Mira's Hope
Authors: Erin Elliott
Tags: #train, #magic, #elf, #mission, #army, #quest, #cave, #dictator, #doubt and fear, #evil ruler
The Sword of Lumina #2
by Erin Elliott
Published by
Fire and Ice
A Young Adult Imprint of Melange
Books, LLC
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Mira's Hope, Copyright 2014 Erin
Elliott
ISBN: 978-1-68046-001-8
Names, characters, and incidents
depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States of
America.
Cover Design by Stephanie
Flint
To my mom and dad.
Thank you for everything.
MIRA'S
HOPE
by Erin Elliott
Restored to life, Galena finds herself in a
world with which she is unfamiliar. The chains of Rau having been
removed, Galena’s magic is unchecked and Rau knows it. In a
desperate race to retrieve the Sword of Lumina after Mira reveals
her hiding place, Galena is plagued with self-doubt and a fear of
what’s to come. Not to mention that her brother Tark decides to
stay behind after battling torlics in search of them, to train an
army of elves should Galena survive the dreaded cave. Will Galena
survive her worst fears, or will Mira’s hope lie with another?
Table of
Contents
Prologue
Every creature in all of Tomiro holds
certain beliefs of what will happen when they cease to exist in
this life. Every life is carried out with those beliefs always in
the back of their mind. Every good or wicked deed will be presented
to their chosen god or goddess in their afterlife. This thought is
rarely foremost in their minds unless another’s death or experience
reminds them of those beliefs. Even the animals of the forests or
farms live their life out, not knowing what’s coming, but living in
the way that is expected of their kind. It is the nature of life
itself.
It is known in the elven world, when an elf
dies, that elf goes to be with the gods who created them. They are
sent off with the respect and jealousy of the other elves as their
ancestors were from the beginning of time. Once they have been sent
on, the gods welcome them back with open arms, glad for their
return. They are free and at peace, living in the way that it once
was. Their magical abilities returned, their youth regained, all as
a reward for their enslavement in the past world. An apology from
the gods for having turned their backs on them in the first
place.
However, there are those unfortunate ones,
rare as they are, who cannot go on, but can’t fully go back either.
Their curse is an attempt at what is forbidden to them. They are
trapped in a world of blackness and pain. Their screams are for a
quick release, while begging to be helped back into the life they
once knew. Reduced to a mindless world in which nothing seems real,
but the searing, soul-ripping pain. A pain so unlike anything ever
experienced that it alone is the cause of death. Only when they
succumb to such pain, can they truly be free and join their
makers.
Only those with a strong mind and body can
hold on to what was. Those few precious elves try to hang on for
days or even weeks, but in the end, the results are always the
same. All, but for one elf.
Chapter
One
Rau leaned back on his throne, pleasure and
satisfaction apparent in his relaxed face and with the ease of his
movements. It was finished. He no longer felt the troublesome elf
that had nearly cost him so much. Because of her own stupid pride,
she had been the reason for her own demise. Haulua doubted him, but
in the end, it was his own clever spell that defeated Mira’s only
hope.
Rau closed his eyes and sighed wearily. He
would sleep peacefully tonight. It would be the first night he had
in months. This whole ordeal weighed heavily on his mind, both in
his waking hours as well as his sleeping ones. It proved
all-consuming to him and he’d suffered accordingly.
He contemplated an early retirement for the
night, savoring the idea of a full night’s rest once more, when he
noticed flashes of light from different places in his throne room.
Sighing, he watched as the lights gathered, collecting in the
middle of the room in the form of a tall, muscular man. The light
in the room grew brighter and brighter still, until Rau had to
shield his eyes from the glaring rays. Why Haulua felt it necessary
to appear to him this way was beyond him. Still frustrated, he
closed his eyes to avoid being blinded. The god knew he couldn’t
stand the brightness.
He heard a faint pop and removing his hands
from his eyes, bowed low to his creator and Lord. Haulua stood
before him, hands clasped behind his back, as he regarded the room
in which he was standing in. Rau watched him warily while keeping
his head bowed, but Haulua seemed to be in no rush. The god
appeared to be extremely tense; the past several weeks had been
extremely difficult for him as well. Rau noticed the creases around
his eyes seemed to have deepened, his lips were nothing, but a thin
line and he stood a little straighter, almost as if the muscles in
his back were too stiff to slump over even in the slightest. The
god began to pace across the room several times, always stopping to
examine some small bit of the wall. Rau realized this was to show
him who the true lord and ruler was more than to inspect a few
rocks.
