The calm ripples of the Mirror Lake of Souls suddenly deepened into violent waves. The silver surface twisted, and from its depths, something began to rise.
The air shimmered, and what emerged was not a beast of flesh or bone—but a construct of mirrored surfaces, each fragment reflecting the world around it like shards of a broken dimension. The creature stood tall and humanoid, with dozens of overlapping plates forming its body. Its face was smooth and empty, a perfect mirror that reflected Max's image back at him.
The moment it fully surfaced, the waves around it stilled. The lake's reflection no longer showed the sky—it showed him, multiplied a thousandfold. Every inch of water now mirrored Max's figure, all of them moving in perfect unison with him.
"So this is the guardian…" Max muttered quietly. "A creature born of reflections."
