“How many?” Galena asked. She could feel a spark of hope in the pit of her stomach. Finally, something was going their way!
“Nina couldn’t tell for sure, that’s why I was headed here, before I was stopped due to a blinding light. Her best guess was at least fifty elves.”
Galena looked at Elenio who was smiling broadly.
“Well, let’s take a look shall we?” Galena retrieved a bowl from beside the chair where she had been sitting. She could make bowls from tree homes, but as she had discovered before, you couldn’t make something if you didn’t already have the necessary materials.
She filled the bowl with water and concentrated on the pale faces of the underground elves. It was difficult to do because she couldn’t recall any of the facial features from any of them, as they had been so completely forgettable. Thinking more of the general appearance, she was able to bring up a group of elves walking quickly. She thought of herself flying back and instantly, the picture in the water started to change. The elves looked smaller and other features such as the landscape started to appear in the water. From what she could tell, the elves were moving at a very brisk pace. They appeared to be about a day’s journey from where they were camped. Galena quickly counted the traveling elves twice, not quite believing her eyes. There were more than a hundred underground elves, all capable of doing magic, heading this way!
“Looks like Nina’s count was a little low,” Elenio said, still smiling broadly.
“Granted, none of them have been trained to fight, but they can help in so many other ways,” Tark said, he too was smiling. “Did you notice all the sacks on their backs?”
Galena nodded her head, still studying the picture in the water.
“You know they can carry a ton of stuff in those sacks because of their ability to shrink it.”
Again, Galena just nodded her head in response. “When was the last time that you checked with the patrol?” Galena asked.
“Just this morning, why?”
“Where is the enemy?” Galena saw understanding filling Tark’s eyes and Elenio sat grimly back.
“They’re starting to surround the majority of the camp from what the patrol can tell. It’s somewhat hard to see past the fires. They only get glimpses here and there.”
Galena emptied the bowl with a swipe of her hand. She placed the bowl back by her chair and strode out of the tent. Time to check on the enemy, she thought grimly.
Elenio and Tark followed her out and into the area surrounding their tents. Using the wind, Galena rose high into the air, high enough to see over the wall of flames that encircled the camp like a living barrier. She saw that the majority of Rau’s forces were still within their camp, but several hundred had moved in around the firewall. They appeared to be testing the fire in different areas without much success. Some of the larger earagos were attempting to throw stones through the blaze. Galena thought of this when she first set up the flames and made sure to put up flickering wall of heat far enough from the camp that they would not be able to do any harm.
Seeing all that she needed to, Galena commanded the wind to place her gently on the ground. “They’re circling the camp. There aren’t very many all around us, the majority stayed in their own camp. But the underground elves are definitely going to need our help if they want to get in,” Galena said more calmly than she felt.
Elenio crossed his arms and stared at the ground while Tark looked around him at the different elves gathered around them while Galena floated up in the air again.
“We need to put together a small group of elves to fend off the enemy while we get the underground elves to safety,” Tark said thoughtfully.
“I can fly the group over and then when the underground elves come close enough, I can open up a section in the firewall and let them in.”
“Can’t you just fly them over when they get close enough?” Elenio asked.
“I’ve never tried to fly that many elves at once. I’m afraid something might go wrong or I might fly over some other unsavory creatures. I also have a feeling they may panic slightly when a wind they really have never felt a lot before coming aboveground, picks them up and tries to carry them away. I don’t think I could keep them in the air if they fight it magically,” Galena said, staring in the direction she knew the elves to be coming from.
“I think I need to talk to Morgo to see what his thoughts are on the matter,” Tark said, scratching his jaw thoughtfully. “In the meantime, you might want to get over to Nigora and see if you can help out there for a little bit. Try not to exhaust yourself if you can help it. The way I see it, you’re going to have to be a part of the small rescue team.”
Galena nodded. She would have it no other way. Without another word, Tark headed off in the direction of Morgo’s tent, leaving Galena, Elenio, and the large number of elves that had surrounded them, behind.
“Okay, see you later then,” Elenio said under his breath.
