Mira's View (19 page)

Elenio knelt down beside her and took in the
appearance of Morgo. Grabbing the elf under his arms, he lifted
Morgo to standing before he knelt down and hoisted the stricken elf
over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Sensing the urgency, Galena
grabbed the fallen packs and swung them over her own shoulder.

“Wait.” Tark strode over to them and dug
through Morgo’s pack until he came across the map Morgo used
whenever a tunnel that he was familiar with was blocked. Glancing
at it briefly, Tark started in the direction that they had been
heading before they had been attacked.

Elenio followed him and Galena brought up the
rear. She kept close to Elenio, but listened intently for any sound
that might give away a future attack. They came to a fork, which
Tark consulted the map once more before going down the left. They
continued this way for what seemed like an eternity. Every time
they paused so that Tark could check their progress, Galena checked
Morgo. He was still breathing, but his breaths were becoming
increasingly more shallow and quick.

At last, Galena could see lights somewhere in
the distance, indicating that they were almost to the village they
had been seeking. They quickened their pace and hoped word had been
sent, as it had been promised, warning the villagers of their
arrival. Luck was upon them for as they entered into the brightly
lit cavern, they noticed a group of women sitting and watching
their children play by the bank of the spring that flowed from
under a large boulder. Tark approached them swiftly, his hands in
the air, showing them that he meant no harm.

“Please, we need your help. We come from the
village of Freeva. I believe your elders received word that we
would be coming with the guidance of one of the elves from their
village. We were attacked and our friend has been hurt. We need a
healer immediately.” Tark looked imploringly from elf woman to elf
woman.

They jumped when they saw the quartet, their
laughter and smiles dying away immediately.

One of the older women stood. “Watch my
little ones. I will take this group to the healers.”

The younger elf to whom she was addressing,
nodded quickly as she looked back at Elenio and Galena. Galena
almost sighed in relief that these elves were so willing to
help.

The elf woman strode quickly toward the
village, not paying any attention to the villagers as they raced
back into their homes. She made a right turn at one house and then
a left. Galena hoped they were almost to the healer’s home, as she
didn’t feel Morgo had much time left. The elf woman had just
stepped into what appeared to be the village square, when four elf
men stepped in front of Tark. They waved their hands before them, a
look of stony indifference on each of their faces. That was all
Galena could register before everything went dark.

Chapter
Eighteen

Galena awoke with a start, her head pounding.
She sat up gingerly, rubbing her temples as she took in her
surroundings. Where in the world was she? Surrounding her, were
four stone walls that had no windows. On one of the walls there
appeared to be a bench that went the length of it. Across from the
bench was a door that Galena assumed led to the outside. Above the
bench, in a corner next to the low-lying ceiling, floated a small,
single light. It was just bright enough to dimly light the room,
not that there was much to see. In the opposite corner sat a small
bedpan. Judging from the smell wafting from it, it had been some
time since the pan had been emptied. Galena stood slowly as the
pain in her head gave a nasty throb, but found she couldn’t stand
at her full height, because she would knock her head on the
ceiling. After trying the door and finding that it was locked, she
sat down on the hard bench and looked at her sparse surroundings
one more time, trying to recall how she had ended up here.

And where were the others? Where was her
pack and sword?

She rested her elbows on her thighs and
cradled her head in her hands, trying to remember the last thing
she had seen before she had woken up in this room.
Running
behind Elenio...four elves ...
Galena groaned miserably as she
realized what had happened. The four elves were defenders, guards,
or something and they had caused her to fall asleep or some such
nonsense. Of course, they would be leery of them. Here were three
strangers carrying a wounded underground elf. Galena looked down at
herself and realized that she was still covered in torlo and
Morgo’s blood. What these villagers must have thought. Galena would
have smacked her own head from their stupid mistake if she thought
she could do so without making her head hurt worse.

