“Are you sure everything is going to be alright over there?” Eli’s mother asked in concern. Her hands gripped his shoulders tightly, as if he’d disappear if she let go.

He nodded and gave her a small smile. “It’s all fine now, mum, I promise,” he said. “I have a friend over there who will look after me.”

It had taken a lot of convincing for his mum to let him go back through the mirror. After what he’d told her, she hadn’t wanted him to face such dangers again. But the Mage was dead now and Korian would look after him. There wouldn’t be any danger for him to face.

It wasn’t just his mother he had to get through. The cops had wanted to know where he’d been and he couldn’t exactly tell the truth. Instead he’d told them that school stress had gotten the better of him and he’d run away with all the money he’d had. Lucky for him, they’d believed it. Then the school had gotten involved.

He’d failed his final year because of everything that had happened, which meant repeating the next year. It sucked, but it could have been far worse. He already knew the content, he’d breeze through it and focus on passing his exams. Being stuck in the other realm had messed a few things up in his life, but it was better than he had expected.

“If you come back with a single scratch, I will go over there and make sure your friend knows what I think about it, you hear me?” his mother said with a finger in his face.

“Yes, mum. I understand,” he said and adjusted the bag on his shoulders. It held everything he needed for the week he’d be spending with Korian. He needed a break from all the police and school drama. He’d promised Korian he’d visit, but it had been a month without even a glimpse of him.

His mother still kept her hands on his arms and frowned at him. She glanced over his shoulder at the mirror that only showed her reflection. Having no reflection would eventually be an issue. Eli could imagine being asked if he was a vampire by someone. He’d sort it out when it came up. For now, having no reflection wasn’t too much of a hassle.

“I’ll be fine. If anything happens, I’ll come straight back, I swear.”

“You had better,” his mother said in a stern voice. “And check in every night so I know you’re okay. And tell whoever runs that place to install some telephone lines.”

“They’re still in the medieval times, I don’t think that’s possible,” he replied with a smile. It was an issue, but after so long spent there, the lack of technology didn’t matter. She sighed and finally let go of his arms. He stepped back from her and reached out towards the mirror. As it usually did if he tried to touch it, it rippled like water.

With one final look back at his mother he stepped through the rippling feeling. It was a strange feeling, like water rushing over him, but he came back on the other side completely dry. His sneakers landed on a soft red rug and he sighed in relief. The mirror behind him flashed between visions of his bedroom and the room he now stood in.

The bedroom was empty of people, but filled to the brim with lavish decorations. Flowers sat on the desk, chest of drawers and just about every other surface in the room. A giant four poster bed sat in the middle of the room, soft red blankets covering it. Candles on the bedside tables were the only light source in the room barring the window on the opposite wall. The balcony beyond held only a table and chairs.

It was unfamiliar, but he could assume it was one of many rooms of the castle. He dropped his bag on the bed with a sigh. The sun was starting to set, casting yellow light through the huge room. He had to figure out where he was and find Korian.

He wandered out of the room and down the decorated halls. None of it was familiar to him, but it had to be the castle. The only parts of it he had seen were the dank brick halls of the dungeons and the room filled with mirrors. Korian must have moved his mirror after he’d left. But now he was stuck in an unfamiliar place all alone.

A flight of stairs took him down to what looked to be the ground floor. Out the windows, the garden sat unattended. Eli frowned and continued down the halls. The halls eventually lead out the a lavish entrance hall decorated with banners and tapestries similar to the ones he’d seen in the village so long ago. They’d kick started everything for him.

Voices drifted towards him through huge double doors. He sighed in relief and walked over. The voices grew louder, speaking in the language of Arumni. He’d practiced a little bit of the language since he’d left, but he hadn’t had any practical experience. A lot of the words were still unfamiliar to him. He’d have to get Korian to teach him more.

He pushed the door open loudly and froze at the crowds of people that turned to stare at him. He stood in the throne room, now repaired from the the damage that had been done to it during his fight against the Mage. People sat on benches that lined the room like church pews, leading up to the giant throne.

Korian stood from the throne with wide eyes as the man in front of him fell quiet. All eyes focused on Eli and for a split second there was an eerie silence. “The Saviour!” a woman screamed, triggering the rest of them. The cries echoed around the room and Eli took a step backwards to the door.

Korian rushed down the room towards him with a concerned expression. “I did not know you would be here,” he said, hand clamping down on his arm. “I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of court.”

Eli could barely hear Korian’s voice over the cries of the people around them. He stared at them. They didn’t stop yelling, but none of them moved towards him, as if he were something sacred they weren’t to touch. As soon as he thought the words, those closest to him dropped to their knees with their hands clasped in front of him.

“Korian,” he whispered and stared at the other man with wide eyes. “What do I do?”

Korian shook his head. “I don’t know,” he replied and dragged Eli up the length of the room. This wasn’t how he thought seeing Korian would go. He’d played it around in his head so often. They’d embrace, they’d kiss. It’d be sweet. He never could have imagine hundreds of people praying at his feet.

Three people stood on either side of the throne, eyeing him with a mix of curiosity and contempt. “He really is the exact same as the Mage,” the woman muttered. Eli pursed his lips and tried not to show how angry the words made him.

“Took you long enough to show up,” one of the men said, a sneer on his lips.

Korian took his hand from Eli’s arm. “Like I’ve said before, Eli has a life on the other side of the mirror. It is his home. It comes first before any business here,” he said, voice cold and calm.

The pudgy man glanced between the two of them but said nothing else. The second man, a skinny thing with a scraggly goatee stepped forward. “Welcome back to Arumni, Eli,” he said, bowing lowly. “I’m sorry to have you arrive at such a bad time, but you might be able to help us.”

