Mira's View (10 page)

He leaned down and gave her a quick peck on
the lips before holding her tighter. “You are my life,” he
whispered back.

Hearing the sincerity and passion in his
voice, Galena buried her face in his chest, afraid that she might
do something like burst into tears or burst into song, she wasn’t
sure which though. To be safe she decided to take the easiest route
and just hold him.

Hearing a cough behind, they broke apart
quickly. Tark stood, arms folded on the curving banister with his
chin resting upon them. “Our escort is here,” he said, sounding
bored. With that, he promptly turned and headed back down the
stairs.

With a wolfish grin, Elenio bent and kissed
the tip of Galena’s nose before letting her go. She reached out and
took his hand though, and together, they went down to greet the
elf.

Their escort turned out to be the same young
elf who had taken them to the feast the night before. He looked no
worse for wear. Moreover, Galena was pretty sure that she had seen
him still there as she had taken leave. Apparently, Galena was out
of sorts when it came to having a good time. She seemed to handle
extensive training better than staying out all nights at parties.
Sighing, she realized that this was not likely to change any time
soon as they had just begun their quest.

They headed out the door after their escort,
but instead of heading toward the village as she assumed they would
be doing, he turned and started toward the forest behind the great
tree building.

“I thought we were going to see Pangoro?”
Galena called to him.

“He is this way, my lady,” the young elf
replied, jerking his head toward the forest. Feeling thoroughly
confused, Galena followed behind Elenio as they entered the
forest.

They tried to keep up with young elf as best
as they could, but there was no path and the trees continued to
grow closer together. Sweating profusely as they traipsed through
the forest, Galena stopped to wipe the thin veil of droplets from
her brow, looking around her as she did so.
How much further did
they have to go? It had to be close to noon.
Groaning slightly,
she started again, increasing her pace to catch up with the others.
She leaped over a fallen log in her way and nearly collided with
Elenio who had paused. The young elf had come to a stop in front of
what appeared to be another tree home, though, not nearly as
elaborate as the one in which they had stayed.

The structure was made up of several trees
all bent in the same fashion to form a sort of hut. It had a door
in the middle with a small window on each side. The windows
appeared to be covered with a thinner layer of wood, which would
let light in, but keep cold and heat out. On either side of the
door stood a variety of plants, the likes of which, Galena had
never seen. They were small and bushy with a combination of every
size and shape of leaves with bright red, orange, and blue fruit
growing on them as well.

The young elf bowed slightly and with the
sweeping gesture of his arm, bid them to enter. Nodding in thanks,
the trio started toward the door.

However, before they could knock, a gravelly
voice called from within. “Come in, come in. No sense standing
outside wasting time when I know you’re there.”

Galena glanced at her brother, noting that he
seemed as confused as she was. Pushing the door open slowly, Tark
stepped into the darkness. Galena followed close behind and Elenio
after her. She struggled to make out anything in the dark room, for
although there was light streaming in from the windows, the
majority of the room was in darkness.

“If you shut the door behind you, I will
explain the darkness,” the gravelly voice called from the shadows.
The words sounded strange, almost as if they had been formed
incorrectly.

“Are you Pangoro?” Galena blurted out. The
feeling of fluttering butterflies in her stomach increased so that
she felt she would be sick. The fact that she was unable to see
where the voice came from, only intensified this feeling.

“I am. Are you the one Mira spoke of?” the
voice asked sarcastically.

“I don’t know.”

“Can you do magic? Can you control the
elements with no harm to yourself?”

“I can, but I do suffer some with more
complicated bits of magic.” Galena fought to remain calm, when what
she really wanted was to light the room with lanterns as she had
seen at the feast. “How is it that you can do magic without
retribution? I have seen some of your work and yet here you are,
free from the aftermath of the marks of Rau,” Galena asked, her
curiosity starting to get the better of her.

