First Comes The One Who Wanders (75 page)

Erion nodded and gathered the elf in his arms and carried her back to the campfire. Her wounds were almost healed. Only faint scars remained and they soon would fade, as well. Erion wrapped her in a cloak, then went back to help Garabaldi with Leilas. He lifted her easily from the struggling gnome’s arms and laid her next to Kai.

"I have some herbs that will help our Chidra, if we can get them down her throat," said Garabaldi, pouring some water in a pot to boil. "Kai will be fine, she just needs some rest."

"I’ll keep watch in case our friends decide to return," said Erion, grimly. "I wish we could move them to a safer spot."

"In a few hours, perhaps," replied Garabaldi. "It would be too dangerous now."

Erion accepted the gnome’s advice and began to patrol around their small camp. Garabaldi split his attention between Leilas, Kai, his herbs and the edge of the small clearing, his weapon close at hand.

~~~

"What are you doing here, my child?" asked Solein, when Leilas opened her eyes. She was on the floor of Solein’s cave in Neothera.

"I was healing an elf of some very dark magic," replied Leilas, struggling to a sitting position.

"Was the only way to take it on yourself?" Solein placed a plate of food in front of her and she began to eat greedily.

"Elves are quite different than humans or crafters," replied Leilas.

"So they are," said Solein, with a smile. He sat across the fire from her and picked up his harp.

"But I'm glad that I'm here," said Leilas, between mouthfuls. "I have so many questions to ask you."

"All of which I'd be glad to answer, if I could," replied Solein.

Leilas stopped eating, her hand halfway to her mouth. She put the piece of food down slowly. "Meaning you can’t answer my questions."

"You must find the answers yourself. No one can give them to you." Solein’s fingers drifted over the harp strings softly. Leilas listened in silence for a time.

"Why wasn't Ariel chosen to be the Chidra?" She broke the silence finally.

Solein lifted his eyebrow at the question, a smile playing at his lips. "Ariel is quite a warrior. She was a fine judge and she's served me faithfully for all her years." His fingers strummed the strings. "I know she thought she'd be the one chosen."

"She was your choice?" asked Leilas, disappointment in her voice.

"No," replied Solein. "She was never my choice. She doesn’t have your heart. To her, there is light and dark, right and wrong. It's all very clear. For her, there's no in-between, no reason to show compassion to those who've fallen to the darkness."

Leilas began to eat again, more slowly this time. "And you believe it's important to be able to see the reasons one might show compassion?" Solein smiled, but said nothing, just continued strumming the harp. "I can feel Garabaldi calling, I must leave soon. It was good to see you again, Master Solein."

"We'll meet again, Chosen One," replied Solein.

"I’m glad," said Leilas. "I've missed you."

"And I you," replied the older man. Leilas felt herself begin to pull away from Neothera and when she opened her eyes again, she was staring up into Garabaldi’s wizened and worried face.

"Elves are a bit tricky," he said, relief spreading over his face when he saw she was awake. But Trion taught you well."

"Is there anything about me you don’t know?" asked Leilas, propping herself up on an elbow.

"How you'll choose," replied Garabaldi. "It's for you to choose which path you'll follow."

"But you have a good idea how I'll choose?"

"You have a good heart," replied Garabaldi, making a show of cleaning up his pots and pans.

She'd been told that twice in the same day. Leilas had to wonder why. "How is Kai? Where is Erion?" she sat up and began to look around.

"Kai is resting and Erion is keeping watch. If you're ready, we can try and move Kai to a safer place."

Leilas stood, testing her strength and balance. "Everything seems to work," she reported to the gnome.

"Good. I know of a cave not far from here that will be easier to defend if those following us can even find it. Fetch Erion and let’s get out of here."

Leilas found Erion near the front edge of their clearing. He was by Kai’s side before Leilas had finished explaining Garabaldi’s idea. Gathering the girl in his arms, he waited for Leilas and Garabaldi to gather the supplies then fell in behind Garabaldi, as the dark crafter led them to the entrance of the cave. It was well hidden, undetectable to anyone who didn’t know of its existence.

