Galena silently sat with her father at the table for supper. Her mind was still heavy with the events of that day and she puzzled over the reason behind the torlics being in the woods. Taking another bite, she glanced up at her father, her face softening as she took in his appearance. He had only been working in the mines for the last several years, but it had aged him greatly.
In the beginning, when the elves had first been enslaved, they had lived for centuries upon centuries, even with mining the poisonous intuneric stones. They could live a substantial part of their lives without working in the mines, giving them more time to choose a mate, raise their children, and lead productive lives. They no longer had the use of magic as was still the case, but they weren’t forced to begin their death sentence immediately. However, as the elf life grew shorter and shorter, the age at which an elf was required to begin mining had decreased as well. Now, at the age of fifty, an elf had to begin his or her death sentence. An elf was considered old at the age of seventy-five.
Gormon looked sallow and permanently exhausted. The dark circles around his silver eyes were the most prominent feature on his once handsome face. His hair had once been a silky, raven black, but was now primarily white. His face was covered with so many lines on it that it reminded Galena of a badly stored piece of parchment. No matter how much he ate, he always looked like he was to the point of starvation and he had a lingering smell of death about him. Galena looked sadly at her father, remembering him as he once was. She knew it would not be long before her brothers and sisters-in-law would have the same haunted look. She looked down at the remaining food on her plate, her appetite vanishing completely.
Looking up once more, her father noticed that she had stopped eating. Placing his fork down, he reached across the table and placed a large, withered hand over her small one. “What troubles you, little one?”
Galena fought tears as she noted how drastically his voice had changed as well. She had become so accustomed to it that it shocked her to realize how gravelly it was compared to the rich, baritone he once had in her childhood.
“Why do we continue to train!?” she yelled suddenly as she slammed her own utensils on the table. “Why do we continue when we have no plans to make use of it? We train and train, waiting for the day that Mira decides to point out a good enough elf as we slowly fade away from existence!” Hot tears streamed down her face, not from sadness, but from the anger that seemed to fill her stomach. “Answer me, what good has it all done?”
Smiling weakly at her, Gormon reached over and wrapping a hand around her upper arm, he pulled her to him and sat her on his lap as he did when she was a child. It was too much for Galena. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed. She cried for the unfairness of it all, for the life that Rau was robbing her kind from, for the loss of the world as it had once been. She cried for what seemed like hours, all while her father slowly stroked her hair, not saying a word. When she had cried herself out, she kept her face buried in his shoulder, ashamed of her sudden outburst. Pushing her away slightly so that he could see her face, he smiled at her in his reassuring way. Taking her face between his hands, he kissed her forehead.
“Why are you so upset today my beautiful, golden-eyed daughter? What has changed today that has made you question your life?” He searched her eyes, trying to find the answers to his questions, but Galena looked down. The fear of earlier that day was starting to catch up to her, but seeing her father in this withered state, made it seem so much worse.
“Elenio and I ran into torlics today in the forest,” she said quietly as she slipped from his lap and back into her seat. She turned to face him before she told him of what had happened and how she had felt afraid of the giant creature finding her. She told him of how she felt ashamed that she hadn’t confronted the beast, but not feeling confident enough to charge him. When she had finally talked herself out, her father stretched his arms up and clamping his hands behind his head, leaned back in his chair, staring at the wooden ceiling while he collected his thoughts.
“Something has stirred Rau. I’m not sure what grabbed his interest, but it is apparently something important, big, or perhaps both. Unfortunately, this is the fourth meeting described to me this week. Yours ended well, but others have not.”
“Who else ran into them? What happened?” Galena asked, feeling fearful again.
Sighing heavily, Gorman scratched his chin before he answered her. “I ran into your brother on the way home this evening, and he told me that Shorva and his entire family had been found dead alongside the road this morning. They are unsure as to what exactly happened, but given the signs of Shorva’s lifeless body; they assume he had tried to use magic against the torlics. As retribution for this attempt, they killed his family. Shorva must have died shortly after from the pain caused by the marks of Rau, because he had clawed his own hands and feet until they were a bloody mess. His face had been clawed up as well. I’ve never known an elf to try to summon the magic from within, but as you well know, the pain is supposed to be unbearable, as evidenced by the fact that he tried to take his own hands and feet off. He bled to death from his self-inflicted injuries.”
