Trek For Survival

"So glad you killed her brother. It left me open to be able to finally kill her. Those royal brats have caused so much trouble, and they"ve been protected by their royal standing. Don"t worry about any repercussions from the royal family. I doubt they even find out the brats are gone for months, if not years. In fact," she stepped closer to them, as Gia cringed into Vonn.

Her heart felt like it was going to explode as she struggled to pull air into her lungs past the pain in her side. The elf reached out, as the rain started to fall even harder, and wrapped her arm around Gia"s side. As the mayor drew in closer, almost rubbing against her back, Gia felt Vonn start to move, as if to stop her, when suddenly there was a bright glow from her hurt side, and a tingling warmth spread all along her ribs.

"What?!" cried Vonn, jumping back away from her, his eyes going wide.

Gia couldn"t move. Mayor Soliana had her arms wrapped around Gia, keeping her from escaping.

"For getting rid of that punk Llewel, I"m healing your injuries. Those two have been a figurative pain in my side for years. Now that it"s gone, I"ll get rid of the pain in yours," whispered the mayor in Gia"s ear.

As the pain faded, so did the glow and the tingling warmth. The elven mayor stepped back, dropping her arms from around Gia and turning to leave.

"I"ll have someone less annoying come to show you to the border. I"m a.s.suming that"s where you want to go, right?"

"Yes," said Vonn, rushing forward to Gia. "We would like to avoid heights, if at all possible, as well."

"No problem. We rarely use those branches for traveling anymore. I figure the twins brought you that way to get you here faster."

Gia pulled Vonn under the overhang, to get out of the rain, as the mayor picked up the fox that had jumped out of her arms when she kicked Kilyn over the edge.

"What happened?" asked Vonn, brushing wet strands of hair out of her face.

"He… he pushed me into this little s.p.a.ce, where I couldn"t move, and…" Gia started to cry, remembering how he had almost kissed her.

"Did you really push him off the ledge?" asked Vonn.

"I… I pushed him away, and then kneed him. I think when I kicked him in the face, he stepped backwards and fell," she said, ending in a voice that was barely a whisper. Looking up at him, she couldn"t help but expect a grimace of distaste and disgust.

"That"s my girl," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. "You"re mine. Don"t you ever forget that. If I found out he had done that, and you hadn"t pushed him off, I would have kicked him off just like the mayor did Kilyn!"

"But, do you think she should have killed her?" asked Gia in a whisper."

"She was trying to convince me to stay and learn plant magic. I have no interest in that. I think she was trying to stall me so that her brother could hurt you. There"s no telling what else they may have had planned. If I hadn"t jumped up and started this way, I think she would have tried to hurt Mikey to keep me there."

"Oh, Vonn! That"s horrible!" cried Gia. "Is everyone okay?"
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"Your mom is still upset with me for pushing her, but I swear, Gia. I had no idea you were holding her hand. I would never put you in danger like that!"

Vonn"s eyes were filled with tears as he looked down at her, and she could feel the sobs in his chest, where he was fighting not to cry.

"I know, Vonn. I don"t blame you, even though I should. My mom will get over it. She knows you would never intentionally hurt me or her. She"s just terrified of heights and scared that I almost died. Once we get away from these cliffs and back on solid ground, she should calm down a lot."

"I sure hope so. It will make living with her much harder," he said, turning back towards the building they were staying in.

Gia held onto him, even though it meant she was getting wet from the rain, insisting on having his arm wrapped around her.

Luan appeared, soaked to the bone, looking grim.

"That rotten Kilyn! She lied to me! I saw the remains of her vines on that tree branch!" she grumbled, joining them again as they stepped into the front room.

"You don"t have to worry about Kilyn anymore," said Gia, giving the white elf a smile. "She left with her brother, and I don"t think they"re going to come back any time soon."

"Good! I have a lot of bad things I would say to them both, if they were here right now. I need to have a moment to calm down!" exclaimed Luan, pounding a fist into her palm.

"I like your tattoos," said Gia, shyly.

