Mira's View (3 page)

Galena clenched her jaws in preparation of
what they must do.

The torlic took another menacing step toward
them, rubbing his hands eagerly together. “Been so long since I was
allowed to eat an elf. Delicious,” he snarled.

Galena prepared herself, making mental notes
of where to strike first on the torlic. From the looks of him, he
had a long reach and only one blade for protection. His sword was
long, black, and crooked, which gave him an even longer reach for
fighting. Her best bet would be to get in close where it would be
harder for him to maneuver.

“No place to go. I will find you.” Snarling,
the torlic took another menacing step toward them. Determination
and courage filled Galena. She would not be the plaything and meal
for this monster. She was tired of living under these cruel and
viscous creatures. Her dream of being the elf that Mira would
choose came racing to her mind.

The monster continued his slow advance,
enjoyment at their predicament etched on every line in his face.
“No one here to hear you scream. Delicious elves,” he crooned to
them.

Galena drew in a sharp breath as seven more
torlics stepped up from a riverbank in the woods. One of the
torlics was larger than the others by half a foot. Like all chiefs,
he had his own mark that served as a leash for Rau on his forehead.
It was how Rau controlled his assassins and Galena found the mark
somewhat spooky.

It was one thing to have tattoos on your
hands and feet, it was another to have one placed like a third
eye,
she thought, suppressing a shudder as she studied the
mark.

“What do you think you’re doing, Hauz?” the
chief torlic growled. His voice was low and menacing, causing
Galena to flinch at the sound. His black eyes were sunken in,
giving him a look of someone that had died a while back.

Hauz looked surprised, clearly not realizing
that his group had been so near, but quickly recovered. “I was just
looking for something to eat when two tasty morsels came right to
me.” He glanced back in the direction the elves were hiding,
licking his lips in hopeful anticipation. Galena’s gaze remained
fixed upon the chief torlic though. Her body tensed, preparing to
attack. Defeating one torlic would be tricky; defeating several
would be nearly impossible.

Glancing in the directions that Hauz had
looked to moments before, the chief barked, “Have you forgotten
your orders? I told you to keep a lookout for trouble makers, not
to go hunting for food.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I just got hungry and
was distracted,” Hauz grumbled quietly, almost to himself. He took
one more longing look in their direction and joined his fellow
comrades as they disappeared into the forest.

Once gone from sight, Galena stood before she
realized that she had been holding her breath from the moment she
had seen the patrol appear. The lack of oxygen caused her to
collapse onto the forest floor; the world around her seemed to spin
as she finally released the air she had been holding and took a
breath, her lungs aching for more. She was starting to feel better
when Elenio knelt down, looking at her with concern in his
eyes.

“Are you alright?’

“Fine, just let me get my breath,” Galena
mumbled, drawing deep breaths.

Laughing quietly, Elenio pulled Galena to her
feet and put an arm around her waist to steady her. “One thing’s
for sure. You are not the elf Mira talked of. If you are, we’re
doomed.”

Chapter
Three

Galena silently sat with her father at the
table for supper. Her mind was still heavy with the events of that
day and she puzzled over the reason behind the torlics being in the
woods. Taking another bite, she glanced up at her father, her face
softening as she took in his appearance. He had only been working
in the mines for the last several years, but it had aged him
greatly.

In the beginning, when the elves had first
been enslaved, they had lived for centuries upon centuries, even
with mining the poisonous intuneric stones. They could live a
substantial part of their lives without working in the mines,
giving them more time to choose a mate, raise their children, and
lead productive lives. They no longer had the use of magic as was
still the case, but they weren’t forced to begin their death
sentence immediately. However, as the elf life grew shorter and
shorter, the age at which an elf was required to begin mining had
decreased as well. Now, at the age of fifty, an elf had to begin
his or her death sentence. An elf was considered old at the age of
seventy-five.

Gormon looked sallow and permanently
exhausted. The dark circles around his silver eyes were the most
prominent feature on his once handsome face. His hair had once been
a silky, raven black, but was now primarily white. His face was
covered with so many lines on it that it reminded Galena of a badly
stored piece of parchment. No matter how much he ate, he always
looked like he was to the point of starvation and he had a
lingering smell of death about him. Galena looked sadly at her
father, remembering him as he once was. She knew it would not be
long before her brothers and sisters-in-law would have the same
haunted look. She looked down at the remaining food on her plate,
her appetite vanishing completely.

Looking up once more, her father noticed that
she had stopped eating. Placing his fork down, he reached across
the table and placed a large, withered hand over her small one.
“What troubles you, little one?”

Galena fought tears as she noted how
drastically his voice had changed as well. She had become so
accustomed to it that it shocked her to realize how gravelly it was
compared to the rich, baritone he once had in her childhood.

“Why do we continue to train!?” she yelled
suddenly as she slammed her own utensils on the table. “Why do we
continue when we have no plans to make use of it? We train and
train, waiting for the day that Mira decides to point out a good
enough elf as we slowly fade away from existence!” Hot tears
streamed down her face, not from sadness, but from the anger that
seemed to fill her stomach. “Answer me, what good has it all
done?”

Smiling weakly at her, Gormon reached over
and wrapping a hand around her upper arm, he pulled her to him and
sat her on his lap as he did when she was a child. It was too much
for Galena. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed. She
cried for the unfairness of it all, for the life that Rau was
robbing her kind from, for the loss of the world as it had once
been. She cried for what seemed like hours, all while her father
slowly stroked her hair, not saying a word. When she had cried
herself out, she kept her face buried in his shoulder, ashamed of
her sudden outburst. Pushing her away slightly so that he could see
her face, he smiled at her in his reassuring way. Taking her face
between his hands, he kissed her forehead.

