Mira's View (23 page)

They began the final leg of their underground
journey, just after they had eaten bread and fruit for their
morning meal. Morgo led them into a narrow passage, which inspired
Tark with several more jokes concerning Galena and the stone
ceiling. Twoit, who had stayed by Galena’s pack for the majority of
the time in the village, took off immediately into the tunnel in
search of something for her own meal. They walked for most of the
morning and through the noonday meal, eagerness in each step.
Galena, for one, could not wait to smell the fresh air of the
outdoors or see the colors offered to them by the trees and grass.
She missed the blue sky and the fragrant wind. She even missed the
heat of the hot summer sun.

Twoit joined them again sometime later, her
belly bulging slightly. Galena picked her up and put her on her
shoulder, but the ferret had other thoughts in mind. She nosed her
way into the pack on Galena’s back, where she curled up and went
back to sleep. Finally, Galena was forced to admit that she needed
a break, as the pain in her head had grown so intense that she was
beginning to see two of everything.

“I need to stop for a bit, my head’s killing
me.” Galena took a pinch of her herbs and added it to her water.
She downed the entire contents in several swallows, feeling the
effects of the herbs almost immediately.
I definitely won’t be
able to go long without this
, she thought miserably.

“Do you know where to go after this?” Morgo
asked.

“A man by the name of Pangoro said that
Mira’s View was on the highest mountain,” Elenio responded.
stretching out on the tunnel floor.

Morgo looked at him with his mouth slightly
agape. He then looked at Tark and Galena as if to see whether they
were joking.

“But how do you know which mountain is the
highest, for there are three that are within inches of each other.
Indeed, you cannot tell the difference, if there’s any at all,”
Morgo said, still looking at them with a curious expression on his
face.

Tark had stopped from taking a drink with his
flask midway up to his mouth, a look of horror spreading across
features.

“You’re saying there are three mountains with
peaks relatively the same distance into the air?” Galena nearly
shouted; panic welling up in her throat.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Did the elf
tell you no more?” Morgo asked, still looking puzzled.

Galena looked at her brother and then Elenio,
the same look of anger spreading across their faces.

“No, I have a feeling he was feeling too bad
for himself to mention something as important as ‘make sure to take
the left one or the right one.’” Galena stood and kicked a tunnel
wall. How maddening! To think they had made it this far only to
spend the next few weeks trying to figure out which mountain had
Mira’s View on it! “When I see Pangoro next, I’m going to give him
a taste of my foot!” Galena sat down with a thud, anger rolling off
her in waves. Of all the stupid things to forget.

They spent the rest of their meal trying to
decide which mountain peak would have a better chance of being the
tallest and finally deciding to start with the one closet to the
tunnel entrance. They would go up and down each in turn until they
found the right one. There was really nothing else to do.

They continued on their way, for a short
while longer, until they reached the end. Morgo stopped, hanging
his head sadly, and pointed to the door that led out. “This is
where I must say goodbye, my friends.”

Galena noticed that his voice had gone back
to the same dull monotone it had had when they first met him. This
alone made her reach out and hug her new friend. He hugged her back
briefly, but catching Elenio’s eye, backed away quickly. He shook
hands with Tark and then Elenio, never taking his eyes off the
ground.

“I will keep watch for you in the mirror
waters. May Mira keep you safe.” With that, he turned, and headed
back in the direction they had come from.

“Let the race begin,” Galena said, and taking
the handle of the tunnel door with both hands, she pulled.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Galena pulled hard, but only after the other
two helped, was she able to open the huge door. A fresh breeze blew
through the opening, the smell of autumn on the wind. Galena took a
deep breath, savoring the taste that came with it. She could smell
the dying leaves on the trees and the grass warmed by the sun.
Flower fragrances perfumed the air and a slight coolness filled it
as well. Galena ran out, finding herself in a small clearing
surrounded by trees. Even within this apparently empty area, once
the door of the tunnel was shut, it disappeared within the deep
grass. She had a feeling that she would not be able to find easily
if she so desired to.

