Mira's Hope (12 page)

“The Sword of Lumina is a child’s tale.”
Amrick laughed.

“You saw what my sister is capable of. Did
you not notice her hands were clear from the Mark of Rau?” Tark
asked patiently.

At this Amrick grew serious once more.

“There is a sword, Mira has indicated that
much. Whether Galena survives the journey into the cave is a whole
other matter. My point is, no matter what, we have to be prepared
to defend ourselves. Do you really think Rau is going to forget and
forgive after all of this? No, he’s going to make sure we pay for
the trouble we’ve caused.”

“It seems to me, we should hand you and your
family over to Rau to bargain with for peace,” Fala said in a
smooth baritone voice.

Tark had never heard such a low voice. “How
long do you think that will last?”

Fala didn’t answer his question, but averted
his eyes to the table, tracing the knots in the wood with his
fingers.

Amrick continued to knead the bread, her
eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Besides, haven’t you had enough of all of
this?” Tark held up his hands, displaying the ugly marks Rau
bestowed on all of them. Amrick stopped and looked out the door at
her daughter who had stopped what she was doing to listen to their
conversation. She smiled gently at the child before turning her
attention back to Tark.

“Who would you want to train?”

“Whoever would be willing. We also need to
send more elves out to other villages to recruit from them. The
more we can get, the better.”

Amrick nodded in agreement to this.

“What about weapons?” Fala asked.

“Either I have missed my guess or you’re in
the wrong profession, but you’re a blacksmith, correct?” Tark said,
looking Fala squarely in the face.

“The burn marks are a dead giveaway, ey?”
Fala said, the corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin.

“That and they would be crazy to use a huge
elf such as yourself for anything other than that. I could show you
my sword and I’m sure you would have no problem duplicating it,
even creating new and better ones. As more elves come, hopefully,
more will be blacksmiths as well. You could teach them all. In
fact, I think we should send out the call for blacksmiths as well
as any elf who wants to train to fight.”

“Cooks too. If we’re going to have this many
elves congregating here, we’re going to need as much help as
possible.”

Tark eagerly nodded at this statement. He
hadn’t thought of that aspect of training.

“The biggest problem we have to overcome is
getting other villages and other elves to rise to the occasion,”
Fala stated, he had left his tracing of the knots in the table to
begin tracing the hated mark on the back of his own hand.

“I agree. But if they have torlics invading
their own homes, I think that’ll be enough to push them toward this
idea. It was one thing to know the torlics existed and were evil
beings that carried out Rau’s biddings; it’s another thing to have
them as a part of everyday life. Searching through homes,
terrifying our children, making life even harder. When we point
this out, I’m sure we’ll get more than a few willing to take a
stand.”

Amrick and Fala exchanged looks, clearly
wanting to see where the other stood on the matter.

“Well, we need to gather the other elders
then. We have some explaining and persuading to do,” Amrick said,
sighing wearily.

It was late that night when Tark finally
returned to the treehouse. Dragging his feet up the stairs, he
collapsed face first into the bed that the night before, Galena and
Elenio claimed. He was tired, but satisfied. After explaining to
elder after elder his plan and answering each of their questions
and debating with them on every point, he felt he had battled an
army of torlics. Mind games, in his opinion, were harder than any
physical battle he had been through. Give him a sword and a torlic
any day of the week!

Hours later, he finally succeeded in
convincing them to join him in his endeavors against Rau. They had
to work out the finer points in the morning, but they’d already
started spreading the word around the village that Tark would be
training any elf that was willing to fight. At the time they
finally agreed to this, it seemed to Tark a meager reward for such
a hard day’s work. He never wanted to be an elder; they gave him
headaches.

He wondered vaguely how far Galena and Elenio
had made it and if they’d run into any more trouble along the way.
How he wished he could see Taura and Silva once more. His heart
ached as they sprang into his mind, both every bit as beautiful as
the day he left them. He would make the world safe for them, even
if it took his own life to do so.

