Elenio stood with his back pressed tightly against the tree. Despite the fact he’d given up fighting against the vines some time ago, they still held him firmly, preventing him from making a grand escape later. He felt the change in Galena’s mind the instant she allowed him access to her thoughts. Taking advantage of the small opening, he screamed in his mind for her to get up, find the sword, and come back to him. She fought him for several minutes, grief, pain, and a willingness to die, overwhelming her mind and making him cringe with the mere touch of it. She was broken and he knew it. Her words from earlier that week rang in his head. ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to give me complete peace, but I’ll have your thoughts to cling to when I lose my own mind.’ She knew what was coming and she knew she would lose her own rational thoughts as a result of what she would encounter. If he hadn’t been so tightly tied to a tree, he would have kicked himself.
Steeling his nerves so he would be of more use to her, he called out with his thoughts once more for her to get up, find the sword, and come back to him. He reassured her what she saw and felt was not real, that he was okay. His thoughts revolved repeatedly on her finding the sword and returning to him. Finally, after hours and hours of persuasion he felt her rise and begin to move. Her mind and heart were a shattered mess, and he saw images float past them, breaking her resolve on more than one occasion and he had to convince her to get up again, to keep moving. On one such occasion, he found himself crying along with her as she screamed back, telling him of her desire to die. At this, he retorted back that she couldn’t, that she had to find the sword and come back to him. She fought with him for several more minutes until he was at the point of despair himself when finally; she got up from the floor and started moving again.
He encouraged her, spoke loving words to her, but above all else, he commanded her to keep moving, to find the sword, and come back. As long as those words were ringing in her mind, she continued to move. He felt her shuffling into a large cavern, watched in his mind’s eyes as she collapsed, praying for whatever was in the room to take her swiftly. He called to her, screamed at her, but she would not respond. He feared he’d lost his connection when he felt that slight loop in her thoughts and he dove in, commanding her to get up and look around for the sword for it had to be there. She got up and looked around, and with purpose, she crossed the room. He sensed another change occurring in her moments later. Her thoughts cleared and she began to think rationally. He still felt the deep grief and the ache of death surrounding her, but she was thinking clearly. He no longer needed to guide her as he felt determination filling her.
He released a pent up breath and sagged heavily against the vines still holding him. She had found the sword. It was the only explanation he could come up with for her sudden clarity and determination to move forward. Weariness wrapped around him like a warm blanket. Days of traveling and hours spent concentrating harder than he could ever remember doing throughout his entire life, sapped him of all his remaining energy. Closing his eyes, he slumped off into a dreamless sleep.
Stirring, he found himself waking to a stiff neck, as he was still tied to the confounded tree. Rotating his head slowly to work out some of the kinks, he reached out his thoughts to Galena, breathing a sigh of relief as he sensed her closing the gap between them. It had been at least a couple of hours since he drifted off and although he still felt tired, he thought he would be able to handle it now. He was glad he had not been asleep when she finally emerged through the mouth of the cave, because although he knew mentally she was recovering, physically he had no idea what to expect.
“She approaches,” the gentle voice of the guardian said close by his ear as the vines from the tree fell away, leaving him standing on his own two feet. He seized the opportunity and began to rub his hands on the cuts and bruises of his sore arms as he waited for her to step into the clearing. Twoit, the useless creature who could have gnawed away the vines that had been holding him, lay in the same spot she had when she first settled down. She continued to stare in the direction where Galena would shortly appear.
He glanced back to the cave and there in the middle of it, a delicate hand covered in blood, appeared briefly before disappearing back into the cave. He held his breath, waiting for her, wanting more than anything for her to step through, returning to him. He watched in avid anticipation as she stepped through from the darkness and into the light. She stood, covered in blood, face looking ashen and grave, eyes searching for him. He beheld the sword at her side, from the hilt and scabbard it didn’t look very impressive. It was Galena that now looked different, more intimidating. She appeared to have been through a very bloody battle, but radiated with a light that seemed to come from within. Her steady gaze held his own, pain etched so deeply there that he was sure it would haunt him for the rest of his life. With one hand on the hilt of the sword and the other arm hanging by her side, she continued to stare at him as if she were afraid that he would disappear. She spoke so low he almost didn’t hear it.
“Let’s end this.”
Coming 2015
The Sword of Lumina, book 3
Mira's Last