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.

More men came through the trees until there was a crowd of ten men filling the small clearing. "We'll be okay," Korian whispered to him. "But we need to either fight or run now." Eli wished they could run, but he knew these men, whoever they were, would follow them.

"The Mage will be most pleased," another voice said. Eli blanched. Of course the bandits were after him, the Mage would still be searching. "He wants the shorter one alive, don't hesitate to kill the other one."

Before the leader of the group had even finished speaking, the others ran at them, swords drawn. Eli jumped back as far as the clearing would let him, feeling his back hit the hard trunk of a tree. He held his sword up the way he had been taught, anticipating an attack any second.

Part of him wanted to run, far, far away, but that would mean leaving Korian to fend for himself. He couldn't do that, couldn't leave Korian to die, even if it meant possibly dying himself.

From his space against the tree, he watched as two men reached Korian, swinging their swords high above their heads. The mage held his sword in one hand, blocking the attack of one and using his magic to send the other flying back into the trees with only a kick to the stomach.

It was only another second before Eli watched Korian's sword plunge into his attacker's chest. He couldn't see the blood in the darkness, but he knew it was there, and it made him sick to his stomach.

A yell took his gaze from Korian and towards a man running straight for him, sword in hand and a sneer on his face. The sword glinted in the moonlight as the tall man swung for him. Eli yelped, dodging sideways. He landed in a heap on the soft grass just as the blade collided with the tree he had been leaning against.

He scrambled back, sword still loosely in his grip. The man snarled and turned towards him, face a dark patch in the night. He lifted the sword again and Eli swung out, wincing at the metallic clang that sounded when they collided.

He hissed, pushing himself to his feet as quickly as he could. He could hear the grunts of Korian fighting with others but didn't dare spare a look. He couldn't afford to be distracted, not when there was a giant man with a sword trying to kill him.

All he had to do was block the man's attacks long enough for Korian to help him. There was no way he was actually going to win the fight, not against someone like this. He let out a yelp as the sword came towards him once again. He brought his own sword up, but he hadn't realised just how strong the other man actually was.

Their swords collided once again, the bigger man pushing hard to make Eli relent. Eli grunted with the effort. He wasn't going to back down, he couldn't. They may have been told not to kill him, but he could be fighting the one person who didn't want to follow orders.

"Eli!" he heard Korian yell, right as the man swung for him again. He barely moved in time to block it, the tip of the blade inches from his face. He jumped backwards, looking briefly at Korian and hoping it wouldn't come back to bite him.

There were bodies around his feet, most of their attackers having gone for the biggest threat first. Eli didn't know if that was a smart or stupid decision on their part. Korian was fighting off two people a once, and it didn't even look like an effort to him. He moved fluidly as if he knew how their attackers were going to move, dodging and weaving around them with ease.

Another snarl brought Eli's attention back to the fight at hand. He dodged to the side, ignoring the blade that swung down next to him. He didn't know how long it went for, the clashing of their blades. Not once did he get a look at the man's face, only the sneer and the sword.

He was beginning to grow tired, his arms weak with the weight of his sword. He hadn't trained enough for this. He was surprised at how long he had lasted. Slowly, throughout the fight, he had been pushed back beyond the tree line, further from Korian than he wanted to be. Too far for the mage to reach him in time.

As their swords came together again, Eli spared another glance at Korian. He could barely see him through the trees. He was way too far away. Feeling himself panic, Eli gripped his sword tighter, determined to get back in the clearing. He knew his attacker wouldn't let him do that though. He had to be better.

He moved backwards, looking for an opening to get around the giant man in front of him. He was blocked by trees on all sides. If he tried to get around a tree to his left there was no doubt the man would catch him, the same thing would happen if he went the other way. He was frozen in place when his attacker raised his sword.

He yelped, dodging to the side just in time. He smacked into a tree, spinning to see his attacker once more. The mountain of a man was still mid-swing, chasing after his blade to keep stable. Eli kept his blade up, ready for attack. The man spun, letting out a dog-like growl and lunged for him once again.

Then there was the crunch of leaves, a whoosh in the air, and an ugly wet squelch. Eli shot back, letting go of his sword. He let out a cry, cupping his hands over his face. On his knees in front of him was his attacker, sword lodged in his chest and blood dribbling onto the ground. He grunted something out, something Eli couldn't understand, looking him dead in the eyes. And finally, finally, Eli could see his face, could see the fear in his eyes. He fell to the side, sword still in his chest, landing on the ground with a thud.

Eli didn't know how long he stood there. It could have been hours or only a few seconds. He stared at the man, at the sword, at the blood pooling on the dirt around him. He did that, he killed a man. How? He didn't know. He was there one second, running for him, the next he was on his knees in the dirt. It had been too dark for him to see properly.

"-li! Eli! Where are you?" a voice called. He shook his head, looking around himself. Korian was somewhere, looking for him. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His hands began to shake, and he felt sick like he was about to puke.

A face appeared in his vision then, Korian, staring at him with eyes and mouth wide open. "Eli! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he yelled, grabbing Eli by the shoulders and shaking him. "Eli, were your hurt? Please, tell me you are not hurt."

"I am fine," he croaked out, voice trying to get past the lump in his throat. "I think he slipped on the leaves. I do not know. I killed him," a sob passed through his lips, unbidden. "I killed him."

Tears filled his eyes, leaking down his cheeks. Korian didn't even spare a glance at the dead man on the ground, only wrapped his arms tight around Eli. "It will be okay, Eli," he whispered, voice calm and soothing, like he understood. "Cry, for it is sad. No innocent should have to do this. I should have realised..." He breathed out a sigh, tightening his grip.

It was a long while before they parted, Eli wiping his eyes with his sleeves. He looked down at the grassy ground, not wanting to face what he had done. He had killed someone. He hadn't realised what it was going to be like. He had been told he would have to kill the Mage, but never once did he think about what it was going to be like, actually killing another living, breathing, person. And now that he knew, he didn't think he could do it again.

"Come, Eli," Korian said, taking his arm and walking him back into the clearing. "We must go, there will be more. If we need to, we can rest during the day."

Eli stood in silence while Korian packed up their little camp, staring at the bodies Korian had left behind during their attack. He followed Korian like a sheep, head down, lost in his own thoughts and guilt and fear.

Could he really kill another person? He'd done it once and the regret of the action was weighing over him like a boulder, threatening to crash down on him any minute. Could he really kill someone who looked just like him? He didn't know if he was the right person to do it. He didn't know anything anymore.