Eli looked back at the praying crowd. “What can I do?” he asked.

“We as a council run Arumni now. The people didn’t want to have one person running everything, but they are rebelling against everything we do. This court has been filled with anger and demands for things we cannot give,” the thin man explained. “We’re tying to get the realm back to its former state, but it’s taking longer than we thought. With you here, they might listen to us.”

“Lucian…” Korian said warily.

“It’s worth a shot,” the pudgy man said. “Have you got any other ideas Korian?” Korian shook his head and reached out to grab Eli’s hand again.

Fighting off the nervousness in his stomach, Eli stepped forward. “I can do it,” he said. It felt like a lie. The only time he’d had to talk in front of a crowd was at school, and that was maybe thirty people. This was more than a hundred, more than two hundred. He didn’t even know all of the language, what if he messed up or forgot a word?

“Get moving, kid, we haven’t got all day,” the pudgy man snapped. The woman looked at him curiously, but didn’t say a word. Eli turned to face the crowd again and took a deep breath. They stared at him with wide eyes and silent, open mouths.

What could he possibly say to them? He didn’t even know the extent of their rebellion or the problems within the realm. How could he get them to calm down and understand what was going on without making everything worse. Nervousness bundled up within him and he swallowed the lump in his throat.

The pudgy man sighed behind him as Korian stepped up next to him and grabbed his hand. “You’ll be fine,” he said. “All you need to do is ask them to give us a little more time while we sort out everything.”

Eli nodded and took another deep breath. The crowd stared at him with anticipation and he knew he couldn’t leave them waiting any longer. “Um, as you- as you all know, I am the Saviour,” he started, glancing over at Korian. He smiled and nodded at him. “But I’d like it more if you called me Eli. I know I have not been here much since… Since the Mage, and I am sorry about that.

“But Korian and the others are working very hard to get Arumni back to the way it was before the Mage. I need you all to be patient with them. It will take some time as there was a lot of damage done, so I need everyone to work with them as best you can while they work. I promise, they will get around to helping you all, you just have to wait as more important issues are sorted.”

They looked sceptical, irritated, but they didn’t dare argue with him. He was their Saviour. To them, he knew what was right. Eli knew otherwise. He was eighteen, lost and confused and continuously thrown into situations he didn’t understand. He’d come back to Arumni to spend time with Korian and have a good time, but he should have expected something like this to happen. Realms weren’t fixed in a month.

The pudgy man stepped forward and ordered them all from the throne room. There would be another court in two weeks time, he hoped by then that they had solved as many issues as possible. “His name is Arthur,” Korian whispered in his ear. “He’s from the far south.”

“He’s a bit…” Eli didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“Much,” Korian finished. “The woman is Morgana, she’s from here, like me.”

At her name, Morgana stepped forward and placed a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “You did well, Eli,” she said with a smile and a kind voice. She was an older woman, with blonde hair that was slowly turning grey and wrinkles around her eyes and mouth.

“You shouldn’t have told them to use your name,” Arthur said in irritation. “You are the Saviour.”

“I’m the Saviour because I killed a man,” Eli said, whirling to face him as the crowds of people filed from the huge room. “I took someone’s life. You people may be okay with being known like that, but I’m not. I’d rather be Eli, not a murderer.” He’d taken two people’s lives during his time in Arumni. Both times it had been necessary, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it.

None of them said anything, not even Korian, who’d been there the entire time. He’d killed Elias with him, killed the attackers during their journey to the original Saviour’s home. It didn’t seem to faze him, murdering people. Maybe in Arumni, it was normal, but on Earth it was unheard of outside of insane people.

Silently, Korian grabbed his hand and looked down at the stone floor at their feet. The other three stood with pursed lips and shuffling feet, too uncomfortable to bother speaking. None of them seemed to think about the differences between their worlds. None of them seemed to realise that Eli was a human being with feelings.

When the sound of footsteps finally faded from the room, the council that now ran Arumni finally looked back at him. “Thank you for your help, Eli,” Morgana said. “I hope that it will relax things for a little while.”

“I can talk to them again if you need me to,” Eli said, despite the horrible feeling that welled in his stomach. He hated talking in front of people, but if it needed to be done then he would do it.

Arthur frowned at him. “I don’t want to have to rely solely on you when running the realm,” he said. “There needs to be another way to deal with this.”

“Then get them to submit forms detailing what their issue is. That way you won’t have to deal with all the yelling and demands,” Eli suggested in a heartbeat. It seemed so obvious to him, but maybe it wasn’t something they did in Arumni. There were too many differences between the realm. “Leave court for more important and serious demands. You can have a second smaller council made from all the towns and villages to discuss the little things.”

“How would that even work?” Lucian asked, brushing down his shirt.

“They would answer to you. They would discuss the small issues the people are having and come to you with a solution. All you have to do is agree to it,” Eli answered with a shrug. He could feel Korian’s eyes on him, but chose to ignore it. “That would leave you free to deal with the bigger things.”

The four of them were silent for a moment, sharing thoughtful looks. “It could work,” Korian said.

“We’ll trial it,” Arthur replied. “But I like the sound of it. Thank you, Eli.” Eli only nodded in response, grateful that he could do something more to help. He’d left it far too long, coming back to Arumni. He should have returned sooner to help Korian rebuild the realm.

“Come,” Korian said, hand still holding his. “I’m taking Eli to get dinner. We’ll discuss this more in the morning.” Arthur shot him an irritated look at his words, but said nothing in response. The other two nodded politely and wished them well.