Ghosts Of Alfhaven (Book 2) (8 page)

Mari smiled, sniffled, then took Naralei's hand. Nara gave her a hug and helped her down the hill to the female bath houses. Everyone else looked at each other and nodded with mutual understanding. Mirehawk was finally acting and thinking like a team.

Dinner that night was not as lively as breakfast. Sawain and the rest of Mirehawk sat at their respective places around their table. No one jumped around. No one performed any theatrics. The conversation, however, was as excited as usual.

Everyone crowded around Mari, praising her for her talent that saved them from a night in the infirmary. Naralei was the most vocal admirer. Sawain watched in amusement as Mari's confidence was restored and bolstered further by her friends.

That night, after dinner, everyone sat around on the lawn, congregating with the other recruit teams. Mirehawk was among the first to trickle off to bed. Sawain and Naralei were the last from their team to say farewell to the others. He walked with Naralei to their rooms, since they were neighbors. The first minute of the journey was awkward and silent. Sawain wanted to say something to her, but he could not decide if he should crack a joke or apologize.

I don't even know how to tell a joke. That might be a bad idea.

Naralei finally broke the silence as they approached the stairs, “Sawain, you were impressive today, yet again.”

Sawain was confused. He scratched his head and kept his eyes on the stairs before his feet.

“Me? Nah, Mari was the star today, not me.”

Sawain noticed Naralei smile out of the corner of his eye. She fumbled with her braided hair as they slowly walked up the wooden staircase.

“She shone today because you knew what it would take to get her to. It was really kind of you to direct all of the attention to a team mate instead of yourself. That's unusual, you know.”

Sawain arched an eyebrow and glanced at her, “What, sharing the glory?”

Naralei shrugged. “Well, that, and kindness, in general. That's not a trait that's common here, or anywhere for that matter.”

Sawain blushed, “That's not true. You've defended me before. You were showing kindness to Mari tonight, too.”

Naralei smiled again and looked down for a moment. Sawain noticed that they stood at her door now. She turned to face him. He met her gaze. Her eyes were very pretty.

“
Thanks for bringing this team together, Sawain. You really are the leader we need.”

She wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a genuine embrace. He was shocked and inhaled sharply by instinct. She let him go quickly. Her face turned red. She turned away from Sawain and quickly unlocked her door. She pushed it open as she muttered to him.

“Good night, Sawain.”

Sawain wanted to call out to her. He wanted to tell her to wait. He wanted to return her hug, to kiss her. He wanted to, but he did nothing.

“Good night, Naralei, see you in the morning.”

She slipped into her room and closed the door behind her. Sawain stood in front of the door and stared mournfully at it. His stomach twisted into several knots. His heart beat hard and fast. He took several deep breaths, then turned to finish the climb to his room.

When he stepped into his room, he was surprised to find a blue glowstool affixed to the far wall, just above his bed. He could actually see the inside of his room. There was a roll of parchment on his bed. It was a note from the director, Lady Tirinele.

Sawain,

Good work today. I took the liberty of having the house druid plant a glowstool for you. You can thank your friend, Tobi. Who would've thought that fluffy ball of nerves would have the gall to stand up to me when I told him no the first time? They see something in you, Sawain. They trust you. Don't let them down.

~ Tirinele, Director of Recruitment, Rowan Circle Fortress

Sawain reread the note two more times. A mix of pride, joy, and fear grew in his chest on each read through. Mirehawk Team really did respect him. It was not just kind words from Naralei. Each time he read the last sentence of her note, The fear writhed within him.

What if I do let them down? I don't know how to be a leader. What if I mess up? What if I get someone hurt or killed? So many have died under my leadership already. What if I fail again, like I did at Underfell Town?

These questions haunted him as he crawled into bed, still clothed. Worry enveloped him as he closed his eyes. He heard a voice in his ear as he drifted between the realms of waking and dreaming. It was a familiar one. A man's voice. The words repeated in his mind. They comforted his spirit a little more each time.

