Mira's Hope (16 page)

She spun around, standing protectively over
Elenio as she took in the others around her. They were cautiously
approaching, glancing at one another nervously, their weapons at
the ready. All except the earagos, which stood back, staring at her
with a somewhat bewildered expression on his face. Galena spun her
sword around and prepared herself. She had no intention of taking
on all of the scum with her sword, but she didn’t want them to know
that.

She watched their progress, a smile spreading
across her face. “Are you sure you want to do this? I take it your
master didn’t tell you what I could do?”

“You’re just a silly female elf. Nothing to
be scared of,” a torlic somewhere to her left answered.

“That’s what you think,” she said barely
above a whisper.

They all charged her, coming from all sides.
The grin on her face spread. She stood, standing at full height,
and thought of a massive wind sweeping through. She watched through
her blowing hair as almost every creature was sent flying through
the air. She thought of the bolts of lightning and watched in
amazement as bolt after bolt shot through a relatively clear night
sky, until every dark creature was blasted apart, pieces of them
sent flying in every direction, like a grotesque kind of rain. The
ground below was lit as brightly as if the sun was shining, and she
heard the howls of terror from the flying creatures.

She was so caught up in watching the demise
of her victims; she failed to notice the earagos charging her. A
moment before he crashed into her, she spun around swinging her
blade wildly as she had only just heard his resounding footsteps.
Her sword connected with his hand, where it stuck firmly. She’d
only managed to push it half way through his massive palm before he
ripped it from her grip. Quickly, she rolled out of the way of his
giant feet before he smashed her in his thrashing.

She turned to see him charging at her once
more, having recovered slightly from having a sword thrust into the
palm of his hand. Eyes glinting, she caused him to burst into
flames, but he continued toward her, oblivious to the fire that
licked his skin. Bringing an arm back, he swung a massive fist
toward her, which she only just avoided by diving out of the
way.

This guy doesn’t die easily, does he,
she thought. He veered to the left until he was turned toward her
again. Still running at full speed, he charged her once more, the
skin and muscles beginning to drip from his bones in blackened
heaps. Galena brought another gale of wind up and picking up a
stone with it, sent it flying at high speeds toward the giant’s
head. She heard the thud and crack of a skull being shattered. The
earagos stopped suddenly, swaying this way and that before crashing
to his knees and then onto his face. Galena stood and watched the
giant burn, almost gagging from the smell of burnt flesh.

Turning to Elenio, she squatted down so she
was eye level and placed a hand on his already very bruised looking
throat. She saw in her mind the windpipe healing itself and the
broken blood vessels resealing. She watched as Elenio’s breathing
eased and the color returned to his face. When she was sure he was
healed, she removed her hand and looked at him.

“You okay?” she said, looking him over for
any of injuries she might’ve missed.

“Fine,” his voice sounded a little horse, but
otherwise back to normal.

“Let’s move on down a little ways. The smell
of burnt flesh is starting to get to me.”

Elenio looked at her tiredly and she realized
the near death experience had definitely taken its toll on him.

“Or give me a moment to wash it away like I
did at the village,” Galena said, taking in his slow movements.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I just feel drained. Something about not
being able to breathe kind of wears a person out. But give me some
food, a good night’s sleep, and I’ll be good as new.” He smiled at
her and sat down heavily on her freshly made bed.

Galena smiled back, but only half-heartedly.
She closed her eyes and pictured life giving blood and air rushing
through his veins and to all parts of his body, giving him energy
and peace. Opening her eyes, she saw he looked better and was
staring in amazement at his arms, hands, and chest.

“What did you do?” he asked with awe in his
voice.

“I was worried,” she answered simply,
shrugging.

He shook his head slightly, grinning all the
while as he got up and pulled her to her feet. “You were amazing
you know that? I even trembled at your words and the threat behind
them. All the same, try not to forget the protective barriers
again.”