Stretching her arms wide, she spun around as
she had seen many of the little ones in the village do, laughing
the whole time. Tark and Elenio came chasing after her, but dropped
to the ground on their backs and admired the sky.

“I missed you,” Elenio called softly to a
lazy cloud drifting aimlessly through the sky.

Already evening, the warm sun dropped closer
to the horizon. Galena smiled fondly at it; nothing had changed in
this world. She sat down with the others, soaking in the fading sun
light as they watched it slowly sink into the land. It cast hazy
rays as it finally disappeared, leaving a red, purple, and orange
sky in its wake. The silvery moon hung in a tight sliver, shinning
weakly for it was at its smallest point during the month. To think,
it had been more than two moon cycles since they had last seen
their village.

“My family will have forgotten me,” Tark said
quietly.

Galena turned to him, remember what her
brother had left behind to aide her. She saw his face was grave as
he beheld the moon hanging in the night sky. A tear trailed its way
down his cheek and dropped to the ground. Galena reached for his
hand and squeezed it, wishing she could tell him something that
would make his heart ache less. But, she knew her brother well
enough to know that he would never leave her, because he too wanted
to see the end of Rau and get revenge for their father and
Melan.

He returned the gesture, but did not look at
her. Instead, he pulled out his blanket, positioned his pack so
that he could lay his head on it, and laid down facing away from
them. Galena felt her own tears trickling down her cheeks and
falling onto her tunic.

She turned to Elenio, who was still gazing at
the moon. The vibrant colors that had been present moments ago were
also fading. Galena could see some of the brighter stars starting
to twinkle high in the heavens. They seemed to be winking at her,
showing her how happy they were that she had come back. Galena
smiled weakly, her heart still heavy with Tark’s grief, and lay
back, resting her head upon her pack. A disgruntled ferret came
hoping out, chattering at Galena in her angry little way.

“Peace, little one. I forgot you were there.
Go enjoy the outdoors for a while for it’s too nice an evening to
sleep.” The ferret looked around for the first time and seemed to
realize where they were. She hoped and tumbled around, rolling this
way and that, doing an ecstatic dance. Galena laughed aloud at
Twoit’s crazy antics, before returning her head to her pack. She
was content to watch the stars come out one by one until she could
see thousands staring back at her.

****

The next morning was just a wonderful with
sun streaming down on her, kissing her skin gently. She smiled and
stretched in the open air, enjoying the wonderful morning smell and
the feel of a cool breeze playing on her face. She would never go
underground again! She rolled over to see the others still snoozing
peacefully, so she decided to get breakfast ready. She grabbed a
loaf of bread and using a knife Morgo had given her, sliced it up.
She found some golden cheese wedges and fresh fruit and cut it all
up. Finding a nearby stream, she filled their flask with the clear,
cold water. She noticed that it had a purer taste than the stuff
Morgo would conjure up. Relishing it, she took several longs drinks
before filling it to the brim again and heading back to their camp.
She noticed Twoit ran in circles around the sleeping elves,
stopping periodically to do a tumble or hop on a stray leaf.

The fresh air seems to be doing strange
things to her as well,
Galena thought. She divided the food
onto the plates and had everything waiting and ready when Tark
finally woke up.

Just as Galena had, he smiled, apparently
enjoying the feel of the sun and breeze on his face. He lifted
himself up until he was propped on one elbow. He reached for the
plate that was closest to him and began eating the cheese.

“Amazing, even the food tastes better in the
sun.”

Elenio groaned, rolled over, and buried his
face in his pack. “It took me forever to go to sleep last night.
The lights and noises. I wanted to soak it all in.” He sat up, and
looked at Twoit, who was still practicing her somersaults in the
brush nearby. He chuckled and then grabbed his plate as well.

