Fragments of your Soul (The Mirror Worlds Book 1) by E. S. Erbsland Read Free Book Online

“Later, I read and heard that on entering a different world some kind of copy of you arrives. The copy is similar but generally not identical. In fact, there are scholars who believe that the whole Shadow World is such a copy, and that the two worlds were once one many centuries ago. Thus the Shadow World has only developed independently from this point. That’s why there are so many parallels.”
    “But… does that mean my real body… is still in the Light World?” asked Arvid.
    “What happens to the other body is not known,” Thoke replied, then he suddenly changed the subject. “Come. We go to the market. On the third day of the week there’s only small market, but it will be enough.”
    “Enough for what?”
    “To show and explain one of the most important aspects of this world,” he said, “the different types of magic.”
    The street was relatively quiet and looked like Arvid had often seen it from her window; only she was the middle of everything now. The air was filled with a mixture of different fragrances. Arvid smelled horse dung, musty water, damp hay and straw, and the smoke from fires that were sporadically burning in large metal bowls on the street corners. Under the roofs the round glass balls were glowing—Thoke had said they were called star lamps and were illuminated with rune magic.
    They turned into the alley, which led directly to the marketplace, and were suddenly surrounded by people and noise. Arvid tried to stay as close to Thoke as possible and not to lose him. All around there were stalls with fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese, richly stuffed displays of preserves and dried fruit. From somewhere the smell of fresh bread reached Arvid’s nose, and right behind her a portly merchant loudly promoted his drinking goods, which Arvid didn’t exactly understand. At one corner small glass bottles with swirling, colored glowing sparks were sold. Arvid stopped, fascinated.
    “Lightning bugs,” Thoke said. “People here appreciate everything that spreads light.” He pointed to a booth right next to it. The displays were filled with small, cloth-wrapped bundles, with leaves, flowers and other plants layered on top of them. They all shone in various blues and greens and bathed the merchant and the interior of the stall in dim light.
    “The leaves and mushrooms look nice but they’re not very bright,” said Thoke. “The star lamps are better, but also quite expensive. They come in all shapes and sizes. Although they are not as bright as a candle, they don’t soot and usually last several years.”
    He moved on, heading straight for the back part of the marketplace. Here merchants that mainly offered the craft goods seemed to have settled, and the crowd thinned considerably. They walked between piles of fur, blankets and baskets. Arvid saw huge racks of tools and weapons, and a man who exclusively offered cords and ropes in all variations.
    But Thoke didn’t seem to be interested in any of this. He continued to lead Arvid on between busy visitors and loudly calling merchants, until he finally stopped at a small booth, which was surrounded by heavy, dark blue fabric on all sides. In the display Arvid saw a large number of small, strange objects, most made of metal, but some were made of wood. A woman next to them was inspecting one of them. Arvid noticed that it contained some sort of mechanism.
    “That’s a runesmith,” said Thoke, and nodded to the merchant when he raised his head at the sound of his voice. “Rune spells are a kind of magic. Not everyone is able to cast it. You have to have the gift of being able to use the naturally occurring energy around you. You also have to be trained to make it do what you want with the help of runes.”
    Thoke took one of the bigger items that looked like a music box. “This is a clock,” he said to Arvid. “They also work with rune magic—have a look.”
    A little uncertainly, Arvid took the cylindrical object. At first glance, it