Coming directly in front of Rau, he stopped.
“Have you disposed of the girl elf?” he whispered in his deadliest
voice.
“She used more magic than even she was
capable of,” Rau responded, his eyes returning to the floor.
“Are you sure? Did you see her body?” he said
in a quieter voice still.
“No, but...” Rau started.
“Did your torlics bring back reports of the
battle?” Haulua asked, his voice so low now that Rau had to strain
to hear it.
“No torlics have returned, my—”
“Then how can you be so sure?”
“She may not be dead yet, but it is only a
matter of time. I no longer feel her or the use of her magic.” Rau
chanced a look at Haulua’s face before returning his gaze to the
floor once more. He felt hate rise within him as Haulua made him
doubt himself. The god feared everything and that fear was starting
to rub off on him.
Haulua resumed his pacing, his toga making
slight rustling sounds on the floor as he moved. Rau found the
sound more disconcerting than being yelled at. That sound meant
Haulua was deep in thought and by no means feeling victorious.
“I am not so sure. Mira’s too calm, too at
peace with what has happened. I would think some type of emotion
would show through, but then again, it is Mira. I would not put it
past her to have some type of plan developed in case this
particular elf did not work out, but still...” He paused once more,
his back to Rau.
“I don’t see how the elf girl could have
managed to wiggle her way out of this one. It isn’t like before
when I knew she was alive even though she resisted using magic, so
I couldn’t find her. I feel nothing this time, as if she has been
wiped from creation,” Rau said, a touch of the panic he was
beginning to feel, creeping into his voice. He suddenly felt even
less sure of himself as he watched his creator express his own
unease through his relentless pacing.
Curse Haulua for being
weak
, Rau thought bitterly. He raised his face again, watching
his lord ponder the situation more.
“Interesting. I can feel your hatred of me.
It radiates in every shadow. Have you forgotten your place? Have
you forgotten who your creator is? “Haulua stared at Rau, anger
dancing in his eyes as he waited for a reply.
“Never, my lord,” Rau stated in an oily
voice.
“Good, see to it that you don’t. Just for my
own personal reassurance, I want to you to send out more torlics to
confirm her death. I want her body brought back here where I may
see her myself before I will be at peace. Her traveling companions
must be punished by death as well. We don’t want the elf population
to think that they can get away with this.”
“Yes, my lord. It will take several days
before I can have another small group of torlics there, but it
shall be done.”
“See to it that it is. Maybe once I have
viewed this pathetic elf’s lifeless body, will I finally break down
Mira’s calm demeanor,” Haulua said more to himself as he chuckled
quietly.
Rau bowed lower still in respect and as a way
to shield his eyes, as Haulua started to break apart into millions
of tiny light fragments and fly through the room.
When the last light disappeared from sight
bringing the room into an eerie darkness, Rau slowly rose to his
feet. He would take pleasure in bringing back the lifeless body of
this elf to his castle. He might even put her on a stake, just
outside his castle walls for all to see what happens when you try
to cross him. Rau smiled to himself at the thought of the fear that
would be inflicted in all the elves with his new decorations. He
called for a new general as his last army had been destroyed with
the little bit of magic the troublesome elf had managed. In a few
days’ time, he would appease his lord and then, a new reign would
begin. This time, it would be harsher, keeping the elves from ever
considering going against him again.
Chapter
Two
Elenio squatted by the side of a small fire
and stared into its depths. He watched as the fire merrily danced
this way and that, completely oblivious to the moaning elf that lay
just outside of its reaches. Elenio looked at Tark, his
brother-in-law and friend. Tark was resting fitfully, turning and
readjusting his position every few minutes. Both he and Tark had
been the same since they left the summit of the first mountain.
They’d already been traveling for two days and made it about three
fourths of the way down. They hadn’t stopped to eat, but ate as
they continued down the mountainside with Galena strapped to their
back.
When Galena decided to use her magic to
destroy all the torlics at the same time, saving both him and Tark,
she knew she would be sacrificing herself, but she did it just the
same. Elenio had felt it and saw the look in her eyes. He’d meant
to stop her, but couldn’t get to her in time.
Not that it would
have mattered,
he thought bitterly. When Galena set her mind to
do something, she did it. She’d set every torlic on the mountain
ablaze in a white-hot fire that consumed them in just a few short
moments, but it also activated the spell woven into every Mark of
Rau.