The journey down the mountain went much smoother with Galena able to produce water and food whenever it was needed. She produced campfires with little effort and even cooled them off with the occasional breeze. At one point, she decided to fly them down the last hundred yards, saving them a day of traveling down the mountain. This worried Elenio to the point that Galena agreed to slow down with the magic. However, she only did so after he threw a giant fit, demanding she be careful. He stated they had just gotten her back and she needed to think about what they went through during that time. She felt he was being overly cautious though as nothing she’d done yet, caused her to break a sweat. However, sensing now would not be the time to argue with either of her companions; she stuck to providing food and water.
They headed west as Mira instructed, talking about different types of magic she might have use in the cave as they traveled. Elenio and Tark couldn’t imagine what would be harder than what they’d already been through, and Galena really didn’t want to consider it at all. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. Elenio continually asked if Galena was sure she hadn’t misunderstood Mira, when she stated only Galena would be able to enter the cave. He’d even gone as far as restating the question several different ways to make sure he couldn’t catch Galena in a lie. She seemed to think he believed she was just trying to shield Tark and himself from harm. However, this wasn’t true. If anything, Galena was terrified of what was to come. Leaving behind the security she felt when she was with Tark and Elenio made the whole thing seem ten times worse in her mind.
That night, they decided to make camp under the cover of the trees. Galena offered to grow them a shelter, but the other two would hear nothing of it.
“We just got you back today. Please, give us some time to get used to you being alive and healthy. Once we see you’re not going randomly fall over and die, or try to kill yourself again.” Elenio scooted out of the way at this point when Galena tried to kick him before continuing on, “Then we’ll be okay with you using more magic.”
“Really Galena, how many heart stopping experiences do you think we can handle?” Tark asked, a looked of feigned worry on his face.
“The sad part is,” Elenio said more to Tark. “Most of the damage she has suffered has been at her own hands. What do you think will happen when we finally make it to Rau?”
Both elves looked seriously at Galena before they broke into devious grins.
Thought they were funny did they. Galena raised an eyebrow at them as they chuckled at their own jokes.
Elenio took in her expression just before Galena sent both of them soaring into the air, spinning around and around the campfire. She heard Tark scream out for her to stop, but all she heard was that he wanted to be stopped, so she obliged by sending him crashing into Elenio. The thump they made was very satisfying to her, and she laughed aloud before gently setting them down on either side of her. Her mirth grew and she laughed even harder when she saw the dazed and somewhat silly expressions on their faces. Even this didn’t last long as they took her momentarily smug assurance she had won, and used it against her. Tark dove for her first, grabbing her arms as Elenio reached in for the kill. He tickled her mercilessly, causing her to gasp in between attacks. She couldn’t concentrate enough to use her magic to stop him and before long, she was crying out a truce.
Tark released her arms and immediately she scrambled away to the other side of the campfire. As she worked on returning her breathing to normal, she realized something very vital to their success.
“I couldn’t use magic to save myself.” She stared into the fire while the meaning of her words soaked into the minds of Tark and Elenio. She looked up and found she had indeed gained both of their attention.
“What?” Elenio asked cautiously as if he had heard her wrong.
“Just now, when you were tickling me, I couldn’t concentrate enough to use magic and stop you.”
“That was the whole point,” Tark said, shrugging. He poked the logs around in the fire, causing the flames to rise even farther.
Their dance distracted Galena for a moment, so free and gay. She shook her head, effectively bringing herself back to the present. “Doesn’t anyone see a problem with that? “
Elenio turned his full attention to her when he sensed her fears and panic.
“What if I am completely distracted with Rau or the torlics? I won’t be able to use my magic to help, because I’ll be too worried about defending myself with a sword!”
Both Elenio and Tark stared at Galena with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. If Galena hadn’t been so worried by this sudden thought, she would have laughed.
“But it’s never been an issue before,” Tark said, still looking bewildered.
“I wasn’t swinging a sword around when I used magic before,” Galena nearly wailed. How could she not have thought about this until now?
Elenio smirked before he scooted over to her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer and kissed her temple. “Practice then, my love. You didn’t learn how to wield a sword overnight, and you can’t expect to know how to use magic in a single moment either. Just think; you’ve only really been attempting this for the past couple of months. The only real teacher you’ve had was Morgo, and even then, you couldn’t practice what he told you. Be patient with yourself and you’ll learn. You have never failed at anything you’ve ever attempted and I don’t expect you to start now.”
