Horizon

Chapter 19

For a while Nala thought she was back home, but as her vision cleared and the details started to jump out she could tell the trees around her were not ones she had grown around with. The leaves were a strange shape and the green tint was deeper and the trunks were a strange brown.

The sunlight that managed to get through the thick foliage felt warm against her skin, but it lacked the refreshing sensation she had grown accustomed to over the years. As she raised her hand she noticed how pale her skin was and that it lacked the brown it used to have. She quickly grabbed a strand of her hair and examined it, but there was no hint of green to be found in it.

She slumped down back against the soft pillow her head had been resting against. She could still feel the powers she once had, but they were quickly fading away. The tree that had channelled them to her was dead and along with it would go her powers.

Am I going to die?

She threw the idea out there in her mind, not really expecting an answer.

There is still something you must do.

She was surprised to hear the goddess reply. She wanted to prod further, but it seemed like it was for her to find out rather than be ordered by the goddess.

She saw the swords resting next to her and reached out for them. As she gripped them she realized something had changed. The spirits of her parents were no longer there.

Realizing that was enough to bring tears to her eyes and she held the swords tight against her chest. She didn't care that her powers would be gone – she almost welcomed it after all the time that had gone by – but the loss of her parents spirits was something that she did not want to happen. It had felt like they were not dead as long as their voices were with her, but now she felt the same as she had the day they had really died.

The little nagging voice inside her reminded that her loss was minor compared to what others had lost in the tragedy that Taif had perpetrated. The entire elven race had lost something that had held it together for thousands of years. Lives had been lost also, far more than should have been. What could anyone do to ease that pain and sorrow and bring some sense into the confusion that she had no doubt was welling inside everyone?

The answer came to her as clear as anything ever had in her life.

She winced as she struggled to her feet. By the way her joints and muscles were complaining she had been laying there for a good while. She fastened the swords around her waist even though they did not hold the special meaning they once had. Old habits die hard.

With wobbly feet she made her way out from under the trees and towards the sunlight bathed clearing she could see beyond them. Why they had decided to stick in the woods was a mystery to her. Perhaps they had wanted to give her some privacy.

She had to blink hard to adjust her eyes to the brighter light, but as she did she was happy to note the elves were busy at work. They had started building temporary homes on the grass covered clearing and even though there was an underlying sadness on everyone's face, there was also laughter and smiles going around.

Up in the sky she could see transports flying over the clearing, some on their landing run, other making their way back up into space.

“Nala! Are you sure you should be up?” Ghardo rushed over to her from talking with an elf.

“I'm fine,” she assured the man. “You've been busy I see.”

“We had to, despite the situation,” the man said.

Nala nodded. “There's something I have to do.” She looked around and saw many places where the grass mat had been peeled away and the soil underneath had been revealed.