The Other Side Of The Mirror ✔

Part Nine

They trained until the moon was high in the sky. Trained with swords and daggers and bare hands. Trained to run quietly, to sneak through the trees in near silence. Eli learned how to throw a spear. He discovered that he still could not fire an arrow and hit the target. Korian had laughed when he tried and offered words of encouragement that did nothing to help.

In the days that passed as they travelled, Korian took him down to a nearby river and attempted to get him to spear fish. They attempted it in the dead of night, when it was pitch black and Eli could barely see two feet in front of him. When he had brought it up to the other man he had been told that it would help him see in the dark and learn to spear. It did not go well. He lost one spear and nearly broke another.

Every night, Eli's muscles ached by the time he had been allowed to sleep. He wanted to lie down and never get back up again. By the time Eli had been allowed to sleep most nights, the fire had died down to nearly nothing and a chill was beginning to set in. On the third night of their journey, he buried himself in the thin blankets and was on the verge of falling asleep when a hand gripped his arm.

"You are doing well," Korian whispered, body camouflaging with the dark around them. "Do not think to you are not. Be proud. You will be ready soon." With that, the mage brushed a hand across his forehead and moved off to his own set of blankets.

Eli decided not to dwell on Korian's words or the press of his hand on his face and instead drifted off to sleep. A deep sleep filled with a mixture of happy and terrifying dreams. Dreams of both reuniting with his mother and of her dying in front of him. Dreams of Korian betraying him to the Mage and others of him following him through the mirror.

For a few moments, he hadn't realised he had awoken and instead lay in the dark, half in his dreams and half in reality. Then he heard the clambering and whispering of unfamiliar voices. His sword and dagger were next to him, a paranoia passed onto him by Korian, who was still fast asleep.

With one hand wrapping around the hilt of his sword, Eli poked Korian in the side with his other. He poked him again, and again, and again, but the mage only shuffled lightly. The voices and the sound of footsteps on grass came closer and still Korian would not wake.

Eli clenched his hand into a fist and delivered the hardest punch he could right into Korian's side. The man jolted, eyes snapping open and glaring at him. He went to speak but Eli hastily placed a hand over his mouth to silence him.

"Listen" he whispered, trying to keep his voice a low as possible. It only took a few seconds and one particularly loud whisper from whoever was sneaking up on them for Korian to jump up like a cat and grab his own sword.

"Up," he commanded, grabbing Eli's arm and pulling him up harshly. "Be ready."

Standing with his legs apart, Eli gripped his sword the way Korian had taught him. The voices and footsteps came closer, sounding as though they were right next to him. He felt Korian at his side, his presence warm and comforting. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he could feel the dread pooling in his stomach.

He could barely see in the dark, using only the light from the moon, but he could see when the first shadow of a person burst through to trees into their clearing. Next, to him, Korian hissed and stiffened, ready for a fight.

"I found them!" the shadow called in a deep voice. "Over here!"

Voices called back, lots of them, a mix of male and female. Eli felt his arm shake and fought to steady it. He needed to be calm, Korian had told him that, otherwise he would surely die. He was able to keep his arm mostly steady, but there was still the tremor of fear running through his tired limbs.