Mira's View (18 page)

“Do you think that I will ever suffer the
full consequences of the marks?” Galena asked with steel in her
voice.

“I do believe that you could. You have
already suffered some, not like others, but some. The marks are
still there and they still carry Rau’s magical enchantment in them.
What it would take for you to go too far, I can’t even begin to
say. My advice would be to use your magic wisely. There are ways to
do things magically, but there are smarter ways to do them that
uses less magic. If you would like, for the remainder of our
journey, I can give you different scenarios to see if you can think
of a way to magically solve it. Together, we can come up with
different ways to accomplish your purpose using the least amount of
magic. I can only hope that by doing this type of training, you
will be saved from exquisite pain later. Do you agree?” Morgo
asked, looking intently at Galena.

“I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all
morning.”

Chapter
Seventeen

Over the next couple of days, Morgo led the
three through endless tunnels, always choosing to stay by Galena so
they could go over countless different tasks and ways to use magic.
Galena found herself continuously amazed at the different ways that
she had never even thought to use magic, let alone in the ways that
Morgo suggested. This was something that he had taken for granted
and had often learned through trial and error. She found herself
longing for the day that all elves would be able to use magic, to
bring Tomiro back to its former glory.

Elenio and Tark often followed behind,
quietly listening to the suggestions that Morgo would make and to
the ideas that Galena presented as solutions to the problems posed
to her. From time to time, they would offer their own insight. They
only ran into to trouble on one other occasion, in which Morgo
handled it in the same manner as before. He hadn’t used nearly as
many jires as the first occasion though. He told them after they
reached the next village; he would have to restock. His stock of
splinters for firewood was growing thin too.

On the third night since their first big
attack, Morgo laid out three tiny splinters and waved a hand over
them as always, causing them to grow into fine pieces of wood.

Galena frowned at the scant showing. “Why
have you only laid out three pieces?”

“It is all I have left.” Morgo placed a jire
under the kindling and waving a hand again, started the fire.
Galena now knew, from one of the many discussions that she had had
with Morgo, that using your hands was not vital to using magic, but
it did help the elf to focus more on the task. She realized that
she did feel more in control when she used her hand to shape or
bend the elements to her will.

“How long until we reach the next village?”
Elenio asked as he stretched out on the floor.

“Tomorrow morning, if nothing should keep
us.” Morgo placed the frying pan on the flames and began getting
their meal ready. “We’ll stock up on all our supplies. Thankfully,
the other villages are not as far away as this one was. Within a
couple of weeks, we should be at the base of the Mountains of the
Gods.”

Galena nodded thoughtfully, pulling Twoit
from her pack as she did. The sleepy ferret opened its mouth in a
huge yawn before licking her lips and sniffing the air. She wiggled
and squirmed indicating that she wanted down. Galena kissed her
nose quickly and placing her on her lap, she scratched the ferret
behind her ears. The tiny ferret nipped at her fingers, bouncing
and wiggling this way and that. When she danced like that, Galena
could not help but laugh in amusement. Twoit looked like she had
lost her mind, twisting and turning that way.

Twoit backed away, keeping Galena in her
sights and hid just under Elenio’s pack. Galena assumed that she
would be raiding the packs once more just for the fun, but then the
silly little creature came darting out, pouncing on Galena’s leg
before retreating to the packs. The others laughed in response to
the crazy creature’s new game. She did this a couple more times,
until Galena’s sides ached with laughter. What a lucky day it had
been when she came across her beloved pet!

Twoit grew tired of this new game and
scurried off in hopes of finding something for her own meal. Galena
scooted back until she leaned against the side of the tunnel and
next to Elenio. He had propped himself up with a large boulder, his
blanket rolled tight behind his head. Wrapping his arms around her
waist, he gave her a brief squeeze. Tark sat down and stretched his
legs out until his feet were close to the dancing flames. Morgo was
leaning over and stirring a particularly spicy smelling soup
causing Galena’s stomach to rumble with hunger.

“Do the elves from the other underground
villages look the same as the ones in your village?” Galena asked,
snuggling closer to Elenio.