He briefly considered going back to his own
village to recruit elves there, but rejected the thought almost in
the same moment. He didn’t think he would have the strength to
leave his precious family again. He rolled over onto his side,
letting memories of them run through his mind until he slipped into
a sleep filled with dreams of family and friends.

Chapter
Fifteen

Galena trudged through the forest, listening
for anything unusual. This task was easier said than done though.
She couldn’t help feeling slightly abandoned and alone with the
absence of her brother. She didn’t realize how much his presence
brought her comfort until he decided to stay back. What was more,
was she had no way of knowing if she would see him again. Brushing
a branch out of her way, she stepped through the opening she’d
created. Elenio grabbed her hand and she felt a rush of love and
hope run through her mind. Her thoughts calmed as they often did
anytime she felt Elenio’s emotions within her mind. They were
always there, but in the back of her thoughts. When he touched her
or she looked at him, those feelings and thoughts came running to
the front of her mind, anxious to be read by her. Looking back, she
smiled gratefully at him. He was her peace, her logic.

“Do you want to stop to eat soon, or are we
going to go storming through the woods all day?” he asked, pulling
at her hand slightly.

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking. That and I
wasn’t really hungry.”

“Well, I’m starving and we could both use a
break.”

Galena nodded and swung her pack around so
she could dig through and find some of the supplies they bought at
the village. Along with new blankets, as theirs were beginning to
smell and wear out, they were also given a large variety of food.
They could eat the majority as long as they left a small part for
Galena to reproduce later.

She grabbed a piece of cheese and Elenio
pulled several other things from his pack. A large array of
vegetables, fruits, cheese, and different types of bread. Galena
gaped at everything he set before her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were so
hungry?”

“I thought you would feel the hunger pains
consuming my own thoughts.” Elenio grinned wolfishly at her before
going on, “But it seems my thoughts were nowhere near the center of
your attention.”

Galena grimaced as she felt and thought what
Elenio was referring to. She felt guilty for ignoring them, but how
was one supposed to shut off their own thoughts, especially when
they overwhelmed you?

“I know and it’s okay,” he said through a
mouthful of food.

They finished the rest of their meal in
silence, although Galena did have to remind Elenio not to eat the
whole portion on several different occasions. Each time, he looked
so sadly at the food that Galena had to laugh and create more for
him right then. She was impressed that even with her recreating
food; he was able to put the majority of it away.

“You won’t be able to walk after this.” She
laughed. “I’ll have to roll you to our next camp site.”

“Oh yeah?”

He dove across the space between them,
wrapping his arms around her and making sure to hold the back of
her head in one of his hands. He sent them crashing to the ground
where he proceeded to tickle her. Wrapping her legs around his
waist, she flipped him over so that he was lying flat on his back.
She grabbed his wrist and held them on the ground above his head.
He raised an eyebrow before he kicked up off the ground, sending
them both flipping through the air. Galena landed on her back,
knocking the breath out of her. Their rolls had become reversed,
for he was the one straddling her with her wrists pinned above her
head.

“Even with a belly full of food and as long
as you don’t cheat,” he said quickly, sensing where her thoughts
were leading. “I can pin you.”

“I let you,” Galena retorted.

At this, Elenio snorted, but got off just the
same. “Right. Just like I let you beat me with a sword every
time.”

“Yep. I can’t win at everything. It would
give you a complex.”

Elenio just shook his head at her
proclamation and began cleaning up the food he’d left. Galena
cleaned up the little bit of cheese she’d nibbled on and smiled.
Their little tussle cheered her up and she found herself ready to
take on the world again. She scratched Twoit’s sleepy head, causing
the ferret to wake. Reaching in, she took her out and placed her on
the ground.

“You need to get up for a while. I don’t want
to be up with you again tonight, so bustle yourself about now.”

Twoit looked at Galena and began to lick her
paws, plainly stating what she thought of being woken up and told
what to do.

“You can pout all you want, but you’re still
going to stay awake for a while.”

