Miras Last (13 page)

Elenio stood straight and squaring his
shoulders, stepped through the tent flap and into Nigora’s domain.
The devastation that consumed the inside of that tent was
overwhelming. There were injured elves everywhere, but it was a
closed off area that caught Elenio’s attention. Behind it, he could
just make out the tall and imposing frame of Fala. Tark came in
about that time and Elenio met his gaze with his own.

“Has Galena put up the fire barrier?” he
asked dully.

“Yes, she’s doing something at the
battlegrounds right now, but I’m sure she’ll be on her way in a
moment,” Tark answered quietly. They both made their ways toward
the closed off area, weaving between beds and other elves.

“Is Taura okay?” Elenio asked, trying to keep
his mind off what they were about to encounter.

“She’s fine. She outside trying to do what
she can for some of the injured elves while they wait. We have more
injured this time in that short battle then we did the entire time
we fought the last time. I think the intunerics had something to do
with it, but I can’t be sure,” Tark said, his brows burrowed in
concern.

Elenio pulled back the sheet used to close
off the area where Morgo lay and stepped through. What he saw
didn’t leave him with much hope for his friend. Nigora was sitting
in a chair beside him, heavily slumped to one side. Her face
covered in sweat and she was a shade of gray that caused Elenio to
bend down and check her pulse. He was relieved to find one, but
realized her unconscious state spoke badly for Morgo.

Morgo was lying on a table. His legs
straightened out, but still looked wrong. The gap at the top of his
head was closed, which was good because that was where he lost the
most blood. His face was still unrecognizable under the swelling,
dirt, and blood. There were slits where his eyes should have been
and his nose was flush with his cheekbones. His side sunk in at a
weird angle and there were bones sticking out from the other. His
chest barely rose and fell, but he was still breathing. Elenio had
no idea how this was possible and almost wished his friend would
pass on to the Land of the Gods versus being in this state.

“Nigora managed to close up the wound on his
head before she passed out. She said there was a tremendous amount
of brain damage there because of the swelling and other trauma...”
Fala started, but he stopped to clear his throat. “She didn’t have
a lot of hope for him. She said there was entirely too much
internal and external damage for anyone to have survived. The fact
he’s still breathing is a miracle.” Fala stopped and looked down at
the ground, tears in his eyes.

Elenio just looked at his friend, thanking
him silently for saving his own life, but wishing at the same time,
he hadn’t.

“Galena is coming,” Tark said dully, looking
up and down at the broken form of Morgo.

“Do you really think she’ll be able to
reverse all of this?” Fala asked, using a hand to indicate the form
that they once knew as Morgo.

“She can try.”

“Then she better hurry, because I’m pretty
sure no one can bring an elf back from the Land of the Gods.”

Elenio could do nothing but stare. It was his
fault. Why hadn’t he been paying attention?

“Leave.” All three of the elves turned to see
Galena there, holding back the sheet as she took in the bloody
image of Morgo. Her eyes were sad as she noted every injury on her
friend. “Take Nigora, she needs to rest. Start making the other
elves as comfortable as possible and we need patrols circling the
camp to make sure my fire holds out the enemies,” Galena said, her
eyes never leaving Morgo for a second.

“Can you...” Elenio started, but stopped when
his throat closed up with emotion.

Galena looked at him, determination filling
her eyes as she read his thoughts and emotions.

“I don’t know. I know he would never let you
take the blame.”

Tears sprang to Elenio’s eyes and he couldn’t
speak. He knew she read his thoughts and he realized she was right,
but it didn’t make him feel any better.

“I already killed the brute,” Galena spat
having registered his own thoughts of revenge. “He thought he won.
I showed him just how wrong he was.”

Galena’s focus returned to Morgo and Elenio
nodded his head, glad the creature was gone, but sorry he couldn’t
have been a bigger part in his demise.

“Now everyone leave and do not bother me. I
will come to you one way or the other,” Galena finished lamely.

