The Other Side Of The Mirror ✔

Part Twelve

Eli woke up in a dark room, disorientated and hurting. His back and chest ached so much that it hurt to breathe, each breath stinging and aching. He was lying on a cold, hard stone floor, face pressed against the smooth brick.

Groaning softly, he sat up and looked around. It was so dark he could barely see a thing, but from as far as he could tell, he was the only thing in the room. There was a tiny scrap of light coming from between a couple of bricks. Eli could only assume that a window had once been there, but had been bricked up to stop light from getting in.

He shivered, goosebumps forming on his skin in an instant. It was like an icebox in the room, he could barely stand it. He stood, holding his hands out in front of him to feel for a wall or door. He moved slowly around the room, feeling out its dimensions.

On the opposite wall from the bricked up window was a wooden door with a doorknob and tiny keyhole that let in a little light. He twisted the doorknob and found himself unable to open the door, just as he had expected.

He pressed his hands against the cool wood of the door, feeling the panic rise in him. He had no idea where he was, or how he'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was being pressed up against a tree in the forest near the memorial by Elias. He remembered a hand on his forehead, and then nothing after that.

How long had it been since then? From the light shining through the crack in the wall, he could tell it was daytime, meaning it might have only been a few hours. But that made no sense, there was nothing around the memorial for miles. He had to be somewhere far away from there, somewhere that would take a long time to travel to. Just how long had he been asleep?

An even better question was: why wasn't he dead? Wasn't that what the Mage had wanted? He'd been caught trying to get away. He should be dead, but he wasn't. Seeing his surroundings, he wasn't sure if he was grateful or not. Who knew what was going to happen to him here.

Korian. He'd left Korian behind, and he died. He'd heard him scream, a terrible sound that Eli never wanted to hear again. And he wouldn't because he'd left Korian to die like the coward he was. He should have stayed; he could have saved him. He could have killed the Mage right then and there and they would have left together, safe and uninjured.

Instead, his friend was dead and it was his fault. If only he had been stronger, a better fighter, then Korian never would have asked him to leave. He should have fought harder to stay. He should have done many things, and he never should have run away. He wanted Korian back with him, he felt better with him around.

The door makes a clicking noise, pulling him from his thoughts. The door handle turned as he stepped away from it, feeling his palms become wet with sweat. The door opened, allowing bright blinding light into the room. Eli flung an arm over his eyes to escape the assault.

"Are we awake in here?" a smug voice asked. Elias popped his head around the edge of the door, looking at Eli with a sneer. "Good. Come with me." He reached an arm around, grabbing Eli by the wrist and tugging him out of the room.

Once again Eli's eyes were assaulted by a bright light. Outside the room, everything seemed to be well lit, so well lit that it hurt his eyes to look at. It was until Elias was pulling him down a flight of stairs that he was finally able to see where they were going.

"Where am I?" he asked, voice thick with sleep.

"My castle," Elias replied, tugging harshly on his wrist.

Eli's eyes widened. That was on the other side of the realm from where they had been. "How long have I been here?" he questioned, voice rising an octave.