Chapter 34
Contains spoilersOverview
In the mirror-forest, Genevieve fled Sevin and his Familiar, a massive silver wolf, and escaped up a tree with Umbra. Pursued by Sevin, she discovered a strange mirror whose reflection watched rather than mimicked her, and she entered it. Inside a silent mirror world, she confronted an imposter that transformed into a shadowy Apparition containing an immunity token; she tore it free but was slashed in the eye. She emerged hours later at a different mirror by the exit, reunited with Rowin, and learned time had passed differently while she was gone.
Summary
As Dante, Sevin’s giant silver-wolf Familiar, chased Genevieve through the mirror-forest, Umbra ran alongside her. Knowing she could not outrun the wolf, Genevieve climbed a low-branched tree, with Umbra following. The wolf seized Genevieve’s ankle, but Umbra attacked its eyes, freeing her, and the two gained height as the wolf failed to climb effectively.
Sevin arrived, blood-soaked, and climbed after Genevieve, casually remarking on the room’s creepiness and, when asked, claiming he had killed Remi to gain an edge for Favored and out of anger over stolen candies. Spotting a large mirror on a neighboring tree that did not mimic her movements, Genevieve edged along a narrowing branch toward it while Sevin tried to unbalance her. Rowin appeared on the ground, urging her to climb down, but she continued and leapt to the adjacent tree, intent on the anomalous mirror.
At the mirror, Genevieve faced a reflection that observed her independently. When she touched the surface, it rippled and pulled her through into a hushed, diminished copy of the forest. There she confronted an imposter version of herself that parroted her words; upon contact, the imposter’s facade flickered, revealing a faceless shadow creature akin to an Apparition.
Genevieve noticed a crimson glow within the creature’s chest that coalesced into a black heart–shaped immunity token. Choosing risk for the prize, she lunged, plunged her hand into the creature’s chest, and grasped the token. As the creature became solid and fought back, it clawed across her right eye, blinding that side with searing pain. She ripped the token free as the imposter dissolved into black smoke.
Genevieve escaped through a mirror but emerged from a different one near the room’s exit into Enchantra’s upper corridor. Rowin reached her immediately, assessing her eye and warning that Ellin would not help this time but that he would do what he could if they returned to his room. He revealed that, although Genevieve felt gone only minutes, hours had passed; he had paced the forest waiting while he and Sevin held a prolonged standoff before Sevin left to hunt others, and the mirror went black after Genevieve entered.
Shaken and in pain, Genevieve confirmed she had secured the token. Rowin comforted her, lifted her into his arms, and carried her away as blood and tears streaked her face, their reunion marking survival but at a cost.
Who Appears
- Genevieve
protagonist; flees Dante, climbs into the mirror world, defeats an imposter Apparition, secures a black heart–shaped immunity token, and suffers a serious right-eye injury.
- Rowin
Genevieve’s ally/lover; evades Sevin, waits hours for Genevieve, reunites with her, and plans to treat her injury in his room.
- Sevin
Rowin’s brother; pursues Genevieve in the trees, claims to have killed Remi, holds a standoff with Rowin, and later hunts others.
- Dante
Sevin’s Familiar (massive silver wolf); chases and bites Genevieve’s ankle before being driven off by Umbra.
- Umbra
small fox companion; aids Genevieve by attacking Dante’s eyes and climbing with her.
- Remi
contestant; does not appear directly but is stated by Sevin to have been killed.
- Imposter/Shadow Apparition
new; mirror-world entity mimicking Genevieve that contains the immunity token and injures her eye before disintegrating.