Static Reflections: Book 1 of The M... - Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Tyler stared deep into his reflection's eyes. Deeper, deeper, the deepest he could stare. He didn't take his eyes away for even a second, and luckily, it seemed like blinking didn't break the spell. The weird chanting from the witches around him faded away, and he pushed himself even harder in the gaze, separating his body from his mind.
That was the goal here. The canine would have to will his Soul to leave his body and go to that place during the total eclipse that lingered above his head in the mirror. Tyler closed every wall of his mind, drowned out everything, and laser-focused only on what was in front of him.
Suddenly, he felt weightlessness, and the next time he blinked, he was looking out from the mirror at his body, staring at him from the boat, covered in the Bloodline pattern. He could even see the fog roll off the surface of the water.
Now in the mind space, Tyler turned away from the mirror, feeling like he was underwater, minus the need to hold his breath or the pressure. The German shepherd began swimming through the void, looking around for anywhere that Boris could be. Due to their current blood connection, it would be much easier for their Souls to find one another.
"Boris!" Tyler called, swimming forward. "Boris, can you hear me?!" Unfortunately, his voice had no acoustic qualities, and he was unsure if anyone could even hear him in this place. The canine was already anxious with the bit of time he had.
He continued swimming forward until he saw something below. Tyler turned his body and dove deeper, happy to find that the otter he had been searching for was standing there, not facing him.
Tyler swam up from behind, placing his hand on Boris's shoulder, and the void snapped to a familiar room, which the dog recognized as Boris's, but without any furniture occupying the space. At that exact moment, gravity returned to his body, and he thumped onto the floor. "Agh!"
The otter, who had been standing still the entire time, turned around and looked down at him. "Tyler! You made it!"
The German shepherd looked up from his spot on the floor, smiling widely. "Boris . . . Hey." He got off the ground, careful not to brush himself off. Then, he rushed forward, bringing his friend into a close hug.
"Looks like you're still in your underwear, too," Boris stated, squeezing him back. "I saw everything through Adam's eyes. I'm so relieved the ritual worked."
Tyler exhaled, nodding. "There's so much I want to talk to you about, though I guess you already know, huh? Man, it's good to see you." He looked around. "So, where are we? It looks like your room."
"It's a world I made up in my head," Boris told him. "I was able to figure out how to create things while trapped between Adam and Absalom."
Tyler nodded. "Alright, well, all we need to do is to get our Souls back to the mirror from where we are, and we can leave together!"
Boris nodded. "Hold on. I have something I need to talk to you about before we go."
"Yeah?" The German shepherd put a hand on his own hip, cocking it.
"There's no way Absalom is going to let us leave without a fight," Boris told him.
Tyler's nose wrinkled. "A fight? In here? How?"
"Too complicated to explain right now." Boris held his small hand out, and a knife manifested there, right before the dog's eyes. Then, the otter handed it to him.
Tyler stared at the dagger in his hand. It was a perfect recreation of the Blade of the Mirror, only its properties were different, not burning his hands. He looked up at Boris, nodding. "How did you get these?"
Boris turned the blade in his hand. "I can make things in this world just like Absalom can. I'm not nearly as powerful as him so it probably wouldn't transfer to the real world. But I'm telling you, I have a feeling we'll need them."
Tyler nodded. "Well . . . I trust you. Ready to go back to your own body and hopefully trash Absalom for good?"
"Absolutely," Boris grinned, letting his walls drop altogether, the walls of the room lowering and revealing an ever-expanding void behind them. Just as he suspected, Absalom knew what they were up to, pulling him back into his realm. Tyler's body began lifting off of the ground again, and the otter grabbed his paw, making sure he didn't drift.
The floor fell away, leaving them back in the great abyss Absalom called his home. A light turned on behind the two animals, and the shadow of a mustelid appeared on the wall. "So, the meddlesome dog has arrived."
The floating body of Tyler nodded. "That's right! I'm taking Boris's Soul back to his body!"
"You're not powerful enough to stop us," Boris stated. "Especially with the witches' magic holding you back. You're still weak."
"Even if you do return to your body," Absalom began. "You'll still be my vessel, you'll still have to kill, and you're still destined to fight Patience."
"What?" Boris blinked.
