Eli stared, mouth and eyes wide, unable to tear away his gaze from the man who looked exactly like him. He had seen the eyes that looked back at him many times in the mirror but never had he seen them with such anger.

Next, to him, Korian let out a gasp, pulling at his arm. The pair dropped from the window, crouching below the sill. There was no way they were hidden, the Mage had obviously seen them. And yet, there was no sign that he was coming for them.

Still, the screams rang out, accompanied by the sound of slamming doors and the laughter from the men the Mage had brought with him. No one came near the little house they were squatting in, for that Eli was grateful. It would only draw more attention to them.

Eli stayed crouched down for barely half a minute, staring at the panicked expression on Korian's face. Breathing out shakily, he stood, ignoring Korian's angry commands to get back down. The other man tried to tug on his wrist again, but Eli yanked it away.

The Mage was still glaring at him when he finally looked again. They both stood silently, staring at each other, like a silent showdown. Every single second that passed, Eli expected to get blown away, but it never happened.

Something moved out of the corner of his eye and for a second he thought the Mage had finally done something. He tensed, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Two weeks of minimal training and it was all over because he was too stupid to hide when he needed to. He wouldn't even get a chance at fighting the Mage.

Whatever it was kept moving and he finally tore his eyes away from the Mage's to look at it. An old man, Amos, was walking slowly towards the Mage. A glance back at his borrowed face showed a smirk had formed on his lips.

Eli's eyes widened and he nudged Korian with his knee. "Not looking at us," he said, "Looking at Amos." They were safe, they hadn't been seen in the first place. Looking at Amos must have meant looking in Eli's direction. If the Mage had seen them, they would surely be dead.

Sitting up onto his knees, Korian pulled Eli back down so they sat in the same position. Together they watched out the window, hiding as best they could. "We are alright," Korian said, watching Amos walk in front of the window.

"What is he doing?" Eli asked, biting down on his bottom lip. He could hear Amos yelling at the Mage, but couldn't decipher what exactly was being said. The Mage only smirked, looking proud of what he had done.

The Mage raised a hand and for a second Eli was sure the old man was about to get blown away by whatever power the Mage held. He gestured towards Amos and two familiar men rushed forward, the ones that had chased him through the forest on his night in Arumni. They were both heavily beaten, dark purple bruised covered every inch of skin Eli could see. Their punishment for not catching him, it seemed.

Eli gasped, ducking down low as they grabbed Amos under the arms and dragged him forward, ignoring his feeble struggles. "Korian," Eli whispered angrily, "We have to help him." He moved to stand up but felt a harsh grip on his arm once again.

"We cannot," Korian told him, looking straight into his eyes, "If you are seen, you will die. That cannot happen." Because he needed to kill the Mage. He couldn't just sacrifice himself for an old man. That's what Korian was saying.

"But he will die!" Eli tried not to raise his voice too high, as the two men were still near the window. Once again, Korian said nothing, as if he knew anything he had to say would only anger Eli more.

Despite wanting to get up and run at the Mage, he knew there was nothing he could do. He knew that if he tried, he would be killed and then there would be no hope for the realm. Instead, he watched the two beaten and familiar men drag Amos down the dirt road, his feet dragging behind him as he struggled to keep up.

It wasn't long before Amos was standing in front of the Mage. Eli couldn't see the old man's face, but he could see the Mage's, see his own, and it was smirking. Before Eli could even blink, a hand wrapped around Amos's throat, pulling him forward.

Words were spoken, but he could not hear them. He could only see his mouth forming them, sneering when he had finished. He grew angrier at whatever Amos's reply was. Eli couldn't see or hear what the old man was saying.

"Korian, we need to help," Eli told the other man, barely glancing at him. He wanted to keep his eyes firmly planted on what was going on outside, just in case there was an opening for him to do something.

"We cannot," Korian replied, voice quiet and full of regret. As he watched, the Mage tightened his grip on Amos's neck, the older man's hands shooting up to grab hold of his attacker.

"Where is he?" the Mage bellowed, his voice sounding like he was right next to Eli. It took a long minute for the boy to register the words, but when he finally did, he gasped loudly. Of course, the Mage was searching for him. He knew about the words, Korian had told him that. Only the reflection of evil can defeat evil. If his attackers were still alive, then the Mage knew Eli was in Arumni somewhere. He felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier.

