Mira's View (2 page)

“Why did he start training you so early?”

“What?” Galena asked, feeling slightly
confused with the shift in the conversation.

“Just something that I’ve been thinking
about.”

“What are you talking about?” Galena asked,
feeling slightly annoyed now. She sat up on her elbows and stared
at Elenio until she noticed him squirming.

“Why did your father start training you at
the age of five when everyone else had started in their teens?”
Elenio asked, plucking a piece of grass and tossing it at her with
a silly grin on his face.

“Feeling bad about being beaten again?”
Galena asked, grinning saucily up at him.

“You haven’t beaten me in the last few months
as you well know. Neither of us has won, it’s always been a
draw.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Galena said smirking.

Elenio scowled, grabbing fistfuls of grass
now, but tossed them to the other side, ignoring Galena altogether.
“So, what’s the deal?”

“Father said something along the lines of
Mira visiting him in a dream and he felt that he should start
training me immediately. I don’t know, it didn’t make a lot of
sense to me at the time and I really haven’t thought about it
since,” she said, swatting a pesky fly from her face.

For centuries, Galena’s family continued to
learn how to fight as the elves of the olden days could, before
their capture. The old king Lamiria had fallen, but it was his son,
Moira that believed his line should continue with what every elf
had once known. Therefore, he taught his younger son all that
Lamiria had once taught him. The tradition had been passed on from
generation to generation until it was Galena’s turn. She was
exceedingly swift with the sword for someone her age, often times
defeating whomever she sparred. She did well fighting with her
hands, and could hit most targets with a bow, but she preferred the
sword. She felt stronger, more complete when she held it, using it
with a skill that no one else possessed.

“So, you think that’s the real reason then
and not some excuse he just gave,” Elenio continued, his lips
starting to curve up in a smile.

Galena raised one eyebrow in an arch as she
started to see the way this conversation was going.

“Okay, hear me out. I have a theory. I think
that you’re father started earlier with you, because he knew it
would annoy your brothers so much that they would train harder, so
they could be done sooner.”

Galena took one look at him and then swatted
him on the back of the head.

“Okay, so why do you think you’re so
special?” Elenio plucked a blade of grass before smirking down at
Galena.

Gazing at the marks on the top of her hand,
she calmly answered, “Maybe Mira sees something in me that nobody
else does.”

Elenio looked at her with a grave expression
and then he started to laugh, falling back, and clutching his
stomach. He continued to laugh until Galena starting squirming and
throwing him death stares, but still he continued. Kicking at him
impatiently, she stood up quickly, stashed her sword back into the
old hollow tree, and stormed off in the direction of their village.
He could laugh all he wanted, but she didn’t have to listen to
it.

Galena really wanted to believe what her
father had told her, despite what she said to Elenio. She wanted to
be that special elf that would free her people. But, if Elenio knew
just how seriously she took her father’s word, he would laugh even
harder. She had imagined the scene so many times that it was as
familiar to her as her own hands. She dreamed of finding the sword
and effortlessly plunging it into Rau’s heart. However, she was not
about to tell Elenio this as he was still rolling on the ground,
laughing over her last statement.

As Galena stormed into the forest on the
other side of the clearing, Elenio caught up with her, grabbing her
arm and swinging her around to meet his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t think anyone
believed the old fables anymore. At least, no one old enough to
know better.” Grinning broadly, he released Galena’s arm. “I didn’t
mean to make you mad. If it makes you feel better, I promise not to
laugh anymore, at least not to your face. Behind your back is a
whole different story though.” He adjusted his look, wiping the
smile from his face and looking sternly down at her, trying to seem
as if he was completely sincere. Galena dropped to the ground and
swung her leg out and around, swiping Elenio’s legs from under him.
He fell to the ground with a tremendous crash and an “humph.”

“Now I feel better,” Galena said, smirking
down at him.

Taking a moment to regain his lost breath,
Elenio rolled to his side, and grumbling the whole way, got to his
feet and dusted himself off, nose in the air. Galena could tell his
pride was hurt. But she didn’t care. Her pride was still stinging
too.

“Sneak attacks are beneath you, oh great
chosen one,” Elenio said, grinning broadly at her.

Galena felt herself grow hot in the face and
briefly considered how she could hurt him without killing him.

Raising his hands in surrender as he noted
the look on her face, he quickly backed up. “Truce, truce. I’m done
picking fights today. Or for right now. Let’s finish practicing and
you can get your revenge on me out there.”

Sparing one more glance at Elenio, and
debating whether it would be worth it to watch him try to get up
gracefully again, Galena headed back to the hollow tree and
retrieved her sword.

Chapter
Two

After several more rounds, Galena felt
considerably better about the day. Not only had she managed to beat
Elenio several more times, she’d even managed to knock him to the
ground on each occasion. She would have made her father proud. She
put away her sword and started toward the village once again, this
time with a spring in her step.

“Do you really believe all of the old
stories?” Elenio asked quietly, as he caught up to Galena for the
second time that day.

Galena looked sideways at him, gauging this
new question, and decided that he was being serious. “I have to
believe there is a way to defeat Rau or else I would go mad. I
think we all need that small bit of comfort, or else the elf race
is doomed. But as for the elf to end it all being in my family, who
knows.”

“What about the dream your father had? Do you
believe that’s real?”

“I believe it was a dream, nothing more.”
Galena stared hard at the ground, finding reasons to keep her gaze
away from Elenio, as she could feel her face reddening at this
outright lie.

“How could one even begin to think of
defeating Rau without the use of magic?” Elenio lamented. “No one
even knows for sure exactly what kind of monster he is. I’ve heard
some stories of him being nothing more than a shadow with a heart
made up of thousands of demons, and others say that he is a
nightmare made flesh. No has ever laid eyes on him and lived to
tell.” He sighed heavily. “Knowing all this, I sometimes feel that
we’re training in vain. Without the use of magic, the fight would
be over long before it started.”