"We should be safe enough here, until your lady friend is better," said Garabaldi, dropping his burden on the floor of the cave, near the back wall. It was a small cave, with only the one opening. Leilas and Erion looked around in approval. Placing Kai near the back wall, Erion covered her with his cloak and hers.

"I’ll take the first watch," said Leilas, moving toward the opening after she dropped her supplies next to Garabaldi’s. "No fire tonight, I think." She spent some time fussing with the bushes in front of the cave, so they hid the opening better. Then, she stood next to the door and watched.

When Erion was satisfied Kai was resting comfortably, he came to stand next to Leilas. "She'll be fine," Leilas told him, not taking her eyes off the forest in front of her.

"What happened to you during the fight?" asked Erion, barely keeping the accusation out of his voice.

"I don’t know," said Leilas, turning to face him. "I couldn’t move. None of my spells had any effect. If it weren’t for Garabaldi, I might be lying there still." Leilas tried not to show him how much his distrust hurt.

"It was actually Kai’s fault she couldn’t move," Garabaldi piped in from his spot near Kai. "It was that coi-ya. It’s a little bit too strong for humans or crafters to consume on a regular basis."

Erion turned away from Leilas. "I should have known it was something. I know you wouldn't stand by–," he didn’t finish his thought.

But didn’t know her well enough not to have to ask, thought Leilas, turning back to the opening. "Good night, Erion." He hesitated as if he wished to say more, then turned and went to sit by Garabaldi.

"We should be able to press on sometime tomorrow," remarked Garabaldi to no one in particular. "The elf girl should be awake by then."

"Her name is Kai," said Erion, a warning in his voice.

"So it is," replied Garabaldi, innocently. "She was lucky Leilas was here. I don’t know many healers who could have saved her."

Erion looked over to Leilas, who was standing with her back to him, then back to Garabaldi. "I'm grateful she was able to save the daughter of the Sea Elves’ king."

"Not to mention our guide. Our journey would have become quite a bit more difficult without her to lead us."

"Are you always this encouraging, gnome?"

"I do try," murmured Garabaldi. "I do try."

Leilas smiled into the darkness. It would take a miracle to keep these two from coming to blows before this journey was over.

Garabaldi came to relieve her at midnight. Dropping down next to her pack, she wrapped herself tightly in her cloak and let her thoughts drift toward Barat. The feeling of fear still surrounded the city, but seemed to have lessened within the fortress. Leilas could feel Joshuas’ magic at work along the outer walls. There were still hundreds of troops outside the gates, but Leilas didn’t bother with them. She was looking for Joshuas. She found him standing in the guard tower, looking out toward the west, where she was. Could he see her, too? "Hello, my love," she sent the thought out softly on the wind. Joshuas looked around as if he'd heard something then went back to his thoughts, shaking off the feeling. Leilas reached out in her mind and touched his face as she had before. Her hand tingled with sensation. Joshuas’ hand went to his cheek. Feeling her strength begin to ebb, Leilas gathered her thoughts once more and gently kissed Joshuas’ lips. The vision faded, but the sensation lingered on her lips for a long time after. Leilas fell asleep, strangely comforted by the feeling.

Leilas woke to Garabaldi’s rough nudge. Erion was already standing poised ready to fight by the door. Kai was still unconscious on the floor. "They're back," whispered Garabaldi, moving toward the opening.

Leilas loosed her sword and stood next to Garabaldi. It probably was too much to suppose they'd leave after one unsuccessful attack. She could hear the darklings talking. Although she couldn’t understand what they were saying, she could tell they were nearing the cave. Erion held his finger to his lips and they all stood, barely breathing as the darklings came closer and closer.

If they found the cave, they'd only be able to enter one at a time. But if they managed to get inside, it would be close quarter, hand to hand fighting. Leilas half-expected Garabaldi to reveal their location, but he stood as silent as Erion and as ready to do battle. The darklings paused briefly when they reached the forest in front of the cave. There was a great deal of discussion and then they hurried off in the direction from which they'd come.

"They think they have us trapped," said Erion, sliding his sword into his sheath.

"Do they?" asked Leilas, putting her sword away, as well.

