Teela: Battle Maiden by Jade Gretz

https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai/art/Teela-Battle-Maiden-1259870744

Teela: Battle Maiden ANIMATION

The Reflection

Teela sensed the whisper long before she heard it.

It came from somewhere beneath Castle Grayskull’s deepest chambers—an almost imperceptible pulse that grazed the edges of her mind like a fingernail tracing a mirror. She halted mid-stride, torchlight trembling against the ancient stone.

Come down, the whisper urged. Come see.

Teela frowned. “I don’t answer to disembodied invitations,” she muttered, though her feet moved anyway. Curiosity had always been her most troublesome companion. Tonight it walked in step beside her, eager and hungry.

The Sorceress had vanished an hour earlier, leaving only a flurry of wing-beats and a forewarning carried in her trembling voice: Something old has awakened.

Teela descended a spiral staircase coated with dust the color of dried blood. The torch hissed, revealing murals carved so thinly they looked etched by fingernails—faces of long-forgotten warriors trapped in agony or awe. Their hollow eyes seemed to follow her.

“Wonderful,” Teela said under her breath. “A corridor of nightmares. Just what I needed.”

Her torch sputtered. A darker darkness leapt forward from the stairwell’s base, swallowing the flame as if delighted by the taste. She dropped the useless stick and reached for her sword.

The whisper returned, now behind her ear. Welcome, Captain.

Teela spun.

Before her stood a woman—tall, armored, radiant with cold confidence. The torchlightless gloom made her glow faintly, like something lit from within.

Teela’s breath caught.

The woman’s hair was the same shade of copper-gold. Her armor bore the same white-and-bronze curls. Her stance, her grip on the sword, the slight tilt of her chin—everything was identical.

Except the eyes.

Hers were a shimmering, unnatural crimson.

Teela’s own voice echoed back at her, laced with a seductive, dangerous amusement. “You’re even lovelier up close.”

Teela tightened her grip. “What are you?”

Her double bowed. “I am Reflection. The Mirrorborn. The perfect echo of all you are, all you fear, all you hide. And tonight, Teela… I am your opponent.”

Teela’s mind raced. The Mirrorborn—she’d heard the legends. Grayskull had once imprisoned a creature that could replicate any warrior perfectly, mirroring not only their strength but their will. Its freedom meant—

She didn’t think further.

Reflection lunged.

Their swords collided with a ringing metallic shriek that ricocheted across the cavern. Teela stepped back—but Reflection stepped back too. Teela feinted high. So did Reflection. Every twist, every shift of weight, every breath Teela took was mimicked an instant later with eerie precision.

“Not very original,” Teela said between gritted teeth.

Reflection smiled Teela’s own dangerous smile. “Oh, I haven’t begun to be creative.”

They clashed again, sparks showering the air like fireflies fleeing a tempest. The cavern—now illuminated only by the flare of their weapons—seemed to expand around them. Columns flickered into existence like ribs of some impossible beast.

Teela leapt into an aerial spin, sword arcing downward. Reflection followed, perfectly synchronized, their movements like a pair of dancers performing a lethal duet.

Steel met steel.

“Why mirror me?” Teela demanded mid-strike. “Surely you have your own personality.”

Reflection slid close enough for their noses to nearly touch. “I do. It just happens to be yours. You should see the things you bury inside yourself. Delicious things.”

Teela shoved her back.

“Stop flirting with me,” she snapped.

Reflection winked. “But it unnerves you. And an unnerved opponent is a defeated one.”

Teela’s heartbeat hammered loud enough to drown the whispering chamber. The creature was trying to get in her head. And unfortunately, it was succeeding. Fighting herself was like fighting her own instincts—attacking meant exposing the exact weaknesses she would exploit if she stood in Reflection’s place.

“You’re impossible,” Teela growled.

Reflection’s grin widened. “And you’re predictable.”

Teela thrust forward. Reflection matched. They locked blades, faces inches apart as crimson eyes met blue.

“Tell me,” Reflection purred softly, “do you fear losing? Or do you fear discovering that I am the better Teela?”

With a cry of fury Teela broke the lock, driving Reflect
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