Elven Ch. 2

In which magic is revealed and an agreement is made.

Gillian stared again at the girl. She was sitting in the green grass staring straight ahead. Her aura flickered and dimmed in and out. So that’s what a dying aura looks like, Gillian thought. Then something strange happened. The aura called out to her. It was obviously just in her own head but the call was unmistakable. It was filled with fear, pain and despair. Gillian felt an ache deep inside of her. This was her fault. Tegan got hurt saving me, she thought. She’s selfless. And brave. She could have just saved herself. A tear ran down Gillian’s cheek.

“Thank you for saving me.” Gillian said and she put her hand on Tegan’s. “Those were the creatures that destroyed your village and killed your brother, weren’t they?”

Tegan just nodded. Gillian didn’t know how she knew. She just knew.

“What was he like?” Gillian asked gently. Tegan was quiet for a moment.

“He was my best friend. We did everything together. After our parents died, I took care of him. But soon, he started taking care of me. He learned so fast, he was so smart. He followed me hunting and always kept up. We helped each other to survive. He saw the best in everyone and was always so happy. I asked him why once and he said ‘Why not? It’s better than being sad’. He worked so hard for us. If it weren’t for him, I don’t think I could have made it this far.”

While Tegan talked, Gillian was watching a shred of her aura. It was unaffected by the jade mist. As Tegan spoke, it got brighter and bigger. It wandered over to Gillian.

“What was his name?” Gillian asked.

“Dayton.”

“Dayton.” Gillian whispered. As she did, the sliver of aura looked at her. Gillian smiled at it. It flickered back. Gillian looked at the place on the ground where the blood had pooled from Tegan’s arms. Not thinking, Gillian slowly reached out and touched the sliver of aura. She motioned it towards the pool of blood mixing with the bright green grass. The aura dove in to the ground, bringing the blood with it. Gillian then took her hand and put it over the spot where the blood had been. She could feel the energy beneath the earth. She took a deep breath and pulled her hand up. It was heavier than she expected. As she slowly pulled her hand up, swirls of glowing bright green energy flowed out of the ground. Gillian used her other hand to clumsily guide the energy. Some of it spilled out of her fingers and fell on to the ground which surged and sprouted wild flowers. The rest, Gillian guided to Tegan’s wounds which greedily soaked up the new aura. Gillian took a step back. She watched in shock as the new green aura absorbed and destroyed the dark jade mist. When it was finished, Tegan’s aura was shining a spectacular green again and Gillian sat down contentedly exhausted on the grass.

“What in hell was that!?” Tegan exclaimed, jumping up. She examined her wounds, which were still there and painful, but had stopped bleeding and the poison was obviously out of her system. She could feel the difference.

“You saw that?” Gillian was surprised.

“Of course I saw it! I was right here!”

“Oh.”

“Oh? That’s all? What’s going on?” Tegan reached for her bow but her wounds made it too painful. She groaned.

“Tell me how to bandage the wounds, please.” Gillian said. Tegan sighed and gave Gillian instructions. Gillian began wrapping Tegan’s wounds in a bandage of cloth and some strange herb Tegan had in her sack.

“It’s strange that you saw the energy because most do not see auras.” Gillian said pensively.

“Auras? Like a person’s energy?” Tegan asked, wincing as Gillian tightly tied the bandage.

“Energy, spirit, soul, essence,” Gillian said. “You don’t normally see auras?”

“No. I don’t even know of anyone who can. Well, obviously you can.”

“Tell me exactly what you just saw.” Gillian said, trying to figure out what had just happened.

“I told you Dayton’s name and then you reached out and all the sudden this green thing was in the air. You sent it to the grass where my blood was and then it went in to the ground. I thought it was gone until you put your hand over it and even more came pouring out of the ground. It was the most beautiful thing. Some of it fell on the ground and flowers started growing and you put the rest on my wounds. I felt like someone had woken me up and I was fresh and I could feel the poison leaving me. Then it was done and you sat on the ground looking like the happiest person in the world. What the hell did you do?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” Gillian said quietly.

“You mean you’ve never done that before?”

Gillian was getting nervous now. She had never done something like that before. She had done a few simple energy conjuring’s but nothing like that! And certainly nothing without thinking about it first. And now a stranger had witnessed it. What if she told people? What if the council heard and tracked her down? And the tower!

Gillian suddenly took off running back towards the tower, not thinking.

“Wait!” Tegan yelled and took off behind her. Gillian came to a stop at the edge of the clearing. The tower lay on the ground a heap of stone and some lingering flame. Some Skraphl lay squished between stone. Everything was destroyed. Her only home was gone. She slowly walked towards the wreckage.

