“You are suggesting the end of our race,” Nym said, horrified. “This cannot be, Ilann. It must not be.”
Ilann reached over and cupped her face in his hands, staring into her eyes sorrowfully. “All things die eventually, Nym. Even elves die when they are old enough. It’s the way of things.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she gazed into Ilann’s eyes. She turned to look at Lana.
“I will not accept this,” she said, her voice full of determination. “We must not allow this, Lana. We must not.”
Lana nodded to her solemnly. “I will do all that I can,” she said and reached out to touch Nym’s hand, hoping to offer any comfort she could.
Nym’s heart was full of sorrow, Lana could feel it. It was so intense she could almost taste it. And underneath all of that was an extraordinary guilt that should have left the woman weeping on the floor, gnashing her teeth. Lana gasped and pulled her hand back, looking at Nym with wide eyes.
“What has harmed you so?” she asked the elf woman, bewildered. “How can you hurt so much?”
Nym had gone pale and clutched her hand to her chest.
“I have done much in my past, Lana,” she said quietly, rising and making her way to her room, not meeting Lana’s eyes. “I don’t wish to speak of it.” And with that, she left Lana and Ilann to the rest of their food but both had lost their appetites.
“I will see to her, Lana,” Ilann said quietly as he rose. “Try not to worry too much. She loves you a great deal and when she’s ready, she will come to you.”
“Yes, of course,” Lana said, thinking about all of the hurt and pain her friend was dealing with. She wished she could heal her spirit the way she was healing the children but this was a different sort of malady.
Lana stood and turned to go back to her own room, then stopped. Just outside the inn she could see that a crowd had gathered. Sighing, she gave up the idea of sleeping any time soon and instead walked toward the cluster of elves. Some were those who had begun following her, but there were some newcomers as well. Many had children in their arms, and those young forms were a sad sight.
Without a word, Lana went to each child and placed her hand on their heads or held one of their hands. Just long enough to get a sense of them, to connect with them in some way. She didn’t even need to touch them, really, she only had to be nearby. She had worked this out from trial and error at each of the villages they passed by. It seemed that any child within about a twenty foot radius of her would be healed but beyond that, her newfound power floundered unless she had felt their spirits. It was as if she was planting a small seed in their mind which would heal their connection to the land overnight, but the seed could only spread so far.
When Lana was done, she turned and quietly walked back to the inn and her rooms. As she passed through the crowd of followers, she heard shouted blessings. Many of them were openly weeping - both women and men alike. Lana wasn’t sure she deserved such adoration, wasn’t sure she was worthy of their faith. She let it wash over her and retired to the peace and quiet of her room.
* * *
When Lana, Nym and Ilann departed the next morning, their followers had grown significantly. There were now so many elves following the three of them that Lana had stopped trying to count their numbers, but there were well over fifty, of that she was certain.
“We will not pass by a village before nightfall,” Nym warned her. The elf had kept her distance from Lana ever since the evening before. Lana tried not to feel too hurt by this. At least Nym was treating her the same way she always did. It was obvious that Nym didn’t want to discuss her inner turmoil and Lana just had to accept it.
“That’s fine,” she said, smiling. “Truly, I have missed sleeping under the stars. It would be nice to do so again.”
Nym nodded in acceptance and started on the path, Ilann following closely behind leaving Lana more or less alone. She didn’t know when she would be truly alone again, not with so many elves following in her wake, but she at least had a semblance of privacy.
They traveled all day, the wind blowing at their backs as if to urge them on. It smelled like the perfume of the wildflowers that dotted the hills nearby and made Lana want to strike camp right then and there so she wouldn’t have to leave this place.
They eventually put the rolling hills behind them and were greeted with flat plains, carpeted in green as far as the eye could see. There were copses of trees here and there and in the distance a great forest that seemed to have no end.
“What is that place?” she asked Ilann, pointing at the trees.
“That is a spot of much history,” Ilann said, using a hand to shield his eyes as he gazed out at the massive forest. “It was there that the final battle of the First War was waged. The land was torn asunder and the ground watered with the blood of elves and humans alike. When the high priestess healed the land, not only did a forest erupt at the borders but one sprung up there as well. Every type of tree known to elves grows inside it and
