Mira's Hope (3 page)

Before her jaws relaxed, blood began
streaming from her mouth, causing her to choke as it filled her
mouth. Sitting her up and pushing on her jaws at the hinges so they
would relax, he was able to open her mouth slightly so the blood
would run out versus going back into her lungs. With this
accomplished, Elenio continued to hold her shoulders and Tark her
hands to prevent her from any further damage. Her head jerked this
way and that, reminding Elenio of a grotesque doll being shaken
violently.

Finally, she stilled, jerking at smaller
intervals, but the worst had past it seemed. Elenio tilted her back
slightly, holding her head in the crook of one arm as he opened her
mouth to investigate where the blood came from. He turned his head
quickly and retched. Tark grabbed Galena from Elenio, laying her
back as Elenio wiped the sick from his face. Luckily, there was
nothing but water left in his stomach.

“Roll her on her side,” he said with a raspy
voice of his own. “She bit her tongue nearing in half. There’s not
much keeping it together and it’s still bleeding. It’s not gushing
anymore, but it’s enough to suffocate her if we leave her on her
back.”

Tark looked somewhat disgusted as well as
shocked, but he did what Elenio told him to do. He propped her up
so that she was lying on her side with her legs bent in front to
keep her from toppling over onto her face.

“Let’s eat the bite size pieces and then be
on our way again.” Tark began to fish through the packs, finding
every trace of the food, pushing Twoit aside in one of the packs as
he did so. Twoit allowed him to do this and merely re-adjusted her
head. Taking advantage of the free moment, Elenio lifted the small
creature up and opening her mouth slightly, like he had with
Galena, poured water into her tiny maw, but with much more success.
He watched as the tiny ferret gulped the water down, but made no
effort other than that to help herself. Satisfied she was
thoroughly watered; he returned the furry creature to Galena’s pack
and took the food Tark was offering him. He was able to hold the
meager amount in his cupped hands. He looked bleakly at Tark, who
continued to look at his own food.

“Have you seen anything edible along the
way?” Elenio asked quietly, dreading the answer he knew was
coming.

“I’ve seen berries, but I’m fairly sure
they’re poisonous. Other than that, a lot of grass, and I imagine
under the rocks we would find a variety of grubs and bugs of sorts.
If it comes to it, we can eat those.”

Elenio nodded, glad there would be something
available to keep them going, but disliking the thought of having
to eat insects of any sort. Elenio took one handful of food and
stuffed into his mouth. It was an odd mixture. A taste of fruit, a
bit of cheese, some pieces of bread here and there. Swallowing, he
stuffed the other handful in and dusted his hands off. His stomach
growled loudly, unsatisfied with the meager amount of food it just
received. Tark was finishing up as well. He stood and began packing
what little they’d gotten out back into the bags.

It was Elenio’s turn to carry Galena. After
her last bout, he silently prayed she would rest for a while so
they could move more quickly. He walked over to her and prying her
mouth open, he checked her tongue and was pleased to see the
bleeding had stopped. She was still twitching though and it looked
as if her eyes were fighting a battle of their own under her lids.
She was sweating more than she had been as well. All of these signs
worried Elenio. It seemed to him she had to fight harder to stay
with them. Looking up at the mountain, he sighed. They’d come quite
a ways, but still had a long way left to travel. At least another
day or two and there was still no guarantee they were even on the
right mountain. Looking back at her face, he couldn’t help
wondering if she would last that long.

“Let’s get started. I expect to see torlics
before long,” Tark said as he helped Elenio strap Galena to his
back.

Elenio nodded; he had been wondering the same
thing.

“We’ll start checking under rocks as we go.
Whatever you find that is even remotely edible, eat it. I have a
feeling before we’re finished here, we’re going to need a lot more
energy than what the two of us have combined.”

Elenio stood and looked around once more
while Tark grabbed the packs and swords. He waited patiently as
Tark refilled their flasks from the tiny stream that flowed nearby.
Finally, they started out.

