Elenio examined the cut on his arm. It was a shallow one, but it still annoyed him. If he had been paying more attention, he would have never gotten it. The torlic simply snuck up behind him while he’d been watching the underground elves retrieve Galena. It wasn’t a moment too soon, from what he could tell. She was already unconscious and bleeding badly from her left thigh. He’d just started toward her when he heard the torlic breathing behind him. He turned around, prepared to block him, but the torlic was already swinging. Elenio made to jump out of the way, but not quite soon enough. The torlic’s sword ripped through the sleeve of his tunic, grazing his arm in the process. Elenio wasted very little time on the torlic after that.
He made sure there were no more enemies in the camp before he went to find Galena. The underground elves had taken her to their tent and made her comfortable. Elenio had also been pleased to see they had already healed her leg, which one of the underground elf healers indicated caused her to lose a great deal of blood in just a short amount of time. Morgo had been in the tent with her as well as Lars and Nina. Elenio nodded to each of them as a way of greeting before checking on Galena himself. He saw she was very pale, but otherwise fine.
“Would you like someone to take a look at that,” Nina asked quietly.
“Take a look at what?” Elenio asked a little more harshly than he meant to. He was feeling rather annoyed at Galena once again. He figured he could feel that way now because she wasn’t awake to scold him. Might as well get it out of my system, he thought sarcastically.
“The cut on your arm,” she replied. She hadn’t seemed to take offense to his shortness.
He looked down at the cut, but seeing that it wasn’t particularly serious or painful, he shook his head. He would rather see the healers work on the elves with more serious injuries. Nina smiled at him and then beckoning toward Lars, the two of them headed out, leaving Elenio alone with Galena and Morgo.
“I should probably go and apologize to Nina,” Elenio said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“There’s no need, she understands,” Morgo said calmly.
“Well, we did it.”
“Yep, and not many underground elves passed out. Well, with the exception of Nina. I’d say we had a good day,” Morgo said, smiling broadly.
“Want to go get some food? I’m starving. Plus, I want to talk to Tark and make sure no one was really hurt.”
“I’m always game for food,” Morgo said excitedly. “I’ve discovered it has a whole new taste to it in this world!”
Elenio shook his head at his friend. The small things seemed to amuse him the most. Morgo stood and following Elenio, and they headed toward the food tent. They passed a large pile of dark bodies, the only evidence of the crags that had dropped in the camp. Several of the underground elves were placing the glass balls filled with flammable chemicals called ires all around them and on them. Once they were satisfied all the dark monsters had at least one ires close to them, they set the pile ablaze with a white, hot fire.
“How many of those things did they bring?” Elenio asked as he watched the flames lick and dance all over the fallen creatures.
“Enough to get us to the end of this war come what may. We also have several elves who came just to produce more food, more healers, and a variety of other elves just willing to help however, they can. Tark is confident they won’t be able to learn enough combat skills to be helpful during battle, but Lars and I are working on a way around that.”
“I bet you have been,” Elenio said, smiling and heading toward the food tent again. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils and made him gag. He was very quickly losing his appetite.
“Hmm, seems like we can send a breeze to clear away that smell,” Morgo said thoughtfully. He gazed back at the blazing fire and seeing an underground elf watching the flames, he walked over to her. Elenio watched as they exchanged a couple of words before the female nodded her dark head quickly and with a wave of her hand sent a constant breeze over the fire, pushing the smell away from the camp. Elenio watched Morgo as he returned, lost in his own thoughts of Galena and what it would be like if he ever got to use magic. He wouldn’t be nearly as helpless as he had been, that was for sure. Moreover, he wouldn’t have to let Galena do it all, which was his biggest concern.
“What’s troubling you, my friend?” Morgo asked, seeing the look on Elenio’s face.
“Just wondering what it will be like when I can do magic for myself instead of complaining about everything,” Elenio said, giving a half grin.
Morgo nodded his head, but said nothing.
“I’ll be able to help Galena more. That way she won’t have to risk her neck so much.”
At this Morgo let out a bark of laughter. “I’d like to see you try and slow her down. She seems like she has always been a force of nature to reckon with!”
To this Elenio actually found himself laughing. “True story!”
“What’s a true story?” Tark asked.
Elenio actually jumped at this. He hadn’t realized Tark had come up on them.
“Your sister’s whirlwind personality,” Morgo said, calming down.
“Was anyone hurt?” Elenio asked, also settling down.
