The night passed uneventfully, with only a couple of disturbances by various insects or other small animals. Galena found it interesting that she could tell what animal crossed the air hut by the shape of the temporary hole left by the creature. Once the animal crossed through, the hut would re-seal itself as if nothing happened, but Galena felt it each time. None of the animals or insects attempted to cross the ring of fire though.
Galena woke early the following morning, feeling stiff from sleeping on the ground, but otherwise refreshed. She moved slowly and carefully to avoid waking Elenio and began digging through the packs after she removed their protection. She had noticed Twoit was patiently waiting by a section of the blaze for Galena to wake so she could go in search of her own breakfast. Galena smiled at her as she watched her roll and tumble in her crazy little way, slowly making it to the undergrowth nearby.
Galena continued to dig through the packs until she found a handful of crumbs and a few blackberries and raspberries that had shifted to the bottom. Using these, she was able to grow a large amount of fruit and loaves of bread for the impending trip. She was pleased to find she was not even the least bit tired from doing so. Even though she shared the news about the magical cave and guardian with her brother and Elenio, she’d kept quiet about how much power Mira implied she possessed. She wasn’t sure why, it simply hadn’t been the right time. On the other hand, maybe she was afraid to get their hopes up. Either way, she decided to keep that piece of information to herself.
After she created enough food to last them until evening, she stood up and stretched, reaching her hands high into the sky. Now that she’d released the air and fire from their tasks, she noticed it had grown considerably colder from when they first started out. She was glad she’d thought ahead and packed warmer clothes to add to the ones she had on.
She walked over to her sword and pulling it out of the scabbard, went through her normal routine. It felt good to do something that was second nature to her and she was mildly surprised when she came to the end of a more complicated routine her father developed for her long ago, without feeling the slightest bit winded. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she realized the headache that would have followed such a rigorous workout, never came. She smiled to herself, pleased she would no longer need to suck down medicinal herbs every time she moved too much. It would make for a long trip if she did.
Stretching out by first touching her toes and then stretching her hands high above her, she finished by standing in place and twisting from side to side. Feeling sufficiently warmed up now, she returned her sword to her pack and began on some of the blackberries. She savored the way the tiny pieces of fruit burst into sweet goodness when she pressed the berry to the roof of her mouth with her tongue. I never realized how much I enjoy these, she thought to herself.
Twoit came waddling in her funny little way, back into the camp carrying what looked suspiciously like a baby bird in her mouth. Galena decided it would be best not to investigate too closely in case her suspicions were right and turned to look at Elenio instead. She was slightly startled when she found him propped up on his elbow, watching her intently instead of sleeping as she originally thought he had been.
“How long have you been up?” she asked, handing him a handful of berries.
“Long enough to see you’re in a very good mood.” He popped several of the berries in his mouth before he sat up, pulling his legs up, he rested his arms on his knees and continued to eat while he watched her.
“No more headaches.” Galena tapped the side of head and grinned at him.
He shoved the rest of the berries in his mouth and then dusted his hands together. He stood up and looked down at her, grinning wickedly. She had to shield her eyes so she could see him clearly, as the sun was directly behind him.
“Yeah, that might change seeing how your sword was swinging past your head dangerously close. How long do you think it’ll be until you hit yourself in the head with your own weapon?”
The words were barely out of his mouth before Galena kicked a leg out and hit the back of his knees, causing him to fall face first on the ground, inches away from their campfire. Pushing himself up with his hands, he spit out a mouthful of dirt before looking angrily at Galena. She continued sticking berry after berry into her mouth, trying to look as innocent as possible.
“What’s with you and violence?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied calmly.
Elenio stood up once more, dusting the dirt off his clothing and grumbling the entire time.
“I want to train against you and Tark once he has woken up and everyone has eaten.”
“Are you trying to say that I’m not enough for you?” Elenio asked with a look of fake indignation on his face.
“That and...” she had to swat Elenio away because he had come over and mussed her hair up in response to this answer. “I have to concentrate harder when fighting against both of you and I want to start practicing magic while I fight.”
Elenio nodded in agreement. “Sounds good to me.” He grabbed a loaf of bread and chucked it at Tark, which succeeded in waking him up when it bounced off his head.
Tark sat up quickly, looking dazed as he tried to make sense of what was happening around him.
Galena giggled at the look on his face.
“Come on, lazy bones, the sun has been up for over an hour and we need to start a new training program with Galena that requires your talents as well.”
Tark mumbled something incoherent under his breath, but got out from under his blankets and helped himself to the loaf of bread Elenio had thrown at him.
* * * *
Over the next week, Galena worked hard trying to defend herself both with her sword and magically, from the onslaught of Tark and Elenio. They tested her far more effectively than she thought possible, but at the same time, offered encouragement and forgiveness when she sent them flying into a tree several yards away. Most the time, she was able to stop them before they went crashing into the nearest object surrounding their camp, but when she got really going, she didn’t always remember in time.