“Why are you so upset today my beautiful,
golden-eyed daughter? What has changed today that has made you
question your life?” He searched her eyes, trying to find the
answers to his questions, but Galena looked down. The fear of
earlier that day was starting to catch up to her, but seeing her
father in this withered state, made it seem so much worse.

“Elenio and I ran into torlics today in the
forest,” she said quietly as she slipped from his lap and back into
her seat. She turned to face him before she told him of what had
happened and how she had felt afraid of the giant creature finding
her. She told him of how she felt ashamed that she hadn’t
confronted the beast, but not feeling confident enough to charge
him. When she had finally talked herself out, her father stretched
his arms up and clamping his hands behind his head, leaned back in
his chair, staring at the wooden ceiling while he collected his
thoughts.

“Something has stirred Rau. I’m not sure what
grabbed his interest, but it is apparently something important,
big, or perhaps both. Unfortunately, this is the fourth meeting
described to me this week. Yours ended well, but others have
not.”

“Who else ran into them? What happened?”
Galena asked, feeling fearful again.

Sighing heavily, Gorman scratched his chin
before he answered her. “I ran into your brother on the way home
this evening, and he told me that Shorva and his entire family had
been found dead alongside the road this morning. They are unsure as
to what exactly happened, but given the signs of Shorva’s lifeless
body; they assume he had tried to use magic against the torlics. As
retribution for this attempt, they killed his family. Shorva must
have died shortly after from the pain caused by the marks of Rau,
because he had clawed his own hands and feet until they were a
bloody mess. His face had been clawed up as well. I’ve never known
an elf to try to summon the magic from within, but as you well
know, the pain is supposed to be unbearable, as evidenced by the
fact that he tried to take his own hands and feet off. He bled to
death from his self-inflicted injuries.”

Galena’s mouth felt suddenly very dry, but
she couldn’t resist asking, “Why do they think it was the torlics
that caused him to try?” She couldn’t help rubbing her fingers
lightly over her own marks while she stared intently at her
father.

“They found their footprints all around the
family and then headed off into the forest.” Gormon pinched the
bridge of his nose as he ground his jaws together. Galena wondered
briefly if the constant headaches he seemed to have were
strengthening again, but he continued, “Tark also mentioned that
his Taura had seen one crossing her path on her way to the market
earlier that week. She had stopped dead in her tracks, clutching
little Silva to her to keep her from crying until she was sure it
had passed. He said that she ran all the way home and waited for
him to come back before she would venture out again.”

Galena shuddered at the thought of what could
have happened to her sister-in-law and little niece.

“There have been others talking about
incidents that they have seen or heard of themselves concerning the
torlics. All in all, I think it is something that should be brought
to the attention of the other elders, if they don’t already know of
it. We have never been visited by torlics in this region before,
and the fact that they are seemingly popping up all over the place,
bodes ill for all of us. Although, what we can do about it, I am
unsure.” Gorman sighed heavily once more before placing his hands
on the table and pushing himself up. “I need to call a meeting with
the other elders as soon as possible. We need to discuss safety
measures that we can put into place to help protect us and discuss
what could be agitating Rau so.” He turned and walked from the
room, leaving Galena to stare after him in silent fear.

* * * *

Galena rolled over in her bed, and groggily
looked out the window. She had had a great deal of trouble sleeping
as visions of Shorva kept repeating in her mind, and judging by the
way the sun slanted, it was much later in the day than when she
normally woke. The dream images replayed in her mind and she
couldn’t help wondering if he had purposefully attempted to use
magic, not caring what the results were, or out of panic at seeing
the unwelcome creatures, accidently called on it. She had
remembered the first time she had used magic. The experience had
been unpleasant, but no real damage had come of it. It had been an
incredibly hot day and all she could think of was how a cool breeze
would do wonders as she trained. Suddenly, a gust of cool wind blew
past her. The moment of shock was broken by the stinging sensation
that made her whole hand tingle. It was in that instant that she
realized, it had been her thinking about a cool breeze that had
made it appear. That discovery had changed her world and she
continued to see what she could do.

She sat up in bed and stretched, still
feeling exhausted, but knowing that sleep would be pointless, she
threw her legs over the side of the bed. Getting up, she washed off
and got dressed. She pulled a brush through her long hair before
putting it into a simple braid. She was heading into their living
area to get something to eat before working in the garden when she
heard a knock at the door. Turning from the pantry, she answered
it. As she suspected, there stood Elenio with a perplexed look on
his face.

“And where were you this morning?” he asked.
“I’ve been waiting for over an hour,” he said as he strode past her
and into the house. He walked over to a chair by the table and
promptly sat down, glaring at her as he waited for an
explanation.

Sighing, she closed the door, grabbed an
apple, and sat in the chair across from him. Careful not to look
like a slob by letting juice dribble down her chin, Galena took a
bite before looking at him. He really was the most handsome elf she
had ever seen. She saddened at the thought that he may never know
how she really felt. She looked away and took another bite of the
fruit.

“Well, I do believe I have waited long
enough.” He crossed his arms as he continued to glare at her.

“Did you hear about Shorva?” Galena asked,
not wanting to describe the nightmares that had kept her up through
the night.

She looked up in time to see Elenio’s face
soften at these words.

“Father told me what happened yesterday to
his family and him after I told him about our incident in the
forest. He said that torlics were being seen more and more around
the village. After hearing what happened to Shorva, I wondered what
might have happened if the torlic had found us. Would we have been
able to fend for ourselves?” Putting a hand up before he could
interrupt, she continued, “I know we’ve been training for this, but
I still worry. I’m weird that way.” She stopped herself before she
could blurt out that she was also worried that she may panic and
use magic. Then Elenio would be burdened with her secret as
well.