Galena smiled before taking his hand and heading over to Nigora’s. The elves parted to allow Elenio and Galena to pass. She could hear them whispering to each other as they, too, headed off in different directions.
“Have you noticed how none of the other elves really talk to me,” Galena whispered to Elenio.
He nodded his head, continuing toward Nigora.
“Not even the elves from our own village.”
“Have you made any effort to see any of them?” Elenio asked reasonably.
Galena smiled briefly at this. She hadn’t. When she hadn’t been in battle, she was solving some other magical problem or passed out cold from solving issue after issue.
“No, I guess I haven’t really had the time,” she said sighing heavily.
“I have and they’re proud of you. A little surprised that Mira chose you perhaps, but proud.”
“Have you seen Twoit since we left the last camp?” Galena said, so low Elenio needed to lean toward her to hear.
He shook his head sadly.
“I haven’t either. She has never gone this long without turning up to at least get her head scratched or something. You don’t think something happened to her do you? I mean, I haven’t exactly been around to watch for her.”
“She’ll turn up, she always does,” Elenio said quietly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Galena didn’t feel reassured, but didn’t know what else to do so she remained silent.
They arrived at Nigora’s tent a few minutes later to find injured elves all over the place. They walked in and ran smack into Taura.
“Well, hello,” she said pleasantly enough, although she looked worn out.
“What are you doing here?” Elenio asked, reaching a hand out and squeezing Taura’s shoulder.
“Helping out where I can. Tark has been busy getting reports, talking with his ten most trusted elves, and in general, getting the elves ready for battle again,” Taura said, looking around the tent despairingly.
“Where do you need me the most?” Galena asked, giving her sister-in-law a big hug.
“Where don’t we need you would be a better question. The enemy really got the better of us this time. We almost lost a couple of elves, but Nigora managed to stabilize them until she had enough energy to work on them little by little.” At this Taura gave a little smile, before continuing. “My job is to help keep everyone comfortable until Nigora can see them. However, the time between elves is getting longer and longer. The non-magical healers are doing all that they can, but it is very limited, as you well know.”
“Well, let’s get started.”
Much later that evening, Galena finally had to call it quits. If she was going to be worth anything tomorrow, she needed a break. She sent Taura back to her own tent once she found out the poor elf had been helping since late the day before. She also sent Nigora to bed for a long rest while Galena worked. All the other healer elves came in on different shifts and as Taura pointed out, were not much help without magic to aid them. Galena was exhausted. She’d seen at least a hundred different elves with every type of injury imaginable. Between healing and destroying stones, she had worn herself out.
Heading back to their tent, Elenio wrapped an arm around Galena’s waist more to help her walk than anything. It had been an unbelievably long day and she needed all the help she could get.
“Why do you insist on wearing yourself out every time?” Elenio asked as he kissed her on the head.
“I don’t know, but you would think that I would learn my lesson eventually.” Galena tried to stifle a yawn.
“That will be the day,” Elenio said, chuckling quietly. Taking his other arm, he knocked Galena’s legs from under her, catching her in his embrace. He started walking with her safe in his clutches toward the tent. Galena thought of protesting, but a yawn nearly split her head in two. He hadn’t gotten very far however, when Tark caught up to them, closely followed by Morgo.
“Is she okay?” Morgo asked, seeing Elenio carrying her.
“I’m fine. Elenio just thought I was too tired to walk.” She leaned over and kissed Elenio on the cheek before he put her down. “So what’s the verdict?”
“We have definitely decided against flying the underground elves into the camp without at least giving them the heads up. Morgo agrees with you on the fact that they would probably panic if a wind suddenly picked them up and sent them flying. But they’re going to need help getting past all the dark creatures surrounding us.”
“You must understand how extremely limited their knowledge is of this world and all the wonders it holds. Everything is relatively new to them and seeing that many dark creatures and then having wind pick them up, it might be too much for them to absorb at once,” Morgo said, grimacing slightly as he recalled the world with which he was trying to escape.
“So how many of us are going over?” Galena asked, trying unsuccessfully to stifle another yawn.
“Well, you, me, my generals, and the some of their top elves,” Tark said, as he ticked off all the elves that he named.