Chapter
Twenty-One

It was the moment Tark had been dreading and
looking forward to all at once. That morning, several elves from
his own village arrived, prepared to help with the needs and to be
trained as well. Friends and family including his new cousin,
Morak, who had been through the commitment ceremony the day before
they had left Tomeka, gathered around him, embracing him, and
telling him all that happened since their departure several months
before. Everyone was anxious to hear all he’d been through and he
assured them they would indeed hear about his travels, but now was
not the time. He directed most of them to elves who would get them
set up and comfortable.

He pulled Morak aside while the Tomeka
villagers followed Nina and Morgo toward one of the bigger tree
dwellings the underground elves managed to create successfully.
They’d gotten much better at this and had grown several more homes
in the last couple of days. Tark inspected all of them and was
extremely pleased when he saw they all had at least one washroom
and nothing collapsed when he went through them.

Once the last of the villagers shook his hand
as they went by, Tark turned to look Morak full in the face,
knowing he would be less likely to lie to him if he was staring
directly at him. Tark had known Morak since he was a wee thing and
had grown to like and respect him as a grown elf. In the last
couple of years, they’d even become friends, so when Clovia
announced they would be committed, he’d been thrilled.

“Tell me of Taura and Silva.” His eyes
searched Morak’s for the tiniest bit of concern, but saw none
there.

Morak simply smiled and placing a hand on
each of Tark’s shoulders, gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Peace,
she and Silva are both well. Not a torlic has been seen anywhere
near our village since you, Galena, and Elenio left.”

“They’re...”

“Yes, they’re still hiding along with Venia
and her baby. Although, both elf women and the children grow tired
of doing so. She sends her love and tells you that no matter what
happens from here on out, she’s already proud of you. Silva just
runs around reciting your great deeds.”

“Great deeds. I’ve just been parading around
with Galena, watching as she grows stronger and trying to support
her as only a brother can do. Staying behind to teach others is the
first really productive thing I feel I have done to earn that
respect,” Tark said, laughing quietly at the thought of his tiny
little daughter being proud of him.

“What of my father and brother’s bodies?”
Tark asked, clearing his throat, which suddenly felt tight.

“They were sent to rest in the Land of the
Gods as is proper.”

Tark nodded in appreciation, but could say no
more.

“Tell me what’s happened with you? The
stories that are traveling now seem far reaching, even for one who
is training up an army to go against the strongholds of
Blackwell.”

“All in good time, my friend. All in good
time.”

He’d long decided that with each new arrival,
the villagers of Corista should not throw a celebration feast, but
he requested one in honor of being reunited with many friends and
families. Along with Morak, who’d become a friend in later years,
there was Vorna, his longtime friend from childhood and Perlia, who
made the sweet bread his family had so cherished over the years.
She’d come to assist in cooking and baking for the growing number
of elves. Her husband, Erna, came to be trained. Tark had to admit
he was surprised to see them, as he knew that Erna was not far off
from being called to the mines for work. When he approached Perlia
about this, she shrugged and said with a wave of her hand that
several of the narooks had been missing from the mines for the past
several days. There were barely enough to keep track of the mines,
let alone hunt done elves who were not yet under their charge. It
appeared Rau had called them to search for Galena as well. Tark
found this bit of news disturbing, but thanked Perlia anyways.

He headed toward his home after that, looking
for Morgo as he did so. It was about time they checked in on Rau’s
minions. What they saw, confirmed Tark’s fears. Rau was collecting
all of his dark creatures and they were hunting for Galena and
Elenio. They were no longer looking in every village, but several
of the creatures seemed to have located Galena and were heading in
her general directions. Several other groups seemed to be heading
toward Blackwell.

All the more reason to continue
training,
he thought. If worst came to worst and he found they
were still tracking Galena and Elenio, he would send out a small
contingent of elves to help them make it to the cave safely.