“Not seriously, and with all the new healers that have joined us, they’ve all been taken care of. With the exception of you I see.”
Elenio shrugged this off and continued toward the food tent. The smell of sweet bread, juicy fruit, and something else delicious wafted toward him. He couldn’t believe how hungry he was. Elenio smiled to himself thinking how hungry Galena would be when she woke up. He had better get his share now, because Galena was sure to eat hers and his when she finally roused.
“When you’ve grabbed some food, I want you to join me in my quarters.”
Elenio and Morgo both nodded and grabbed some wooden trays.
A few minutes later, Elenio found himself sitting on the ground, food tray on his lap listening to the discussion going on. Tark brought all the generals, Lars, and a couple of the other underground elves. They discussed the ways the magical elves could help during battle. At this point, Morgo had plenty to say, Nina backing up everything said on the matter. Lars and the other two elves listened blankly to the conversation.
Elenio found himself tuning out the ongoing discussion and instead taking the time to study the new elves. There was Lars, another male elf called Wika and a female called Poro. All three had the drab, lank hair that was characteristic of an underground elf. Their pale skin seemed to glow in the dark confines of the tent and their dull dark eyes seemed huge in their thin faces. Looking at them reminded Elenio of how much the first group of underground elves that had joined Tark, changed since arriving in the world above. Galena pointed out, bringing out a jealous streak in Elenio, that Morgo turned out to be a rather dashing elf. Even Nina’s once black looking hair had taken on a lighter brown look and was even beginning to curl. Her eyes remained dark, but they had a snap to them. As the weather grew warmer, Elenio noticed the once pale skin of the first group of underground elves was beginning to darken up so they no longer glowed in the sunlight.
“What do you think, Elenio?”
Elenio shook his head, trying to bring himself back to the discussion and failed miserably.
“I’m sorry. I quit listening right at the beginning. What are we talking about?”
He heard Fala and Erna chuckle somewhere behind him and he fought the urge to turn around and share their laughter. Tark rolled his eyes and Morgo grinned at Elenio.
“About heading out tomorrow at sunrise. We’re just sitting ducks here. The longer we wait, the more chances we give Rau to strike out at us and weaken our already minimal defenses,” Tark answered.
“So if you’ve made your minds up, why do you need to know what I think?” Elenio asked, feeling slightly annoyed. Why they invited him to this discussion was beyond him.
“Because I need to know what Galena would think on the matter and since she is currently indisposed at the time, we’re asking you what you think on her behalf.”
At this, Elenio raised an eyebrow at Tark.
Seeing Elenio’s face, Morgo let loose a gale of laughter.
“Yeah, I guess that was a stupid question. I’m just trying to be official,” Tark said, looking at the ground before bringing a hand up and through his hair. The rest of the group laughed then. It was almost as if a nervous tension was being released in that moment. Well, Elenio was glad he provided some humor to an otherwise extremely serious group.
“Now that the decision has been made, I think I’ll head back to my tent and wait for the whirlwind to wake up. When she does, I’ll let her know we leave tomorrow morning at sunrise.” With that proclamation, the laughter died completely, replaced with a weighty silence. So much for bringing comedic relief to the group, Elenio thought grimly. He couldn’t wait for this war to be over just so the fluctuation of emotions would end. One minute everyone was happy and gay, the next, reality set in, pushing happy thoughts out of the way.
He nodded his farewell to the group, grabbed his tray, and went to fetch more food for Galena. He expected her to sleep the rest of the day away and most of the night. He hoped it would be enough because tomorrow would bring the fate of the rest of their lives. One way or the other.
* * * *
Galena woke up to the thin light just before the rising of the sun. Her body felt stiff, and her leg was tender. Reaching her mind out, she found most of the cuts were healed, but there was still a great deal of bruising around where the torlic’s sword cut her. She quickly healed the broken blood vessels there, easing the pain as she did. She sat up carefully, noticing Elenio still sleeping beside her. She looked around the tent, her heart aching slightly. It was in the mornings she missed Twoit the most. She could always count on the tiny creature’s company first thing in the morning, but alas, the ferret remained missing. Galena sighed heavily and then spotted a tray laden with food on one of the chairs. Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her how long it had been since the last time she ate.