Packing up their things, they headed in the
direction of the large mountain range looming up ahead of them.
Galena had refused to look at them when she had first left the
tunnels, because she wanted to enjoy her reunion with the outside
world. However, looking at the mountains now, she wondered how she
had accomplished that incredible feat. Morgo had been right as
three equally massive towers of stone loomed in front of them.
Galena sighed deeply. She had never wanted to climb a mountain
before and now that the task loomed ahead of her, she found that
she had even less desire to do so. Shouldering her pack once more,
she started toward it with Elenio and Tark following behind.

Before she had taken more than a step from
the safety of the trees, Tark grabbed her arm, and jerked her to
the ground. There, Elenio and he were crouched low, looking at
something in the distance. Confused, Galena looked in the direction
that their gazes were aimed and gasped. A large group of torlics
camped and waiting for what she assumed was them, were around the
base of the closest mountain. They were sitting around campfires,
eating their noon meal. She could see tents pitched every few feet
among other things, indicating that they had been there for some
time. Some of them stood guard around the camp while others strode
toward different tents and other torlics. They were all heavily
armed and terrifying to look at.

“Rau must have figured out what where we were
headed,” Tark whispered as he continued to watch the torlics.
“Perhaps we should retrace our steps, and head up the first
mountain a little further down. At least out of their line of
vision.”

Elenio and Galena nodded and, keeping low to
the ground, they backed up until they were within the cover of the
thick wooded area. From there they followed a river until they were
well out of sight of the torlic camp. It was only then that they
proceeded up the mountainside.

At first, it wasn’t so bad as they gradually
climbed the closest mountain, but by that evening, Galena found
that her calves were screaming in protest and her head felt as if
it were about to split open. Her breath came in short pants, but as
she looked down from where they came, she realized that they had
covered a large amount of ground. Unable to take anymore, she
leaned over the nearest boulder and threw up. She stayed that way
for a long time, the pain causing her to empty everything in her
stomach. Even her stomach seemed to be trying to escape through her
mouth. Elenio stood behind her, holding her hair back, which was
the very last place she wanted him. But, not able to form words
between heaves, she was forced to let him help. She collapsed to
the ground, shivering slightly as she gulped at the air. Tark
removed her pack and finding the herbs Ni had given her, added some
to the remains of her water before handing the flask to her. Galena
gratefully took a large gulp, and nearly choked. The water was a
shock to her throat and stomach, which for the last few minutes,
had been trying to send everything in the opposite direction as the
water was going now.

As always, Galena felt the pain slowly
melting away as the herbs took effect. Deeming this as good a place
as any to camp for the night, Elenio went to find the stream they
had seen earlier to refill their flasks as Tark got some food
out.

“Let’s not start a fire. We don’t want to let
the torlics know where we’re at if we can help it,” Tark said,
looking down in the direction of the torlic camp.

Elenio and Galena nodded and looked for
things that they could eat cold. Getting Twoit out of her pack so
that she could use it as a pillow, Galena laid back and rested
while Tark stretched out on the ground. She heard Elenio walking
around the camp, handing Tark the water before sitting down beside
Galena, and brushing the hair from her face. He bent down and
kissed her forehead gently. She smiled at him before returning her
gaze to the sky overhead. She would be so glad when this was
finally over and she could stop running.

* * * *

The next morning dawned beautifully clear.
Galena breathed in the fresh mountain air, letting it tickle her
senses when her stomach gave a huge growl. She was starving.
Digging in her pack she ate all the fruit she had left and roughly
two loaves of bread before she began to feel comfortable. Realizing
her mistake too late, she saved the rest of the food for a later
time. They could not make new food as they had done in the tunnels.
There were no villages here, so they could not buy supplies.
Groaning at the thought of how much food she had just consumed,
Galena got up and stretched. Deciding to practice with her sword
until the other two got up; she stood and got into her starting
stance. She felt her muscles warm and move fluidly as she went
through each swing and defensive move. She parried invisible foes
and blocked imaginary strikes. She was aware of the fact that
Elenio was awake and watching her every move, but found that she
relished his watchfulness. She finished with a final thrust that
would have severed the spine of her enemy before she straightened
up. Turning to replace her sword in its scabbard, she found Elenio
standing behind her.