Fear Has No Place Here.

Chapter 8

The next four months passed rapidly for Sawain. He was consumed by his training after his first brush with leadership. He worked hard to sharpen his body and mind. In the day time, he drilled constantly with his team, who grew closer to him every day. If he was not visiting with Jatharr and Marta at night, he was fervently studying elvish. Marta had reached a full recovery in a short time, thanks to the healers of Alfhaven.

He really enjoyed his visits with Marta and Jatharr. Jatharr had become quite attached to Marta. The two of them lived beside each other in special refugee quarters inside the fort. Marta treated Sawain like a son and he viewed her as a surrogate mother.

He received an invitation to breakfast one morning. Jatharr and Marta greeted him when he arrived at Marta's home. She did a very impressive job of turning the nearly bare chamber into a cozy halfling house. Sawain wondered where she came by it. She sat at her dining table, across from Jatharr. A breakfast of eggs and toast awaited him. She smiled warmly and beckoned him to his place at the table.

“Come in, child! Come in! Now that everyone is here, we can eat!”

Sawain obeyed and took his seat at the table. He started on his breakfast immediately. Jatharr chuckled.

“Ye act like that elvish food is not nearly enough!”

Sawain shrugged, “It's not that. Nerelis' training is just so demanding that I need all the food I can get. I eat plenty every day, but still wake up starving.”

Marta nodded, “A growing boy needs lots to eat. Don't you worry, Sawain, Auntie Marta will take care of ye!”

Sawain smiled, “I have full faith in you, Auntie. Jatharr, how is your 'secret special training' going?”

Jatharr flexed his arm dramatically. He wore a blue tunic that fit his form well. Sawain could see the definition in his muscles. Jatharr was in extremely good shape, for an old halfling. Sawain was impressed and a little jealous, even though his own muscles had developed to twice the hardness and bulk they were when he entered the forest.

Jatharr chuckled, “I'd say by the look on yer face that it's going well. Lady Tirinele set me up with some expert trainers. I never thought I would be able to climb a tree, much less move through them like an elf. Even with my stubby legs, I can move like a proper forest ranger now! I am in better shape now than I've ever been! I feel like I'm twenty again! These elves may be rude and harsh, but there is definitely something to their training methods, if you're tough enough for them.”

Sawain nodded as he finished his plate of food, “Glad to hear it. You'll need those skills when we hit the wilds again.”

Jatharr's eyes sparkled, “So, yer still planning on letting this old dog tag along?”

Sawain raised an eyebrow, “Well, sure. We started this together, I thought we;d finish it together.”

Jatharr grinned, but his grin soon faded, “What about Marta?”

Marta waved at the question, “You boys don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine on my own for a while. I've actually made friends with some of the younger elves. They really appreciate the cookies I bring around to them during training. Just be sure to come back and visit me after yer famous heroes, alright?”

Sawain smiled, “Of course we will! Once this war's over, I'm going to bring you to Anvilheim to stay with us at Dawnstar Manor! You'll see.”

Marta smiled and patted his hand as he rose from the table, “I'll hold ye to that, young one!”

Sawain kissed Marta;s cheek and slapped Jatharr on the back, “You two stay out of trouble while I'm gone. If I'm late again, Nerelis will skin me alive then make me run twenty laps around the fort.”

He waved goodbye to his friends as he closed Marta's door behind him and made for the training ring. Nerelis promised today would not be easy.

That evening, after training, he was saying his farewells to his friends and was heading to his room to sit down with a more advanced book, when he felt a small hand slip under his arm. It was Naralei. She grinned at him as she wrapped her arm around his. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks and tried to calm down. He returned her smile speechlessly. She spoke first.

“Hey, bookwyrm! Don't tell me you're going to lock yourself up in your room tonight! Don't you know what day it is?”

He shook his head, “No? What day is it?”