The climb was hard. Much harder than Elenio
remembered it being. Then again, a good portion of the first climb,
Galena had flown them up and they’d been more rested and had more
food supplies. Elenio’s arms and legs burned and protested with
every move. His hands shook from hunger. On many occasions, he had
to stop because he felt he was on the verge of blacking out from
tiredness.

They needed to stop more frequently because
of Galena’s fits as well. They were definitely increasing in
intensity and frequency. Stopping at many different rocks, they
found a few insects and grubs that they ate. However, because of
the cold, even those were hard to find. Elenio had to fight his gag
instinct every time he ate one. Elves did not naturally eat the
flesh of any living thing and this felt wrong on every level, but
he knew it was a necessity.

Half way up the mountain, Elenio found
himself covered in sweat, waves of sickness threatened him with
every move, because of his hunger. He looked at Tark and found that
the elf had sat down on a rock, his head between his knees.

“I’ve got to stop,” Elenio said.

Tark just nodded and stood to help him with
Galena. “We have to search for some food or we’re not going to make
it,” Tark said. He stood with his hands on his hips and searched
the area briefly.

Falling to his knees from weakness, Elenio
reached for his flask and found that it was empty. He silently
prayed to Mira for food. If they were going to get Galena to her
healing pool and defeat Rau, they needed some help and they needed
it badly. There was no way they were going to make it to the top
without her assistance.

Elenio braced himself to stand when Tark
suddenly collapsed. Elenio crawled over to him quickly and flipped
him over onto his back. He saw that Tark was gray faced and sweaty,
but otherwise, appeared fine.

“I’m hungry that’s all,” he said thickly. He
brought a hand to his face and covered his eyes for a moment before
attempting to sit up.

Elenio stopped him before he got very far.
“Rest for a moment while I get us water and look for something to
eat.”

Tark didn’t even nod, but rolled over onto
his side, closed his eyes, and relaxed. Elenio had not taken two
steps away before he heard the steady rhythm of Tark breathing.
They were both exhausted and before they left this spot, he knew he
would need to sleep too.

Stumbling every few feet, Elenio headed in
the directions of a small stream. His vision beginning to waiver
with every step. He continued to pray, hoping Mira would take pity
on them. Within a grassy patch, a tiny brook appeared to be coming
from a small spring in the rocks. He filled their flasks, as he
looked further up the mountain. This is where the small stream
they’d been collecting water from throughout the day, appeared to
originate. It looked like after this moment, they would no longer
have access to water either. Elenio didn’t have the energy to get
angry or to feel hopeless. It was what it was.

He sat down hard on the ground. Placing his
face in his hands, he thought about how hopeless the situation was.
Galena was hanging on by mere strings. Tark and he would die of
starvation, if the torlics didn’t come before then. They did all of
this to find a sword of light that none of them were even sure was
completely real. Sure, the old elf hinted there was indeed a sword,
but Elenio was still angry with him for forgetting a vital fact
like there were three really tall mountains that could contain
Mira’s View.

Elenio started muttering insults at Pangoro
when he felt a warm breeze caress his face. Instantly, his hopes
began to rise. The breeze swirled around him, making him lift his
face up and simply enjoy the feel of it. He closed his eyes and
smelled things he remembered from his past. Sweet berries, the
smell of Galena, both sweet and spicy. He smelled his mother’s
bread fresh from the fire. He smelled the musty smell of fall
leaves and burnt grass. He smelled it all at once, but with a
distinction between them. He smiled faintly as memories of happier
times washed over him. In the back on his mind, he heard a faint
voice calling to him. Keeping his eyes closed, he focused on the
voice, straining to make his mind understand what it was
saying.

“Open your eyes, Elenio. You will find food
when you need it. Bring Galena to me.”

The voice faded away before Elenio thought to
ask who it was. Sensing it no more, Elenio opened his eyes as he
had been instructed too. There, before him, where none had been
before, was a giant blackberry bush covered in big, juicy berries.
Elenio felt his jaw drop in amazement as he took in the sight
before him. Mumbling his thanks, he scrambled over to the bush, and
stuffed the berries that were the size of his thumbs, into his
mouth as fast as he picked them. As soon as a berry was picked,
another one, equally as large, grew in its place.

