Galena woke up feeling groggy and out of sorts. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to recall the events from the day before. Slowly, the memories started to return to her. She sat up quickly and almost sent herself flying to the ground yet again when she shifted her weight too quickly on the cursed hammock. If it hadn’t been for Elenio catching her in mid swing, she would have embarrassed herself for sure. She looked up at him and smiled gratefully. He smirked at her, but it was the chuckling that caught her attention. She turned her head to find Morgo sitting in the chair opposite of Elenio. She studied him carefully. One side of his face seemed lower than the other and his grin was definitely a little lopsided. In fact, the entire left side of his body appeared to slope downward. Other than his looks, he appeared to be in good health.
“I see you’re feeling better,” she said sarcastically.
“Well, I definitely don’t feel like I’ve been beaten within an inch of my life,” he replied, his smile stretching across his face.
“What still bothers you?” Galena asked, feeling concerned now.
“Nothing to worry about now. We brought food,” Morgo said indicating the large tray of food.
“Is that all for me?” Galena asked skeptically.
“Apparently, the elves who prepare the food remember you,” Elenio said while trying unsuccessfully to keep from laughing.
Galena glared at him as he and Morgo burst into laughter. “I fixed you and I can break you,” Galena threatened, but this only caused them to laugh even harder. Choosing to ignore them instead, she helped herself to several items on the tray and sat down on the ground versus giving them more reason to laugh by sitting down on the hammock. Which, given her current record with hammocks, was very likely to happen. Her refusal to sit on it however, did not go unnoticed and it started both of them on a new wave of laughter. Well, at least Morgo is alive and able to laugh, Galena thought resolutely to herself. She continued to eat while waiting for the fits of laughter to subside and finally die away.
She took the time though to work on Morgo’s face and left side while he was distracted. It gave her the perfect opportunity to fix his lopsided smile and straighten the bones and muscles sloping downward. She also noted there were several spots on his lungs that were not healed completely, which she assumed meant he had to have some discomfort when breathing. Although at the moment, no one would have noticed that. She searched his other organs with her mind; fixing all the minor details she had not been able to properly attend to when she had been repairing the majority of the more serious damage. Morgo turned to her when she finished healing some of the minor rips in the muscles around his biceps and took a deep breath. His eyes widened in surprise.
“How long have you been working on me?” he asked, surprise apparent in his voice.
“You were busy laughing and hadn’t really answered my question when I asked earlier, so I took the opportunity to investigate my work from earlier. Why didn’t you tell me you were having trouble breathing?” she asked accusingly.
Morgo’s mouth hung wide open as he continued to stare at Galena in shock. Elenio just shook his head and grabbed a couple pieces of fruit off the tray. He was used to Galena taking mental notes of his physical condition.
“You didn’t have to have your hands on me to know what was wrong?” Morgo asked, still looking stunned.
“No. You knew I could do that. That’s how I was able to heal all the elves’ ears,” Galena said feeling a little annoyed with Morgo.
“No I didn’t. My ears were healed by Nigora, I assumed that everyone else had seen her too or were suffering through,” he said, still looking surprised.
“Oh, well, I discovered I didn’t need my hands when I was helping Elenio after we started out on our own. All I really have to do is concentrate. Putting my hands on you just brings those ailments more into focus,” Galena answered, shrugging. “Why?”
“I have never heard of a healer being able to do that before. They always have to use their hands to sense. How long have you been able to do that?”
“Shortly before I retrieved the sword. Afterwards, it became a great deal easier.” She didn’t understand what the big deal was, they already knew she could accomplish more things than any other elf had ever.
Morgo shook his head in amazement, before giving Elenio a knowing look.
Galena looked back and forth between the two, feeling like she’d missed something important. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”
“It is just something that we were discussing while you were resting. I wonder if you would be willing to conduct another experiment for me.”
“Some things just don’t change, even with death experiences do they?” Galena asked shaking her head slightly at her friend’s curiosity.
“Nope, not even then. Come with me.” Morgo stood and waited for Elenio and Galena to follow him.
Galena stood and brushed her backside off and then her hands. “Lead the way.”
Morgo stepped outside, and looked around, clearly not finding what he thought should have been there.
“Did you lose something or is this some nervous habit that I’m going to have to fix?” Galena asked, eyeing her friend curiously.
“Intunerics,” he said simply. Even Elenio was looking for them now.
“I sent them crashing into the enemy army before coming back to help you,” Galena responded, looking amused now.
“Well, that was a silly thing to do. You’re making our enemy even stronger now.” Morgo looked thoroughly put out by this revelation and crossed his arms angrily. “Bring at least one of them back until we see if our experiment will work,” he demanded. Elenio too was crossing his arms expectantly.