Galena got up as quickly as she dared and squatting down beside the food, she began to stuff in pieces of cheese, fruit, and vegetables as fast as she could. She filled her cheeks until they were bulging, chewed, swallowed, and did it all over again. Her hands were shaking from hunger and nothing tasted as good as that food. Taking a swig of water from a flask beside the tray, she picked up a loaf of bread when she heard a quiet cough from behind her. Turning, she found Elenio propped up on one elbow, a smile on his face as he watched her inhale an entire tray of food in just the few minutes she’d been awake.
“And then you wonder why everyone assumes you could put away half of the camp’s food supply,” he said with a mischievous smile on his face.
“Hey, remember what happened the last time you decided to pick on me for the amount of food I was eating?” Galena asked, while looking intently at her loaf of bread.
Elenio unconsciously rubbed his nose, the thought of bread flying up his nostril, front in his mind.
“Yeah, I thought you would,” Galena said, smiling to herself.
Elenio stood up and walking over to Galena, took the loaf of bread from her hand, and returned it to the tray. He then turned to her and helping her to a standing position, kissed her lightly before holding her tightly in his arms.
Galena leaned her head on his chest, slightly confused at his actions. “What’s going on?”
“Tark decided it’s time to finish this. He figures the longer we stay here, the greater the chances are Rau will figure out a way in.”
“He’s right.”
“I know he is, but you know what that means?”
“This is the last chance I may get to be held like this.” Galena suddenly felt very sad and very scared. Everything seemed to be moving at the speed of light and suddenly she felt like she needed more time to prepare herself. Yes, the Sword of Lumina protected her from Rau’s shadows and dark magic, but he was still an incredible swordsman. He defeated Lamiria with those same skills.
“You don’t need any more time, you’re already amazing,” Elenio said, burying his face in her hair and kissing her head.
“What happens...?” Galena started.
“What happens will happen,” Elenio said. Hooking a finger under her chin, he tilted her face toward him, his own eyes searching hers.
“I love you,” Galena said. Three little words, but they told it all.
His own carefully constructed emotions broke for a moment, showing Galena the fear he felt before he regained control again. He kissed her, this time a little longer before breaking away. He held her away from him and just stared. Galena looked into his clear, blue eyes, studying them, memorizing them. The future was uncertain and she wasn’t quite ready to face it.
“No matter what, we’ll be together in the end,” Elenio said, running a hand through her loose hair.
She nodded, knowing the meaning behind his words. They either both survived or they both would die, but they would not be apart.
“I need to get ready. Sounds like it’s going to be a killer kind of day,” Galena said smiling half-heartedly up at him.
He rolled his eyes and got to work on pulling his longer hair back. Galena focused on putting her long hair in a tight braid and polishing her blade with an old cloth. Her mind trailed back to happier times. Playing in the garden with her father and brothers; training with Elenio in the clearing by their village. Going to commitment ceremonies with her father and then with Elenio. Playing as a child with Elenio by the creek. She remembered all the things she loved and was fighting to maintain.
Elenio came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He bent down and kissed her head once more. Galena looked down at the Sword of Lumina and stared at the reflection in it. She saw her own coppery hair and her golden eyes staring back at her. She had changed since she left her village. Her face had gotten sharper, somehow fiercer looking. She saw a strong elf in that reflection, full of sadness as well as determination. What she saw in that reflection gave her the courage to stand up. She looked once more at Elenio, smiling briefly at him and then turned to head outside. The time had come to end this war.
Galena strode out of the tent and almost into Tark. He had been heading to her, to see if she was ready. He had the same expression as every other elf that was in the camp, determination mingled with the fear of the unknown.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m about to throw up, so I’m good,” Galena answered grimly.
To this Tark sighed, before pulling her into a hug.
“I think that’s the general feeling that everyone else has.”
“I’d say we’re all set then. So what’s the game plan, other than see an enemy and cut them down? Because although I’m sure that would work if we had less monsters to go against, but it lacks in the face of a storm.”
Elenio shook his head slightly and ran a hand across his face in response to this.
“We’re going to toss as many of the ires all around us and then between you and the underground elves, we should be able to give the dark creatures a proper hello,” Morgo said, coming up beside Tark.
“Then you place a fire ring around the underground elves. They’ll do what they can from within that ring, but at least they’ll be protected. We can send any injured elves over to them for as long as we can, that way our forces will stay strong for at least a little while,” Tark said looking around at the group of elves that were gathering. “Is there any way you can destroy the intunerics all at once?”
“Not without taking myself out,” Galena said grimly.
