The forest glade! Now that she knew what to look for, she saw the pale rose energies of the glade slowly transmuting into her usual sunny yellow. She wondered if it was just the glade that was special or if centering gathered in Energy?
Realizing that she’d found a possible way to replenish her stores, she retracted the tendril of thought from within herself and ambled down the path. A tiny spark of hope flared bright within her, gleaming against the overwhelming darkness and despair.
The awareness came twice that day. She sensed it sweep down the trail toward her, but each time, it passed through her as if she didn’t exist.
The next day it only came once. The day after that it didn’t come at all. Life became a blur as one day bled into the next. She had to stop twice each day to refill her energies, but never felt quite as content as she had that day in that sunny forest glade.
Isolation and the flat shield became oppressive. Numbness permeated her entire mind and body. Exhaustion overwhelmed her. The flat shield kept her emotions at bay, but what little remained with her was grief. She retreated into the numbness to avoid it.
Only one thing drove her on . . . the compulsion she felt to warn the other elves about Gildhorn. Otherwise, it would have been far too easy to sit down and never get back up again.
On the seventh day, Analindë stopped near a glacier lake in the high mountains to rest, eat, and refill her Energy reserves. She opened her pack and sighed; she needed to start rationing. She broke off a piece of journey bar and gnawed on it as she stared blankly at the crystal blue waters of the lake. A biting wind swept from the east tousling her hair. Two mountain passes framed the valley; one she had just crossed, the other she would hike over after she’d rested. The nice smooth path she’d been following had abruptly changed after a particularly nice mountain valley she’d passed through two days ago. It was almost as if that valley had been a destination of sorts at some point or other, or perhaps the ancestor who’d made that nice smooth road had simply given up. Either way, what remained now was a path. A simple path. Free of vegetation, but with rocks and protruding roots to trip her. She sighed in disgust at herself for at least there was a path to follow. She didn’t think that at present she had enough mental acuity to navigate a course.
“I’m so tired!” The sound of her voice surprised her; she’d become used to the silence. But her surprise didn’t last. She was numb. Rubbing her right hand along the ground, she reveled in the sensation of clumps of dirt, small rocks, and hardy grasses as they scraped her fingers and ground into her palm. She barely felt it. “I don’t know if I can make it,” she mumbled to herself. The doubting words had been circling around in her mind all afternoon; she’d only just voiced them aloud. The flat shield had become a larger drain each day. Energy bled out of her quicker than she could gather it in. Speaking of filling her reservoir, she put off the inevitable and folded her legs in front of her, extended her arms, placed her hands palm up on her knees, straightened her back as straight as her aching muscles could make it. Then she let her eyes drift shut, starting a process that had become vital at every stop. Find more Energy.
She sat, focused on the weak sun, and tried to absorb every scrap of warmth she could. The surface of her exposed skin tingled; whether from the warmth of the sun or the cold of the wind Analindë didn’t know or care.
With her mind left to wander as she breathed, she turned her attention toward the earth beneath her. Switching to magesight, she extended a tendril of thought into the ground below her, then studied the energies embedded within each layer of rock she sat upon. She scrutinized the glacial deposits, rocks, gravel, silt and clay, and the way everything connected together. Learning about things this way was something new she’d learned to do in the past few days. Something she wouldn’t have dreamt of being able to do when she was back home.
Home.
She batted the thought aside before despair swallowed her whole, then sent her attention back to the layers of sediment beneath her.
She’d started this little game a few days ago to give her something quiescent to concentrate on as the energies she collected slowly replenished her reservoir. Inspired by the time she’d spent in the forest glade with all those pleasant and delicate pale rose energies, she made the most of each stop by thoroughly investigating her surroundings.
Actually, that wasn’t very true. When she was gathering in energies, her mind and thoughts became clearer. Her existence was so bleak and she was so fatigued that Analindë found that if she didn’t focus very pointedly on something else, then she became depressed. Very depressed. Hence the present game she played.