She shook his arm playfully, “You Bog Imp! It's the first day of Spring!”

Sawain's eyes widened in shock. He was a year older and did not even realize it. Naralei began to pull him toward the front gate of the fort.

“You've never seen Alfhaven on the first day of Spring before. Come on, let's go for a run! I'll show you how beautiful the city can be!”

Sawain could not resist the pretty elf maid who tugged him along. He smiled and walked with her.

“A run? How do you have so much energy? We just finished a twelve hour training session!”

She giggled, “I'm young. So are you, so stop complaining! Besides, I thought you wanted to be the best on the team? You sure act like it.”

He shrugged, “I just need to be ready to fight the Grey King as soon as possible. It's been six months since he attacked the Fells. There's no telling how bad it is out there now. I only hope the other heroes can defend the Holds long enough for me to be ready.”

Naralei frowned and looked down at the ground, “It must be difficult to have such a burden on your shoulders.”

Sawain nodded hesitantly, “It is, and I have been scared stiff countless times in the past year. I've been beaten bloody several times, made a prisoner of war, and nearly killed more times than I would have liked. Two things keep me going: The knowledge that I am Hammerhold's best hope of deliverance and the group of strong friends I have made along the way. They help me uphold my burden, even if they don't realize it.”

Naralei smiled slightly and gazed up at him again, “I would love to be one of those friends, Sawain.”

He looked back at her and nodded, feeling the fond warmth in his chest, “You certainly are, Naralei.”

Naralei's arm slipped out from under his. Her smile was broader now. They stood outside of the Rowan Circle Fortress, near one of the trees that the upper highway ran through.

“You can call me Nara, you know. We are friends, after all. Now, come on! You have to see this!”

Naralei turned and bolted at the tree. She used her momentum to run up the trunk for six strides, then landed nimbly on the lower hanging bough she was aiming for. Sawain was impressed, and a bit intimidated. He followed suit. He was amazed by his own natural talent. He bounded up the tree in three strides before he lost momentum. He was a foot away from the branch, so he launched out his hand and grabbed it firmly. He dangled for a moment, then recovered and pulled himself up into the bough, face to face with Naralei. She laughed at him.

“Almost didn't make it! You need to work on your tree climbing! You
are
going to be Mirehawk's leader some day, after all!”

She turned and continued upward, using the branches to keep her momentum until she reached the lip of the high road. Sawain felt embarrassed at her words. He knew that she was leader long before he arrived and he felt like he was pulling a rug out from under her feet. He mimicked her path, though not as gracefully. He pulled himself up on the wooden road.

“I thought you were Mirehawk's leader, Nara?”

She snorted, “My dad doesn't think I'm leadership material. You should hear how he dotes on you, though. He hated you when you first came to Alfhaven, now he brags on you like you were his oldest son.”

Sawain placed a hand on his hip and gave Naralei a skeptical look, “Like a son? He works me harder and finds more fault in me than anyone else on the team. He's nearly broken me several times.”

Nara sprinted up the arching highway and Sawain followed after her. When he caught up, she spoke again.

“He's just preparing you for the mantle of leadership. He told me it had to be you. He's pointing out every fault in you so you can learn to fix them or guard against them. You are chosen of the gods, Sawain. I can't compete against that.”

They reached the top of the arch. Sawain lost more momentum when he beheld the view of the city from this vantage point. Towering buildings rose toward the thorny dome ceiling by the hundreds. The city itself was a forest of towers, all made of living wood. The glowstools on the dome shone brighter than usual. They shifted from green, to blue, to purple every few seconds. It gave the appearance of a glistening sea of light, which reminded Sawain of the stream of light he could see in the night sky over Anvilheim.

Nara glanced at him with a grin, “Pretty impressive, right? Well, we'd better hurry. The real show is about to begin!”