Feeling completely at a loss now, Galena raised a hand and sensing the stones with the wind among the dark creatures; she caused the wind to strengthen and using it, reached down to pick up a particularly large stone. She heard loud shouts and bellows from the enemy as the rock flew past their heads and in some cases, into their heads and back to the elf army. She carried it over the fire where she stood, and placed the stone beside her, noting how she suddenly felt a great deal more depressed and tired.
“Why do you want this cursed stone back? They just make the elves sick and weaker. They fill our minds with dark thoughts, which, let’s face it, we don’t need any help in that area,” Galena said, looking disgusted as she eyed the black stone beside her.
“We want you to try and destroy it,” Morgo said calmly.
“Well, if that’s all,” Galena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
“Just listen,” Elenio told her quietly.
“Elenio and I were discussing your power while you were sleeping and we both believe the Sword of Lumina has given you strength and power you did not have before. It has given you light in order to help you fight the dark,” Morgo started, his eyes lighting up with subject. “I believe that you could destroy the stones much the same way that you were able to send Rau running.”
“With the light?” Galena said feeling slightly confused.
“Yes. The stories say Rau was created from these very stones so it stands to reason, if you can hurt Rau with just a little exposure to your light, you should be able to destroy the intunerics with that same light. They do not possess the ability to flee from the burning brightness of its rays.” Morgo’s eyes were alive as he explained his theory to Galena and she smiled at him. She would have missed him sorely if he hadn’t chosen to come back to them from the Land of the Gods.
“Makes sense,” Galena said thoughtfully. “My only question is, don’t you think the intunerics have more dark in them than Rau?”
Morgo looked thoughtfully at Galena for a few moments before answering. “No, because it took the breath of Haulua to make Rau what he is. I think they possess the same amount of darkness, Rau just has that little extra.”
Elenio took Galena’s hand and squeezed it gently.
“So you don’t think by destroying it, we could be making more dark creatures?” Galena asked, still feeling uncomfortable with the idea of what they were doing.
“I don’t know. That’s why I only wanted to try it on one stone first. None of us know what will happen, but I still think it’s worth attempting,” Morgo said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
“It won’t hurt to give it a try. Then we can stand around and debate the outcomes,” Elenio said quietly.
True, Galena thought. “Let me grab my sword. I seem to do better when I’m holding it.”
Morgo’s smile widened and Elenio held up a hand. “You stay put, I’ll go grab it.” He ran off in the direction of the tent, leaving Morgo with Galena.
“Do you really think this will work?”
“I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t. As Elenio said, it can’t hurt to try.”
“What if it blows up and leaks dark magic all over the place?” Galena asked, eyeing the stone with suspicion.
Morgo thoughtfully stared at the intuneric while he contemplated this last statement. “All of these questions are interesting thoughts. We would be foolish not to expect something along those lines to happen.”
“What do you think the worst possible scenario could be?”
“To have you destroyed.”
“And you still think it’s worth trying?” Galena asked skeptically.
“If you sense you’re being overwhelmed, stop, or at least attempt to stop. If you would like, squeeze my hand and I will do whatever it takes to aid you. I’m not sure how, but I’ve been known to have a creative moment from time to time.”
Galena was beginning to like the idea of this experiment less and less, but she knew eventually something would have to be done about the intunerics if they were to completely free themselves from Rau’s reign. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Then you better get over here with me. Send me crashing to the ground or something if I squeeze your hand hard enough.” She gave him a half smile before turning toward Elenio as he ran back to them, sword in hand. He handed her the sword, which she took gratefully. Galena felt the familiar energy of the sword wash over her and felt slightly comforted.
“Okay, let’s get this over with,” Galena said a little more nervously than she meant to. She grabbed Morgo’s hand, to which Elenio raised an eyebrow. She shook her head quickly, relaying all that transpired in the short time he’d been gone with her thoughts.
Thinking of the same bright light she possessed when she was trying to get rid of Rau, she filled the entire camp with it. Many of the elves that had been walking around, stopped to shield their eyes, while many more poked their heads out of their tents, only to quickly retreat. Morgo and Elenio were both covering their own eyes, but surprisingly enough; the light didn’t bother Galena. It hadn’t in the valley either. She watched in fascination as the black intuneric slowly started to shake and then suddenly, as they had with the first earagos the sword pierced, cracks started to form within the rock.
Dark thoughts began to creep over Galena, making her cringe. Why was she doing this? I could become so much more powerful if I used the stones for my own benefit. No, that kind of power only brought death, Galena told herself sternly. Images of her loved ones dying replaced her thoughts of power and she dropped to her knees as they assaulted her mind.
