Miras Last (10 page)

“If you’re ready.” Morgo indicated the open
tent with a sweep of his arm.

Grinning, Tark stood and headed out to see
his sister. “Do you think we even have a chance of winning?” Tark
asked quietly as they covered the ground between Morgo’s tent and
Galena’s. The question plagued him since they started on this quest
and after seeing less than half of Rau’s army, he felt his fears
were confirmed.

“That’s an interesting question,” Morgo said
thoughtfully. “On the one hand, Rau has us hopelessly outnumbered.
On the other hand, we have magical abilities the dark creatures
will never have. So it is brute strength against magic, which
cancels each other out. So then we’re left with the question, who
wants to win more, the elves or Rau?”

Tark had never thought of it that way. Morgo
certainly had an interesting way of looking at things. He had never
failed to amuse Tark with his theories.

“Do you think it will boil down to Galena
versus Rau too?”

“I most certainly do. How else would it all
end?” Morgo said, looking at Tark curiously.

“Good point.”

They saw Galena slipping through the tent
entrance when they drew close to her tent. Tark had to smile, he
knew her so well. “Galena, wait.”

Galena stopped and turned to face them, a
look of surprise on her face. “What are you two doing up so early?”
she called out when they had almost reached her.

“We would like to try an experiment, if you
would humor us,” Morgo said, smiling at her.

“What kind of experiment did you have in
mind?” she asked a little cautiously.

“It won’t kill you, if that’s what you’re
worried about,” Tark said good-humoredly.

Galena shook her head. She appeared to be
unsure of what to think of this last statement.

“That makes me feel so much better,” she
mumbled.

“Shall we head back to my tent, since I
assume by your quiet exit, Elenio is still asleep?”

“Sure.” The trio headed back in the direction
from which Morgo and Tark came. When they reached the tent, Morgo
retrieved his mirror water bowl and handed it to Galena. “We
already know I can see images in water,” Galena said, a bemused
look on her face.

“Yes, but now we want to see if you can see
the surroundings of your main focus,” Morgo said, filling the bowl
with water as he explained what they wanted.

“How do I do that?” Galena asked.

“I’m not entirely sure as I have never been
able to accomplish that particular task. I assume it’s a lot like
viewing an image and then directing or thinking of yourself zooming
back so that you can see the things surrounding that image. This is
just an assumption and those can often be wrong. I only know an elf
with a normal amount of magic cannot accomplish this goal because
of the amount of power and concentration it takes. Not all elves
can bring a single image up in the mirror waters. It’s like I
mentioned before, some elves can do some types of magic and other
elves can accomplish other things. You are the only exception to
this rule.”

“Okay, now that this has been explained so
it’s as clear as mud, let’s give it a whirl,” Galena said
sarcastically while looking into the bowl of water. “What am I
looking for?”

“We want to see where Rau’s army is first off
and then if you could bring up Morak and the rest of his archers
that would help too,” Tark said. He watched the images swirling
around in the water, waiting for Galena to direct them into clearer
focus.

Galena nodded and stared intently at the
water, the images it held becoming sharper with each moment. There
in the waters were the thousands of dark creatures remaining in the
army Rau sent out. They appeared to be on the move, but as to where
they were at, they would only be able to know if this experiment
worked.

“Now, imagine you are flying away from them,
higher into the air,” Morgo whispered, his attention too was on the
images within the water. Instantly, the creatures began to shrink
and more came into view. It took a lot longer than Tark would have
imagined for Galena to get high enough to view more than the dark
creatures. Finally, they were able to identify the region through
which the army moved.

“They are moving at an incredible pace,”
Morgo noted thoughtfully, his gaze still intent on the scene.

“Rau must have told them to get there
quickly, or they’re afraid of you. I’m curious to know the reason
behind their break neck pace,” Tark said, taking his eyes off the
mirror waters and sitting back in one of the chairs.

