I ran my fingers along the edge of the mirror frame, enchanted by the sparkle. It was definitely antique. The silver frame almost glowed under the moonlight. When I looked into it, I saw myself, but at the same time, it didn't look like me. My usually brown wavy hair was pin straight and icy blue. My chocolate eyes appeared so silver, they were almost translucent. The me in the mirror was pale, almost ghost-like, and wearing a silvery white gown. She reached out towards me in the mirror and out of instinct, I reached back. My fingers went to graze against the mirror, and instead, slipped through as though sticking my hand into a bowl of water. I took a deep breath and stepped forward into the mirror.
As soon as my entire body went through, I became the girl in the mirror. The silvery white gown flowed easily down over my feet, which were slipped into a cinderella style glass slipper. With a once over of my surroundings, my breath escaped me. I was standing on a stone bridge, surrounded by a snowy forest on one side, and a dark castle on the other. Off into distance of the woods, I could hear the sounds of wolves howling. Turning back towards the castle, I started to walk towards it. I could see a shadow waiting in the entranceway. As I got closer, I found a strange creature waving me over. He had the body of a man from his waist up, but everything below was the body of a stark white horse. "Princess! You must get inside at once! The werewolves are getting closer and it is not safe for you out here." His voice sounded stern but concerned. I wanted to ask him what he meant by princess, but he was rushing me into the castle quickly, the doors slamming shut behind us.
"I'm sorry, but...where am I? Why are you calling me princess? And what in the world are you?" I couldn't seem to get the questions out fast enough as I rushed after the strange creature. He seemed to be leading me somewhere, though I had no idea where.
"Oh dear. I fear the day has come." He sighed exasperatedly and cupped his hands around his mouth as he shouted up a large marble staircase. "Arto! Get down here! She's finally arrived!" I looked up at the creature quizzacly and he smiled warmly. "My name is Darin, and I am a centaur. You are in the Crystal Palace, at the edge of cantatis saltus, or the enchanted forest. Did you come through the mirror?" My nod seemed enough encouragement for him to continue. "This means that our last princess was finally unable to go on. She lost her magic slowly. If we do not figure out how to save your magic by next solstice, I fear you may fall the same fate. Please, will you help us save your magic? By saving your magic, we will be able to save those trapped in cantatis saltus by the werewolves."