"You do?" asked Luan, brightening up. "I did that when I was younger, before my one eye turned purple. It used to be pink. My mom hated it, and wanted me to get rid of them, but I refused. I figured I looked different enough already, it didn"t matter that I had tattoos, too."

"Why do you look so different, if you don"t mind me asking?" asked Vonn.

"I was telling your parents," said Luan, as they reached the table where Tom was sitting, eating some meat that Carla had warmed in the fire. "I was born as a prophesy child, under a full moon. I"m supposed to do something really big and great someday, as I was marked by the spirits. I don"t know what that big great thing is, other than it"s kept me from having any real friends. I am really good at magic and stuff, but that"s about it."

"Is that why you live out here, where there aren"t a lot of people?" asked Mikey, eating the meat that was given to him.

"Yeah, a lot of the elves that used to live here left, and those of us that don"t really fit in well with others, find it nice to have a place where we aren"t judged," explained Luan.

"Would you like a chunk of deer meat?" asked Carla, holding the huge chunk up for her to see.

"That would be great!" smiled Luan, sitting in the chair.

"Do you need a spare set of clothes to wear?" asked Gia. "You look to be about my size?"

"No, thank you. I have spare clothes I"ll change into once I get ready to sleep. I find it better to just sit by a fire and let the warmth dry my clothes, when that"s an option. Otherwise, it takes longer for your clothes to dry."

"But aren"t you worried about getting sick?" asked Vonn.

"No, I can just heal myself," said Luan cheerily, taking the meat that Carla handed her with a thank you.

"Where"s Kilyn and Llewel?" asked Tom, carefully.

"They"re gone," said Vonn gravely. "And they won"t be back."

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Carla with a shake to her head. "I did not like the way they acted one bit!"

"Why not?" asked Mikey, slipping a sliver of meat into his pouch.

"Is that a Limcheez pouch?" asked Luan, suddenly.

"Yes?" he said, looking at her in alarm at her reaction.

"Is that bad?" asked Gia, with everyone else looking at Luan in antic.i.p.ation.

"How long have you had it?" she asked worriedly.

"A couple days?"

"Maybe it"s not too late! Can I see it?"

Mikey pulled the little green fluffball out of his pouch and held it out for the white elf girl to see it. He had real concern on his face.

"Are you going to take Sprout?" he asked in a whisper as Luan leaned forward to see it.

"No," she sighed with a shake to her head. "It"s too late. It"s bound to you already."

"What"s wrong?" asked Gia, looking back and forth at the fluff cupped in Mikey"s hand and Luan.

"Limcheez are incredibly magical creatures. When they bond to someone, it"s supposed to increase that person"s magical abilities. Since you"re human, I don"t know what it will do. Human"s don"t normally have magic, and often can"t use it even if they do."

Gia glanced at Vonn, knowing what he was thinking. Kilyn had tried to show them magic, leading them to believe Vonn might be able to use it, when Luan just said humans couldn"t use it normally. What horrible people Kilyn and Llewel had been!

"So, I can keep Sprout?" asked Mikey, his look of fear being replaced with hope.

"Yep, but it"s going to be really hard to keep Sprout alive," said Luan. "There"s a lot of magic around here, that there isn"t found outside of the forest. I don"t know how Sprout will do when you guys leave. I think that as long as you keep him fed and happy, he should be okay."

"Do you think he"s a boy, or a girl?" asked Mikey, poking the fluff gently with one finger.

"Well, can you see his tummy yet?"

"His tummy?" asked Mikey with a squeak.

"When they"re this little, they stay curled into a ball. As he gets bigger, he"ll start to unroll, so you can see his belly. Girls have pouches, where babies can grow, and boys don"t. When you can finally see his belly, see if he has a pouch. It"ll be obvious, but don"t try to open the pouch, or put things in it. That can hurt him."

"I would never do anything to hurt Sprout!" exclaimed Mikey, holding the fluff to his chest and looking at her with wide eyes.

"Then I think you"ll be just fine," Luan said with a laugh.