Fala picked up the tiny form of Nigora in his
strong capable arms and with Tark holding the sheet back, went out
with her. Tark followed him and Elenio brought up the rear. He knew
Galena needed to be able to concentrate. He didn’t think he would
be able to sit back and wait to see the fate of his friend. Tark
reached over and squeezed Elenio’s shoulder, but said nothing. They
both knew this would be exactly like their trip to the Mountains of
the Gods. Morgo’s fate rested with them now.

* * * *

Galena took a step closer to Morgo. If she
hadn’t been told this was him, she would have doubted it and went
looking for the elf elsewhere. The only thing resembling her friend
was his long, dark hair. Although, now it was matted and caked with
dried blood. She leaned her ear close to his mouth and felt as well
as heard the faint and weak breath there. A gurgling sound came
with it, leading Galena to believe his lungs were punctured.
How
could they not be,
” Galena thought, eyeing the broken body. She
cut away his shirt, reveling the grossly discolored and swollen
chest. Bits of bone punctured the skin and it rose and fell in odd
areas as well.

“Oh Morgo, I don’t know if it’s wise to heal
you if you’re this bad off,” Galena said through the tears falling
fast and free down her face. Galena laid her hands on Morgo’s rib
cage and began the tedious task of sensing the overwhelming amount
of injuries fighting against his will to live. She detected
punctures to his lungs in several place and his heart was a
battered mess. Not a single organ in his body escaped the wrath of
the earagos. She placed a hand on his head and felt the extensive
damage there as well. His brain was bruised and shaken loose,
making it useless in its present condition. There was also
extensive bleeding there, held in by the newly healed gap. There
wasn’t a whole bone in his body. Galena bowed her head, and fought
to regain control of her emotions. She reached out, seeking Elenio,
for she would need his calm if she were to continue. She felt
Elenio and knew he was striving to find the peace she needed. She
took a calming breath and began.

Chapter
Nine

Tark sat back on the ground, tired beyond
belief, but still unable to rest. The fate of Morgo, his most
trusted advisor, was in the hands of Galena. He knew if anyone
would be able to restore Morgo to good health, it was her, but even
then, his chances weren’t good. What was worse was Galena ordered
them to leave her in peace while she worked on Morgo. She clearly
needed complete concentration. She also assured them she would come
to them when she was done. In Tark’s mind, that meant he needed to
stay close by.

He met with his remaining generals and found
that many were hurt, but nothing major. Nina had a broken arm,
Naradin a broken foot. Morak had suffered a painful burn on his arm
from his own arrow. If Tark hadn’t been so worried about Morgo, he
would have laughed at his old friend. Yeia and Zaza both suffered
deep cuts to the face and Weila was limping badly from a sprained
ankle. Other than that, the remaining generals were fine. Tark sent
them out to find out the overall condition of the elves and to
report back with the information as well as news from the patrols
set up around the camp.

Elenio was sitting on the ground beside the
tent entrance, where he stationed himself shortly after exiting it.
He sat crossed legged, his hands on his knees, eyes closed, and
taking even deep breaths. Tark suspected this was an effort on his
part to help Galena, but he was unsure exactly how it was helping.
When he asked, Elenio continued what he was doing and ignored Tark
completely.

Tark sat next to him, more to rest than to
give him company. He was sure Elenio would continue to ignore him
even if he did try to strike up a conversation.

“I brought you something to eat and drink,”
Taura said, bending down to hand him a tray laden with food and
drink.

Tark smiled up at her, his eyes remaining
closed. “How well you know me,” he said wearily.

“More like how loud your stomach is,” she
said, sitting down next to him. “How is he?”

“Elenio or Morgo?” Tark asked his mouth full
of cheese, fruit, and some type of bread.

Taura rolled her eyes at him.

“I don’t know.”

It had been several hours since he left the
tent, a fact that had not escaped his notice. In the past when
Galena healed them, mainly from injuries she caused during their
trainings, it only took her a little bit of time. The fact she
still had not emerged, did not bode well for Morgo.

“I don’t know if she’ll be able to bring him
back,” Tark said quietly, putting his tray on the ground, his
hunger disappearing. “He was beyond repair if you ask me.”