Day after day passed and with each one, more
elves arrived, ready to join the fight. He found it harder and
harder to have a group training sessions, because of the large
amount elves that wanted to be trained. His voice simply could not
carry that far and he could not check all of them to see if they
were performing well. He discussed this issue with both Morgo and
Morak, for they had both become vital to the everyday running of
their growing camp. Together, they decided Tark should train a
handful of elves and once those elves became proficient enough,
have them divide and start training other elves. The process would
continue until they could get everyone who wanted to be trained, as
ready as they could be in what Tark thought, would be a very short
time.

Tark chose ten elves with which to begin
intensive training. They would practice every morning, break for
lunch, and then resume in the evening until he was satisfied with
their techniques. He considered who had progressed the most in the
shortest amount of time, and after deliberating for a short while,
he decided he would work with Morgo, Morak, Fala, Nina, Erna,
Weila, Naradin, Hasa, Zaza, and Yeia.

Morgo, he knew, always wanted to fight. He’d
expressed that desire many times during their journey in the
tunnels under Tomiro. Since he’d begun with Tark, he’d made great
strides and managed to unarm an opponent who’d more training. He
and Nina would be able to work with the other underground elves on
both fighting and using magic simultaneously.

Morak proved to be extremely competent with
multiple weapons. He was able to wield two swords and in a pinch, a
sword and knife. He was also a fairly good shot with the bow. Tark
decided that training with the bow would be of great use when it
came to full out battle with Rau’s minions, so had begun training
elves in this area as well. It saddened him to think Melan would
have really helped out in this particular area, as he was a great
shot, much better than Tark had ever been. Galena and he had always
been better with the sword so naturally, this was their weapon of
choice.

Fala at first hadn’t wanted to be trained,
but after watching a sparring sessions with a couple of other
elves, he decided to give it a try. With his strength, height, and
incredible arm length, it took him a matter of minutes to defeat
the elf he went against. Tark had been amazed at the time and then
insistent he be trained as well. After refusing for several days,
Fala finally agreed, admitting he found fighting exhilarating. The
idea of being able to wield a sword in combat was seductive to
him.

Erna also proved to be a quick study and had
an uncanny knack for getting out of difficult situations. Tark went
against him several times himself and was amazed at how he managed
to weasel his way out of incredibly tight situations. At one time,
he was sure he’d bested Erna only to find the elf at his back with
a knife to his throat. When he asked Erna about it later, the elf
just shrugged, saying he saw things differently than others. Tark
tried to press him on this, but Erna said no more on the
subject.

Tark had chosen Naradin, who was the chief of
the village, Gora, for his calm demeanor both during combat and
when handling day-to-day situations around the camp. Even when Tark
was twisting and turning, spinning and flipping around him, the elf
never batted an eye, but responded calmly to everything thrown at
him. Tark found this both unnerving and brilliant when he watched
him spar with other elves. It became very apparent to Tark, he
wasn’t the only elf who became less effective when going against
Naradin and his calm fighting style.

Hasa and Weila were identical twins.
Everything about them was identical, right down to a small mole on
their right cheeks. The only difference Tark knew of was a small
scar on Hasa’s thumb where she’d attempted to pick up a hot rock
from a campfire when she had been a small child. When these two
fought side by side, it was nothing short of a small wind funnel of
destruction. They moved incredibly fast and in such a synchronized
method; it was unnerving. Tark had only gone against them once and
found himself on his backside with one sword aimed at his chest and
a knife at his throat. What was more was he wasn’t entirely sure
how he ended up that way.

Zaza was one of the youngest elves to join
their cause. At the age of seventeen, Tark had been hesitant to
begin training him, but at Zaza’s insistence, finally relented. It
proved to be one of the better choices he’d made. Zaza was able to
move quickly and in such a way that left others sore and unable to
move the next day. When it came to flipping and getting out of the
way of an oncoming blow, he was able to do so with an ease that
reminded Tark somewhat of a cat.