The Mage looked around then, causing Eli to duck on instinct. "Come out! I can help you get back! Come out!" Eli breathed deep, slowly deciphering the words. The Mage was trying to manipulate him into coming out, but he knew if he did he would be killed. The question was, did the Mage know he was there or was he blindly yelling in the hope of being right?

Lost in his thoughts, Eli stopped paying attention to what was going on until Korian let out a small cry next to him. Amos had fallen to the ground, neck twisted at an angle Eli had only seen in movies. The Mage stood over him, looking at the dead old man like it was dog droppings he had trodden in.

He sneered again, looking away from the body to the tiny village around him. Eli couldn't see what was happening on the main road, but he could tell from the screams and the grin on the Mages face that it was far from good. As he watched, the Mage spoke again, as loud as before. He could only catch a few basic words and looked to Korian to translate, but the young mage said nothing.

The Mage finished with a laugh, one Eli had only heard in terrible superhero movies. He lifted his arms up and then all Eli could feel was a powerful wind, like being caught in a bad storm. He vaguely heard Korian cry out, but it was muffled by the screaming wind.

Eli ducked away from the window and pushed himself against the wall, desperate to keep himself in place. He pulled Korian down to him, the other man's back pressed to his chest.

The wind howled around him, quickly becoming the only thing he could hear. He had no idea what it was, what it meant. He could only assume that it was the Mage, that it was dangerous. He kept a tight hold of Korian, his arm wrapped around his waist to keep him down. He didn't know why, but he felt that if he let him go something bad would happen to him.

He didn't know how long it lasted, but it stopped almost as suddenly as it started, cutting off with a loud whoosh. He hadn't even realised it had been hard to breathe until he was trying to suck in huge gulps of air.

Korian turned to him then, mouth and eyes wide. Eli let go, staring back at him. "Are you good?" Korian asked, pressing his hands against Eli's stomach, his chest, his face, checking for injuries. "Are you good?"

"I am fine," Eli panted, trying desperately to catch his breath. "What was that?"

Korian stood up, pulling Eli with him. The first thing he did was look out the window again, but the Mage was gone from view. If he had left the village, he did not know, he couldn't see far down the main road.

"Magic," he heard Korian reply behind him. "He took the magic from the village. Come." A hand tugged at him and he found himself being pulled out of the house and down towards the main road again.

They made it about halfway down the road before they stopped, Korian staring at the body of Amos, Eli looking around at their surroundings. His face paled, mouth turning down into a deep sad frown. He vaguely registered Korian letting go of his hand, but he just kept staring around him.

The grass around the village was brown and dead, spreading out over the hills in the distance. The crops were shrivelled and dead, every single one. Nothing looked salvageable, the villagers had nothing left. Even the little shrubs and weeds lining the road were brown and skeletal, crackling under Eli's feet.

He ran a hand through his hair, spinning in a slow circle. His breath came out shakily and he could feel himself panicking. There was barely anything left, just the badly build houses and the dirt roads. Anything that allowed the villagers to sustain themselves was gone.

"Eli!" Korian called, shocking him out of his thoughts. When Eli looked, the other man was standing over Amos's body, surrounded by other people. He gestured and slowly Eli made his way over, ignoring the prick of tears in his eyes.

Amos didn't look peaceful in death, his mouth and eyes were wide open in fear, and his neck was twisted at an angle Eli had never seen before. The only time the boy had seen death was in movies and staring at it now, those movies had no idea what they were talking about.

He wanted to vomit, run away, do something, but he couldn't even move. He was frozen, staring at the oddly twisted corpse of the helpful old man. He could still hear screams around him and for a second he thought he should still be hiding away, that there were still people looking for him in the village.

Finally tearing his eyes away from Amos's body, he found most of the villagers still standing in the main road. They were crowded together, holding each other and crying loudly. There was no sign of any of the men that had been there as if they had all left when the Mage did. The villagers looked around wildly in the same way Eli had before. They knew what had happened. They knew everything was dead.

It was his fault, it had to be. The Mage was looking for him, and he didn't come out. And now the village was going to die. Amos was dead, the crops were dead, bodies of the villagers littered the streets. Because of him, everyone would soon be dead. It was his fault, it was.

"Korian," he whispered, unable to speak any louder than that. He felt as though something was caught in his throat, something like guilt, that stopped him from speaking. "Korian, what do we do?"

Korian didn't say anything, instead, he fell to his knees next to the body. He looked distraught, but there were no tears. Eli wasn't even sure if he could cry. Remembering what the other man did every time Eli was upset, he moved forward and placed a hand on Korian's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"What do we do?"

Korian said nothing.