Mira's View (12 page)

“She went out after you fell back asleep,”
Elenio responded while pulling his tunic over his head. Galena
watched the muscles in his chest and arms flex and shift as he
pulled it down. He straightened his tunic before strapping on his
belt and scabbard. He turned to finish packing his bags and Galena
went to find Twoit before they left.

She stepped out the door as Tark strode past
her and into the room to pack his own bags. She searched around the
campsite for a few minutes before finding her friend enjoying her
meal of a dead mouse under some brush. Twoit turned her pointed
nose to Galena and sniffed the air, before resuming eating. Galena
smiled at her, scratching her behind the ear.

“We’re leaving in a few minutes, so enjoy
your breakfast while you can. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able
to stop after this.” She stood and stretched, feeling the stiffness
in her muscles from lack of use. Her stomach gave a loud rumble,
reminding her just how hungry she was. Taking advantage of the time
she had while the others were getting packed, she went to find some
food.

Galena sat by the smoldering remains of their
campfire and chewed on the dried fruit that Tark must have gotten
in the village. She would have to grow some more plants and fruits
along the way so they could keep going. Tark would simply have to
get over this ridiculous notion of her not using magic for the
remainder of their journey. Pangoro had told her that she needed to
continue using it. She would just have to keep in mind that she
still had limits.

She chewed on her fruit, thinking of all that
had happened in the last several weeks. Stuffing another piece of
fruit in her mouth, she stood up, dusted off the seat of her
leggings, and turned to head back into the tree house to see how
the packing was going. She took a step, and stopped when she heard
a stick snap somewhere in the surrounding woods. She closed her
eyes, straining to hear what was around her. The birds had gone
silent as well as all the other animals around her, even the trees
seemed to be listening for something.

Not a good sign
, she thought to
herself as she opened her eyes. Glancing down she realized that she
did not have her sword with her.

They must have taken it off when I lost
consciousness
, she thought.

Keeping her back to the tree house, she took
a step back, staring all around her. She had a good idea of what
was coming, but the idea didn’t give her any comfort. In fact, the
sick feeling was returning. She thought about yelling out to the
other two, but didn’t want to provoke the stalkers into an early
attack. She took another step back and another until her back was
almost to the door. Her heart raced, preparing her for what was to
come. She reached for the door and began to push it open, still
facing the woods, when two giant torlics came crashing into the
camp. They charged right for Galena, swords drawn, determination
wrote across their faces.

Galena stood straight. Reaching a hand in
front of her, she thought of the wind, of all the funnels she had
seen rip through forests, knocking over trees as they went. A
funnel appeared next to the closest torlic, sucking him into its
center before racing toward the second one. Galena felt a twinge in
her right hand, but it didn’t alarm her. The twister moved left
with the screaming torlic in it just as Elenio and Tark rushed out
of the tree house, stopping short at the sight of Galena
controlling this wind monster with her hand. The second torlic
headed back for the safety of the woods, but didn’t get far before
the funnel sucked him up into its deadly winds as well.

Galena swung her hand up, causing the mighty
twister and the two torlics to go up too. Acting as if she were
throwing an actual object, Galena sent the torlics flying. The
funnel of wind dissipated as soon as its burden was removed. The
air became calm and the creatures surrounding them began talking
once more, discussing this new phenomenon.

Galena flexed her right hand experimentally,
evaluating the damage she had done, but was reasonably pleased to
discover that, though it was tingling slightly, it was nothing
compared to how she had felt several days ago. At most, it was a
little painful, as if she had hit it on something.

Elenio came up behind her and wrapped an arm
protectively around her waist as he continued to stare in the
direction that Galena had sent the torlics flying. Tark came to the
other side of her, his sword still clutched in his hand. He too
gazed intently in the direction of the flying torlics.

“How’s your hand?” he asked, turning to look
at her.

“A little stiff, but otherwise fine.” Galena
flexed her fingers once more, but found that the stiffness was
already starting to fade.

