Jelo had been walking for hours, and still he had not found a single portal. He did not know where any portal might be, or even where he was. All the while, he had been carrying the mirror. At first, he had been optimistic. They would find a portal sooner or later.
Mira wasn't particularly heavy, but the constant grip required to keep it secure was beginning to wear on his hands, so after a while he had been forced to drop her.
Mira walked beside him in silence, her expression tight with concern. Neither of them spoke much anymore. What was there to say? They were lost, and every street they turned down looked exactly like the last one.
The buildings around them loomed tall and empty, their windows like hollow eyes staring down at them. Some structures were crumbling, their walls cracked and scorched, while others stood intact but abandoned. The silence was oppressive. No wind. No birds. No distant sounds of life. Just the echo of their footsteps against stone and sand.