To this, Twoit turned around and continued
her cleaning. Elenio laughed at the stubborn ferret and started
out. Galena laughing as well, shook her head, and caught up with
Elenio. Twoit would follow when she was ready.

It was late that evening when they finally
stopped for the night. Galena felt tired and hungry, but relatively
satisfied by their progress for the day. Twoit had indeed caught up
with them sometime earlier, and climbing Galena’s leg and then
back, climbed into Galena’s pack to resume her nap from where it
had been interrupted. Elenio just grinned.

Elenio collected some dry sticks and pieces
of wood for their fire while Galena internally debated whether or
not she wanted to create something for them to sleep on. In the
end, she created a large bed from a single stick, placed in a hole
in the ground. She was once again amazed with how the wood
rearranged itself, it shaped just as she saw fit. She was sure this
was something she would never grow tired of seeing.

Covering the wooden mat with foliage, she
rolled up a couple pieces of clothing for pillows and placed their
blankets over the entire thing. She would reshape the bed in the
morning to an average tree so that if torlics were tracking them,
they would not be aided by Galena leaving homes and tree furniture
everywhere.

Elenio finished collecting kindle about the
same time Galena finished with their sleeping accommodations.
Seeing he’d arranged the wood so it would burn for a while, she
caused the pieces to catch fire, turning the pile of kindle into a
roaring campfire, and bringing waves of warmth with it. She held
her hands above the flames for a few minutes, enjoying the dance
the fire performed before turning to her pack. She’d managed to get
a pot from one of the villagers to use on their journey and
proceeded to make a vegetable soup.

“Well, I think we know who the better cook
is,” Elenio said, putting his empty bowl beside his leg after he
finished.

“Who?”

“Well, let’s just say you should keep to your
strengths. Sword fighting.” He grinned at her, his eyes twinkling
in the firelight.

Slapping his shoulder playfully, she leaned
against the foot of the bed, still watching the fire burn. What a
wild and fierce creature it was. Elenio reached for her and pulled
her close to him, kissing her head as he wrapped his arms around
her shoulders. She placed her own hands over top of his and
breathed in deeply. Dangerous journey or not, she was content with
where she was at.

“You realize this is the first time we’ve
been alone in months,” he whispered in her ear.

“Aye,” she said quietly. She felt the shift
in his feelings and was surprised at the intensity of his
emotions.

With his finger under her chin, he turned her
so he could see her face. She saw love there in the shadows of his
features and blushed.

“We’re commitment partners, a blessing from
Mira,” he said, a hint of suggestion in his voice. He kissed the
tip of her nose, his eyes never leaving her own.

“And why do you think she did that?” Galena
asked, curious to hear what Elenio’s thoughts were on the
matter.

“I don’t claim to know the mind of a
goddess.” He grinned down at her before softly kissing her.

She breathed in the scent of him and relished
his kisses, each one filled with more love than she thought
possible. Now was not the time to revel in them though. Sighing
deeply, she placed her hand against his chest, feeling his heart
racing, and pushed him back. Their kiss broke and he stared down at
her, confusion written plainly across his face.

“I do have a theory on why Mira chose to
bless us this way.”

“Can I hear it later?” He leaned toward her
once more.

“No. You need to hear it now and my reasoning
for why we should wait until the fate of our lives has been
decided.”

Elenio leaned back with that, hurt and
surprise mingling in his emotions.

“Mira knows what I have to face in the cave.
She didn’t tell me what, only that I would be facing fears I never
imagined.” Galena paused for a moment, hearing Mira’s warnings ring
through her mind once more. She shook her head quickly, ridding
herself of the doubt that was threatening to overwhelm her and went
on. “I believe she allowed us to have this commitment as a way to
help me through the cave. You see, with your thoughts and emotions
running through my mind, my own are somewhat lesser, especially if
you are not facing what I’m up against. When we are thinking the
same thing, my emotions are twice as strong, which I believe is the
reason I have been doing so well with fighting and training. We
both have the same goal, to survive.”