Mira's View (17 page)

“Alright, now explain why you didn’t want us
disturbing the torlos’ slumber,” Tark said quietly as he too
watched Twoit disappear down a tunnel.

“Using magic is a lot like exercising, as I’m
sure you have noticed,” Morgo nodded his head at Galena. “Sure,
it’s fun to swim for a while, but once you’re tired, you generally
get out. One would not keep swimming or jogging until dead, your
body would shut down before then. For your mind and body will
generally fight for life even when you think it would be easier to
die. Only the elf that truly holds no regard for life, will let
themselves slip into the void of the other world. Every now and
then, the need arises and you continue until you pass out from
exhaustion. I could continue to put the torlos to sleep as they
awoke until I could dispose of them, but like exercising, I would
only be able to do this for so long before wearing out and
collapsing. When trying to preserve one’s life in the face of
danger, this is not the best idea. Plus, putting creatures to sleep
requires more strength, because you have to fight against their
conscience, which is telling them that they should be awake.” Morgo
paused to let this information soak in while he took a swig of
water from his flask. “This is something that I happen to be good
at, just as some elves are particularly skilled with the sword or
at running long distances. Every elf seems to be better in one area
of magic than others. I became quite fond of putting my sister
asleep whenever she annoyed me, thus the reason I can put larger
groups of creatures, or elves, to sleep.” At this, Morgo grinned at
Tark, his voice almost had a ring of amusement to it.

Tark returned the grin before turning to
Galena and winking.

Galena simply rolled her eyes and returned
her attention to the food she had been handed.

“Like exercising, you can build up your
endurance when doing different types of magic. The key is to
practice, as you would do with any other thing that you wanted to
be accomplished at. Nevertheless, even with the amount of practice
that I have had, twenty torlos is a lot to handle. I was surprised
at just how tired I felt after putting them to sleep. Even with the
jires, I was unsure if I would be able to start a fire that would
finish them off. In that case, I was going to rely on you and your
swords.”

“Jires? Is that the glass orbs that you laid
all around them?” Elenio asked.

“Yes. They are glass balls formed by elves
that are particularly good at working with glass, and filled with a
flammable liquid found in certain stones around the underground
rivers. It takes a particularly strong elf to be able to harvest
this liquid from stones. We create them just for moments like
these, because creating a fire with something that cannot easily
catch fire takes a great deal of strength. Creating several fires
would wear anyone out.” Morgo finished simply.

Galena looked down at her hand uncomfortably,
recalling the lesson she had learned doing this very thing. She was
lucky it had not done more than numb her hand for a couple of
hours. If she had tried to do more or catch more of the Torlic on
fire, she might not have made it this far.

As if sensing her thoughts , Elenio pulled
Galena toward him, and sitting her in his lap with her back against
his chest, he wrapped his arms protectively around her. Inhaling
deeply, he nuzzled the back of her neck lovingly. She placed her
hands on his and smiled contentedly. Twoit came scurrying back,
carrying another strange mouse like creature in her mouth. She
placed the dead creature by the packs, coming over to nip Galena’s
shoe affectionately before returning to her meal.

“Do you think Rau knows where we are?” Elenio
asked as he stroked Galena’s thumb with his own.

“No, he does not control the torlos the way
he does torlics. No marks on their foreheads. I believe they had
been hunting us for some time, that’s why so many were sent. They
didn’t seem to realize that only one of us is able to do magic or
there would have been fewer.” Morgo looked at each of them in turn,
seeing the interest on their faces before continuing. “You see,
when we travel in the tunnels, a defender always has to be present.
We are capable of defensive magic, as you have seen. We normally
aide traveling elves from village to village. That was another
reason I was chosen to accompany you. I have traveled these tunnels
several times and have never lost one in my charge before, even
though I have run into countless torlos over the years. Just you
watch. Before we get to the next village, we’ll have more trouble.
Mark my words.”

