Chapter 1 - Trapped in the Mirror

Pain. All Torin could feel was immense pain. He had shackles around his wrists and ankles, and chains twining all around his limbs.

In the beginning of his hellish stay he struggled, the more he struggled the more energy the chains sapped out of him, and the tighter they wrapped around his body, squeezing everything out of him.

'Why did Silas do this to me? We were best friends...' Torin wondered in his head. His best friend, Silas, came from a powerful family, so he had everything. Why would he lock Torin up like this? 'I wonder how much longer I'll have to live like this. Death would be a blessing, but I still want to live...'

click. click.

"Torin, you should stop thinking about death, or freedom. Your only purpose is to be my slave, and generate extra magic power for me." Silas whispered into the mirror.

"Please! Silas, just let me out!" Torin rocked against the chains, not caring about how they wrapped tighter and tighter around him. He could clearly see Silas from the inside of the mirror. It was like glass, except Torin was tiny to Silas, and Silas was huge to Torin. Silas snickered, his dark, ink black hair that just barely grew out from a buzz cut he had a few weeks back shook slightly.

"You should have learned by now, Torin. You are my magic, and I am never letting you go." Silas whispered, while squinting his hazel eyes, his eyebrows furrowing, showing how angry he was about Torin still wishing for freedom.

Silas put the mirror down and walked away.

"Someday, Silas, I will escape, and you won't EVER find me!" Torin screeched, as the chains once again tightened on him, wrapping around his neck, tighter, and tighter.

* * * *

"Do you wish to be free?" A sweet voice whispered to Torin.

"More than anything, but I know by now that you won't release me." Torin muttered back to the sweet voice, almost delusional. The voice came every now and then, and offered him sweet things. Freedom, a life, friends, a fresh start, to get out of the damned mirror.

"Hm. You are correct. You are still not ready. He would kill you in a second, but. . . Perhaps you could defy your fate." The sweet voice muttered, almost like she was talking to herself.

A blinding light suddenly shone, blinding Torin. The chains started hissing, and started backing deeper into the darkness of the mirror. Torin felt his body being covered in warmth, and passed out.

"I told you. You aren't ready. I guess I have no choice but to send you there. . .

Torin heard the sweet voice say, before he fully lost his consciousness.

* * * *

Honey, and rosemary. Torin had been deprived of smells for so long, starved and kept a prisoner in a mirror, but he still remembered these smells.

"Hey, I know he's been kept isolated for 5 years in a mirror by the young master Silas, but does he really have to sniff me like that?" A cool voice said.

"Don't be so hard on him. You are to be his guardian, he hasn't used magic or his body for many years, and we will need him very soon." The sweet voice that released him said.

"Who do you think I am? I've trained some of the best magicians, archers, and fighters that we have today!" The cool voice shouted back, clearly feeling challenged.

'I wish they would stop shaking wherever I'm laying. Laying? How long has it been since I have slept without being forced to stand up?' Torin questioned, still not feeling enough strength to open his eyes.

"He needs to be stronger than the rest. I am entrusting him to you, without him. . . All species will perish." The sweet voice mulled over those last words, sounding very sad.

"You need to go back. I know he means a lot to you, and to everyone, but that's no excuse to be gone from the frontlines for so long." The cool voice whispered back, suddenly wary.

"I'm going now, he can't know who I am just yet." The sweet voice barely said that before Torin felt a gust of wind hit him in the face, forcing him to open his eyes. All he could see was a single girl, and a fading shimmer standing right next to her.

'The sweet voiced girl must have teleported' Torin thought, while pursing his lips. He wanted to thank the woman who not only saved his life, but granted his wish.

Torin turned his attention back to the other girl. She had odd aquamarine blue hair, which was styled with a side ponytail along with bangs that just barely touched her eyebrows. Her eyes were also indigo, making her look even more out of place compared to all the green trees behind her. Torin kneaded his hands into the dirt. 'How long has it been since I felt dirt? Since I last sat down?' Torin continued to study the girl while feeling the dirt. She was wearing a blue tank top, with loose straps hanging on her shoulders, showing off her arms. She was also wearing very short shorts. All in all the outfit showed a very alluring figure, but Torin didn't particularly care for the opposite sex, as he had been locked up for so long.

"Boy, how long are you going to stare at me? That girl failed to mention your name or your age, so you better give me a self introduction while I'm being nice." The blue haired girl said.

Torin tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth he felt an overwhelming thirst. The mirror may have kept him trapped, but the pain from the chains took away his hunger, and the parchness of his mouth. He glanced around, until he spotted a small lake just a short walk away. He tried to stand up, but the pain from using his muscles in an unfamiliar way was way more than he could bear. So all he could do was crawl towards the water.

"Gosh, your physical state is much worse than I thought it was. You can't even walk, and you're that out of it just from crawling." The blue haired girl complained while studying Torin.

Torin ignored her assessment of his clearly lacking physical capabilities, and stared into the lake. All he could see was his face. His cheekbones were gaunt, with dark bags beneath his eyes. His clothes looked dirty, and a little too small for him. His light brown hair had grown past his shoulders, and the thing that shocked Torin the most was his eyes. They had no light in them, they were just blue discs, empty, and devoid of feeling.

'An animal. Silas was right about me, I don't even look human. . .' Torin cupped water in his hands slowly. He was dying for a taste, something to quench his undeniable thirst, but he wanted to savor this moment. His first drop of water in five years. He had been sustained on magic for far too long. He was sure he was much too short for his age, and that he needed proper sustenance from now on. He lifted his hands that were full with water up to his lips. He opened his mouth slightly, and tipped his hands so the water went into his mouth.

'So. . .So GOOD!' Forgetting all about savoring, Torin splashed his head in the lake and gulped and gulped down the water. The blue haired girl looked on in sympathy.

After 10 minutes of Torin just gulping down the lake the blue haired girl pulled his head back.

"That's enough. You might get sick with anymore!" The blue hair girled yelled. "Introduce yourself already!"

"M-M-My N-N-Name I-Is T-To..rin." Torin gasped out. His voice was still raspy, even after all that water. 'I never had a raspy voice in the mirror. . .' Torin though while staring at the ground.

"My name is Elyse. Your voice still sounds raspy even after all of that water, she really didn't exaggerate when she said you were locked up for 5 years used as a magic generator."

Torin glanced up at Elyse. "T-Th..at G-G-Gir . . l."

"You don't have the right to know yet. You are still too weak, but lucky for you I am gonna train you until you are strong enough to maybe just barely survive." Elyse said while bending down to look at him eye level.

Torin looked up at Elyse and felt a fire burning in his stomach. 'Training? It's been so long since I've held a sword or used magic. . .' Torin felt invigorated. He loved the sword, and the way magic made him feel. . . It was like a drug.

"But it looks like for now we are going to have to work on just physical training. You're so weak a twig could snap you. Do you know how old you are?" Elyse said as she stood up.

"I-I T-Thi...nk.... 23?" Torin choked out.

"Figures. That young master wouldn't attack unless you were of age." Elyse replied. "Well we better get going before it gets dark." She said as she gazed at the sky.

"Wh-Wh...ere... A-Ar...e W-W-We... Go...Ing?" Torin coughed out as he wheezed.

"Where? Isn't it obvious?" A strong wind blew, and blew Elyse's Aquamarine blue hair all around. "To my house!"