Having finished exploring the layers of earth beneath her, she mentally followed miniscule rivulets of water as they trickled down through layers of rock toward the glacier lake. Too focused on the minutia around her, it took Analindë quite awhile to realize that the lake itself was a still pool of quiet Energy. It simply sat there, its surface smooth and glossy, just as the water was in the physical world. Yearning filled her as she gawked at that massive pool of power not a few dozen steps away. Shivering, she wondered if it would be okay to lie next to the lake. Perhaps if she was in close proximity she could absorb some of that power through osmosis.
Completely transfixed, she wondered what it would be like to lightly skim a tendril of thought against the surface. If she was lucky, perhaps a tiny bit of that cool bliss would soak into her. Shaky and with a bit of giddiness fluttering in her heart, she stretched out a tendril of thought, then tentatively touched the lake ever so gently. Immediately, a rush of Energy zipped up the tendril toward her. Plucking helplessly at the connection, she could not loosen it and began to panic. What had she done! What was going to happen when that bolt of Energy reached her? In fear she cringed back and tried to disconnect the tendril, but before she could draw another breath, a deluge of power washed over her.
Cool refreshing crispness exploded across her senses, renewing her, and her fear quickly shifted into a blissful hiss of relief. The frigid blue Energy filled her reservoir more quickly than she’d ever experienced, then withdrew down her tendril of thought with a caress.
Lighthearted, she laughed, then sent her thanks back down to the lake and looked about the small valley, seeing it clearly for the first time.
The area had been scraped clean by a glacier long ago. Its remnant stubbornly clung to the peak, feeding the lake. The barren valley contained nothing but smooth mid-size rocks in piles, and short hardy grasses with an occasional scrubby looking bush. Swathes of brownish green grasses moved as a gentle wind swept by. Curious, she turned her attention to the wind by slipping into magesight.
Currents of Energy echoed the eddies of wind that blew around and past her. They glowed brighter and warmer than the tranquil lake in front of her. Did she dare touch any of those? She wondered to herself. How does one touch the wind? Should she let it move past her like a windmill, or should she race along with it like a bird?
Definitely, like a bird.
Analindë spun a tendril of thought out into the sky, releasing it as a falcon. It flew up to the stronger currents above. “Please,” she asked. Linking the tendril of Energy with the currents of the wind, she followed it around. Circling the valley, bouncing off the peaks, then racing down the glacier toward the lake, she laughed out with exhilaration. She opened her eyes, slipping back out of magesight to watch the wind skim along the lake, barely rippling its surface. Caught up in the thrill of the moment, Analindë cried out, “Let’s do it again!”
The buzzing Energy she felt emanating from the wind currents shifted for a brief moment, as if listening. She watched in magesight as it snapped back to normal, veering off to the right in order to circle the valley a second time.
Abruptly, Analindë opened her eyes and craned her head around to scrutinize the mountain. Within moments, little scraggly bushes rattled as if caught by a sharp wind. Her gaze trailed down the glacier to the water below. Its surface began to ripple, then it calmed. Sh
e closed her eyes and looked to the sky, switching to magesight once more. The wind had risen again. Hovering, it made small lazy circles in the sky as if asking, “Now what?”
She could link to the wind! Pleased excitement fluttered within her briefly until she realized it wasn’t much use to her right now. If she had a ship to sail, yes. But now? She looked to her reservoir, and saw that her flat shield had already depleted part of her reserves. She reconnected with her tendril of thought circling in the sky, then turned her attention to the wind. Please, she asked, drawing the thought back into herself. A short burst of Energy streaked out of the sky following her line of thought, refilling the empty space within her reservoir. It tasted of freedom and flight and sent the excited flutter within her heart to new heights. As she reveled in the blissful sensation, a gentle breeze plucked at her clothes and played with the hair that had escaped her braid; her skin tingled.
