Mira's View Read Free

“I have to
believe there is a way to defeat Rau or else I would go mad. I
think we all need that small bit of comfort, or else the elf race
is doomed. But as for the elf to end it all being in my family, who
knows.”
    “What about the dream your father had? Do you
believe that’s real?”
    “I believe it was a dream, nothing more.”
Galena stared hard at the ground, finding reasons to keep her gaze
away from Elenio, as she could feel her face reddening at this
outright lie.
    “How could one even begin to think of
defeating Rau without the use of magic?” Elenio lamented. “No one
even knows for sure exactly what kind of monster he is. I’ve heard
some stories of him being nothing more than a shadow with a heart
made up of thousands of demons, and others say that he is a
nightmare made flesh. No has ever laid eyes on him and lived to
tell.” He sighed heavily. “Knowing all this, I sometimes feel that
we’re training in vain. Without the use of magic, the fight would
be over long before it started.”
    Galena glanced guiltily at the marks on her
hands, trying not to let him see her blush. For in truth, even with
the marks of Rau on her hands and feet, Galena had discovered that
she was able to use her magic. Not a great deal, but enough to
accomplish small tasks such as getting a drink of water from thin
air or creating a small breeze to cool her off in the middle of a
hot summer day. She had even discovered last winter that she could
start a fire with a small spark. She knew from listening to stories
of other elves that this had never been done before and she was not
eager to let anyone find out, fearing what may happen to her or her
family.
    Tracing the marks with her fingertip, she
thought of all that they represented; they were the very chains
that linked them to their master. The marks of Rau were tattooed on
top of the feet and hands of every elf. A tattoo to represent each
of the elements; fire, water, air, and earth. The ink was made from
the hated intuneric stone and Rau’s blood, giving him a connection
to each elf that survived the experience. The marks kept them from
using their magic, causing them to be plunged into a world of pain
and agony from which no one could return if they ever tried.
    Rau used dark creatures called mauks, to put
the marks on tiny elves the hour they were born. This was always
something that she found revolting; changing something so innocent,
to something tainted. She thought about the strange spell like
chant that came from the hole in their faces that she assumed were
their mouths, and wondered how long it had taken Rau create it. She
didn’t see him as a real whiz with words.
    Moreover, seeing how no one could actually
understand what the mauk was saying, it could have been as simple
as, “This is mine and this is mine too.”
    Galena giggled at this thought before
sobering up as her mind returned to the hated marks.
    Galena shook her head in disgust at the
thought of those foul creatures putting their grimy hands on her
own body, and even the tiny little elves, fresh from their mother’s
womb. Mauks were small, black creatures, often times no bigger than
the babies they were tattooing. The one large eye in the middle of
their forehead was completely white and very disturbing to look at.
The upper half of their body resembled a starved child, while their
lower half, resembled a large slug. Instead of having five fingers,
they had three long, needlelike fingers that were sharp enough to
prick the skin. They used these fingers to carry out Rau’s evil
cause. Galena personally had to repress the urge to stomp on them
every time she saw one slink away.
    “Hello... Galena,” Elenio said, waving a hand
in front of her face and effectively bringing her out of her
thoughts. “So, any thoughts on how to beat a shadow monster without
magic?”
    Galena shrugged and quietly said, “No, not
one.”
    They continued in silence for a while,
quietly making their way down the