"I'm lucky the hyena is connected to me by knowledge of my name," the dark figure said. "Now, I can tell you that you are destined to duel to the death."
"Hyena? Do you mean Ivan?" Boris asked.
"No."
". . . Nick?"
"Yes. One of you is destined to kill the other."
"Don't listen to him," Tyler spat. "He's lying to you!"
"And often, the Sin isn't the survivor," Absalom revealed. "The hyena will be your downfall, and even I won't be able to stop it."
"I won't hear it!" Boris shouted. "We're leaving." The animal turned around and began walking away, holding the floating Tyler's hand as they moved in the darkness.
"I may not be able to affect anything out there, but I can still stop this ritual from within," Absalom hissed.
There was a loud crash from behind the pair, and they turned around, seeing a giant spotlight had appeared from above, shining on the ground. Slowly, from the brightness, a giant wooden fox puppet lowered, strings connected to each limp limb.
"It's the King puppet!" Boris shouted. "But bigger than before . . . ."
Tyler swallowed, his actual body remaining as still as possible in the Mortal Realm. "That's seriously freaky."
Strings yanked the puppet upward, its pointed feet dragging along the ground. A moment later, it began shaking violently, almost looking like it was having a seizure.
"What the hell?" Tyler gawked.
"I've never seen it do this before," Boris commented.
At the end of the strings, the thing suddenly began growing sharp razors out of the wood along its body. Each piece of metal glinted in the spotlight as it shifted. They poked through the wood, covering the entire frame and even extending to the strings that held it. It stopped shaking just as soon as it started, going limp.
"What the fuck . . . ?" Tyler muttered.
The razor marionette's head whipped toward them, and it began hopping over, its limbs flailing about. Then, Tyler saw it. There were real ones where wooden eyes should have been, and they had a slight yellow glow to them. The spotlight above the puppet followed, along with the strings.
"Tyler!" Boris yelled. "Don't let it kill you! We don't know what will happen if you die here!"
"Nobody told me I was gonna be dealing with that fucking thing!" Tyler fired back. "And it's really creepy! Gah! I'm freaking out!"
"You can do this!" Boris shouted. "We can do this! Come on!"
"Ha!" Absalom's voice boomed. "The dog can't do anything. Do you see the way his body floats? His own vessel is begging for his Soul to return! He isn't special! He is only a mere mortal who can't do anything here!"
The otter turned around. "I don't know why you're so confident. Mortals are stronger than you think." Boris held up his imitation Blade of the Mirror. "I can take that monstrosity on myself."
Tyler clutched his weapon in his free hand. "But I'll help!"
"Where did you get that?" Absalom asked. "I never let you bring the Blade in here."
The otter smirked. "We share a body. The worlds we created are overlapping. I can bring things from my mind into your reality."
"Hm. King. Stop this ritual," the dark otter ordered.
The puppet launched itself at Tyler, swinging its razor-filled arm. The German shepherd just barely swam out of the way. "Shit!"
Boris kept his hand, pulling him out of the way of another attack. "Tyler! Watch out!"
"Yeah, I'm trying! It's not easy when I'm floating, ya know!"
The King puppet sent an arm at the otter, and he stuck his knife in the side of the wood, feeling it lodge inside. The strings pulled that arm up, Boris keeping a grip on the weapon's handle and going up with it. The lines twisted and an arm went around his back, dragging each razor across the surface, creating deep red cuts that immediately caused blood to stain his shirt. Boris yelled in pain, letting go of the knife and Tyler and falling onto his split-open back.
Tyler gasped. "Boris!" How is he even getting hurt here? The puppet below got on all fours as the otter scrambled away, the strings approaching Tyler like those sinister steel wire traps. He wouldn't want to be trapped in a web full of razors.
Boris moaned at the pain in his back, and he stood up, panting. "I didn't expect him to bring this thing back! And my knife is stuck inside it!"
"So, what do we do?" Tyler asked.
"I don't know! I should have expected it, though! Unless I can get my knife back, we can't do anything!"
The yellow eyes pierced Boris's gaze and seemed to glow brighter as the thing creepily crawled forward at him. Puppet King launched its entire body at the otter, much too fast for him to escape the barrage of razors that entered his flesh.