Tegan understood the urge to see the remains of what you’ve lost. After her village was destroyed and her brother died, she insisted on walking among the rubble to see the remains of her home. She saw pieces of all the places she had been, places she had grew up. Streets her family had walked together. She had had to see it. To know for sure it was gone. So Tegan drew her bow, just in case, and followed Gillian as she walked through the rubble. She felt strangely protective of Gillian. She thought again of the strange vision she had seen before entering the tower. The woman had said to protect Gillian, and so she had. But really, Tegan would have got Gillian out of the crumbling tower first anyways. It had been clear that Gillian was terrified and had no idea what to do. Tegan had dealt with the Skraphl before and so she knew the only thing to do was get away. Tegan had always been good under pressure. When the Skraphl attacked, she knew how to quickly assess the situation and figure out what to do next. Tegan remembered when her and her family went to Iroque Lake during hot summer days. There was a tall rock ledge on one side of the lake. Her father had tied a rope from a tree on top of the ledge to a tree on the other side of the narrow lake. Then Tegan and Dayton would both slide down the rope using a cloth and then jump in to the lake. Just like Tegan and Gillian had done to escape the tower.

Tegan shook her head. Gillian was looking at burning scraps of parchment. Tegan needed to focus on the girl. Gillian had saved her life by ridding the poison from her body. Tegan had heard legends of Elven creatures that supposedly lived to the east. The legends say that Elven could manipulate the elements in magical ways as well as see and influence people’s energies. The tales also say that Elven looked different than humans. Taller, more slender, pointed ears, strangely coloured skin, stunningly beautiful. Tegan looked at Gillian. She was slender, but small. No pointed ears. Pale creamy skin. Very beautiful but definitely human. Tegan had heard rumors of some people who could do some simple spells, or just see auras, but nothing like she had seen Gillian do. Either way, she felt she owed Gillian.

“Do you need a place to stay?” Tegan asked. The night sky was clear and calm. The moon and stars lit the clearing. The night was turning cold.

Gillian looked up. She stared at Tegan. Her aura still shone brightly. Gillian didn’t have much choice.

“I suppose I do.” She replied quietly. She started walking away from the rubble. She stopped at the edge of the clearing and looked back. She needed to leave a sign in case Lowina came back and thought she was dead. Gillian took a deep breath and centered herself. She closed eyes and concentrated. When she opened them the clearing was glowing. She could see the aura of the trees, the grass, even a faint glow from the stone. She could sense the birds in the trees and the rabbits in their burrows. She reached out in front of her and saw her own hands glowing white and blue.

“Bryophyta” she whispered and pulled her hands up. A thick green moss appeared at her feet. Once she felt she had it under her control, she pushed her hands forward. The moss grew and spread until it completely covered the remains of the tower and the Skraphl. Gillian then lowered her hands and released the aura.

“Incredible.” Tegan said. Gill turned quickly. She had forgot that Tegan would be watching. She had to stop making these mistakes! She took a deep breath. She needed to take control of the situation. She quickly refocused and called on the wind.

“Aria” A large gust of wind took Tegan off guard and pushed her against a pine tree and then released her. It was obvious that Gillian was controlling the air around them. It caused leaves and pine needles to swirl around her, lifting her hair and making her look fierce and powerful, just as Gillian intended.

“You will tell no one about what you’ve seen.” Gillian said in an icy cold voice. The moonlight shone on her and made her look enchanting.

“Miss Gillian,” Tegan said quickly. “I have no intention of telling anyone. You saved my life and now I see that you may be in need of assistance. I wish to help you. And I promise, I will tell no one of what I’ve seen here.”

Gillian stood frozen for a moment with the wind swirling around her, staring at Tegan. She had been watching Tegan’s aura as she spoke and saw no change to make her think that she had been lying. Maybe she could trust the girl. She was definitely in need of her help. She released the energy of the wind and as she did, she felt a wave of her own energy leave her. She had done too much already this night. She swayed and felt Tegan grasp her shoulders to steady her. Then Tegan flinched. Her arms were hurting badly.

“You’re tired,” Tegan observed. “We should set up camp for the rest of the night. I suggest we do so away from here though, in case the Skraphl return. I doubt they would though. There are only a few hours until sunrise and the Skraphl have a disinclination to sunlight.”

Tegan walked away from the tower. Gillian looked back once and then followed.

Author's Note

Meh, I'm kind of unhappy about this chapter. What do you think?