She felt Elenio stir beside her, taking her
hand in his own. His hands were cold and clammy; Galena took
comfort in this as she realized that he was as anxious as she
was.

“I will answer all of your questions,
including the ones that you didn’t know you had, but first I must
prepare you.”

“Prepare us for what?” Tark asked warily. He
too shifted closer to Galena.

“I am not a whole elf as I once was. I am
nothing short of horrifying, if I do say so myself,” he said,
ending in a humorless chuckle. “Very few people have ever seen me,
as I prefer it, but I knew you would be a different case. You see,
I know exactly what you’re looking for and how to find it.”

Galena sucked in a breath, could it be
true?

“How is that possible?” Tark asked, the
surprise plain in his voice.

Instead of a reply, the voice gave a short
bark of laughter. A blinding light flared from somewhere overhead.
Galena winced at the sudden brightness. Glancing toward the light
she saw the orb, softer than the ones from last night, and made
with a blue tint in it. It bobbed gently in the air, staying
roughly in the same area.

“You will be able to do that too,” the gruff
voice said as she continued to stare.

Galena started, the gruff voice bringing her
back to the present. Elenio’s grip on her hand became painful and
she noticed that both of them had stopped breathing. Fearing what
had caused this reaction; Galena turned to face their host and had
to stifle a scream.

The elf that sat in front of them, if you
could call him that, was unlike anyone she had ever seen. The whole
of his left arm was completely gone and he only had the upper part
of his right arm. He had no legs extending from his misshaped trunk
and his whole torso seemed to be pulled toward the right in an
uncomfortable bend. However, none of these things bothered Galena
as much as his face. There were clumps of long, white hair
protruding from different parts of his skull, which hung around his
shoulders oddly. His face looked as if it had been beaten
repeatedly until it could no longer hold its shape. His eyes were
at different levels and where his nose should have been was a
smashed bit of flesh with holes visible in different areas of it.
His mouth was a wide gap, with no lips visible and his left ear was
gone, leaving a gaping hole in the side of his head.

Taking in her reaction and that of the
others, he smirked, though the sadness in his eyes showed clearly.
“Would it be easier for you if I left the light off?”

“What has happened to you?” Galena asked,
tears of pity filling her eyes.

“By all means I should be dead, but the
healer at the time had a tender spot for me. In truth, she did more
harm than good if you ask me. Who would want to live like this?”
This last question seemed to be more for himself than them. “There
was a cave-in at the mines. I had been working hard at removing
this particularly large bit of intuneric and wasn’t paying
attention to the warning signs all around me. I realized my mistake
just before the world crashed in around me.” At this Pangoro stared
blankly out, apparently recalling that fateful day. “I don’t
remember anything past that point, but I was told later that I was
barely breathing by the time the others had dug me out. I was more
dead than alive. The narooks pronounced me dead and so I was
carried off. However, Revia took one look at me and decided that it
wasn’t too late. Days of nursing me and after ten attempts at
restarting my heart after it decided to quit, here I am. They hid
me away, because they knew the narooks would finish the job the
mines had not. It wasn’t until later that I discovered that I had
the ability to do magic. With no marks of Rau to stop me, I was
free to take care of myself by any magical means necessary,” he
added, a bitter trace in his voice. “And because I had only just
begun working in the mines, the dark stones did not have a chance
to suck the life out of me. I have lived for centuries like the
elves of old did. I only wish I hadn’t.” He looked sadly at the
floor; many lifetimes of suffering, weighing his shoulders
down.

“Have you lived here, alone, since then?”
Galena asked quietly, the thought sending shivers down her
spine.

Pangoro nodded, his face full of anger. “I
can’t stand the look others give me. I see it in your own eyes. If
Mira had not spoken to me in a dream, you wouldn’t know of me now.”
He nearly spat the words out.

Galena stood straighter, consciously deciding
that here was an elf that had a second chance at life and instead
of doing his part to undo Rau, he hid away. Her pity for him died
instantly. “You have what so many elves long for,” Galena started,
struggling to keep her voice calm.