“And me,” Elenio said quietly.
“That’s fine,” Tark said quickly. “The plan is for you to fly us over the fire wall so we don’t leave the camp defenseless. We’ll do our part to ward off the enemy while Morgo explains to the elves what will happen. We’ll have you fly them over and maybe some of the elves can assist you in this area. Morgo was unsure if they would be able to manipulate the wind as they have no experience with it.”
“Right, well then I need to get some sleep. When do you think they’ll be here?”
“Sometime tomorrow morning, from what we can tell. Although, you would be able to help us out in that area...” Tark started.
“Then meet us in our tent first thing in the morning. She’s done tonight,” Elenio said, interrupting Galena before she could agree.
Tark eyed Galena, taking in her appearance properly for the first time since he had run into her. Galena knew she must look a sight. Not only was she extremely tired, she was also filthy. Other than the brief cleaning up she did after healing Morgo, she had not properly bathed at all in the last week. She felt tired and beyond dirty at this point. She knew she had to be covered in blood and gore from past battles and she could smell the sweat and dirt on herself.
“Very well,” he agreed.
Galena nodded her head in thanks and allowing Elenio to wrap an arm around her waist once more, they headed toward their tent for the night. Before they entered however, Galena put up a brilliant, dome-shaped light. She smiled at the warm glow that it provided, feeling a great calm steal over her. That should let everyone sleep in peace tonight, she thought wearily.
* * * *
Tark was walking back to his tent when a warm glow surrounded him. He looked up at the sky and saw Galena must have put a dome in place just as she said she would. He smiled at it, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders. All the dark thoughts of losing and what was to come, disappeared from his mind, replaced by Taura and Silva.
“I’ll see you before the sun rises,” he said to Morgo as he clapped his hand on the newly healed elf’s shoulder.
Morgo nodded his head serenely, but continued to gaze at the dome overhead, the look of peace on his friend’s face.
Apparently, the dome of light was having the same effect on everyone, Tark thought happily. He fairly ran to his tent, looking forward to seeing Taura as he hadn’t seen her all day. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t really seen or talked to her since late the day before. With battles occurring frequently, Tark thought he had been acting very foolish indeed. He should have been spending as much time as possible with her, instead of wasting the time he may have left. She could have come with him to all the meetings and other tasks he had throughout the day. Just as long as they were together.
He could sense by her mood and knew she felt the same peace he did. Her thoughts that had been every bit as dark and twisted as his own, had smoothed out. Why they hadn’t thought to use this dome before was beyond him. Tark knew this was exactly what all the elves needed if they were going to go against Rau’s army and then on to Blackwell. Tark wondered vaguely if creating this constant light would further wear on Galena, but realized she kept the fire up without ceasing and it hadn’t bothered her. Morgo had at one point told her the hardest part was setting up the protection, after that, the element was forced to stay in the same position until the one who commanded it, released it from the unnatural position.
Tark threw back the flap of his tent and walked inside. The pleasant light followed him in. Taura was asleep on the hammock, a hint of a smile on her lips. She looked too peaceful to wake. Tark sat down on the ground and simply watched her sleep. Her dreams dancing through his head. He saw his own image several times as well as Silva, Venia, Jamin, and several other of their new friends and family. His eyelids grew heavy while watching her. He stood up and stretched his stiff muscles. The exhaustion he had been running from the last couple of days finally caught up with him and he yawned, an act that made him even more tired. Carefully, so as not to tip both Taura and himself, he laid down on the hammock beside her. He pulled the blankets up and before even closing his eyes, fell asleep.
Tark awoke to someone shaking him gently. He opened his eyes, the light from the dome still glowing pleasantly within the confines of the tent. He blinked several times until the image of Galena came into clearer focus. She stood over him, a hand still on his shoulders, waiting to see if he was indeed awake.
“Time to get up. We need to check where the underground elves are,” she whispered.
Tark slowly sat up, careful not to disturb Taura. Grabbing his sword and scabbard from beside the hammock where he laid it the night before, he followed Galena out of the tent and into the brilliant glow. His ten generals and their chosen elves along with Elenio and Galena stood waiting for him. The first thing he noticed were the smiles on all their faces.