“I think the whole camp is waiting to hear.
Everywhere you go you can hear muffled conversations discussing the
outcome of Morgo, especially among the underground elves. Morgo was
a very well-liked elf.”

“You know he fancied Venia.”

“Yes, and I think the feelings were returned
judging by the progress she’s made. What this will do to her, I am
unsure, for she wasn’t completely whole when we left.” Taura began
to draw circles in the dirt, she was struggling to keep her
emotions in check for Tark’s sake, but she didn’t fool him. He
reached over and took her hand in his own. In turn, she leaned
toward him and he wrapped an arm around her, bringing her
closer.

* * * *

“Elenio, I need to know what’s going on,” he
said quietly.

For the first time in hours, Elenio opened
his eyes and focused on Tark beside him. “I don’t know. She has
shielded me from her thoughts. I wouldn’t be able to provide the
peace she needs if I knew what she was doing or how Morgo was
faring.” Elenio looked around for the first time and noticing the
tray of food on the ground helped himself to several items.

“You can’t tell anything?” Tark asked, not
believing him entirely.

“Hasn’t Taura ever blocked you from some of
her thoughts?” Elenio asked, before biting into a loaf of
bread.

Tark had to think back and realized that
there had been several occasions in which both Taura and he managed
to block their thoughts from the other. It had always been when
they had a surprise or were angry at each other. It was a simple
matter of thinking of a structure encompassing their thoughts.

“Point taken,” Tark said dully, looking at
the quickly disappearing food on his tray before he realized he was
starting to feel hungry again. “Hey, get your own food!” He pushed
Elenio’s hand away before he grabbed his third handful of food.

“I don’t want to leave this area and I’m
trying to help Galena out here. Why don’t you go get some more and
let me have this.” Elenio, ignoring Tark’s slapping hand, reached
around and grabbed another piece of cheese.

Tark sighed and shook his head. He felt
Taura’s shoulders shake as she silently laughed at the two.

“I’ll go get more food,” she said, calming
herself before she sat up.

“Thank you,” Tark said wearily.

Elenio grabbed the tray from the ground and
in record time, wolfed down the rest of the food. When he was
finished, he lay it back on the ground and then resumed his
meditation. Tark leaned back against the tent closing his own eyes,
the events of the day finally catching up with him. The dark
creatures had been so much more powerful this time around. It was
all the elves could do to keep them at bay for as long as they had.
Tark knew the intunerics fed Rau’s power, but he wondered if it fed
every dark creature’s power and strength. It made sense that it
would. He found himself vaguely wondering if there were any way
Galena, with the Sword of Lumina, could destroy the evil stones. He
would have to remember to ask her after she finished... He let his
train of thoughts drop when the image of Morgo swam through his
mind. Sadness filled him as he wondered if he would ever get the
chance to talk to his inquisitive friend again.

“Tark.” He heard a voice call him from
somewhere above him.

Opening one eye, he squinted up, not that
there was much light to keep out, and saw Nina standing above him
along with Morak, Fala, Naradin, Hasa, and Zaza. He realized Nina
was the one who spoke and broke his concentration.

“How are the elves?” he asked, groaning
slightly as he got to his feet.

“Most escaped serious injury although the
majority has some minor wound to claim. Between Galena and Nigora,
we will need several days to recuperate from that last battle,”
Nina reported in her quiet voice.

“The enemy?” Tark asked, anxious to hear if
Galena’s fire barrier was holding them off, especially when her
thoughts were elsewhere.

“The patrols reported a couple of earagos
thought they could throw some of the other dark creatures over the
ring, but when the fire rose up to meet the flying enemy, they
discovered they were wrong. It looks as though they have retreated
back to their camp,” Morak reported, looking smug as he did so.

Well, that was one less thing to worry
about
.

“Have we heard anything on Morgo yet?” Fala
asked quietly.

Tark just shook his head before looking down
at the still, meditating form of Elenio. “She’s blocked Elenio from
her mind, although she seems to be using him for peace and calm,”
Tark said, still looking at Elenio and wishing he could see into
his mind. Elenio grimaced at that moment, which caused Tark to
crouch down beside him. “What happened?” he asked, panic in his
voice.