“What, a monstrous body?” he spat.

“A chance at a second life. A chance to use
magic again. A life free from the mines and Rau’s minions. Yet, you
waste it all for something so shallow as your looks,” Galena
started. “I understand part of the reason for hiding is because of
Rau’s wrath, but that is no reason to shut yourself off completely.
Companionship is the road to healing, and you are far from there.
Your looks are nowhere near perfect, but your personality is in
worse repair.”

Pangoro sat there, mouth hanging open, eyes
wide with shock, and the lights flickering wildly, as if he were
having trouble controlling his magic. Elenio and Tark both gave her
looks of disbelief as they took in the older elf’s reaction and the
flickering lights. Galena inwardly kicked herself, thinking that
this may not have been the best time to speak her mind. She really
needed to work on biting her tongue and choosing her words more
wisely.

“Well, I can see Mira was right in choosing
you,” he said after a long, awkward stretch of silence. Before any
of them could respond, he broke the silence with a booming laugh.
“You do have spirit, don’t you?” He continued to laugh until Galena
seriously considered doing something drastic for fear that, he was
having some kind of fit. “I haven’t laughed in years.” He chuckled
a little more and then returning his gaze to Galena, merriment
there now instead of the bitterness she’d seen before. “Mira told
me to look for you by way of the northern road and to be prepared
to tell you what you needed to know. She told me that you would
have no pity either. I didn’t believe her on that account. It just
goes to show that I’m not always right! I’d ask you to stay for a
meal, but I can’t stand to have people watch me eat, or to be in
the same room with me for that long. I don’t think I would mind so
much if it was just you, but it’s those two I don’t want to be
around,” he said, gesturing with a nod of his head toward Elenio
and Tark. “So let me tell you what Mira has instructed, and you can
eat elsewhere.”

“Is there truly a Sword of Lumina?” Tark
asked, interrupting the old elf before he could continue.

“Do you doubt the stories that have been
passed down your ancient line?” Pangoro asked quietly. “As you have
been told, I’m sure, since you were a baby, there is a sword
destined to put an end to the reign of Rau. All that is needed is
the right elf to wield it.”

Galena felt her ears turn red as Pangoro
turned to her. “Where can we find it?” Galena asked, surprised by
the confidence in her own voice.

“You have to go to the Mountains of the Gods.
From there you will go to the top of the tallest peak and that is
where you will find Mira’s View. You will know that you have found
this place for there will be a statue made in her likeness with a
shallow pool at the base. Lamiria had an elf make this for her,
because of a favor she had once granted him. It was his sign of
respect and gratitude. Mira was greatly pleased with it and gave
the pool magical properties, including the ability to heal. At
least, that is what the old stories told. You must go there first
for she is the only one that can truly tell you how to find what
you seek. Mira also wanted me to give you some helpful advice, and
as she wasn’t very specific about what type of advice I should be
handing out, I assume silly nonsense like don’t eat from plants
with fruit that you are unfamiliar with, or don’t turn your back on
an enemy, doesn’t count. So, here is the advice that I have for
you. Use all that is given to you, including your magical
abilities, to complete this quest. Remember you are only limited to
what your imagination can come up with. Never forget those that
follow you. Moreover, in your moment of weakness and doubt,
remember those that gave their life to see you set the elf race
free. With this, I give you my blessing and bid you farewell.”

Startled at their sudden dismal, Galena
glanced first at Elenio and then Tark. Their expressions ranged
from determined to slightly ill. Galena looked once more at the
oldest elf she had ever met and, squeezing Elenio’s hand, she
turned and headed out the door, closely followed by Elenio and
Tark.

“Keep your courage up and know that the
entire elf race stands behind you,” the old elf said.

With that, Tark closed the door and they
started once again for the Mountains of the Gods.

Chapter
Eight