Galena looked up at Elenio, realizing he was right and she was blowing things way out of proportion. It all seemed so overwhelming to her that she constantly had to remind herself she was free from Rau.
Suddenly feeling embarrassed by her sudden outbreak, she buried her face into Elenio’s chest. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, providing her with further comfort.
“It’s late. Let’s get some sleep. Which is something Elenio and I have gone without for several days now.” Tark grabbed his pack, removed his blanket, and then placed the pack behind him. Turning his attention back to Galena, he asked, “Do you think you could set a protective ring around us like Morgo did?”
“I think so. He told me it was basically air that was forced into stillness. I could do something like that and as an extra precaution, put a ring of fire around us. The moving air would alert me and the fire should keep other creatures away until I’m up and moving.”
“Good. I think we all could use a solid night of sleep before we move on.”
Elenio nodded in agreement before stifling a huge yawn.
Seeing no reason why it wouldn’t work, Galena thought about air and the way it felt when used as a breeze. She thought of how it would look if it were frozen like water in lakes and streams in the dead of winter. There was always water moving underneath, but on the outside, it stood still, unable to move in the frigid cold. Almost immediately, she felt an outer layer of air surrounding their camp, freezing just like ice she thought of. Sensing where the wall was, she created a dome shape over them, leaving a tiny opening at the very center for which the smoke from their campfire could go through.
Morgo indicated when they forced the elements to do something they normally wouldn’t do, or when they called on them to do something at that moment, the same element would have to be dismissed mentally as well. It simply could not undo what it had been forced into. The elements did not possess wills or thoughts of their own, so it had to be released from what it was doing by the one who controlled it. If something else tried to disturb the element while it was in the unnatural state, the controller would know it.
After she finished with the air wall hut, she began working on the ring of fire. This was much easier, because it was something that did not take as much creativity as a hut made of air. Galena was surprised how warm the little air hut became with the fire blazing around them. The warmth felt good for the nights had grown colder with the approach of winter.
Twoit poked her tiny head out of Galena’s pack when Galena picked it up to get her blanket. The ferret sniffed the air and sensing the magic surrounding them, crawled out so Galena could use the pack to lay her head on. Galena was amazed as always, at how intuitive her little friend seemed to be. No wonder the elves from the olden days enjoyed them as pets before the fall.
Galena looked over at Tark and saw to her amazement, he’d fallen asleep in the short time it took her to set up her magical defenses. He lay curled up on his side, head on his pack, and a blanket over him. She watched his shoulder rise and fall with his slow, deep breaths. She smiled at him, feeling glad he’d come, but sad he had to leave his family behind. What a hard situation for him.
Galena took her pack and laid it behind her, intending to use it as a pillow like Tark. She arranged the blankets around her legs, but before she could lie back, Elenio grabbed her upper arm and pulled her toward him.
“You’re sleeping next to me. I have spent more nights without you next to me than I care to.” He smiled at her, continuing to pull on her arm until she scooted over to him.
Pulling her blanket over both of them, she laid back, put her head on his chest, and wrapped an arm around his waist. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. With his free hand, he entwined his fingers with hers, placing both of their hands on his stomach. She felt him sigh deeply and knew he was as content as she was. She felt Twoit curl up behind the back of her knees and had to smile. Apparently, there were several beings afraid to let her out of their sight.
“You’re scared, aren’t you?”
It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement, but it made Galena stop to think just the same.
“You forget; I feel your emotions as you feel them. When you’re scared, I feel it. Part of the commitment bond, remember?” He tweaked her nose gently and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“I’m terrified. It’s one thing to spontaneously give up your life to save the ones you love, but heading into a magical cave and then to take on the creature that enslaved us, a once incredibly powerful race...” She trailed off, knowing Elenio understood exactly what she meant.
“You want to know the truth?” Elenio reached up and began to stroke Galena’s long, coppery hair as he continued, “I think Rau has become as prideful and lazy as Lamiria was.”
“What makes you say that?” Galena rose up, using her elbow to prop herself so she could see him better.
“If I thought there was someone out there able to defeat me, I would send everything at them. If that failed, I would be hot on their trail myself,” he said as he shrugged. “I don’t believe he thinks you’re a real threat. Won’t he be shocked when he finds your marks have been removed?” He chuckled humorlessly to himself.
“It’s probably for the best,” Galena said as she lay back down. “Even with magic, he’s going to be extremely hard to defeat. I need all the advantages I can get.”
“Why do you think Mira created a sword made of light?”
“How else can you defeat the dark?” Galena responded, shrugging nonchalantly.