She backed to the far side of the road, then ran headlong at the other edge, then jumped as hard as she could off of it. She soared through the air and down ten feet to one of the taller buildings. She tucked into a roll and bounced back up, making it look effortless. She turned and waved at Sawain. His heart sank. He was used to jumping from barn lofts, but he was at least fifty feet from the ground and had to make a six foot jump to a surface ten feet below. If he missed, he probably would not get another chance.

I have to try. Nara is watching. Besides, how can I ever be a leader if I'm too afraid to act?

He stepped to the far ledge, took a deep breath, and let it out, taking his fear with it. He poured  all of his energy into his legs and let out a burst of speed. He hit the edge of the road hard and released all he had into the jump. He flew towards the quickly approaching building. His leap carried him over Naralei's head. When he hit the building, he went into a roll and nearly went off of the other edge, but stopped a few inches from death. He was very impressed by his distance. Naralei clapped her hands.

“Look at you! You can't climb, but you sure can jump! Come on, we still have some more of both to do!”

She ran at the ledge he stopped on and leaped for a much taller building. She caught the ledge of a window and reached over to a hanging vine. She used it to scale the tower-like building. Sawain swallowed his fear and backed up to get momentum. He dashed at the target and jumped hard again, then slammed into the window seal, much harder than intended. It was narrow and hard to hold onto. His grip nearly broke, until he found a crease in the wood around his feet. He stabilized himself enough to reach for the vine and follow Nara to the top.

At the top, she led him to the edge again. There was a series of buildings of similar height, only a few feet apart. She ran and cleared the gaps easily. Sawain followed suit, barely able to keep up with her. They leaped and climbed buildings for ten more minutes, until they reached the top of the tallest tower yet.

They were so close to the top of the dome, Sawain could make out the details of the glowstools above his head, as well as the razor sharp thorns. Naralei walked to the edge of the tower, then sat down and dangled her feet over the ledge. She looked over her shoulder at Sawain.

“Come sit with me and take a rest. The show's about to start!”

Sawain nodded and sat down beside her, then dangled his feet over the ledge in like fashion. He was blown away by the view. The Arborhart towered to the ceiling only a few hundred feet away from them. He could see dozens of tiny dark specks below them. Soon, the light from the Arborhart and the glowstools dimmed to an almost imperceptible glow. The city itself grew darker. Naralei leaned into Sawain and pressed her arm against his. She whispered excitedly to him.

“It's starting!”

Suddenly, a blaze of red light lit up the darkened dome. Six brilliant red orbs of light with tails like comets shot into the air. They exploded almost eye level with Sawain, which caused him to jump. The trails of the exploding orbs arced through the air and created what looked like  giant dandelions of bright red fire. Nara's arm wrapped around Sawain's again as seven blue orbs shot from the ground to the air, exploding in similar fashion, but making different flower-like patterns. Naralei spoke to Sawain as they watched the spectacle.

“They're called Fire Flowers! A specialty bit of magic the druids cook up every spring to brighten this otherwise dark city. I come up here and watch them every year. They remind me of my mother.”

Sawain glanced at her, “You lost your mother too?”

She nodded, “About the same time your mother went missing. Dad told me they were best friends. Nearly inseparable. I was really young when mom disappeared, probably around five or six years old, but I can still remember coming up here with her.”

Sawain sat in silence for a moment, watching the Fire Flowers explode into colorful blooms. So many questions formed in his mind that needed answers.

“Nara, how is it that your dad knows my mother?”

Nara hesitated for a moment, then gave him a smile, “They were cousins.”

Shock ran from the base of Sawain's skull, down his spine, and into his limbs. He sat there for a moment, processing this new knowledge.

“
Wait, so I'm related to him? That means... We're cousins too, doesn't it?”

Naralei smiled broader, hugging his arm tight, “Yes, well second cousins, but yes! We are blood kin, Sawain! I've known for a few months now, but my father didn't want you to know yet. That means it stays between us for now. I'm just so happy to know that there's someone left from our clan besides me and dad!”