Everything was warm, then. Then, there was the pain from wherever the blades entered. Boris couldn't even comprehend how he felt pain in a space such as this, but he knew there was still a lot to learn about this world and others.
Now that their hands were separated, the German shepherd floated further away from the struggle. Shit! No, no, no! Gotta get back down there somehow! Keeping his hold on his weapon, he tried swimming back down, but it was no use. His Soul longed to be back with his body. "Boooris!" he yelled.
Boris panicked under the King puppet, instinctively struggling this way and that, which turned out to be a huge mistake, as the razors slashed across his skin under his bloodstained fur.
The otter reached his small hand out, splaying his fingers. The imitation Blade of the Mirror was close. His middle finger's claw grazed the handle, frustratingly. He just couldn't quite grab the thing. The puppet's real eyes followed the movement, and the strings pulled it back up a little. Somehow, it was able to use its hand to grab and pull the knife out of its arm, which it raised, then smashed down, right into Boris's shoulder. He screamed out extremely loudly, wriggling on the floor.
"BORIS!!!" Tyler cried. "HOLY FUCK, WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO I DO?!"
"There's nothing you can do," Absalom hissed.
Boris was in excruciating pain, realizing that he was likely going to die there, in Absalom's world. He would have begun crying, if not for the fact that tears were already rolling down his cheeks. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come, as the puppet opened its large wooden mouth, revealing its tongue, a large sharp razor pierced into it vertically.
"No, no, no . . ." Boris whimpered, as the tongue came close. He felt its wooden tip on the bottom of his left cheek, and then he was savagely licked across it, the razor cutting the skin open. Blood poured out of the wound to the void below. Boris was tenser than he ever had been, and it was a wonder he was still alive.
There was another violent lick across his right cheek, and then the monster lowered its head, moving to his neck. Boris already knew what was coming next. His mind began flooding with thoughts and emotions.
This is the end, was his first thought. I'll never see the world again. I'll never see anyone again. Tyler, Leah . . . And it's all because of something I couldn't help. All because of Absalom.
Boris felt his blood start to boil as the razorblade dragged across his neck, slitting his throat. He felt a gurgle from within.
I don't get it. I tried to change. I tried to be better. Why?! Why me?! I tried so hard . . . Tyler and I were finally becoming close . . . I won't even see Nick before I die. And all I ever had with my father was . . . nothing.
I am no one. No one will ever remember me. Absalom will make them forget. It's so unfair! I deserve so much more! But life won't ever let me rest for a single moment! Fuck! Fuck you, life!
Everything was burning.  He had never felt this kind of heat before. Boris had one last thought. I don't want to die like this.
Suddenly, from where he was laying, an enormous ball of flames exploded from within his body, pushing outward and immediately engulfing the puppet in its rage. In his rage. The real eyes inside of its head melted into gooey white puddles in the sockets, dripping down onto Boris's face as its bloody mouth hung open in what seemed to be shock.
Tyler had only drifted higher from the scene, but he saw the explosion from below and that the puppet was now burning, the wood blackening from afar. He strained to see where Boris was, but all he saw was the orange flame. The German shepherd wanted nothing more for his friend to be alright.
Just then, there was a strong feeling he couldn't describe. It was almost like a door had opened within himself, and a gust of wind was trying to pull him inside. Something told the animal to go along with the wind current, so he let it sweep him away, and then his vision was dark.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in an impossibly large space, filled with rows upon rows of anthropomorphic animals of all different species, shapes, and sizes. It seemed to go on forever, similar to the void of the last level of reality. He looked around, then gasped when he found a version of himself standing there with his eyes closed and stripped of all of his garments. "Huh . . . ?"
"Tyler," Boris said from behind him. "Where are we?"
Tyler could barely process what was happening or how it was happening. "Why is everyone . . . ? God, you're okay!"
"We must have left Absalom's realm somehow . . . ."
"Wait, so how are we here?" Tyler blinked.
"I don't even know," Boris sighed. "But I am never going to forget what that thing did to me." He looked around. "It looks like this stretches on forever . . ."
Tyler looked down the rows and rows of naked animals, swallowing. "Do you think this is part of the ritual?"
Boris shrugged. "I'm really not sure where we are right now. Maybe we should start walking and see if we can find anything?"
