Mira's View (8 page)

As the days passed, she continued to practice
using magic. She had grown two more trees without the rooms built
in them. She felt this had been where she had gone wrong the first
time and expended so much of her energy. With the lack of a room,
she was able to grow a magnificent oak and a large plum tree that
had produced several hundred ripe plums. This had proven to be
extremely helpful with their current food situation.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think to grow food
before now,” Galena said as they filled their packs with the fresh
fruit. She shook her head in a bemused sort of way, unable to
believe that such a simple idea had not occurred to her sooner.

“We’re all getting used to your magic. It’s
not something that we’ve had before, so we don’t automatically
think of it,” Elenio said as he shrugged.

“Now that we know what you’re capable of, it
will make us a lot less dependent on other towns. In fact, I was
thinking that maybe we should go around this town. We could
possibly gain a small advantage against Rau. He wouldn’t know where
we were going or where we’ve been,” Tark said while he began to
climb the tree, for some of the fruit at the top was larger than
the pieces within hands reach.

“Not this town,” Galena nearly shouted so
that Tark could hear her from where he was. “I think we should at
least stop at this village, the others we can go around. It’s
important to see if anyone has heard of our fight.” If she was
being honest with herself, she was also curious to see if their
customs were the same as her own little village, and she was
desperately hoping to sleep in a bed for the night. The very
thought of that was too intoxicating to pass up.

Tark shrugged in response, as if saying,
“
Whatever works for you
.”

They traveled far into the night, stopping to
rest and then continued the next day before the trees began to thin
out and they could see houses sprinkled among them. Elves from
everywhere poked their heads out and called ‘hello’ to them. The
three waved in response, as little ones came from all directions to
greet them personally. Galena smiled; they treated travelers
exactly the way that they did in her own home village. They walked
into the center of this friendly place as the elders gathered
there, smiling in warm welcome.

“Welcome, weary travelers, to Gora,” said a
tall, regal looking elf. He had long, blonde hair that was tied
back in a tail. His face was handsome, although it had a tired look
in the creases around his eyes and forehead. He bowed to them
slightly, sweeping his arm around to indicate his village. “My name
is Naradin. I am the leader among the elders. Please, come with me,
as I’m sure you would like to freshen up and rest for a short while
before we feast together. We were told of your coming, so what you
are about to see is not something that we normally show our guest;
therefore, I must ask that you keep it secret as it is one of our
most prized possessions.”

Glancing at one another in curiosity, they
followed Naradin. He led them through the heart of the village,
past several houses; the trio waved to more elves as they stuck
their heads out to greet the travelers. They passed Gora’s market
where vendors were selling fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a
variety of other merchandise.

The houses were fashioned in the same style
as their own. One-story buildings, some built with wood, some built
with other material. All of them were small, because they hated to
destroy the life of a tree, to house them. The more fortunate elves
were able to make their homes completely from stone and mud,
allowing the trees to live in peace. These were the homes that were
passed down through the generations.

So much for a different world
, Galena
thought as she looked around.

Naradin continued on his way, looking back
from time to time to make sure that they were still following.
Galena smiled at him, wondering exactly how much further they would
have to go before they could rest. She was about to ask this very
question, when she noticed a huge building in the distance. It was
larger than any of the elf made homes she had seen in her own
village. It looked as if it were made from several trees; the way
that homes and buildings were made in the old days.

Tark stopped and looked in amazement as he
caught sight of the building as well. “Is that what I think it
is?”

Instead of answering, Naradin continued
walking toward it, only briefly pausing to smile at Tark in
response. They walked toward the magnificent building. It was
indeed several trees combined to shape an elaborate structure. They
were so intertwined that Galena could not be sure exactly how many
trees were used to create such a wonderful home. It had several
arched windows scattered all over it, which Galena assumed, let in
ample amount of light. A beautifully designed door was connected
with wooden hinges, almost as if branches were placed specifically
there so that no harm would actually be done to create a door. The
small branch like hinges allowed the door to swing outward as
needed, like any other door.

I’ll have to remember that trick for my
own creations,
Galena thought to herself.

The building was as wide as four elf made
homes and taller than most trees within the forest by a good fifty
feet. The entire tree was covered in wonderful green vines and
morning glories, their blooms closed against the hot sun. The tree
stood tall, reaching its beautiful branches to the sky. Galena felt
very small as she looked at this beautiful creation and realized
just how feeble her attempts seemed now.

“I can see why you would want this kept a
secret,” Elenio said, gazing at the miraculous sight. “This must be
the last of the old elf buildings. Or other cities and towns have
done a great job keeping theirs secret too.”

“It is the last,” Naradin replied serenely.
“We have sent our elves all throughout Tomiro to see if any other
buildings survived Rau’s destruction, but they did not. As I
mentioned before, we normally do not allow guests to see this, but
your coming was foretold to us by one of our own. He knows of your
quest, but refused to share many details with us. He simply told us
that it is of great importance to help in any way that we can.
Although, I do not understand the reasoning behind this decision, I
do not go against Pangora.”

“Is Pangora the elf who saw us coming?” Tark
asked, his eyebrows shooting up somewhere near his hairline at this
news.

Naradin simply nodded, a serene look still on
his face. He continued to smile at them in turn, but Galena could
see tightness around his eyes, betraying his anxiety.

“May we speak to Pangora? He may have
information for us that could help us toward our final
destination,” Elenio asked.

“He has requested a meeting with you as well
once you are rested and fed. He would like to meet with you
tomorrow morning if you are willing,” Naradin said, bowing his head
to them once more.