“We need to be off before more of them come.
I’m sure that was just a searching party. There’ll be more soon,”
Elenio said, handing Galena her sword and belt. Galena strapped on
her belt and, shoving her sword into the hanging scabbard, bent to
pick up Twoit who was trying unsuccessfully to climb her leggings.
Placing Twoit on her shoulders, Galena turned back to the tree
house, went in, grabbed her pack, and returned outside to find
Elenio and Tark still staring, a look of awe on their face, in the
general direction that she sent the torlics.

“Are we leaving or not?” she called
impatiently.

Chapter
Ten

Galena stepped over a fallen log on her
chosen path. They had left the road some time ago after running
into another small group of torlic scouts. The fight had lasted a
matter of minutes, but it was still an unwanted experience.

What was more, they had pointed at Galena
muttering, “That’s the one. The redhead girl.”

“Do you think there were any others close
by?” Galena said as she paused to catch her breath. They had been
alternating between walking and jogging for the last hour, putting
as much distance between them and any other torlics.

“I would bet on it,” Tark replied, facing the
direction they had come from with his hands resting on his hips. He
took a deep breath, trying to get a grip on the rate at which he
sucked in air. “This is starting to get a little tiresome. Maybe we
should shave you bald and give you a guy’s name.”

Galena shook her head.
What an
idiot.

Elenio sat down on the ground, leaning his
back up against an old, moss-covered tree. He put his head back,
closing his eyes, taking a moment to rest as well. Galena ran a
hand across her forehead, wiping away the sweat that begun to run
down into her eyes before joining him.

“Might as well eat, while we’re stopped. I
think this is as good a place as any,” Elenio remarked, taking in
the surroundings.

Taking his pack off, Tark brought out a
couple loaves of bread, yellow cheese, and some grapes. He passed
out a portion to everyone as Galena took a swig of water from her
flask. Like so many realizations they had made on this trip, Galena
had concluded that they didn’t need to constantly search for
sources of water when she could magically conjure it up whenever
they needed a refill.

Galena opened her pack to let Twoit out and
was unsurprised to find that the little ferret had once again gone
to sleep. Shaking her head in amazement, Galena lifted the sleeping
ferret, and blew in her face. Twoit opened her eyes slowly and
licked her lips, tasting Galena’s breath. She yawned and stretched
as Galena placed her gently on the ground. Sniffing the air around
her, Twoit went toddling off into the brush to search for something
to eat.

“I swear, that ferret only has two things
permanently on her mind, eating and sleeping,” Elenio said,
chuckling to himself as he popped a chunk of bread into his
mouth.

“Reminds me of someone else I know,” Galena
remarked, playfully nudging his shoulder with her own. Galena
rested her head on the trunk behind her, thoughtfully chewing on a
piece of cheese. “There has to be a faster way to Mira’s View.
Otherwise, we’re going to be overtaken by the torlics.”

“I wondered the same thing.” Tark took a swig
of water as he looked around. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure
how to get there to begin with. All I know is what Pangoro told us,
and that wasn’t very helpful by any means.” He wiped his mouth on
the sleeve of his tunic, before laying back on the damp moss that
lined the forest floor.

Galena looked at her brother, sensing his
frustration, as she had often felt the same way since their meeting
with the old elf. They had already been heading for the Mountains
of the Gods without the help of Pangoro. They would have eventually
made it to the area they were destined to go to one way or another.
At least she liked to think that they would have.

Who was she kidding? She still wasn’t
entirely sure that they should be doing this in the first place,
even after Pangoro’s words of advice. Putting her head in her
hands, Galena felt despair creep up on her. Sensing her unease,
Elenio placed a hand gently on the nape of her neck and pulled her
close to him. “Don’t worry so much. We’ll get there. I can feel it
with every fiber of my being.”