Tyler scratched his cheek. "It's not like we can do much else." The pair began the journey, moving through an open space between the animals that stretched on for miles. "What happened back there?!"
"I thought I was surely dead," Boris said. "That thing . . . It had a razor in its tongue and it . . . licked my neck."
"Dude, what the fuck?" Tyler gawked, just staring at him. "And the fire?"
Boris looked down, now realizing there was an actual solid ground they were walking on, which seemed to be dark grey sand of some sort that rose around their feet as they stepped through it.  "I couldn't tell you. It definitely came from me, but I don't know how I even did it. I was just terrified of dying."
"Well yeah, anyone would be," Tyler told him. "Is that all?"
"That's the last thing I remember before we arrived here. And now—wait a moment." He grabbed Tyler's hand.
"Ah, jeez, Boris. I wish I could have done more to prevent you from going through that, but it's this stupid mortal body!"
"Hey . . . " Boris brought his hand up to Tyler's cheek, stroking it with a claw. "Your stupid mortal body is what allowed you to come here. You came for me."
"I didn't think for a second you were gone," Tyler answered, bringing his hand up to Boris's, and pressing against it as he tilted his head into the touch. "I just couldn't. I missed you."
Boris sniffed. "I really missed you, too. I'm so glad you came."
Tyler turned his head, pressing his lips to Boris's palm. "Yeah . . . and now we're stuck wherever we are together."
"Isn't that how it always is?" Boris chuckled.
"Haha. I guess it—"
Suddenly, there was a loud shuffling noise that the boys heard in the foggy distance. They looked up, only to see a rather large form there, moving in mysterious ways.
"What is THAT?" Tyler yelped. The figure stopped its movements.
Boris yanked his friend in the opposite direction. "We aren't going to wait for it to come after us, that's for sure! Run!" He began running away.
"Run?! Where?!" Tyler called, following.
"Remember how there were copies of our bodies somewhere around here? I don't know anything about this place, but all I can think of is that maybe something will happen if we get back to them!"
"What?!"
"We have to try!" Boris turned around, seeing that whatever it was had definitely been shambling toward them. "Come on!" His gaze returned to the lines of animals, and he searched for his nude body intensely. Tyler did the same.
When they found themselves, the pair stopped, looking at one another, panting. "Wait!" Tyler said. "What if it sends us back to Absalom's realm? Your throat is slit there!"
"We'll have to take that risk!" Boris answered, swiftly, turning back to his form.
Tyler grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, then grabbed both of his shoulders. "What the hell would all this be for if you die there?! We don't know if it will kill you in real life! You can't go back! Please!"
Boris looked toward their ambiguous pursuer. It definitely looked big. "Well, we don't have time to waste! And if I stay here, that thing might kill me anyway!"
"Just trust me, Bor," Tyler said, eerily calm. "I'm willing to bet that if I can go back and somehow complete the ritual while you're here, you'll wake up back in the mortal realm."
Boris looked between his eyes for a moment, his brows furrowed. "I hope." The creature was approaching quickly. The otter didn't even have time to say goodbye before he gasped and turned on his heel in the sand, sprinting off, while Tyler himself turned back to his own form, thrusting himself at it and not feeling any sort of collision.
His eyes opened once more, and burning oranges filmed it as the puppet below continued to burn, along with the strings above it, which snapped one by one, causing the wooden King's limbs to go limp.
Tyler only continued to float away, but he could see the dark and bloody form of Boris's body below, which was completely still. The German shepherd tried again with all his might to erratically swim to the body. No luck.
Panic set in. Was there really actually no way he would be able to save his friend from the hell he was in? Was his gamble a mistake? And how come Absalom wasn't doing anything anymore? Without warning, his body began flying away from the flames, faster and faster. "NO! NO!" His arms flailed wildly and salty tears stung his eyes. "BORIS! BORIS! I CAN STILL SAVE YOU! I CAN—"
The German shepherd vanished.
Back in the Mortal Realm, Tyler tore his face away from the mirror, hyperventilating and sweating heavily. Immediately, his ears twitched as they were filled with the sounds of muttering and splashing. He looked around frantically, noticing that the canoe was surrounded by figures in brown and gray jackets wearing orange and pink armbands.