The heart wrenching pain she felt within the cave gripped her and intensified to new levels. It crippled her. Tears poured down her face and she retched. She felt herself scream as the memories overwhelmed her. They were relentless, pounding her repeatedly until she couldn’t remember who she was or what she was doing. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to. She wanted to die. She eyed the sword in her hand and saw her way out. It would be easy. She could be with Elenio again. Gripping it more tightly in her free hand, she began to prepare herself for her final act when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Alarmed, she looked down and saw Elenio’s arm there. He was still shielding his eyes with one hand, but with his other, he held Galena securely.
He bent his head toward her ear, his mouth inches away. “Galena, I’m here. We’re safe and together. It’s the stones, you must destroy them,” he whispered repeatedly.
Galena’s thoughts returned to the present and a new wave of warmth spilled over her. She felt her determination and strength gain ground over the dark thoughts and she placed the newfound power in the blinding light, causing it to reach a brightness that made Galena squint her eyes. Within seconds, the stone shattered, sending chunks of rock everywhere, cutting her face and arms. Galena could see black wisps of smoke and something else drift up to the sky before disappearing altogether. Releasing the light, Galena looked around her and saw that the intuneric was gone. There was nothing left of it.
* * * *
As soon as the light faded, Galena released Morgo’s hand and dropped to the ground on all fours. Tears flowed down her face in streams from the memories that consumed her for those few short moments. She took a cleansing breath and then turned toward Elenio, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.
“I’m sorry,” she cried.
“For what?” he whispered.
“For not being strong enough.”
Elenio cupped Galena’s face in both of his hands and turned her toward him so he could look her square in the eye. “You are never to apologize for that again. You are the strongest person I know. No one could do what you have done in just a few short months. Your biggest fear is not being able to protect us, which just shows me how selfless you are.” He stroked the side of her face with his thumb, still looking her full in the eye.
“I couldn’t have gotten through the cave without you and I couldn’t have destroyed that stupid stone without you. How could I possibly be the strongest?” Galena sobbed.
“Because the strongest person is able to admit when they need help the most. Only the foolish tries to do everything on their own and they usually lose in the end. Never forget that.” He pulled her to his chest once more as she fought to regain control again.
It had all seemed so real. If Elenio hadn’t helped her through it, she was sure she would have given in to the thoughts the intuneric’s dark magic seemed to plant within her mind. Even the sword’s presence had not been able to ward off all the effects it had on her. It helped her, but Elenio’s words gave her the strength she needed. She felt him gently stroking her long hair while he waited for her to calm.
“What if I can’t defeat Rau?”
“If anybody can, it will be you. We knew, even with the sword, your chances would be slim, because he’s still an incredible swordsman. However, at least he won’t be able to use his shadows and dark against you. None of us knows the outcome of this, but we have to try. You said so yourself.” Elenio said quietly.
“I know,” Galena said, sighing heavily. “It was those stupid stones. It showed me the worst of everything and everything I saw in the cave. It even showed me what I have to gain by using the stones. It was horrible,” Galena finished, shuddering as she did. No wonder the elves felt so gloomy around them. They were pure evil, solidified.
Galena finally turned to Morgo and his appearance shocked her. He too was on all fours and shaking badly. He reminded Galena painfully of what she felt like while she was in the cave.
“Morgo,” Elenio called softly, noticing the elf for the first time as well. He let go of Galena and placing his hands on Morgo’s shoulders, shook him slightly. “Morgo, are you hurt?”
Galena concentrated on him, but found nothing physically wrong other than his racing heart.
Morgo smiled weakly at Elenio, before sitting back on his heels. He placed his hands on his legs and fought to regulate his breathing. “I just need a moment. It appears that holding Galena’s hand through the ordeal may not have been the best idea I’ve ever had.” He closed his eyes, a tear trailing down his cheek as his breathing slowed.
“You saw what I saw, didn’t you?” Galena said quietly.
Morgo just nodded his head, not saying anything more.
“I’m sorry.” It was one thing to drag Elenio through her torments, but it felt completely wrong to have brought Morgo through the torture.
“Not your fault,” he whispered back.
Galena crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“How you survived that cave is beyond me. No one else could have.”
Galena squeezed him tighter, trying to hug the memories and pain away from him.
“You know what the worst part is?” he said, his voice barely audible. “I have never felt that passionate about anything in my entire life. That thought alone nearly caused me to take my own life. How can a person go through life without passion? If you hadn’t regained some control, I would have ended it all.”
Galena looked down and saw a knife at his knees. “Now, that would have been a shame seeing how I knocked myself out trying to bring you back,” Galena said, smiling slightly as she pulled back to look at him.
“That’s just it, I couldn’t think past the pain. I didn’t want to think past the pain. I only wanted it to stop. When you were finally able to destroy it, I realized I was holding my own knife at my throat.”
Galena glanced at his throat and saw the beginnings of a slash. She quickly healed it. She had missed it before because she had been looking for something larger.
“And you thought you were weak.” He laughed shakily.