“As the elders mentioned before, we have
adapted to our surroundings just as creatures for centuries have
done.” Morgo continued stirring the stew, taking out spoonfuls to
sip from time to time. Every time he did this, he would add another
missing ingredient from his bag of spices. Galena smiled to
herself. She had learned that Morgo took cooking as seriously as he
did magic, if not more so. They sat comfortably around the fire,
enjoying the sound of the crackling flames. Twoit came back,
licking her lips as she clamored over into Galena’s lap. She curled
up in a ball and rested her head on her tail, but remained alert
for a while after. Galena absently stroked her course fur, noting
the differences between the feel of the soft undercoat and the wiry
guard hair that stood out longer. When Morgo handed out bowls of
the hot stew, Twoit got up and headed over to Galena’s pack. After
ransacking it for a few moments, she clamored inside and curled up
into a ball, leaving her head poking out. She regarded Galena for a
few moments before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep once
more.

She really is a lazy creature
, Galena
thought as she shook her head.

“I can’t believe how accustomed I’ve grown to
this world,” Galena said as she yawned. “I don’t think I’ll ever
want to live here, but I feel more comfortable with the light, the
feel, the smells, and the sounds.” Having finished her meal, she
leaned back, wrapped an arm around Elenio, and laid her head on his
shoulder. He adjusted himself so that he was more comfortable.

“I know what you mean. I don’t feel any safer
here than I did in the world above, but more like I can manage
better,” Elenio said, while stroking Galena’s hair.

“Thank you for everything. I don’t think we
would have fared nearly as well if we had just been provided with
maps of the tunnels that led to where we’re going. You have saved
us countless times. You are a good friend.” Tark bowed his head at
Morgo as a sign of respect.

For the first time, Morgo could not look them
in the eye, but bowed his head. In the dim firelight, Galena could
see that he was blushing.

“It has been my privilege, but don’t thank me
until I have delivered you safely to the base of the mountains. I
feel as if we have jinxed the whole journey now.”

Tark laughed aloud at this proclamation, but
Galena answered quietly, “Thank you just the same. You have become
a good friend and one we will not forget.”

Keeping his head bowed, Galena heard him
silently whisper a shy ‘
thank you
’ before he too lay down
and covered himself with a blanket.

Grinning broadly at her new friend’s sudden
shyness, she reached up and kissed Elenio’s jaw. He squeezed her
gently with one arm as she replaced her head upon his shoulder.

* * * *

Twoit had intuitively understood that she was
not to cross the barrier that Morgo used for their protection every
night. Today was no exception. She paced just within the borders of
where the magic was. She apparently was hungry, but was unwilling
to wake Morgo in order to hunt.

“Now you’re polite. What happened to your
manners last night when you dumped the entire contents of my pack
once again?” Galena sat up slowly and quietly so as not to disturb
Elenio and began to once again, repack their bags. She was putting
the final items in, when she heard Morgo stir behind her. She
glanced over her shoulder and had to stop herself from laughing
aloud. Twoit, apparently fed up with waiting for a meal, was
standing on Morgo. Her front paws were on either side of his nose
and her back paws were resting on his neck. She was staring very
intently into his large black eyes that seemed to be having trouble
seeing as he was blinking furiously.

“May I help you?” he asked in a groggy
voice.

“Twoit, give him a moment to wake and then
he’ll lift his magic!” Galena grabbed the annoyed ferret around the
middle and brought her to her own face. She rubbed her nose against
the tiny creature’s, who promptly sneezed, and then squirmed to get
loose.

“In one of those moods, I see.” Galena
replaced the furry creature to the ground where she scrambled back
to the magic borders and resumed her pacing.

“Not a patient creature, is she?” Morgo waved
his hand and instantly the ferret took off into the darkness in
search of her own breakfast.

“I think she senses that we’re coming to
another village. She seems to understand that she needs to hide. I
think that’s how she has survived this long, by staying in the
shadows. If she hadn’t gotten trapped, I don’t think even I would
have found her.” Galena shook her head, chuckling silently to
herself. She handed Morgo his pack, knowing that he had miniature
versions of their meal in there.