“Did I miss something?” he asked, smiling himself.
“How do you feel?” Morgo asked, a broad grin on his own face.
Tark thought about it for a moment and realized he felt better than he had since arriving in this cursed land. His mind felt clear and incredibly well rested even though he knew he couldn’t have slept more than a couple of hours. It had been such a sound, dreamless sleep it was all he needed.
“Exactly,” Morgo said, taking in Tark’s expression.
“Is this light wearing you down,” he asked Galena.
“Not in the slightest. I can’t believe I didn’t think to use it sooner. When Elenio and I were traveling, we had to use this kind of protection to keep Rau away. I knew that the darkness couldn’t penetrate the light.”
“Well, you’ve had a lot on your mind too.”
Galena’s smiled widened in appreciation and she took Elenio’s hand.
“Okay, so where are the underground elves?” Tark asked, getting back to business.
“They should be arriving within the hour,” Elenio answered.
“Is everyone ready?” Tark asked eyeing everyone carefully as they nodded their heads enthusiastically. “Galena, do you think you’ll be able to fly everyone over the fire wall?”
“Flying everyone over should be easy. It’s going to be flying everyone including the underground elves back into camp that may be a bit challenging.”
“You shouldn’t have to fly all the underground elves,” Morgo said thoughtfully.
“I thought you said they had no experience with wind?” Galena asked skeptically.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t show them quickly. I thought about it some last night, and I realized how foolish I had been in thinking that they would not be able to fly themselves to safety after they learn how.”
“Do you really think they’ll have enough magic?”
At this, Morgo almost looked insulted. “We have plenty of magic! You forget of all that we accomplished underground when we weren’t worn out. You’ve just gotten used to seeing the underground elves here in camp. What you have forgotten is that there are roughly twenty underground elves using magic for close to five hundred other elves unable to do magic. We are in a constant state of being tired and as I’m sure you remember, makes it extremely difficult to accomplish a lot.”
Tark watched as Galena turned several shades of red, before bowing her head in shame. “I’m sorry, I simply forgot. Would you like my assistance in instructing them in wind use?” she asked, humbleness in her every move.
“No, Nina and I should be able to manage. Your job is to keep the dark creatures away. Warfare is something the underground elves have had very little experience with. Generally only the guides for the tunnels learn how to protect themselves.”
Galena nodded her head, but said no more.
Tark couldn’t help it; he chuckled at Galena. She had gotten too big for her breeches and had been brought down a notch. “Let’s grab some food and start heading toward the area where we will be flying over,” Tark instructed. The elves as a whole made their way toward the food tent. Tark dropped back to talk with Galena while they walked though. “Will flying us break the light dome?”
“Light can be broken by anything solid. It just keeps the dark away,” Galena said, looking at the ground as they walked.
“Still learning, huh?” Tark asked, referring to what happened with Morgo.
“No, just forgot. I won’t make that mistake again. I guess I just got used to being relied on by everyone including the underground elves,” she said calmly.
Tark chuckled again, and looking over Galena’s bent head, saw that Elenio was smiling too. He had always liked him.
Tark sat down beside Galena while he finished the last of his sweet bread. She was already staring into a bowl of water with the image of the underground elves in it. They were moving at a fast pace and would soon be arriving at the point where they would need assistance. Galena set the bowl aside and looked around.
“It about that time?” Tark asked quietly.
She just nodded her head and got to her feet, adjusting her sword as she did.
“Are you nervous?”
“No, just ready to get started. I was never very good at waiting,” she replied, smiling at him.
At this Tark laughed aloud and Elenio shook his head, laughing as well.
“No, you’re not,” Elenio said, still laughing at Galena as he pulled her into a hug.
Tark shook his head. Patient was never a word he would ever associate with his little sister.
“Alright, everyone spread out, but stay within this area. Line up several elves deep if you need to. It’s about that time,” Tark shouted out. He prepared himself by taking his blade out and twirling it around a couple of times. Here goes nothing, he thought.