To this Morgo looked down, red creeping up his neck. “They’re made of pretty dark magic.”
Tark nodded his head thoughtfully.
“I’ll do what I can to move them as far away as possible though. That’s got to help a little.”
“Once we’ve made sure the underground elves are protected as well as we can, you lower the fire barrier and we attack.”
“Does everyone else know what’s going to happen?” Galena asked, eyeing the huge crowd that had gathered around them.
“Everyone was talked to yesterday while you were out,” Tark said, also taking in all the elves around him.
Taura joined them, wrapping her arm around Tark’s waist as they spoke. She looked up at Galena’s brother, sadness written on her face.
Galena felt her own heart ache as she looked at her brother and sister-in-law. She looked around the camp, seeing for perhaps the first time, several elves from her own village. Faces of those she’d known growing up. There were faces all-around of the ones she loved and respected. There were faces there she’d never even made an effort to get to know, to even learn their name, but yet, here they were, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Every one of them looked resolute and scared, preparing in their various ways to defend Tomiro from the creature who ruled them for so long. She saw swords drawn and bows readying. In everyone’s hands, she saw at least one of the ires and some of them held more. Feeling moved at this final stand, Galena cleared her throat. Both Tark and Elenio nodded, realizing what she was about to do.
“Today is it. Whether good or bad, we put an end to this life, as we know it. We’re all scared, but our determination is so much stronger. For lifetimes, we have been the slaves of that cruel monster. No more. We will show Rau what elves are made of! Today we will make Rau regret his very existence!” Galena used the wind to carry her words to all the elves. She watched, as they stood straighter, their faces looking fiercer. “Today, we take back Tomiro!”
To this, Galena met with a torrent of shouts from the elves around her. The sheer volume caused her to stagger, her ears ringing. Every weapon held high as the elves continued their battle cries. Galena turned to Tark and said just loud enough for him to hear, “Let’s get this party rolling.”
* * * *
The elves positioned themselves in various spots by the firewall. Underground elves were placed strategically between them, prepared to set the ires on fire when they encountered the dark creatures. Galena stood by Elenio, Tark, Morgo, and Taura. She held several of the ires in her hands. Her plan was to use wind to give them an extra boost before setting the small orbs ablaze. Looking to Tark, she waited for him to give the signal. He looked around the camp. All the tents had been removed and put away in the center of their area where the underground elves were to be stationed once the first part of their plan was put into action. Satisfied that everyone was where they were supposed to be, he looked at Galena and gave his head a short jerk down.
Galena returned the gesture and then sent a column of light into the air. On cue, every elf hurled their ires high into the air and over the fire barrier. Galena closed her eyes and listened for the resounding thuds as the glass orbs made contact with the different creatures surrounding them. Within seconds, she heard the sound she had been looking for. With a hand flung out, she caused the ires to erupt into flames even as she sent several more flying through the air. She set those ablaze too. The sound around the camp changed from a relative quiet to outbursts of pain as the dark creatures caught fire.
The underground elves were already racing back to the center of the camp, preparing themselves for the second part of their plan. Galena could see many more ires within their grasp and smiled. They would be throwing them out as the battle progressed into the swarm of black. That and they would be using the wind, as Morgo taught them, to fly injured elves to their side and to rid themselves of dark creatures from time to time. Morgo also suggested they use the wind to send heavier objects into the enemy, but Lars suggested this would probably not be a good idea, as it would wear them out much more quickly than they could afford. Galena agreed with him on this point.
Morak’s archers took their positions toward the back of the lines and began to shoot arrows loaded with fire into the enemy army causing more shouts of confusion and pain to ring through the camp. They continued doing this while Galena set up a fire barrier around the underground elves. She knew it would be their best chance, but it still made her nervous to leave them that way. She would have to trust that their magical abilities would give them the upper edge.
Seeing they were all safely within the confines to the firewall, she looked around. There were still some elves lined up around the edges prepared to take on the creatures that surrounded the camp while the barrier was up. Morak’s group sent several more arrows into this area and using bolts of lightning, Galena sent the rest of the creatures running back to the main group.
“Here we go,” she yelled as loudly as she could. As quickly as the flames rose up, they went out, showing Galena and the elves the confusion their ires had spread. The enemy was running around in in complete disorder, some of them ablaze and colliding with others to spread the fire further. Not a single creature looked prepared for the elves to attack. As one, the elves surged toward the scrambling monsters. Galena grabbed the intunerics with a funnel of wind, sending the stones shooting out toward the dark creatures and far away from the camp. The stones caused further chaos among the dark army, which suited Galena just fine.