“Thank you,” she said as she exhaled a long breath, releasing her connection to the wind. The breeze gave one more playful flip of her braid, then turned back toward the glacier, bouncing off scrubby bushes as it went.
Analindë arose, then ambled over to the lake. She knelt beside it and dipped her hands in the cool water to wash her face and arms. She thought of her filthy hair and clothes. She had never gone this long without bathing, and wondered if she dared risk using Energy to help get dry. Deciding that at least clean hair was worth the risk, she grabbed a sliver of soap from her scout pack, undid her long braid, and plunged her head into the icy water. Welcoming the sharpness and clarity the cold brought, she soaped and rinsed her hair, then rung it out.
Analindë stepped back from the lake edge, strolling over to her pack, where she sat down and combed her hair out with Energy filled fingers. She used a little heat, shielded of course, to speed the drying process.
She thought of the beautiful and intricate hair styles that most elves wore. She settled for a simple braid tied up, the only type she could manage on her own.
Her hair was black, as was her mother’s, and her mother’s mother before her. Elven hair only came in three colors: a dark rich red the color of autumn rust, raven black, or silvery blond. Analindë’s entire family had each had black hair as far back as anyone could remember. She was tall like most elves and slender like most mages. Hereditary traits like these were passed down within families and centered around both physical appearances as well as aptitudes toward a specific type of Energy study.
The brawniest elve she had ever seen was Hirion, a Stone Master. He had just begun his tuvalië and had passed through their valley earlier in the summer. He’d come from a long line of Stone Masters. She’d liked him. He was serious, studious, had allowed her to ask him all sorts of questions, and hadn’t teased her as Riian had. She quickly pushed thoughts of Riian away, focusing on braiding her hair instead.
Reaching the end of her braid, she tied it off with a grubby ribbon. Not yet ready to restart her trek, and while she had the clarity to do so, she settled back to think through her current dilemma: her quickly draining Energy reserves, the flat shield, and the remaining seven days of hard travel.
The flat shield made her numb to most things and kept all but the most pressing problems at bay. This in itself wasn’t such a terrible thing, but it was a significant drain on her power. She looked to her Energy reserves; a noticeable decrease had already appeared in the energies the wind had given her. The shield was too heavy of a drain. She wouldn’t last another seven days under the current circumstances.
The need to constantly stop and refill her reservoir had eaten up the lead she’d gained by taking the shortcut through the mountain. One more week to Mirëdell. If she made good time.
She quickly checked the void to where the faintest flicker of light still shone. The Humans had long since stopped following her trail and were headed east, most likely toward the Mountain City. She sighed. At least she didn’t have to worry that they’d catch up anymore. Despite this, she still worried, wondering if they’d somehow locate her and port to where she traveled. Shrugging, she turned back to her largest problem.
The flat shield.
Each day it seemed to draw more Energy. If the only reason why she had it up was to avoid the awareness, and it hadn’t come in two days . . . then why leave it up all the time, especially when she could sense the awareness when it came? She watched grasses dance in the distance, the wind tossing them around. Did she dare travel without her shields?
She dithered back and forth again—yes, then no—as she continued to observe the grasses waving in the wind. The awareness hadn’t come recently, and before it had stopped coming, she’d become adept at sensing it well before it passed near her. The risk of taking the shield down was low enough. She’d simply put it up again when it was needed.
Could she put it up again, she wondered? She didn’t think that she’d ever forget what it felt like to be inside the flat shield, but had weaving the shield been a onetime fluke? She decided that she might be able to make it again if needed. And then there was the added factor that if she wasn’t deploying the shield, then she wouldn’t have to stop as frequently to gather in energies. She’d make better travel time.
Decision made, she immediately slipped into magesight and turned her mind to study the flat shield. It really was flat. Invisible to the naked eye and oblong shaped, it was about a pace long and a quarter of a hand span thick. It shone like a faceted jewel and was just as tough. Despite this, physical objects seemed to pass through it without resistance. She widened the small link between herself and the shield, letting her power and senses slowly reconnect to her body in stages.
