure. "Keep watch," she told Amnity, who positioned herself by the door with the nervous energy of someone ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

From her bag, Ellie pulled out a small leather pouch that clinked softly. Sea salt mixed with the sands of Nova, blessed by the moon mirrors of Nova, and charged with Eleazar's careful enchantments and Amnity's grandmother's old hyme. She had used this sand to get them there; she could use it to get them back, she thought calmly. She'd never attempted mirror travel through anything but her own mirrors before, but the principle should be the same.

"What are you doing?" Amnity whispered, watching as Ellie approached the wall-mounted mirror.

"Trying to save our traveling mirrors," Ellie said, carefully sprinkling salt at each corner of the mirror frame. "If I can use this mirror instead, our mirrors won't get interdimensionally separated from each other. Eleazar always said that was the most dangerous part of mirror travel—losing your anchor."

The salt caught the fluorescent light, each grain glittering like tiny stars. Ellie began the ritual she'd watched Eleazar perform dozens of times, her hands moving in precise patterns while she whispered words in the old language of Nova. The mirror's surface seemed to shimmer slightly, like water disturbed by a gentle breeze. She reached into her bag for her sand n

"Is it working?" Amnity asked, her voice barely audible.

Ellie placed her palm flat against the cool glass surface and closed her eyes, focusing on her destination—not just Nova, but the specific place that had always been hers alone. The hidden glen deep in the Forest of the Forgotten, where ancient trees formed a natural circle and where she'd spent countless hours in meditation, far from the mirror people's settlements. A place so remote that even the mirror people had forgotten it existed.

The mirror began to warm under her touch, and she felt the familiar tingle of magic responding to her call. The surface rippled like liquid silver, and for a moment, she could almost smell the clean air of the forest, hear the whisper of leaves in the eternal twilight of her sanctuary.

Then someone rattled the door handle.

"Hey! Why is this locked?" A woman's voice, irritated and impatient.

Ellie's concentration shattered. The mirror snapped back to ordinary glass with an almost audible pop, and she stumbled backward, her hand burning from the interrupted magic.

"Occupied!" Amnity called out, her voice higher than usual.

More rattling, then footsteps moving away, grumbling about inconsiderate people.

Ellie stared at the mirror, which now looked perfectly ordinary—just a bathroom mirror reflecting fluorescent lights and white tiles. Her palm still tingled with residual magic, but the connection was gone.

"It almost worked," she said, disappointment heavy in her voice. "I could feel the forest, smell the trees. But the interruption..." She shook her head. "We need somewhere we absolutely won't be disturbed."

Amnity moved the trash can away from the door. "How long do you need?"

"Five minutes of perfect silence and concentration. Maybe less if I can reach the glen quickly." Ellie carefully gathered the spilled salt back into her pouch. Some of it had lost its charge from the interrupted spell, but most was still usable. "It has to be somewhere completely private."

As they left the restroom, passing a line of irritated women waiting outside, Ellie found herself looking at the city with new eyes. Somewhere in this maze of concrete and glass was a place quiet enough, private enough, for the delicate magic that would take them home.