Galena did not feel very reassured with this
proclamation, but sensing that it would do no good to worry about
the situation until it arose. She felt her mind wander to a saying
her father always use to tell them whenever they fretted about
anything. “If you live worrying about the if’s, you miss the
now.”

Chapter
Sixteen

Galena woke to the sounds of a creature going
through her pack. Lifting her head slightly, she saw that Twoit was
having a grand time raiding everyone’s pack, spilling the contents
all over the floor. Shaking her head slightly, Galena returned her
head back to Elenio’s chest. Stretching her toes and legs, her
fears were confirmed; she was extremely sore from their jaunt the
day before. Groaning slightly as her muscles tensed even with the
slightest movement, Galena pulled the blankets higher up on her
shoulder. This was going to be a long day.

Galena closed her eyes, hoping to get a
little more sleep before they began again, but couldn’t get
comfortable. The stone floor under her really was not ideal for
someone trying to sleep. Preparing for the painful ordeal of
sitting up, she heard Tark groan loudly behind her.

He sat up slowly, grimacing with each
movement. “After weeks of running from torlics, it’s running in the
underground tunnels that will be the death of me.”

“Why do you think I haven’t made any attempts
to sit up myself?” Galena called over her shoulder, even as her
eyes remained closed.

“And some of us are still trying to recover
from the real work.”

Galena sat up quickly, regretting the action
almost as soon as she did. She couldn’t believe her ears! Morgo was
actually making a joke. She could hear the laughter in his voice as
he took in his complaining comrades. She exchanged a quick humorous
look with Tark before turning to see the damage that Twoit had
wrought. Just as she suspected, all their items were scattered on
the tunnel floor. Twoit, having deemed enough damage done, was
finding a comfortable spot to curl up in for her morning nap.

Groaning, Galena crawled forward and began
cleaning up the mess. With each movement, she cringed as her
muscles tightened and pulled. She shouldn’t be this out of shape
with all the running they had done, but apparently, running on
stone floor was a different matter altogether. Placing the last
blanket around Twoit, Galena turned to see Morgo stoking the fire
and starting their breakfast. He seemed completely at ease, not a
trace of stiffness in his movements.

Putting some slices of bread on a pan over
the fire to toast with cheese melting on the top, he turned to
Galena, “How long have you been able to use your magic?”

“I just started trying a couple of years ago.
The first time that I tried was more of an accident, because like
every other elf in Tomiro, I was always taught that using magic
would kill you.”

“Did you notice anything unusual about her
when she was an infant?” Morgo asked, turning his attention to
Tark.

“Do I look that much older than her?” Tark
asked in a bemused way.

Morgo shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s more of
your mannerisms that give you away. You have a tendency to take on
a protective stance whenever you encounter someone new or something
threatening. Back to the question though. Did you notice anything
unusual about Galena as an infant?”

Tark looked up, his face frozen with
thoughts.

“Aahh, by your expression, I’m guessing there
were a few noticeable things.”

“I’d completely forgotten about them until
you brought it up. I was younger then, but I can still remember
father going on about how things just didn’t add up. He was
constantly muttering to himself about how Galena seemed to care for
herself. As you know, most elf infants and even toddlers do not
possess enough magic to do anything with it and even then, they
cannot use it effectively, but Galena seemed to be different. If
she was dirty, suddenly she was clean. If she was hungry, she
suddenly had food. It never made sense, but as she grew older and
we started telling her about her marks, those things just stopped.
I hadn’t thought about it since.”

Morgo nodded thoughtfully as he removed the
toasted bread with melted cheese and added several slices of
vegetables that Galena was unfamiliar, with to the pan. “That makes
sense; those are the things that young ones are concerned
with—eating, sleeping, and relieving themselves. So, it seems that
even when Galena was young, she was using magic. It was only after
she heard stories of why elves shouldn’t use it, that she
unconsciously quit.”