On one such occasion, she accidently sent Elenio crashing into a large boulder that they had decided to stay by, breaking several of his ribs and giving him a concussion. Galena felt horrible and healed him immediately, but Elenio simply shook it off and asked her if she was ready to continue. At least he had once he was conscious and moving again. Galena was hesitant after that, but after Elenio and Tark argued with her for a few minutes that this training was necessary, she continued again. They were taking more precautions though, like not practicing around objects such as trees and rocks if it could be avoided.
She saw, as well as felt changes occurring in her and through her. She had always been able to defend herself fairly well with the sword, but when she first started this regimen, she frequently had to stop and think of what she wanted magically to happen. When this happened, she inevitably found herself lying on the ground with a sword pointed at her.
However, as the weeks progressed, she found herself developing different strategies for dealing with both of them magically and with her sword, almost as if she were combining the two skills. She imagined the wind sweeping one of them off their feet with the swinging of her sword and as she swung, the wind moved with her, as if it were an extension of her arm. She had done the same thing using fire on a fallen branch a couple of times. It was as if her sword had become what Morgo said was her focal point and as such, she was able to become more efficient at both.
They had training sessions first thing in the morning and after their evening meals, which made their travelling go slower, but Galena felt this was more necessary than finding the cave at the moment. The terrified feeling she experienced every time she thought of the cave, was reason enough to take their time getting there. Learning to magically fight was just a bonus in her mind. Once Tark saw how well Galena had progressed in such a short time, he decided they should reduce the amount of training time they spent with her every day. At least he claimed it was Galena’s progression that brought him to this decision, but Galena suspected the broken leg he suffered from being thrown into a tree, might have helped him reach that decision a little more quickly. Either way, she and Elenio agreed with him.
It was on that same day that Galena decided it was time to grow another tree home for them to rest in for the night. She was weary of sleeping on the ground and she knew the others felt the same way. Plus, she desperate for a good hot bath and a chance to clean her clothes. They were getting positively stiff from the grit and grime that goes with traveling.
After waving off Elenio and Tark’s concerns, she combed the area for any sign of a seed, realizing that it might be too late in the season to find one. Finding none, she decided she would try using a branch from a tree. She cut a small twig from a nearby oak and finding a relatively empty space, used her knife, and dug a small hole in the hard earth. She placed the part of the twig that had been connected to the tree, in the hole and then sat down beside it. She’d never heard of growing a tree this way, but it was worth a try in her mind.
She closed her eyes and listened to the world around her. She heard Twoit in her pack clawing around and possibly throwing her things out once more. Tark and Elenio were a little ways behind her from the sound of their breathing. The birds in the woods around them chirped from time to time, too cold to really do anything else. All of the other woodland animals were quiet, having retired to their own homes because of the cold weather.
She concentrated on the small twig in front of her. In her mind, she saw the development of roots, planting themselves deep within the ground, giving the base a good support system for the rest of its days. She watched it grow rapidly in her mind, shooting to the sky as branches flowed out from the trunk. It raced into the air, soon passing up all the neighboring trees, making them seem dwarf size compared to this massive giant. She saw the leaves sprout and then wither, dying when exposed to the frigid temperatures surrounding them.
In her mind, the tree’s growth finally slowed and she began to concentrate on the first room within the tree. She imagined a few steps growing from the base, which led to an elaborate door that suddenly split from the surrounding tree. She was reminded of the way children played with blocks with the exception that she was forming and rearranging slivers of wood like living blocks. The slivers shifted and moved so quickly, it looked like liquid moving to match the images in her mind.
She saw beautiful pictures take shape in the door as she willed them to with her mind. The room inside of the massive trunk was large and spacious, but dark as there were no windows yet. That is easily remedied, she thought. She willed the windows to take shape on either side of the door. Deciding the home should have two floors; stairs began to grow from the floor reaching a solid piece of tree directly above. When it reached the ceiling of this room, she shaped a hole where the stairs led to, causing the wood in the tree to shift and adjust, moving out of the way, as it had done with the room below. The room at the top of the stairs, she imagined to be a simple washroom, complete with windows and a bath. It amazed her, even when she was simply thinking of all of this, how quickly everything moved and shifted with her thoughts. If she saw a picture of a rose in the walls surrounding the room, it suddenly began to take shape and then was there.
She returned her focus to the room below, where she thought of large, comfortable beds. The beds, bigger than she had ever seen, began to grow directly from the floor as the stairs had done. They were simple structures, four legs and a mat complete with thousands of leaves on the mat to make it comfortable. These leaves, protected from the cold outside, stayed green. Galena thought this would be a good comprise for straw filled mattresses.
Satisfied with her imagined home, she opened her eyes and beheld a mighty oak, standing well over three hundred feet tall and wider than she had ever seen a tree, with a beautifully decorated door and two windows on either side, directly in front of her. It was just as she had imagined, and she hadn’t even broken sweat making it.