Galena glanced guiltily at the marks on her
hands, trying not to let him see her blush. For in truth, even with
the marks of Rau on her hands and feet, Galena had discovered that
she was able to use her magic. Not a great deal, but enough to
accomplish small tasks such as getting a drink of water from thin
air or creating a small breeze to cool her off in the middle of a
hot summer day. She had even discovered last winter that she could
start a fire with a small spark. She knew from listening to stories
of other elves that this had never been done before and she was not
eager to let anyone find out, fearing what may happen to her or her
family.

Tracing the marks with her fingertip, she
thought of all that they represented; they were the very chains
that linked them to their master. The marks of Rau were tattooed on
top of the feet and hands of every elf. A tattoo to represent each
of the elements; fire, water, air, and earth. The ink was made from
the hated intuneric stone and Rau’s blood, giving him a connection
to each elf that survived the experience. The marks kept them from
using their magic, causing them to be plunged into a world of pain
and agony from which no one could return if they ever tried.

Rau used dark creatures called mauks, to put
the marks on tiny elves the hour they were born. This was always
something that she found revolting; changing something so innocent,
to something tainted. She thought about the strange spell like
chant that came from the hole in their faces that she assumed were
their mouths, and wondered how long it had taken Rau create it. She
didn’t see him as a real whiz with words.

Moreover, seeing how no one could actually
understand what the mauk was saying, it could have been as simple
as, “This is mine and this is mine too.”

Galena giggled at this thought before
sobering up as her mind returned to the hated marks.

Galena shook her head in disgust at the
thought of those foul creatures putting their grimy hands on her
own body, and even the tiny little elves, fresh from their mother’s
womb. Mauks were small, black creatures, often times no bigger than
the babies they were tattooing. The one large eye in the middle of
their forehead was completely white and very disturbing to look at.
The upper half of their body resembled a starved child, while their
lower half, resembled a large slug. Instead of having five fingers,
they had three long, needlelike fingers that were sharp enough to
prick the skin. They used these fingers to carry out Rau’s evil
cause. Galena personally had to repress the urge to stomp on them
every time she saw one slink away.

“Hello... Galena,” Elenio said, waving a hand
in front of her face and effectively bringing her out of her
thoughts. “So, any thoughts on how to beat a shadow monster without
magic?”

Galena shrugged and quietly said, “No, not
one.”

They continued in silence for a while,
quietly making their way down the well-worn path. Looking up at
Elenio and seeing the expression on his face, she playfully bumped
her shoulder into his arm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

“What do you mean?” Elenio said, stirring
slightly.

“I mean, you’re quiet all the time and you’re
harder to joke with. You’ve also turned into a brute when we’re
fighting. And, you seem deep in thought more often. What’s
happened? Why the change in mood? Worried about becoming a real
adult?”

He placed a large hand on her head and patted
it as he would a child. Galena pushed him off and smoothed down her
hair with a glare and thoughts of kicking him in the butt.

“Nothing, really. I’ve just been doing a lot
of thinking. I’m fine though.”

“I can see you’re not, but I can’t do
anything for you if you keep moping around all the time. You’re
becoming completely pathetic to be around.”

Grabbing her around the waist, he proceeded
to thoroughly muss her hair until she was sure that she would have
to brush it out when she got home.

“See what I mean? Way too sensitive.” She
skipped out of the way before Elenio could grab her again and
waited for his response.

Elenio reached for Galena’s hand and stopped,
letting his arm fall back to his side. “The truth is –“ he
started.

Galena put a hand up to silence him when she
sensed something heading their way. She looked in every direction,
taking in all the forest and the sounds that it normally made.
Hearing the noise that didn’t belong, she dropped to the ground.
Grabbing Elenio’s arm, she jerked him down to where she crouched,
and continued to search. A twig breaking in the distance, as if
something or someone was sneaking up behind them, caused Galena to
snap her head in the direction of the noise, her heart thudding in
panic.

“What is it?” Elenio whispered.

Galena just held her hand up again. She
scanned the forest, looking for what had triggered the noise. From
behind a tree, stepped a torlic. He stood over eight feet tall with
bright red skin that stretched over his muscular body. He was
hairless except for the patch of long hair that hung down from the
back of his head. With two black horns on either side of his skull,
adding another foot to his height, he towered over them. He wore a
vest and breeches made from the hide of animals with a belt
encircling his waist for which a scabbard was attached. He barred
his pointy yellow teeth in a sneer. He was an assassin and guard of
Rau, as was his entire race, feared by all who encountered
them.

“I hear you, even though I can’t see you,” he
growled. “Come out, come out, delicious little elves. I was just
hunting for food and you would be the perfect meal.”

Galena stayed where she was, placing a hand
on Elenio to keep him beside her. Sliding her hand up the back of
her tunic, she grabbed the handle of her concealed dagger. It was a
death sentence to be caught carrying any type of weapon, but as her
father had pointed out, it was a death sentence to be without some
means of protection as well. She crouched even lower to the ground,
not exactly fearing the torlic, but not ready to battle him
either.

“Come out, come out. I promise it won’t hurt
for long. One quick bite and then you won’t feel anymore.” He
licked his lips in a disgusting manner, making Galena close her
eyes and look away. The torlic continued to get closer to their
hiding spot with every step. Galena heard Elenio slide his hand up
the sleeve of his tunic. He too was reaching toward the dagger that
he kept hidden there.

With two of us, we should stand a
chance
, Galena thought grimly to herself.

“It’s just a matter of time,” chuckled the
torlic. His black eyes gleamed and he grinned wickedly as he looked
around a particularly large tree.