“Unfortunately, it is dried fruit and plain
bread for breakfast as we no longer have firewood to cook with.” He
looked slightly embarrassed by this statement.

“That sounds good to me.” Galena didn’t mind
in the slightest, smiling warmly at him before turning to Elenio.
She gently shook him awake. She waited for him to show signs of
life before turning to Tark and doing the same to him. The sooner
that they arrived at this new village, the better off they would
be. Confident or not in her abilities to defend her family and
herself, she would rather miss the opportunity to do just that, if
she could. “How far away is the village from this point?” She
stuffed a large piece of fruit in her mouth as she handed out more
to Elenio and Tark, who took the food, nodding their
appreciation.

“Less than an hour. I decided to camp here,
because it is never a good idea to arrive at a village during the
night. You never know what kind of protection the village puts in
place to ward off anything unpleasant that lurks in the surrounding
tunnels.”

Galena could appreciate this, a smile
spreading across her face at the thought of the village being so
near. Hopefully, anything hunting them now would not try attacking
this close to help.

They finished the rest of their meal in
silence and quietly cleaned up once they were done. Galena got the
impression that the others were as nervous as she was concerning
their present situation, from their constant looks over their
shoulders, to stopping their actions and simply listening to the
emptiness all around. They all seemed to realize that Morgo had no
jires remaining; a vital part of his defending methods and this did
not bode well with any of them. Before they set off, Galena checked
to make sure that Twoit was safely in her pack again and that her
sword was strapped properly to her belt. Elenio and Tark were
likewise, checking their own swords. Morgo swayed nervously from
side to side as the others prepared for their final trek to the
neighboring village.

Satisfied that everyone was ready, he turned
and headed down the tunnel they were on, going at a brisk pace.
Galena’s breathing eased and the tension flowed from her body with
the hurried steps that brought her closer to their goal. She was
starting to sweat, when she heard a slight scraping sound behind
her. Glancing over her shoulder, she felt a lead weight drop into
her stomach. Elenio and Tark stopped, looking behind as well.

With a loud bellow, five torlos charged them
from somewhere outside of the floating lights. Instantly, they were
struck, causing them to fall to the ground where Elenio and Tark
made quick work of them. Before they had finished the last one off
though, more came charging from the dark. Galena expected them to
drop like the others, but didn’t have a chance to see when she
heard a surprised cry of pain from behind her. Startled, she turned
to see two torlos. One was holding a bloody knife and standing over
Morgo, who lay on the ground. She couldn’t see what damage had been
done, but lunged at the hulking figure. She swung her sword in a
low arch as they had practiced before, hitting one of the torlos
just under his knees. She cut the legs from under him and plunged
her sword into the stomach of the one left standing before he had
time to react. Kicking him off, she turned her attention to the
legless one and silenced him quickly. She turned in time to see
Elenio and Tark finishing off what appeared to be the remaining
torlos, but she couldn’t be sure, because she could only see as far
as the glowing lights.

Taking advantage of the free moment, she
turned her attention back to Morgo. He lay face down on the cold
tunnel; she could see where the torlo had struck him in the center
of his back, where the most damage could be done. Flipping him over
quickly, she leaned her head down and put her ear next to his
mouth. She felt his warm breath on her cheek and could hear his
quick breaths.

He was alive.

She quickly ripped off the bottom portion of
her tunic and balled it up. Rolling him back over, she stuffed the
wadded piece of material on the wound to stem the flow of blood.
Grabbing one of their blankets from their packs, she ripped a long
strip from it and used it to wrap around Morgo to hold the
makeshift bandage in place. Satisfied with her handiwork, she got
her water flask out. Pouring small measured amounts into his mouth,
she surveyed him for any more damage, but found none. His overall
appearance did not leave her feeling very confident as he had
become extremely pale, even more so for an underground elf. She
knew they would have to be quick in getting him to the next village
to see a healer, before it was too late. She had stemmed the blood
flow temporarily, but he would need more serious help if he were
going to survive.