Mira's Hope (13 page)

“The same goes for me,” Elenio said, nodding
in understanding.

“I know. But don’t you see, you can’t go into
the cave with me. You won’t see or feel the things I will so your
thoughts will help to steady me, to allow me to see reason when the
magic of Mira would otherwise prevent it. You being on the outside
is what will allow me to defeat whatever it is on the inside.”
Galena stared up at Elenio, willing her thoughts and emotions to
help him see she was right. “Plus, this just isn’t the right time.
I want to have a proper ceremony with our friends and family.”
Turning around so that she faced him, she reached up and lovingly
cupped his face with both of her hands. She looked into his eyes,
watching as the puzzle pieces came together and he sighed.

He bent his head down and kissed her again,
this time with love, but also resignation. “You’re right. I was
swept up in the fact we were finally alone, but I didn’t think past
that. I hate it when you’re right, just so you know.”

Galena grinned at him. “You should be used to
it by now.” She scooted out of his way when he attempted to pull
her braid at this comment. Grabbing a foot, he pulled her back to
him and spun her around so that her back was against his chest. He
wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head while
they watched the flames together.

“Are your protective barriers up yet?” He
nuzzled her neck lovingly before looking back at the flames.

She quickly put everything into place, not
having to concentrate even a fraction of what she did when she
first attempted the magic. She nodded sleepily.

“What if I can’t give you the peace you need
when you’re in that wretched cave?”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to give me
complete peace, but I’ll have your thoughts to cling to when I lose
my own mind.” Galena realized no matter what, this next challenge
would not be easy and there was a huge chance she would not make it
out alive. She had to cling to the thought that Mira did not think
it was impossible or she wouldn’t have saved her at all. She knew
retrieving the sword would make her stronger, more able against
Rau, but she didn’t relish the thought of the tortures awaiting
her. The last thing the gods created managed to enslave all the
elves. She hated to see what kind of magical protection one goddess
could cook up.

Elenio squeezed her tightly as he sensed her
own thoughts and emotions heading down a dark path. She turned so
she could wrap her arms around him in return. They couldn’t be
together as commitment partners, but it didn’t matter because she
was still here with him now.

“I love you,” she said, holding him as
tightly as she could.

He tilted her face up once more and kissed
her lightly before returning the bone-crushing hug. “Let’s get some
sleep before I go back on my logical thinking.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Rau drummed his fingers on the arm of his
throne. He had grown tired of hearing report after report of
nothing. Narooks, torlics, even his earagos had not been able to
locate the girl elf and her traveling companions. He heard how some
of the elves were beginning to gather, but he didn’t see this as an
issue. What could they do? They were like harmless flies, pests
that needed to be dealt with eventually, but not life
threatening.

No, what was more disturbing to him was that
not one of his creatures could find any trace of the three elves
that caused him such worry to begin with. They’d found burn places
on the mountain with Mira’s View, but no elf bodies. It didn’t make
sense to him. His marks should have taken care of the elf girl
easily. How they’d disposed of his torlics so easily was what was
bothering him now. The other two elves couldn’t have been in any
condition to handle that many of his assassins.

He knew there was no possible way the girl
had lived. He no longer felt any connection there, like with all
the elves who died before her. Her death wasn’t the problem; it was
proving she was indeed dead to Haulua. The god had visited him
every day for the last couple of weeks, growing more and more
impatient with every visit. On the last occasion, he had grown so
angry, it took Rau the remainder of the day to recover from his
shouting. His head still ached and his hearing would forever be
damaged.

He’d never, in all his existence, seen the
god so agitated or afraid. This unnerved Rau more than anything
else. Returning his focus to the rambling torlic, he waved a hand
dismissively before issuing an order; he would hear no more reports
that day. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and
thumb, he growled. Anger began to replace the anxious feeling in
the pit of his stomach. If he didn’t hear something good soon, he
would have to take a more prominent role in the search for the
worthless girl elf. He would send his shadows out to find her.
Thinking about this his thoughts began to calm. Yes, that’s what he
would do. He would allow his minions to search on their own for a
couple more days and then he’d joined the search. He could send his
shadows all throughout the land. Searching Tomiro more effectively
than anyone he commanded. He leaned back, liking his new plan more
and more with every passing moment. The sooner all of this was
over, the better, for he really could not stand anymore visits from
his creator and lord. He didn’t think his head or ears could stand
Haulua’s fits of rage.

Chapter
Seventeen

Galena woke early the next morning as she
always did, feeling well rested and more at ease than she had the
day before. She had begun to see hope in their plans when she
reasoned with Elenio about their commitment to each other. She
realized she’d known all along Mira’s reasoning, but hadn’t really
thought about it or voiced her theory until the previous night. She
now felt more prepared, ready to battle whatever was coming.

She sat slowly so as not to disturb Elenio,
who was still sleeping peacefully next to her. She looked intently
at him, the worry she always felt within him, was erased from his
face. She knew this was hard on him, but didn’t know any way to
make it easier. She reached out and gently moved a stray strand of
hair from his eyes. He sighed deeply, but continued to sleep.

Lifting the blankets, she climbed out of the
bed and crept over to their packs. She dug around for some sweet
bread that had been given to them the day before they’d left, and
broke it in half. The bread was similar to the sweet bread they had
at home, much to Galena’s delight. It had been her favorite to eat
whenever she got the chance. It reminded her of a simpler time when
she felt more free and bolder. Tears stung her eyes, even as pride
filled her heart as she remembered her father and Melan. She knew
they would be proud of how far she’d come.