"Erion stepped to the door. "There are six watching the cave. We should go now, while we have a chance."

Leilas began shouldering her pack and Kai’s. Garabaldi opened his mouth to protest, then changed his mind and began collecting his gear. Erion took charge of the unconscious elf, slinging her over his shoulder. Leilas took the lead and stepped out the door. Garabaldi came next and took a different direction. Erion waited at the cave entrance.

It didn’t take long for the darklings to react. Three went for Garabaldi and three for Leilas. While they were occupying the enemy, Erion slipped from the cave and started up the mountain with Kai in tow. Luckily, these darklings didn’t seem as well trained as the last few groups they'd encountered and soon they were no longer a problem. Garabaldi joined Leilas and they began to follow the trail Erion had left, obliterating the marks as they passed. Erion had propped Kai against a rock and was anxiously looking for them.

"I was about to come looking for you," he said, relief in his voice.

"You know I’m not the best rock climber," replied Leilas, bending over to catch her breath. "You could have tried not to go straight up." Garabaldi cackled, as he wiped the dust from his clothes.

Garabaldi looked at the unconscious elf after he finished removing most of the grime. "Perhaps you should look at her wound again," he said to Leilas. "I would have thought she'd be awake by now."

Leilas had been thinking the same. She must have missed something. They moved Kai to a location that afforded more protection and then Leilas knelt and began to look for what was keeping Kai from regaining consciousness. Leilas knew she couldn’t hurry the process, even though her mind was telling her they needed to leave this place as quickly as possible. Slowly and methodically, she went back over each wound, checking and probing for the dark poison. Woven deep in two wounds, she found the poison. Calling on all Trion had taught her, she began to unweave the very nature of the poison, taking it back to a form that wasn’t dangerous.

Kai’s eyes flickered open as Leilas ceased speaking. Bowing her head, Leilas tried to regain her strength as Kai struggled to a sitting position. Erion handed Leilas beer and bread, then bent to help Kai to her feet.

"I was afraid we'd lost you," he said softly to the sea elf.

Kai looked from Erion to Leilas then back to Erion. "You would have, had the Chidra not been with us." There was a new respect in Kai’s eyes for the young crafter she was to guide to Solein’s temple.

"This is all very touching, but we really do need to get moving," said Garabaldi, sarcastically. "I don’t want to have to fight any more of those half-breeds tonight."

Leilas would have liked to lie down and sleep, but knew Garabaldi was right. They needed to put as much distance between themselves and the darklings as they could. Stumbling to her feet, she shouldered her pack and trudged after the others as they started up the rock face of the mountain.

It was difficult. Kai hadn’t misrepresented the trip up the mountain. There wasn’t a trail. They were moving up the rock faces, finding handholds in the broken cliffs. Kai, Erion and Garabaldi moved over the cliffs like mountain goats. Leilas fumbled for each step and handhold.

Halfway up the second cliff face, she felt the rock beneath her right hand give way. All her weight dropped onto her left hand and she dangled in space for several nerve-wracking moments until she could find holes for her feet and then reposition her right hand. Her arms were aching and she could barely breathe. Leaning her head against the rock, she tried to rest and calm her beating heart. She had no idea where the others were. At this point, she didn’t care. All that mattered was getting off this rock without great bodily injury.

Not daring to look down, she moved her feet one at a time then hunted for higher handholds. She moved several times before the rock gave way beneath her feet. The last thing she remembered was falling through the air.

~~~

Erion looked over the cliff at Leilas’ strangled scream. All he saw were arms and legs flailing in space. He heard the sickening thud as she hit the rocks below. Scrambling over the edge, he made his way down the cliff as quickly as he could. What had he been thinking? Had he been thinking at all? Even though Leilas had managed the small cliffs of the pass, that didn’t mean she was ready to tackle these rock faces unaided. Why had he left her to fend for herself when he knew she was already tired from healing Kai? Because he'd been too concerned with Kai’s welfare, He answered himself bitterly.