Galena’s mouth felt suddenly very dry, but she couldn’t resist asking, “Why do they think it was the torlics that caused him to try?” She couldn’t help rubbing her fingers lightly over her own marks while she stared intently at her father.
“They found their footprints all around the family and then headed off into the forest.” Gormon pinched the bridge of his nose as he ground his jaws together. Galena wondered briefly if the constant headaches he seemed to have were strengthening again, but he continued, “Tark also mentioned that his Taura had seen one crossing her path on her way to the market earlier that week. She had stopped dead in her tracks, clutching little Silva to her to keep her from crying until she was sure it had passed. He said that she ran all the way home and waited for him to come back before she would venture out again.”
Galena shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to her sister-in-law and little niece.
“There have been others talking about incidents that they have seen or heard of themselves concerning the torlics. All in all, I think it is something that should be brought to the attention of the other elders, if they don’t already know of it. We have never been visited by torlics in this region before, and the fact that they are seemingly popping up all over the place, bodes ill for all of us. Although, what we can do about it, I am unsure.” Gorman sighed heavily once more before placing his hands on the table and pushing himself up. “I need to call a meeting with the other elders as soon as possible. We need to discuss safety measures that we can put into place to help protect us and discuss what could be agitating Rau so.” He turned and walked from the room, leaving Galena to stare after him in silent fear.
* * * *
Galena rolled over in her bed, and groggily looked out the window. She had had a great deal of trouble sleeping as visions of Shorva kept repeating in her mind, and judging by the way the sun slanted, it was much later in the day than when she normally woke. The dream images replayed in her mind and she couldn’t help wondering if he had purposefully attempted to use magic, not caring what the results were, or out of panic at seeing the unwelcome creatures, accidently called on it. She had remembered the first time she had used magic. The experience had been unpleasant, but no real damage had come of it. It had been an incredibly hot day and all she could think of was how a cool breeze would do wonders as she trained. Suddenly, a gust of cool wind blew past her. The moment of shock was broken by the stinging sensation that made her whole hand tingle. It was in that instant that she realized, it had been her thinking about a cool breeze that had made it appear. That discovery had changed her world and she continued to see what she could do.
She sat up in bed and stretched, still feeling exhausted, but knowing that sleep would be pointless, she threw her legs over the side of the bed. Getting up, she washed off and got dressed. She pulled a brush through her long hair before putting it into a simple braid. She was heading into their living area to get something to eat before working in the garden when she heard a knock at the door. Turning from the pantry, she answered it. As she suspected, there stood Elenio with a perplexed look on his face.
“And where were you this morning?” he asked. “I’ve been waiting for over an hour,” he said as he strode past her and into the house. He walked over to a chair by the table and promptly sat down, glaring at her as he waited for an explanation.
Sighing, she closed the door, grabbed an apple, and sat in the chair across from him. Careful not to look like a slob by letting juice dribble down her chin, Galena took a bite before looking at him. He really was the most handsome elf she had ever seen. She saddened at the thought that he may never know how she really felt. She looked away and took another bite of the fruit.
“Well, I do believe I have waited long enough.” He crossed his arms as he continued to glare at her.
“Did you hear about Shorva?” Galena asked, not wanting to describe the nightmares that had kept her up through the night.
She looked up in time to see Elenio’s face soften at these words.
“Father told me what happened yesterday to his family and him after I told him about our incident in the forest. He said that torlics were being seen more and more around the village. After hearing what happened to Shorva, I wondered what might have happened if the torlic had found us. Would we have been able to fend for ourselves?” Putting a hand up before he could interrupt, she continued, “I know we’ve been training for this, but I still worry. I’m weird that way.” She stopped herself before she could blurt out that she was also worried that she may panic and use magic. Then Elenio would be burdened with her secret as well.