“We are,” Galena answered, still gazing at
the beautiful home. She could hardly wait to see the inside of it,
even though she knew she should be more worried about this stranger
who seemed to know her and what her little group had set off to
accomplish.

Galena stared up at the tree with wide eyes.
This was clearly designed to be a house for a very wealthy elf or
several elves. The details that had been grown around the windows
and door were delicate and beautiful. It looked as if roses and
vines had been carved into the actual wood. Upon closer inspection
though, you could see that the wood had been untouched by any
whittler’s knife. It was remarkable.

“May we go in?” she asked, looking forward to
seeing the inside.

Naradin, nodded while motioning them toward
the house. “One of the elves will come for you when it is time for
the feast.” He bowed respectfully, as they went through the door
into the wonderful creation.

Galena sucked in a breath as she stepped
through the doorway. If she had thought the outside was something
to look at, it was nothing compared to the inside. They were in a
vast circular room that was clearly used as the common area as well
as dinning, and a place to prepare food. A grand table was grown
directly from the floor. All around the edge were more of the tiny,
detailed carvings depicting various roses and flowery vines. It had
ten, wonderfully crafted chairs, surrounding the table, although
they looked as if they been grown and then cut away from the trunk,
so they could be moved with ease. A sitting area surrounded one of
the beautifully placed windows. The chairs looked much like the
ones around the eating table with the exception that they were
wider and covered in comfortable looking pillows. All of this was
wondrous to behold, but it was the winding staircase in the middle
of the room, that held their attention.

“Would you look at that,” Elenio breathed.
“Imagine living in a place like this. Only being held back by your
imagination.”

“I didn’t know how beautiful everything could
be. Or the amount of details you could grow into wood,” Tark said,
looking up the staircase and into the hole in the ceiling. “Do you
think you could add details like this in your buildings?”

“I don’t know, I never thought to try,”
Galena admitted. She stood at the foot of the stairs looking up as
well. “Shall we?”

Tark nodded in reply as Elenio continued to
stare at their surroundings.

Galena started up the stairs, noting the
beautiful details grown into the banister. She climbed through the
hole in the ceiling and beheld what must have been a bedroom, for
it had a bed in one corner and a study area in the other. Across
from the bed, was another doorway, which Galena found after further
exploration, led to a small room made for bathing. The stairway
continued through this room, up into the ceiling into yet another
room. Galena followed the stairwell until it ended high up in the
air with a wonderful library full of books and scrolls. There were
chairs that looked like they had been fashioned the same way as the
living area chairs on the bottom floor. Altogether, Galena had
walked through at least five full sized rooms, not including this
incredible library.

Each of the rooms had several windows in them
to let in a great deal of light, but this room had a window between
each bookshelf that grew out from the trees. They too contained
incredibly detailed designs on the outer parts of the shelves.
Galena glanced at some of the books, but having been written in the
old languages, the symbols were unfamiliar to her. Touching some of
the scrolls and books gingerly, she walked around the room looking
at the wealth of information that lay literally at her fingertips.
How amazing it must have been to live in such a wonderful place as
this.

Twoit poked her tiny head out of Galena’s
pack to sniff at the surroundings. She wriggled free and began to
explore the room on her own, going up and down on the many shelves,
pawing at the scrolls and causing some of them to fall to the
ground.

Smiling fondly at the mischievous little
creature, Galena stooped down to pick up the fallen scrolls and
returned them to their proper place. She caught her tiny friend,
bringing her to eye level. “Even if you are considered sacred, I’m
sure they don’t want their treasures destroyed.” She carried the
ferret to the room below, placing her gently on the floor where she
watched Twoit explore this room for several minutes before
returning to the library above and leaving Twoit behind.

As she completed her inspection of the great
library, Tark’s head poked through the hole surrounding the
staircase.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” he asked, while taking
in everything in this room. “This room alone holds wealth beyond
any in Tomeka.” Like Galena, he looked through some of the books
and eyed the scrolls. “Can you imagine what we could learn if we
had as much time as we wanted to stay here?”

Galena just nodded, smiling to herself. She
selected a book that described some of the cities of old and how
the elves had worked together to build them. It described the work
that went into those buildings and the planning that took place in
preparation.

To shape a tree, an elf must be able to
concentrate on all the details and designs in order for the tree to
move and shape the way one expects. When several elves work
together to grow a building, they should create elaborate drawings
with all of the necessary details in place. Those drawings should
be studied by every participating elf until every minute detail is
memorized. Working as one, the tree can be adequately shaped to fit
the needs of all. Only after such measures have been taken, can a
home be deemed worthy by a family before they dwell in it.

Galena found the writing in all of the
scrolls to be oddly formal. Everything had an air of importance to
it as from a time of old. She vaguely recalled her father telling
her that before Rau, when the elves lived for centuries, they were
always this formal to one another. They fought over small things
and held on to grudges for years. However, since the fall, and the
shortening of their lives, elves learned to live in the moment and
to forget and forgive. Smiling grimly, he had stated that at least
one good thing had come from their enslavement. Reading this scroll
made Galena realize that she was glad for at least that change in
the elven world. It saddened her to think of how much life the old
elves wasted being petty.

Galena jumped in surprise when Elenio bent
down over her shoulder to see what she was reading. Turning her
head upward so that she could see his face, she smiled. He smiled
in return and then ruffled her hair. Scowling, she ducked away from
him and straightened it back out.

“Naradin just sent an elf by to let us know
that they’re ready for us,” he told her, still grinning
broadly.