Pierce peeked from behind the mirror. "Tyler! I've been trying to get your attention since these guys showed up!"
The canine continued looking around, the still water completely disturbed by all of the animals stepping inside of it. Leah, Tabitha, and Mandy all lowered their tired arms and lost consciousness, collapsing in the water. Animals were immediately at their side, picking them up.
Pierce laid the mirror down in the boat and looked around at the strange animals closing in. "Tyler!" they squeaked.
The German shepherd gazed at the otter across from him, who had completely passed out, hanging limply over the side of the boat. "Boris . . . No . . ." Tyler muttered, trying to comprehend what he had seriously just gone through. Had he really failed his mission?
The animals around them grabbed the boat and slowly began guiding it to shore as a squirrel wearing an orange armband retrieved the mirror and carried it to land. They got out and stood on the side, letting the mirror with the blood painted on its frame rest on the ground.
The boat reached land. "Alright, get out, bud," a jaguar with a pink armband ordered. He put his arm around Tyler and helped him out gingerly. "Nice and easy." Another animal assisted Pierce in exiting the canoe, and they were taken to the shore. Tyler could see that the coven was gathered nearby, and he swore he heard one of the strange animals thanking Jenna for her service.
Boris stirred, and Tyler gasped loudly, tearing away from the jaguar and desperately splashing through the pond water, leaning over the boat and squeezing him tightly. "Oh god, Boris!!! Tell me you're you, please, please, please . . ."
The otter groaned, resting his head on Tyler's shoulder and exhaling in relief. "I'm home."
The canine laughed and he was crying again. "You're back! I did it! I really did it!" The jaguar grabbed him again by the arms and began leading the laughing German shepherd away. "Hahaha! I did it! I saved him! Woo...!"
Boris blinked, and he sat up, looking around, seeing all of the suited animals in the area, and feeling his heart drop. The Mortal Guard finally caught up with them. Right as he came back, too.
Boris felt strange inside. He couldn't put his finger on it for a few seconds before he realized that it was the feeling of normalcy. He no longer had this feeling of utter darkness and dread hanging over him.
He felt free.
A panda waded through the water. "Alright, Mr. Downing. Out you go." He practically lifted the otter out of the boat and set him standing in the shallow pond. The panda led him through.
"Where are you taking me?" Boris asked, feeling more exhausted than ever.
"We need to take you back to Prostasia. You're a very popular animal, you know."
They reached the edge of the pond, and the otter stepped out, his bare feet touching the grass. Boris didn't like the sound of that. He felt absolutely uncomfortable that these animals saw him almost completely exposed, but he was too dazed to do anything about it. On top of that, his mind constantly clawed at him for the memories of what had happened during the ritual.
As Boris passed the mirror the squirrel was holding, he could see his reflection, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that it was completely normal. Looking back at him was an otter in his underwear, covered in lines of blood.
Absalom was gone.
The ritual had worked. All he could do was look down and smile as he was led along to who knew where.
Suddenly, he heard a sharp gasp from in front of him. "Oh my god."
Boris looked up, and his entire spirit did a flip when he saw a spotted hyena with emerald eyes looking back at him, standing next to a taller raccoon with tired eyes whom he didn't recognize. They were both wearing identical brown jackets and orange armbands that most of the other Mortal Guard members were wearing, along with gray pants and black boots.
"Boris . . ." the hyena whispered, staring at the crimson-covered otter, stunned.
Boris knew he looked like a complete mess. He still had the blood from the ritual painted all across his body, and he was half-naked in front of so many animals in the middle of the woods. He felt pathetic. He wanted to shrink and disappear deep within the earth beneath the leaves.
Dread set in immediately when he saw Nick, realizing what the future held for them. Boris was Wrath and Nick was Patience. There was no escaping the fate of the universe that hungered for one of them to kill the other in cold blood. It was a cruel world, but Boris had already known that several times over.
The river in front of his eyes split, bent, and spiraled onward into the dark horizon with no end in sight. The otter was certain getting rid of Absalom would free him of his troubles, but now, he could't see even see the end.
He took a breath that held everything to come. The bloody and brutal battles, the pain, the tears, and the shimmering hope. There was still a light on the horizon that he could see. Boris Downing wasn't doomed yet. Absalom was gone, and he was free.
". . . Nick."