Now, she could only wait. If Morgo survived,
surely he would be able to explain to the others what had really
happened. Galena felt herself grow cold at the thought of Morgo’s
precarious state when they arrived. Hopefully, he had been taken
immediately to a healer. Galena’s head began to swim with so many
morbid thoughts that she stopped thinking of what could happen and
started focusing on her breathing. She counted her breaths. In and
out, slow and steady. The pain in her head began to ease, as did
the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her. Mira wouldn’t have
gotten her this far to leave her trapped in this dungeon for
long.

Despite her circumstances, Galena felt
relatively safe. True, she could not go anywhere, but no dark
creatures could come to her. Realizing that this may be the perfect
time to catch up on some desperately needed sleep, she laid down on
the cold, hard bench. She laid her head on the crook of her arm and
tried to get comfortable. She had no idea how long she would be
here, but from the lack of activity, she could only assume it would
be a while.

Galena heard a grinding noise before she
registered that it was the sound of a door opening. She sat up
quickly, and forgetting where she was, stood. She felt a hot,
painful stab on top of her head as it collided with the ceiling
above. The pain was excruciating, but even worse, was seeing
everything distorted and fuzzy. She felt herself falling back and
with a resounding thud, the back of her head met one of the
walls.

That can’t be good,
she thought to
herself as blackness stole over her.

Pain. Hot, blinding pain that seemed to
resonate from her head filled her every thought. It came in painful
bursts that washed through her whole body. Her stomach churned with
every wave until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She rolled to her
side and threw up. She continued dry heaving even though the
movement caused her head to hurt more. She felt hot and clammy; her
body was covered in sweat. She smelled blood and vomit, the aroma
was enough to send her into another spout of dry heaves. She rolled
onto her back, trying to take deep breaths, but the pain was too
severe. She fought back the sickness that threatened to overwhelm
her once more, when she felt the soothing coolness of a wet cloth
cleaning her face.

“There, there. Lie still and I’ll have you
fixed up in no time. They just brought you here, but already I
think you’re on the mend,” a soothing voice said from somewhere on
Galena’s left.

She didn’t care who it was, all she could
focus on was the pain that threatened to rip her in two.

“There’s a good girl. I’ve been telling them
for years that those ceilings are too low, but would they listen?
No. I think they are personally hoping that their prisoners break
their skulls so they won’t have to deal with them.”

Galena vaguely realized that this voice
sounded exactly like Morgo use to when they first met him. Dull and
monotone, the very sound of it threatened to lull Galena back to
sleep. At this point, she had to admit, it would be gladly
welcomed.

A cool hand grasped the back of her head as
it lifted her just enough to allow a sweet peppery liquid into her
mouth. It felt soothing to her parched and vomit filmed throat, but
the pain of moving her head was almost more than she could bear.
Hot tears slid from her eyes.

“Just give that remedy a moment dear. I
promise the pain will lessen considerably.”

Galena could almost hear the empathy in the
woman’s voice. She squeezed her eyes tightly, but even that was too
much, for that small movement contradicted her whole head. Just as
she felt that she would be sick again, the pain started to
dissolve. She felt it flowing from her limbs and away from her head
as a wonderful pain free warmth replaced it. She felt her breathing
ease and her muscles relax. Her head still ached, but nothing
compared to before. Chancing a glance, she opened her eyes just a
fraction, but enough to take in her surroundings. On her left stood
a short, squat elf woman with the same black eyes and hair as all
the other underground elves. Her skin was the same milky white and
her clothes were a dull gray. She had a tight, pinched looked on
her face as she took in Galena.

Seeing that Galena was indeed opening her
eyes, her face relaxed and broke into a broad smile. “What did I
tell you? Almost as good as new! Well, at least relatively pain
free I hope. Now that you’re awake, I need you to flip over so I
can deal with this head wound that you have given yourself. I
couldn’t do anything with you getting sick, but now I must close
you up.”

Galena started to reach up to feel the
damage, but the elf woman gently grabbed her hand.

“Best not, dearie. It will send you into a
panic if you knew just how much damage you have wrought upon
yourself. Plus, I have already cleaned it and I don’t want you
getting dirt in it again.”

Galena cringed at this.