Galena hugged him once more and then pulled back. “You came back from the Land of the Gods into a world turned upside down. Weak is definitely not a word I would use to describe you.”
Elenio stood and helped Galena to her feet as Morgo closed his eyes once more. Taking another deep breath, which Galena was happy to see didn’t seem to bother him as it probably had before.
“Well, one stone down, a whole land of them to go,” Morgo said, smiling somewhat weakly.
“I’m not sure if I want to try that again,” Galena said, wincing as more of the horrible memories that had been fading, popped into her head again.
“I wonder. I felt all of your emotions and saw everything that you saw. Did you see anything unfamiliar to you?” Morgo asked quietly.
“That depends on how often have you thought about using the intunerics to make yourself more powerful,” Galena said quietly.
Elenio looked alarmed and turned quickly to see Morgo’s reaction to this.
Smiling in an embarrassed sort of way, he answered, “Since arriving here, I have unfortunately thought of it often. When I woke up after you healed me, I noticed the thought perished so I assumed it had to do with my recent near death experience. Then Galena told us she removed the stones and I realized it was the stones placing those thoughts in my head. After this experience, I am left with no room for doubt on the devious nature of those stones.”
“Since it was something I never even considered, I was able to easily dismiss the idea,” Galena said, her eyes never leaving Morgo’s.
“No, I don’t imagine you would have had that thought. You have too much light in you for the darkness to corrupt you such a way.”
Galena decided to rest and Morgo definitely needed to sleep after their ordeal. If she decided to destroy more stones, she would start on them only after she had gotten some sleep and food. She felt completely drained and didn’t want to see anyone, but Elenio.
Walking hand in hand back to the tent, she opened the flap and stepped into the quiet dark of their accommodations. She took a deep breath, remembering Mira and what she did for her after her encounter with her nightmares. Elenio pulled her hand and spun her around so she was facing him. He wrapped his arms completely around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly to her.
“Once again, you were amazing,” he said into her hair.
She gave a short bark of laughter that died out quickly. “That’s not the word I had in mind for myself,” Galena replied, burying her face further into his chest. “I’m tired of everything. I just want this whole thing behind me, but it seems no matter what I manage to do, more and harder tasks await.” Galena felt a bone crushing weariness that hadn’t been there before, seep into her very being. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was until she spoke the words aloud.
“I know.” Elenio pulled her even tighter into his arms, making her feel warm and secure.
She just wanted to stay with him in here and not worry about the rest of the elven world for right now. She sighed heavily, content for the moment.
“What in the world was with all the light?” Tark demanded as he let the tent flap fall back into place.
So much for resting a moment. “Yes, I’m feeling much better, Tark. Thanks for your concern,” Galena said sarcastically, pulling away from Elenio to sit down. She collapsed into the chair wearily, resting her hands on her legs as she regarded her angry looking brother.
“I assumed you were doing just fine when I was temporarily blinded by a light that could only come from you.”
Elenio smiled and sat on the hammock facing Galena. He rolled his eyes dramatically so only Galena could see, but said nothing.
“We were conducting another experiment with Morgo. You know how he likes his experiments,” Galena said, rubbing her eyes. They stung and itched from being so tired.
“What kind of experiment?”
“The kind where we use light to destroy dark intunerics.”
“Did it work?” Tark asked anxiously. He stopped pacing and turned to look at Galena, surprise written all over his face now.
“Yes.” Galena didn’t feel like going into how the stones almost overwhelmed her mind with dark thoughts, and how close Morgo had come to being on the injured list again.
“I take it from the look on your face; it wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be?” Tark asked, eyeing her critically.
“That’s a minor understatement,” Elenio said before Galena could even open her mouth.
Tark looked at him, nodding his head in understanding.
Galena leaned her head back on the chair and closed her eyes. She definitely wasn’t looking forward to trying to destroy more stones any time soon.
“Hmm, that leaves me with a couple of choices. Nigora needs help with all of the injured elves, but less intunerics would leave us all in better condition.” Tark started his pacing again, wondering aloud for Galena and Elenio’s benefit.
“Let me help you out with that issue. It takes too much out of me emotionally to try to destroy any more dark stones right now. I’ll put up a barrier of light around the camp and maybe that will help protect us from the intunerics until we’re ready to battle again. Let’s face it, everyone needs the rest,” Galena said, still rubbing her tired, itchy eyes. “For now, I’ll go help Nigora. We need to get as many elves ready as possible.” Galena got slowly to her feet. What she wouldn’t give for a little sleep herself right then.
Elenio watched her, eyebrows raised. She knew he was concerned for her and could tell how tired she was. She shook her head at him, preventing him from speaking his concerns aloud.
“One thing first—a bit of good news actually,” Tark said, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her from leaving just then. “Nina just told me we have some visitors on the way. It seems more underground elves have decided to join us and they’re bringing supplies.”