After he’d eaten his fill, he trotted over to
where Tark was still sleeping and shook him gently. It took a
little longer than normal to wake him and Elenio had started to
panic when Tark finally opened his eyes and regarded Elenio. Elenio
held out his hand full of the berries for Tark to see. It was the
fastest Elenio saw Tark move in a couple of days. One minute the
berries had been there lying in his hand, the next, they weren’t.
The only evidence Elenio had that he hadn’t dropped them was Tark’s
bulging cheeks.

“There’s more over there you greedy pig. It’s
not like I was going to offer them to you and then snatch them
back,” Elenio said, chuckling as he regarded Tark who chewed the
berries at record speed before swallowing them.

Tark looked in the direction Elenio indicated
and sat up slowly. Elenio helped him to his feet and led him to
where the blackberry bush stood waiting. It was still full of
berries as it had been when Elenio first saw it.

“I think they’re from Mira,” Elenio explained
as he watched Tark do exactly what he’d done just moments before.
He told Tark of what happened as he plucked several more berries
off the bush and popped them into his mouth.

“Couldn’t come a moment later,” Tark said
thickly through a mouth full of berries. “I was just about to give
up.”

Elenio stood and thought about that. Would he
have given up too if Mira hadn’t helped when she did? He didn’t
think he had a ready answer for that. He left Tark eating the
berries while he walked over to their packs and removed a small
satchel from inside of Galena’s bag. He checked Galena quickly and
saw she was relatively the same as she had been before, so he
returned to the berry bush and filled the bag with more of the
fruit. He knew Mira said she would continue to provide food, but
this would be for them to take and eat along the way so they could
reduce the frequency at which they stopped.

Tark was standing up when Elenio reached him.
They both collected berries wordlessly, eating more as they did so.
They filled the bag in a relatively short amount of time and
returned to Galena and their packs. Elenio offered to carry Galena
once more as he really hadn’t carried her very far before, but Tark
protested this because of the lack of sleep Elenio had. Elenio
rubbed his eyes that had begun to feel irritated and dry when Tark
pointed out the amount of sleep he had.

“Fine, you carry her and the next time we
stop, I’ll get a few minutes of sleep.” Elenio helped Tark and then
grabbed the bags. He looked up the mountain once more, but this
time he felt more hopeful. Glancing back in the direction of the
blackberry bush, he stopped.
Where had it gone? Had he been
dreaming?
His stomach no longer ached with hunger and he didn’t
feel as weak as before. He held up a hand to see if it was still
shaking, but his hand was steady, further evidence of his full
stomach.

“Tark, do you see that bush anywhere?” he
asked, wondering if the lack of sleep was starting to affect him
more than he realized.

Tark readjusted Galena on his back before
turning to look in the direction that they had found the berries.
“No.” He scratched his head, looking puzzled for a moment before
shrugging. “Guess that answers that question.” He began walking up
the mountain once more, calling over his shoulders as he did, “Mira
is definitely on our side.”

Chapter
Four

The going up was made somewhat easier
considering they were no longer so hungry that moving was an issue.
The down side was Galena was having so many fits now that they had
to switch her more frequently. At one point, she’d thrown her head
back so violently, she caused Elenio to black out when she smashed
her head with his. It had been good luck or Mira watching over
them, that Tark had been close enough to grab him and keep him from
falling. Elenio now understood how she’d done so much damage to her
head when they had been imprisoned in the underworld. Her head was
really hard.

It was nearing the end of the third night
when they decided to stop. Elenio had gone roughly two days without
so much as a wink of sleep and Tark was going on an hour or less in
that time frame. They decided to take short naps and then continue
on through the remainder of the night. They couldn’t afford to
sleep any longer as Galena in the last hour alone had suddenly
grown very still. Elenio found himself stopping more just to check
her pulse. It was there, but growing weaker with every moment she
remained still. He didn’t mention this to Tark as he was sure Tark
understood all too well from the expression on his face. Galena’s
time was almost out. They were fighting against the last few grains
of sand in her hourglass.