Thinking of her family, she decided to check
on Tark while the morning was still calm and peaceful. She dug a
small hole in the ground by their campfire and thought of water
filling it to the brim. The water rose to the very edge, shinning
clear, without a ripple. She thought of Tark, remembering every
detail of his being and before her, he appeared in the water. She
grinned and sighed, seeing him sleeping so peacefully was
comforting to her. He lay on his belly, head turned to the side,
and one arm dangling over the edge of the bed in the treehouse. She
could almost hear the snores coming from his open, drooling lips.
She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing aloud and
waking Elenio. When she saw Tark next, she would be sure to
describe in detail, exactly what she saw the first time that she
checked in on him.

Dismissing the water while chuckling silently
to herself, she stood and began to stretch. Stretching was not
something she’d done often in the past, but she found comfort in it
the last couple of weeks. She found she was able to think during
this time, connecting thoughts that otherwise eluded her, and she
felt more at peace with the world. Moreover, it seemed to help
stretch muscles that resisted stretching, and strengthen others she
didn’t always use when training. She went through the complicated
routine she’d developed since she’d taken up this practice, until
she had to call it to a momentary stop at the persistence of
Twoit’s pacing. The ferret wanted out of their protective circle in
order to hunt for her food that day.

Galena grinned and continued to twist her
body in different stretches, releasing the barriers at the same
time. She felt the cold the fire had been warding off, rush in and
set her teeth to chattering. As soon as Twoit went a ways into the
forest, Galena put the barrier back up for the sheer warmth from
it.

Elenio sat up groggily when she replaced the
protection, blinking rapidly as he looked around. His thoughts
betrayed him in his confusion as he’d temporarily forgotten they
were in the outdoors once more. Galena grinned and walked over to
him, not finishing the routine she’d created, but sensing she would
not be able to continue anyway.

“Good morning,” she said, sitting down beside
him.

He rubbed his eyes sleepily, letting a huge
yawn escape. “Morning already?” he asked groggily.

“Unfortunately.” She continued to sit and
watch him as he slowly woke up. He’d never been a morning person,
where she relished the early morning and the freshness it
promised.

It never ceased to amaze her just how long it
actually took Elenio to wake himself up. The quickest she’d ever
seen him move was when they were children and she’d thought it
would be a great idea to dump a bucket of water on him. He went a
week without talking to her after that.

Showing mercy, she got up, retrieved a couple
loaves of the sweet bread, and handed them to him along with a
flask of water.

He grunted gratefully and bit into one of the
loaves. “How far away do you think the next village is?” he asked
around a mouthful of bread.

“Amrick said there was one a couple day’s
journey from their village if we continued heading to the
west.”

They had not been specific about where they
were heading, only that they were in search of a cave. Amrick knew
they were heading in a western direction, but she was the only one
they shared this with. Galena, Elenio, and Tark all felt this would
help to keep torlics from being able to follow them easily.

Galena began cleaning up their camp area
while Elenio finished his morning meal and continued the process of
waking up. Twoit came trotting into the area outside their
protective ring as Galena was replacing her boots. She brought the
barriers down just long enough for the ferret to cross and then
replaced them. The chill creeping up on her in those short few
moments. Today really was going to be a very cold day. She strapped
on her belt and sword and then put on the warm wrap. Leaving this
nice warm place would be brutal. She really didn’t like the
cold.

Elenio came up beside her, retrieved his
pack, and put on his things. He stood waiting while Galena took the
moment to retrieve their blankets and make the bed into a tree. It
grew quickly, but Galena stopped it when it reached the same height
as the other trees. She didn’t want it to be obvious she had been
there by creating an overly giant tree.

The leaves on it turned a flaming shade of
red and orange before turning brown and falling to the ground. When
she was finished, the tree looked as if it had been there for some
time, growing with the others that surrounded it.

“You’ve gotten really good at that,” Elenio
said, admiring her handy work. “It’s fascinating the way the wood
and pieces seem to stack on top of each other. Do you imagine how
each branch will look or just think of it growing?”

“I never thought of trying to place different
branches in different areas on the tree. I just think of a tree
growing at a fast pace and it does. But trying to shape their
natural structure is an interesting thought.” Galena pondered the
possibilities that could arise from having branches placed in
strategic locations on the trees while she scooped up Twoit and
held her in her arms for a moment so she could scratch her head.
The ferret turned her head this way and that, guiding Galena’s
fingers to just the right spot. Finally, having received enough
love, she scrambled up Galena’s arm and into the open top of her
pack.

They traveled for several days, stopping late
in the evenings to camp for the night and start again in the
morning. They went through another village, which had so far, not
seen any monsters. However, the villagers had heard rumors about
the torlics and other creatures roaming Tomiro in search of elves.
Galena found the news that Rau was now sending out earagos as well,
to be quite disturbing. These were giant creatures ranging from
twenty to sixty feet in height. Their bodies were blue color, their
hair and eyes were black as night, and they had jagged teeth. They
were rumored to be cruel to everything including other earagos.
They were incredibly strong and very hard to kill, but rarely
seen.

They normally stayed in the eastern part of
Tomiro where it was dry and hot, their bodies better able to handle
those conditions compared to the cold and snow Galena was used to.
In the past, Rau only used their brute strength for important
matters, or ones that would require too many of his torlics. They
could easily get the job done and the crueler the job was, the more
they enjoyed it. The fact he was sending them out to look for her
meant he was finally beginning to take her seriously.

Galena felt an urgency she hadn’t felt before
learning this news and after declining a feast, requested a brief
meeting with the village elders so she could discuss what Tark was
trying to do. Much to her dismay, the brief meeting lasted the
majority of the day and went far into the night, finally ending
with the elders deciding to send elves to Corista to begin
training. They decided to wait until the next day to start
recruiting warriors though.