She met a narook head on as he scrambled to get his sword out. With one swing of her blade, she quickly dispatched of the creature. Elenio took on several more torlics and Tark joined him. Taura was busily defending herself against several other dark creatures Galena saw once before. Galena looked up and saw several crags flying high above and preparing to dive down on the elves. “Not this time,” she muttered to herself. Sending another funnel of air up to them, she managed to suck up several of the creatures within the confines of the wind. Bolts of lightning pierced the funnel and when Galena released the wind, dead bodies fell to the ground landing on the enemy below and crushing them.
Galena looked around and saw they were pushing the enemy back. She felt a small twinge of hope blossom in her chest. Swinging her blade up and around, she cut deep into the torso of a torlic. She removed her blade and swung around again, flipping in the air to land in the middle of another group of dark creatures all in various stages of confusion. She dropped to the ground in a squat and spinning around, she cut off the legs of the creatures, causing them to crash to the ground before bursting into light.
Focusing again on the sky, she saw several more ires flying through the air and landing deeper within the dark swarming mass. Helping the underground elves out, she caused the ires to burst into flames when they landed. More confusion raced through the enemy lines and the elves took advantage of it. Like a giant wave, they crashed upon the monsters dispatching them quickly before pulling back only to crash down on them again.
Elenio came up beside Galena and together they fought on, closing the distance between the elf camp and Blackwell. Galena saw the dark castle growing bigger and bigger with every creature she killed. The smell of death and blood hung heavy in the air and the sound of screams and clanging swords filled her ears. She watched some elves soar through the sky and back to the camp, in various injured positions. The confusion that had consumed the enemy before was building as the elves continued their onslaught against them. Galena saw a couple more crags high in the air, circling around and looking for a good target. Galena quickly destroyed them by causing their heads to erupt into flames. Their bodies fell heavily to the earth almost crushing a group of elves engaged with an earagos.
“Ooops,” Galena said quietly.
Elenio looked at her, shaking his head slightly and taking the arm off a nearby creature that reminded Galena of a torlic and narook combined. She shrugged her shoulder, watching several more ires fly through the air into a charging earagos before bursting into flames. She watched the giant creature stumble around blindly, crushing smaller monsters under his feet and causing many more to catch fire. An unfortunate torlic had gotten too close to one of its legs and was sent flying when the earagos staggered around and kicked it while he howled with pain. The smell of burning flesh filled Galena’s nostrils and she suppressed the urge to gag. She felt hot and sweaty and still they fought on. They couldn’t stop now, not while they had the enemy practically running toward Blackwell. Time to move things along before we wear ourselves completely out.
“Galena, pace yourself,” Elenio shouted, reading her thoughts correctly.
She sighed before jumping up and flipping over the oncoming attacking creature. She plunged her sword into his back. Using her foot, she kicked the creature off, squinting her eyes as yet another creature became the victim of blinding light.
“I know, I know,” she said feeling slightly exasperated. She caused a large funnel to form, much bigger than she had ever created and sent it roaring toward the enemy. She felt her hair whip around her, stinging her face and eyes with its lashes. Enemy and elf watched as the giant creation raced toward the monsters, sucking up everything in its way.
The elves gave a mighty cheer, yelling their approval from every direction. The enemy, on the other hand, ran screaming in the direction of Blackwell. The funnel rose higher into the air, growing thicker and thicker as the winds gained speed. The sound of its roaring drowned out everything else. Using her hands, she pushed the great roaring beast further into the enemy lines where nothing was safe. It left a clear path, showing the world exactly where it had been. Galena watched, her eyes alight with fury and power, the sword in her hand causing her to glow even more. Tark, Elenio, Morgo, and Taura stood next to her, watching the chaos unfold before them. Not a single dark creature was attacking, but instead was running in every direction, trying to avoid the ever-growing beast before them.
