Mira's View (13 page)

Sharing brief looks with Elenio and Tark,
Galena shrugged, reached down, grabbed her pack, and began to
follow the strange elf. Any place to rest sounded better than
taking on another horde of torlics.

They had been following the elf for less than
ten minutes, when she suddenly stopped and turned quickly to face
them again.

“From this point on, we must blindfold you.
We are taking a huge risk by allowing you into our world. We will
not allow you to see the way in, for your protection and our own,”
the elf said in the same dull, monotone voice.

“Who is ‘we’?” Galena asked, her lips pinched
tightly in annoyance with this new request, but curious all the
same.

At that moment, five more elves stepped from
behind the trees that encircled them.

Galena struggled to keep her emotions in
check when she saw how closely they resembled the female. They were
all males, as far as Galena could see, although their stature was
somewhat smaller than any male elf Galena had ever known. Their
faces were extremely pale, almost white in color, and they all had
the same dull, listless hair ranging in varying shades of brown and
black. It was their eyes that Galena found the most interesting
though. Just like the female that had offered help; these elves
also had pupils so large that it gave them the appearance of having
black eyes. They also had no marks of Rau on their hands.

“Do you agree to our terms?” the female
asked.

Looking first at Elenio and then Tark, Galena
gave a brief nod. The other elves seemed to come to life as three
of them produced long strips of linen. They strode over to Galena,
Elenio, and Tark. With the fabric over their eyes, it wasn’t
completely dark, but the black strips dimmed the very thin light
that managed to find its way to the forest floor. The elf that had
put the binding on Galena took her hand and gently placed it upon
his shoulder, facing the direction that Galena assumed, they would
be heading. Silently, they started forward; Galena gripped her
guide’s shoulder more firmly so as not to be left behind.

She tripped and stumbled awkwardly, their
progress slow as they made their way blindly toward the homes of
these strange elves. If they were really worried about torlics,
Galena felt there would be a better way to get where they were
going, but the prospect of a decent meal and a soft bed, made her
bite her tongue as she stumbled along behind her guide.

After what seemed like hours, Galena heard a
rustling, as if trees were being moved out of the way. She took a
deep breath as they continued forward, noticing that the air around
her smelled stale and moldy and the temperature seemed to drop
considerably. It also felt as if she were walking down a steep and
gravely hill. The light that had penetrated the blindfold before,
was gone.

“Are we almost there?” she whispered, a
stillness creeping over her. The atmosphere seemed to permeate her
skin, making her feel damp and chilly. There was something else
there, a feeling that she couldn’t quite describe. It filled her
lungs, and then her mind with thoughts of death and darkness. If
this is where they were going, Galena was unsure if she wanted to
remain.

Instead of answering her, her guide stopped,
turned, and removed her blindfold. Galena blinked, searching her
immediate surroundings to see if Elenio and Tark were still with
her. Having had their own blindfolds removed, they stood blinking
as well, taking in their surroundings and letting their eyes adjust
to the darkness.

Galena looked around her and gasped with
amazement. She was in a large cavern that had floating lights
throughout it. She imagined the ceiling was high above, because she
saw no stone formation in the darkness beyond the weak rays of the
floating orbs. The little group stood on a little outlook from the
mouth of the tunnel that overlooked, what Galena could only assume
was a village. It was nothing like the villages that Galena had
seen before though, because it was completely devoid of any colors.
The homes, which resembled the homes of the elves above as far as
structure, were scattered throughout the cavern and were made from
stone shaped by hand or magic. They were completely devoid of any
details and must have been used simply for shelter. She noticed
that there were large gardens behind each of the houses, but even
those greens, which should have been a very rich green, seemed to
take on the drabness of their surroundings. Every other detail that
she would have normally noticed, drifted in out of her vision,
never staying long enough for her to remember it clearly

As Galena looked around, she finally
registered that hundreds of faces stared back at her. Their looks
were identical to the elves she had first met, leaving Galena to
wonder; how long had this world lived underground away from the
sun?

Chapter
Eleven

Elenio reached for her hand, startling Galena
at first, as she was so absorbed with the sights surrounding her.
There were elves of all ages, but none of them bore the mark of Rau
from what she could see. They stared back at her with, what Galena
felt, must be the same look as her own. She looked down. Her own
clothing, although dirty, was a startling emerald green compared to
her current surroundings. Her hair alone, made her very different
indeed.

“My name is Nina. I apologize for not
introducing myself before, but I didn’t feel there was time. My
companion had just informed me that he spied the torlics searching
for you while he was looking in his mirror water,” the female said,
pointing to the elf that had blindfolded Tark.

“Where are we?” Tark asked, amazement clear
in his voice.

“Welcome to the city of Freeva. We will
explain more after you have rested a short while, and have been
fed. We ask that you perform no magic here, as you still are bound
by the marks of Rau. He has no knowledge of us and we would like
for it to remain so.” Nina’s voice drifted dully over Galena,
making her feel even drowsier, if that were possible.

Galena looked down at her own marks, feeling
like they made her unclean in the eyes of these elves. “How is it
that you don’t have the marks? All elves are given them when
they’re born.”

“All will be explained later. For now, you
will go with Morgo. I must meet with the council to let them know
that you have arrived.” Nina bowed again before turning and heading
into the village below, followed by the remaining four elves.

“I am Morgo.” Morgo had a quiet voice, but it
too was dull and had a monotone quality to it much like Nina’s.
Long, limp hair hung like a black drape around his face and
shoulders. His eyes held no joy and his face was instantly
forgettable with no discriminating traits for Galena to
remember.

“Please follow me to where you can rest. I
will come for you later so that you can join us for our evening
meal. Because you are from the upper world, you will have to stay
in the outer walls of our village. It is our custom.”