“I know. I heard some of the villagers talking about it on my way over here. Apparently, they’re sending Shorva and his family off today.” Elenio became very interested in a small dent in the table, picking at it as Galena took another bite.
Galena sighed; glad she would not be there for the burning of all the elves that she had once known and then seeing their ashes blowing in the wind in hopes to join the realm of the gods. Something about seeing ashes made up of elves didn’t give Galena the warm fuzzy feeling of hope that it seemed to give everyone else. She fought back the tears as she thought of the little ones that they would be sending off today.
“Not a very good omen for the start of a marriage,” Elenio said glumly.
Galena blinked as she looked at him with wide eyes.
Noting her look, Elenio smiled at her as he rolled his eyes. “Really? Have you forgotten that your cousin is to be married at the end of this week?”
Galena was shocked to realize that a month had gone by since the announcement of Clovia’s promising to Morak. It seemed like only yesterday that they were announcing it to family. She hadn’t even been asked to help with the preparations for the feast afterwards, as most of the family members were required to do. She must have been spending more time training than she originally thought.
“To be honest, I had forgotten all about it, especially with the recent events,” Galena said sheepishly.
Shaking his head in disapproval, he reached across the table, and snatched the apple from her hands. Before she could protest, he set the fruit on the table and reaching across the table once more, he laced his fingers with her own, forming a sort of bridge with their hands. Galena gasped in surprise. All she could do was stare at the point where they joined.
“Would you do me the honor, of accompanying me to the commitment ceremony?” Elenio asked as he gazed directly into her eyes.
Galena felt her pulse quicken until it was dancing in her chest. She thought he must been joking, because he had never shown an interest in her that way before this moment. She pulled her eyes away and focused on their hands again, trying to determine if this was real or not. He had played so many pranks on her before that she would hate to jump up and down like a silly teenager, only for him to laugh at her. She swallowed the thump in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry.
How was she going to answer this question? Trying to decide whether or not she should respond, she looked everywhere else, but at Elenio.
Sensing her hesitation, Elenio let go of one of her hands and placed his finger under her chin, lifting her face so that she had to look at him again. “What are you thinking? Do you really not like the idea? Or are you going with someone else?”
“I’m trying to decide if you’re playing a joke on me,” Galena said quietly as she shook her head.
Standing up, Elenio walked around the table to where she sat and grabbing her hands, he pulled her to her feet. He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her heart beat loudly in her ribcage, desperately trying to escape. She felt that any moment Elenio would laugh at her for it, because she was positive the sound of it carried to his ears.
“Galena, you are my best friend. The one person whom I have confided in about absolutely everything. Although I am unsure of when it began, I have come to realize that I have fallen in love with you. You asked me yesterday what was bothering me, and it is simply that I have been struggling with how to tell you about my feelings. I realize that you may not see me as a potential commitment partner now, but I’m hoping that you will someday.”
She couldn’t help it; she began to tear up with happiness. This is what she had dreamed about for so long, but had never plucked up enough courage to do anything about it.
His eyes widened and his mouth froze in a frown at the sight of tears streaming down her cheeks. He looked her over, his face clearly showing that he had no idea what was going on. Elenio dropped her hands and made to step back, but before he could get very far, Galena threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She felt him tentatively place his hands on the small of her back, as if he was unsure of what was happening.
“You don’t realize how long I have dreamed of you saying something like that. I was so afraid that you would never return my feelings that I never spoke of them to you,” Galena whispered into his chest.
Elenio tightened his embrace, releasing a ragged breath as he did so. Burying his face in her hair, he kissed the top of her head as she continued to hold him.
“I was so afraid that you would reject me or would not be able to see me as anything, but your friend. The mere thought of being sent away has kept me awake for months. I thought when you didn’t show up this morning to train that you must have realized what I meant to say yesterday and decided that it would be better to stay away.”
The grin that lit up his face was contagious and she felt herself smile too. Pulling him closer, she rested her cheek upon his chest, savoring the feel of him so close to her and in that moment, Galena knew without a doubt that this was where she belonged.