Galena blinked her eyes several times,
causing the images to disappear. Returning her gaze on the waters,
she thought of Morak and instantly saw him in the water. They
appeared to be right behind the army, but still at enough of a
distance that they were safe. Galena cleared the image away along
with the water and then placed the empty bowl on the ground beside
Morgo’s hammock. She sat down gingerly, looking somewhat tired
after the experiment.

“So they’re roughly four days ahead of us,”
she said after a bit.

“So it seems,” Tark replied.

“And you still don’t think we need to get
started sooner?”

“No, I don’t. I think you need to give
yourself a bit more time and we have other magical elves that need
the rest. You’re not the only important one,” Tark said, grinning
in an amused way.

Galena sighed heavily and stood. “Well, if
you two are through experimenting with me, I’m off to find some
food and rest up since it’s so necessary.”

“Galena, we’ll head out tomorrow morning at
first light.”

“By then, they’ll be a week ahead of us.”

“Then so be it.”

Chapter
Seven

Galena knew deep down Tark was being
reasonable, but she felt they were somehow wasting time by not
starting after Rau’s army. Even if they didn’t catch up within a
couple of days, they would at least keep them from getting so far
ahead. She stormed in the direction she smelled food, hoping to
find some sweet bread there. She managed to lose the crumbs she had
been using to make more of it on their return trip. She assumed
this happened when she tossed her bag down.

Elenio had retrieved her bag when she’d been
recovering from her big battle and to her immense relief, Twoit
stayed with the pack during the battle. Elenio said she appeared to
have been asleep the entire time. Since the arrival to camp
however, she made herself scarce just as she had done with the
other camps. Apparently, the ferret had aversions to elves other
than Galena and her companions, which suited Galena fine. She’d
only seen the ferret once in the last couple of days and that was
when Twoit was sneaking back into the tent after hunting the night
before. Earlier that morning, she noticed the tiny creature had
curled up at the foot of the hammock and slept the night away with
Galena without her knowing.

Galena knew she’d arrived at the right tent
because the smells of good things to eat were stronger here.
Galena’s stomach gave a loud rumble and much to her embarrassment,
the elf who was entering the tent next to her chuckled as they
passed.
Yeah, yeah, I know,
she thought to herself.

Inside, she found several elves sitting on
the ground, their hands full of food. Galena took a deep breath of
the warm smells of bread and sweet smells of fruit, her mouth
salivating in response. She entered and stopped in shock when all
the elves in the tent, stood and bowed low to her before they began
clapping. Galena felt more than a little uncomfortable at the sight
of so many elves treating her like royalty. She’d been here a
couple of days and all the elves she passed while in camp had
thanked her personally, but this was the first time this many
responded to her at once. It was overwhelming.

“Please, you are to be thanked as much as I,”
she said loudly while she held her hands up to quiet them. “What I
do, I am doing for you and for those we left behind. Please, do not
thank me for the gift I’ve been given. I don’t deserve it.”

The elves responded by bowing low once more
as a sign of respect before sitting down to finish their food.
Galena approached the area where she could get a variety of
different things to eat and chose a loaf of sweet bread, several
pieces of cheese, fruits, and vegetables. Not only her hands were
full, but so were her arms. Even then, she realized she would have
to use the wind to help her carry it all. One of the underground
elves who was in charge of the food, laughed at her when she saw
the burden she carried.

“We won’t run out,” she said, laughing.

Galena blushed. She nodded in thanks and set
off for her tent once more. If she thought she had attracted
attention before, it was nothing compared to the stares she now
received. Every elf that passed did a double take causing Galena’s
face to turn redder with every glance. Finally, she reached the
safety of her tent, where no eyes could follow her and the large
amount of food she carried.

“Hungry?” Elenio asked, laughing when Galena
entered the tent.

“Yes, but I brought some for you too,” Galena
said indignantly.

“Well, you never know with you,” Elenio said,
smiling broadly.

Galena rolled her eyes at this and handed him
several pieces of food. Elenio kept his eyes on her at all times,
the smile never leaving his lips.

“Where were you off to, besides hoarding half
of the elves’ rations?”