They crashed into the waves of the ocean separating the mainland of Tomiro from the domain of Blackwell and some raced across the bridge made of intunerics, trying desperately to escape. Bolts of lightning came racing to the ground to strike the fleeing creatures. Galena felt the ground tremble with the retreating monsters and the force of which her tunnel blew. She saw the wind column shoot creatures in every direction and causing others to collide with the ground below or into other fleeing creatures. It grabbed the dark stones that littered the ground and sent them flying as well, the results the same for everything that fell victim to this monster Galena unleashed. She began to feel the strain of trying to control such a large body of wind so she caused it to die instantly, dropping all the bodies within it to the ground with revolting thuds and cracks. She swayed precariously and Elenio caught her before she collapsed.
“What did I tell you?” he said angrily.
“I’m fine. I just need something to eat. I actually feel better now that I’m no longer trying to control that thing,” she retorted.
“Fine or not, that was certainly something to see,” Tark said, still looking at the place the funnel disappeared. There was not a creature within a stone’s throw distance of them. They all fled to Blackwell where the remaining half of Rau’s army awaited. Morgo handed Galena a loaf of bread and an apple, to which she nodded her head in thanks. She wasn’t sure how he had gotten it there so quickly, but she found she didn’t really care at that moment.
She stared across the ocean at the castle made from the dark intunerics. It loomed menacingly up to the sky ending in several jagged peaks. It reminded Galena of a set of sharp teeth pointing to the sky. The clouds above it were also dark and menacing, swirling around and around the top most peak. The water churned against it, continually slapping against the rocky base in an attempt to wash away this dark place. It hadn’t escaped Galena’s attention that this was the first time she had been to the ocean. The salty smell filled her senses with a clean refreshing feeling, only to be erased when she opened her eyes and saw the tarnish that it held.
The bridge that connected the mainland to Blackwell island was extraordinarily wide, roughly twenty elves could walk side by side across it and made entirely from the dark stone that was the predominate feature of this land. The bridge presented a couple of problems itself. The first issue that came to her mind was the fact that it was made from intunerics. Walking on those for even a short amount of time, could do a number on the elves and one Galena didn’t feel they could handle just before battle. Sure, the elves were used to handling intunerics, especially when they started work in the mines, but being surrounded by this many was not a good thing.
The second issue Galena saw was even though the bridge was relatively wide; it still limited them like a funnel to the island. The enemy would wait at the other end and pick them off as they came across and tried to step on the island. Finishing her bread and starting on her apple, Galena brought up her issues with Tark and found he had been considering the very same things. He, like her, was unsure exactly what to do.
“Galena, why don’t you cover the bridge in light?” Morgo asked, having listened intently to their concerns. Galena looked at Morgo, not really surprised, because he had so many good ideas.
“That could work,” she replied slowly.
“It may not block all of the dark magic, but it will certainly ease it considerably.”
“But there is still the problem of getting all the elves onto the island through a sort of filter,” Tark said, looking back at the island again.
“That’s a little tougher to negotiate,” Morgo said thoughtfully.
“What if we do like we did when we first came out of camp?” Elenio asked.
“That would definitely get them to move back a bit,” Morgo said scratching his head as he thought about it.
“Unless they’re expecting it,” Tark responded.
“That could very well be true, too,” Morgo agreed, kicking a small pebble aside.
“Well, then we’ll have to improvise,” Galena said, throwing the apple core behind her. She heard a thump followed by an “ow.” Guiltily, she turned around to see whom she had nailed and saw Morak walking toward them, rubbing his head in an annoyed fashion.
“Nice. Survive another battle, but get taken out by an apple core. Just how I wanted to end my fighting career.”
Galena grinned sheepishly at him, feeling the heat rise up in her face.
“We lost a couple of elves and the ones that were injured are returning. The underground healers have done all they can today. In fact, most of them are out cold,” Morak reported, still rubbing his head gingerly.
Galena looked down at the ground. This was the first time they had actually lost elves in battle. She looked ahead and knew there would be more before the day was out. She felt the weight of those lives heavy on her shoulder, but knew there was nothing she could do about it. They had all put their lives at stake, knowing the risks before they had taken them, but that didn’t help her to feel any better at that moment.
Tark too was looking at the ground, sadness written all over his face. “Let’s not waste those lives. Galena, are you ready?”
“Not in the slightest, but that hasn’t stopped me yet.” She would save as many elves as possible, but most importantly, she would show Rau what she was made of. Thinking of a bright light, she sent it sizzling down the bridge until the entire thing was covered in the same glow that protected their minds before. The bridge stood waiting for them, inviting them now to end the corruption at its other side. Tark raised a hand, gaining the attention from all the elves around him.
“To Blackwell. Let’s finish this!” he shouted.