Nodding her satisfaction as Galena lowered
her arm again and flipped over, the little elf woman started to
work on her. Galena’s scalp started to prickle as the little elf
began healing her with magic. She sat as still as she could,
realizing from Morgo that the elf would need quiet and complete
concentration in order to heal her. Her mind raced with so many
questions though. She felt her head burning slightly followed by a
wonderful cooling sensation. An itch spread over her entire head,
but scratching it would do her no good, so, fighting the urge,
Galena kept her hands by her side.

With a large sigh, the little elf woman sat
down in the chair by the bed with a dull thud. “There. Good as new,
though I’m sorry to say, you might have a slight dent on the top of
your head from now on.”

Galena looked gratefully at the woman and
smiled, just thankful the pain had stopped. “Thank you,” she
croaked.

“Let me get some water for you.” With another
large sigh, the dumpy elf heaved herself out of the chair and
grabbed a cup that sat on the table across the room. Waving a hand
over it, she filled it with clear, cold water.

Galena sat up and reached for it eagerly.
Clutching it in her hands, she downed the entire contents in two
gulps. Smacking her lips, she wiped the remaining water from her
mouth with her bare arm before handing the cup back. “Thank you,”
she whispered. “Are you the healer?”

“That I am.”

“Can you tell me what happened to my friend,
Morgo? When we came to the village, he was badly wounded from a
torlo.”

“Ah yes, that is why they found you before
you bled out. No worries. I fixed him up in a moment. The stab
wound was deep, but it missed any important parts. As soon as he
realized what had happened, he went straight to the elders and
explained the situation. They sent their guards straight away to
get you. Good thing they did too, otherwise, you would have bled to
death. Once death has its grip, there is nothing I can do to bring
you back.” The little elf shook her head sadly as if this was her
greatest shame.

“Someone had opened a door, which was why I
stood up. I simply forgot how low the ceiling was.”

“Aye, they were bringing food rations.”

Galena nodded. “Where are the others and my
things?” Galena asked as she looked around the room for her
belongings.

“I made the others wait outside. When they
saw the state of you, it was all I could do to talk them into
letting me work on you. It took Morgo to calm them down before they
would even let me touch you. I imagine that you will find all your
belongings with them. Your little traveler should be fine, too.”
The elf winked at her knowingly.

“Twoit is safe?” Galena asked cautiously.

“She wouldn’t let anyone near her! The elders
were amazed when they saw the tiny thing, but even they know when
their attention is not wanted.” The little elf burst out
laughing.

Galena felt herself breathe a sigh of relief.
“What’s your name?” Galena said, smiling despite herself.

“My name is Nigora, but everyone calls me Ni.
I think that’s because when people see me, they’re generally in a
hurry and Nigora simply takes too long!” Ni slapped her leg and
burst into laughter again.

Grinning, Galena just watched the tiny elf
laughing at her own joke. “Well Ni,” she began after the elf’s
laughter subsided. “It seems I’m indebted to you, for you saved my
life.”

Ni waved her hand. “Over half the village is
indebted to me, but I try not to let it get me down. I just do the
job that I am good at doing and think nothing more of it!” With
this, Nigora placed a hand on Galena’s back and helped her off the
bed. “Just try not to brain yourself anymore while you’re here,
because after that last clonk, I need a bit of a lie down. Even a
good healer like me can wear out with a wound like that!” She led
Galena to the door and opened it just wide enough for Galena to
slip through. “Goodbye dear, and if you should leave before we meet
again, then may Mira guide you.” With that, she shut her door with
a gentle click.

Galena turned only to be caught up in the
tightest hug she had had in quite some time. Elenio swept her clean
off her feet and just held her. He whispered in her ear over and
over how much he loved her and how much she had scared him. Then
placing her back on the ground, he allowed the others to see her,
although Galena noted that he seemed hesitant to remove his arm
from around her waist. She thought about telling him that there was
nothing around that would harm her before she remembered that it
had been a ceiling, a wall, and her own clumsiness that had taken
her out before. She was probably safer from herself with someone
else to intervene.