Little by little she felt energies begin to reconnect with the parts of her body to which they belonged. An unpleasant tingling sensation prickled all over her legs and arms, and she realized how very cold she was as her teeth began to chatter.
She sent more Energy toward the mild—and shielded—warming spell woven into her shoes, pants, and jacket, hoping that it would help her slowly warm back up. She opened the connection a little wider and immediately felt a clear-headedness that she hadn’t experienced in days. As coherent as her thoughts had been after she’d absorbed the energies in the glacier lake, her present condition was unequivocally better. The comparison was drastic, practically night and day. Thick numbing fog of the flat shield versus her current lucidity, she’d absolutely made the right decision.
The flat shield was useful, yes, but dangerous. Very dangerous indeed.
She thought of how close she’d come to losing herself and shuddered. How much longer would she have had before she’d completely withered away, she didn’t know. She was simply glad that she’d caught herself in time.
She opened the connection a little wider and the unpleasant tingling sensation in her arms and legs increased to where every nerve ending in her entire body burned as if on fire. It was all she could do to hold herself still and not heed the little voice inside that told her if she could just slough or scrape the skin off her arms and legs that the pain would go away. Analindë groaned and lay down on the grass curling up on her side, cradling her arms to her chest. She rocked gently while breathing in deeply, attempting to work through the pain. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
A deep hurt sluggishly welled up from within her, slowly alerting her to sensations of exquisite pain. It felt as if every little part of herself had been ripped away piece by piece, then put back in place. Attempting to ignore it, she rocked back and forth for a very long time. As her body adjusted and became reacquainted with itself and the damage and overuse that had been inflicted upon it over the past week, she wondered how much longer she could endure it.
The pain lessened gradually, and at last, Analindë was able to breathe normally. She continued to lay still, her face pressed against the dirt. Eventually, she rolled to her back and switched to magesight to re-examine her shield.
It still glittered and glistened, but was only a small fraction of the size it once was. She felt
the wind clearly as its crispness brushed across her face, the rocks digging into her back as she lay across them, the rumble of her stomach as it complained of too few meals over too many days, and the acute cold of the mountain passes. Well, what did she expect? She was laying on rocks, she didn’t have enough food, and it was practically winter this high up in the mountains. She shrugged.
Hoping the only thing left in the shield was her Energy connections and reserves, she dissolved the shield with a thought and tucked the framework of it away for future use.
Not two seconds later she realized her mistake as pain swamped her so intensely that she curled up into a ball and dry heaved. Every mage synapse and connection she never knew she had was on fire. So hot and bright, it could have burnt the entire world to cinders twice over. Parts of her screamed from overuse, and others shouted in pain from the day when she had wrenched any and all Energy from her body to fight the awareness. The newly formed walls of her reservoir weren’t just glittery red, they were burnt and raw.
She flung a tendril from herself as an anchor to find safe haven as she sunk into blackness and swirling pain. Her last conscious thought was a plea for help.
The Eighth Chapter
In the High Mountains West of the Mountain City
“HAVE THEY FOUND HER YET?” Arandur asked as soon as Thalion’s eyes opened. Thalion dropped his gaze and Arandur had his answer. “We should have gone after her ourselves.” Arandur rammed the stick he’d been whittling into the ground and pocketed his knife. “This would have never happened if we’d gone after her ourselves.”
Arandur arose, then stalked a few steps away from the campfire to stare intently out into the darkness. He wanted to kick something, hit something. Kill the stupid humans they’d been babysitting for the past few days and get back to real work. He opened his mouth to give the order that they pack up camp when Sintriel appeared at his side. She laid her hand gently against his arm; he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why did she always know.
Analindë (The Chronicles of Lóresse) Page 10