Galena looked at Morgo critically, wondering
where his line of thinking was going. Morgo handed out the pieces
of bread and vegetables to everyone as he continued to ponder.
Galena tried a bite of the strange vegetable and found that it was
slightly bitter in taste. Swallowing it, she followed the foul
stuff with a swig of water. It seemed as soon as the vegetable hit
her stomach though, her muscles began to relax and lose some of
their soreness. Finding that she had a new appreciation for the
strange food, she finished the rest of it in large bites. When she
had finished, she found that there was no soreness left. She
stretched her arms and legs, feeling relieved.

Good as new,
she thought.

“Where are you going with these questions?”
Elenio asked, breaking Galena’s train of thought from her relieved
muscles.

Morgo continued to look thoughtfully at
Galena as he finished the bite of bread and cheese that he had
taken moments before. Elenio opened his mouth to speak again, but
Morgo began, “I have two theories as to why Galena has always been
able to use her powers. I am curious which one you will agree with
once I have shared them.” Morgo looked at each one in turn before
starting again in a quieter voice. “My first theory is this. I
believe the mauk responsible for Galena’s tattoos, may have done a
poor job with applying them, leaving crucial gaps in the
marks.”

Galena looked at the tattoos on her hand,
straining to see even the slightest gap or blank area, but saw
none. They looked completely solid and as dark as any other tattoo
that she had ever seen.

“My second theory is this,” Morgo said,
startling Galena from her search. “I believe that Galena’s magical
abilities would defy all that would come against her if she did not
have the marks. As it is, with them, she is simply limited as those
of us who have been born underground.”

“I don’t think that’s true, because small
tasks like causing things to erupt into flames or growing trees,
causes the marks to take hold, even if it is for a short time –“
Galena started.

Morgo stopped her before she could continue.
“That’s my point! Those things are difficult to do even for an elf
with no marks! The only way I can cause things to burst into flames
is if a flammable liquid is involved. Only skilled elves that have
practiced for years can cause different things to catch fire. I
assume you have done it with only a mild pain.”

Galena felt heat rising into her cheeks and
she stared at the nose of her furry friend to avoid directly
looking at anyone. She could see everyone’s eyes trained on her as
they took in this theory.

“Mira told us to be looking for you, because
she said you were special. I believe this meant more than your
sword skills, but your magical ability as well.”

“If what you’re saying is true, do you think
she could overcome the marks altogether?” Elenio asked, a hint of
excitement in his voice.

Morgo poked at the fire, causing it to rise
slightly as the logs turned over revealing fresh areas to burn.

Galena watched the flames, marveling at their
dancing and flickering. “Why me? What is so special about me?” She
put her plate on the ground beside her, and wrapped her arms
protectively around herself.

“I can’t answer either of those questions,
but I can see that both of you are leaning toward my second theory
as well. Of the two, I think it is the more plausible explanation.
What are your thoughts on the matter, Tark?”

“I’m not sure what to think, if I were being
honest. I hate the idea of my little sister being the target for
the creature that ruined all of our lives, but I don’t see how I
can deny it either. In the last couple of weeks, I have seen her
perform magic that many elves only dream of doing. She has perhaps,
pushed herself too far at times, but amazingly enough, she has
recovered from it. I have to agree with your second theory, because
I have seen her marks and they are exactly like mine. Besides, if
the mauk who applied hers did such a poor job, wouldn’t it make
sense that others in our village had the same magical
abilities?”

Galena knew they were right. She had always
known that someone would have to go against Rau. She had always
felt set apart from the others in the village too. She had believed
until now, this stemmed from the fact that she was a part of the
royal descendents, but that never explained why her brothers were
so easily able to make friends. Indeed, despite her good looks and
easygoing nature, Elenio was her only true friend.

She looked up from the dancing flames to find
that everyone was staring at her again. This time she held their
gaze, looking at each one in turn. Finding Elenio’s eyes last, she
held his gaze the longest, and then scooted toward him. He wrapped
his arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her
forehead.