Galena felt sure that if she could not get to
sleep, she could have one of the underground elves talk to her and
that would lull her into a deep slumber.

“Why do none of you have the mark of Rau?”
Elenio asked as they started down a trail that wound around the
village. The village seemed to be in the center of a massive
cavern, surrounded by thick stone walls. Periodically, they passed
large holes within these walls, but Galena was unsure if these led
to other tunnels or to rooms.

“Our founders did have the marks, but when
they came here, the mauks must have believed them dead. Since then,
their children and their children’s children have been blessed to
forego having the curse placed upon their feet and hands.” Morgo
stopped in front of a large opening in the wall. As he stared
inside, a light began to glow deep within. “I will be back for you
when it is time to gather for the evening meal. If you need
anything, I am the first home down that path, please feel free to
come to me,” he said as he pointed toward a path that went steeply
down the side of the incline leading to the valley of Freeva. He
smiled at them as he turned and took his leave in the direction
that he had indicated.

Galena watched him walk a short way before
turning back to the hole in the stony wall. She stepped in and
found that, standing open directly to her left, was a door of
sorts. It had grooves on the outer right part on both sides and she
assumed they were used as handles. She could not see how it was
attached to the wall, but as the other two stepped in, she found
that it swung shut with ease. She followed the other two down, what
appeared to be, a narrow hallway that led to a spacious room. Stone
seats lined with pillows made from what looked like wool, filled
this room, making it appear somewhat attractive. A makeshift place
to prepare food occupied one corner as well. From this room were
three other doors similar to the one that she had closed behind
them. Galena went to one and found that it led to a washroom. She
noted that a similar washbasin to the ones that she had tried to
recreate was also in it. She found this interesting, as she had
never considered shaping stone to meet their needs. She assumed it
would be a great deal more difficult, much like causing a torlic’s
head to catch on fire. She stepped back into the other room as
Elenio and Tark emerged from the remaining two doors.

“This one’s a bedroom,” Elenio replied, still
looking around at their surroundings.

“So is this one. I’ll take this one and you
two can take the other,” Tark said.

Galena gazed around, shivering slightly from
the damp coldness that seemed to surround them. The room was
brightly lit with several of the floating lights, but it still
seemed dim compared to the world above. The floating lights could
not penetrate every inch of the dull room.

“Dreary sort of place, isn’t it?” Tark walked
over to the area where they could prepare food, but found none in
the pantry. “Let’s hope they allow us to eat here from time to
time. I can’t stand the thought of eating with the others.”

Galena suppressed a shudder at the thought of
spending a lot of time with these strangers. The other elves seemed
to be friendly enough, but they lacked any emotion or any of the
colors of life, as she had grown used to with the elves above. It
was as if they were just here and that was enough for them. They
may have been free from Rau, but Galena didn’t think she would be
able to stand it down here. That kind of freedom came with a heavy
price.

“Well, I intend to sleep for a while before
they come back. I don’t know which has drained me more; running
non-stop from the torlics or being in this listless place.” Tark
rubbed his hand wearily across his eyes, before stretching out and
yawning broadly. He turned and headed into one of the bedrooms,
closing the door quietly behind him.

Galena crossed her arms in front of her
chest, trying to keep the warmth from escaping her body so quickly.
She wasn’t sure how long she would last in this place before she
lost her mind.

Elenio took the few remaining steps to where
Galena stood, and wrapped his arms protectively around her. He
placed his cheek atop her head and sighed deeply. “I definitely
don’t want to live here for any length of time, but I am thankful
for a chance to rest, even if it’s a short time.” He kissed the top
of her head and pulling her along behind, headed toward the
remaining room.

The bed that lined the far wall was narrow by
all accounts, but it was lined with several blankets and fluffy
pillows. Galena and Elenio removed their swords, laying them
against a wall, and headed toward the bed. Elenio lay down on his
side, scooting over as close to the wall as he could get, and he
patted the portion of the bed that was left in front of him.
Grinning broadly, Galena laid beside him as he pulled the blankets
over them. He laid his head gently along side of hers, and wrapping
an arm around her, he released another great sigh. It wasn’t long
before Galena heard his breathing, steady with sleep.

For Galena, sleep took a while to find her.
She couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling that had crept over her
when they had entered this hidden world and it gnawed away at her
mind now. It was a whole other set of chains in her mind.

But, each to their own
, she thought
gravely.

She watched Twoit scamper from her pack and
explore the room, before the little creature decided to dump the
contents of both bags on the floor for entertainment. She played
with the flask corks and some of the fruit, flipping this way and
that, clearly enjoying her activities. Galena thought about
throwing a pillow at her when Twoit started to go through Elenio’s
pack as well, but decided against it. Slowly, as she watched Twoit
play, Galena felt herself beginning to drift off into
unconsciousness. She closed her eyes and let sleep overcome
her.

Sometime later, Galena felt Elenio stir
behind her.

“Good morning,” he practically purred.

“How long have we been asleep?” She turned to
face him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her once again.

“I can’t tell without the sun, moon, or
stars,” Elenio said, shrugging slightly. “Definitely wouldn’t want
to spend the remainder of my days down here. I think I would rather
take the torlics on again.”

Unable to argue, Galena nuzzled closer to
escape the cold that seemed to be creeping up on her again.

“I can’t lie and say that I didn’t enjoy the
fact that we were able to actually rest without worry though.”
Elenio closed his eyes again, a peaceful look stealing over his
face.

“It’s a different kind of worry, if you ask
me. I’m afraid to do anything in this world.” Galena raised her
head and pecked him on the lips quickly. “Let’s see if anyone has
come or if Tark is awake. I’m starving.”