That does it,
she thought. She’d had
enough of the teasing. Using the wind, she sent a small chunk of
bread flying through the air and straight up Elenio’s nose, where
it lodged nicely.

Elenio’s smile disappeared from his face as
the discomfort of having food shoved up his nostril replaced his
amusement. He choked and began to sneeze furiously before he closed
his other nostril with a finger. With a mighty effort, he blew the
chunk of bread out and sent it bouncing across the floor. Galena
roared with laughter throughout the entire process, tears streaming
down her face when he was finally able to dislodge the food. Elenio
studiously ignored Galena through the remainder of their morning
meal, for which Galena was perfectly fine with, now that she felt
better.

“Tark and Morgo had me do a sort of
experiment this morning.”

Still attempting to ignore Galena, Elenio
continued to eat, but Galena could tell she had gotten his
attention when he turned his face so he could hear her better.

She smiled before continuing. “They wanted to
see if I would be able to see the landscape surrounding Rau’s army.
I was successful. Unfortunately, we found out they’re already
several days ahead of us. The ridiculous part is that Tark is still
maintaining we need to wait until tomorrow morning before we head
out.”

“I agree with him.”

“Somehow, I knew that was what you were going
to say,” Galena grumbled.

“Galena, have you even talked to any of the
other underground elves besides Nigora?”

Galena looked at Elenio, waiting for him to
continue.

“Nigora wasn’t the only one who was passed
out by the end of the day. Morgo and I went around checking on the
other magical elves. They were all passed out. Only Nina actually
made it to her hammock. The others were found near their tents or
passing elves took pity on them and placed them in their tents.
Most of them, I imagine, still have not stirred from where they
lay. Tark told me when they began to use their magic to build tree
homes a good many of them would be out for days at a time. He also
said they had gotten better over the weeks, but big and different
magic is still hard on them. Now, in order for us to get into
Blackwell, we need every elf we can spare. So quit complaining and
accept we need to give others a chance to catch up.”

Galena felt stunned. Elenio had never been so
blunt with her before.

“So, what you’re saying is that you really
don’t like bread up your nose?”

Elenio looked at her in shock, before
abruptly getting up and storming out of the tent.

Well, that didn’t go quite like I was
hoping,
Galena thought miserably. Getting up, she ran out after
Elenio who was storming off in the direction of Tark and Taura’s
tent. “Elenio, wait!” she called out to him.

He stopped, but refused to turn around.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into
me.”

He acknowledged her by turning to face her as
she continued.

“Chalk it up to feeling like I have been
laughed at more often by more elves and feeling completely
helpless. I shouldn’t have gotten upset either with you or Tark. I
know you’re both right, I just hate to admit it.”

Elenio’s face softened when she finished and
grabbing her hand, he pulled her to him where he could wrap his
arms around her. “I’m sorry too,” he muttered into her hair,
kissing the top of her head. “I didn’t mean to be so blunt earlier,
I just felt like I was dealing with a two year old.” He tickled
Galena’s side causing her to wriggle around, fighting to get away
from the torturous fingers. He stopped and pulled her close to him
once more. “That and I got used to having you all to myself. I
don’t like having to share you with everyone and I really don’t
like the fact that if it hadn’t been for you, we would still be
fighting.”

“Elenio...” Galena started, but Elenio
stopped her by placing a hand over her mouth.

“I wasn’t finished yet,” he said, putting a
finger under her chin and raising her face so she was looking
directly at him.

She saw weariness there, hidden in the
circles around his eyes and the tightness around his mouth. She
knew he had been through as much as she had and would have to go
through much more before they were finished.

He kissed her nose and resting his forehead
on hers he continued, “I’m getting better, but there is some male
instinct there that tells me I’m the one that is supposed to be
protecting you, not the other way around. No matter how many
battles we go through or how many tight situations you get me out
of, that instinct is always going to be there. Just ask Tark,
Morgo, and Morak. They will tell you the same thing holds true for
them as well. So be patient with me for it will always be a
struggle and one that my better judgment will not always win.” He
smiled at this last statement before kissing her quickly.