Galena didn’t feel as resolved as he did, but
wrapped her arms around him just the same. Elenio wrapped an arm
around her and laid his cheek upon her head. Closing their eyes,
they lay that way for some time. Galena savored the feel of him and
felt warmth of hope spread through her. Of course, they would make
it. She wouldn’t rest until they did, otherwise, she could lose
everything that mattered.

A sharp crack within the forest caused Elenio
to straighten suddenly, removing his arm from Galena. He rose into
a crouch, reaching quietly and quickly for his sword. Tark sat up
as well, searching the forest around them as Galena reached for her
sword too. Twoit burst from the brush, racing toward Galena where
she stopped and proceeded to do an elaborate dance in which she
emitted a series of squeaks and grunts before diving back into
Galena’s pack again. Feeling truly alarmed now, Galena raised her
head just as a huge torlic jumped from the same brush that Twoit
had just passed through a moment before.

Instantly, the three were on their feet,
swords in hand. Another torlic came crashing in behind Tark,
causing him to turn and defend himself before the torlic could
inflict a mortal wound. No less than ten more monsters came rushing
at them from all sides.

Galena braced herself as the first one
attacked her. Feinting her sword to the right, she twisted it in
midair, plunging the sword into the creature’s belly before
spinning to face the next one. She deflected the swing aimed at her
legs, sliding his sword down the length of hers before swinging her
blade at the creature’s head in return. She felt the blade connect
with a satisfying crack, before turning to attack the next foe.

She spared a glance in Elenio and Tark’s
direction, noticing that Elenio was holding his own, but five
bulking beasts had Tark surrounded. Imagining a giant gust of wind,
Galena swept her hand out in their direction causing a giant gale
to sweep a couple of the torlics off their feet and crashing into
trees several feet away, where they fell to the forest floor with a
loud crunch. While the remaining three were distracted with their
flying comrades, Tark spun in a circle, effectively beheading all
three in one sure swipe of his blade. Elenio gave a loud grunt and
buried his blade in the side of the last remaining torlic, pushing
the monster off his sword when he saw that it was dead.

Galena bent down and cleaned the blade of her
sword off on the brush surrounding the trees before placing in back
into its scabbard. She took a piece of cloth from her pack and
wiped the gore and grim from her face. It had been a short fight,
but it seemed to her that every time they were attacked, more of
the monsters appeared.

“We can’t keep up like this,” Elenio said,
panting heavily. “The Mountains of the Gods is still leagues away
and we are running into torlics daily.”

“What can we do?” Tark asked of no one in
particular. He was bent over, hands on his knees.

“You could come with me.”

Galena let out a short scream of surprise as
she wheeled around to discover that a young female elf was standing
almost directly behind her. Galena had felt sure that no one had
been there moments before, yet clearly, this elf had not appeared
out of thin air.

“Who are you, and where did you come from?”
Elenio nearly shouted, shock clearly written across his face.

“I am a part of the elves that do not exist,”
she replied calmly. “Rau does not know of us, we are not marked. We
live below where the sun never shines, but we are left in
peace.”

“Below?” Galena asked, feeling more than a
little confused. “Like in the mines?”

The elf nodded solemnly.

Galena looked at the young elf’s hands, not
entirely sure she believed this stranger. But they were whole;
there were no mark of Rau visible. “How did you remove your marks?”
Suspicion started edging its way into Galena’s mind as she took in
this elf’s appearance. She was extremely pale, whiter than any elf
Galena had ever seen. Her eyes were large and her pupils were
greatly magnified, giving them the appearance that they were black
in color. The varying shades of gray and black that she wore, gave
her an overall look of being ill. Her long, black hair hung limply
and was very dull and listless.

“I mean you no harm. We have been watching
for you. I come to offer you a place to rest, away from the
torlic’s searching eyes,” the elf replied while staring at Galena.
Even her voice was a dull monotone.

“I don’t understand,” Tark stammered.

“Come with me and we will explain. You can
stay here though, if you wish. However, be warned, I have seen more
torlics heading this way in mirror water. I leave the choice to
you.” Without saying another word, the elf turned and began walking
away.