“Were they taking you all to the city of Bromar?” Leeha asks Nolea softly.
“No,” Nolea answers, shaking her head. “I heard them mentioning something about taking us to the Lake of Ruins.”
“What? Why?” Leeha asks her, and I can tell that the answer confuses her. “Bromar is a half-day from here! The Lake of Ruins is a good four days!”
“We aren’t sure. Though I heard something about power, that was all I heard,” Nolea tells Leeha apologetically.
“No, you have been through enough,” Leeha softly replies.
“What are we to do now, Leeha? We have no Homestead left,” Nolea says softly, the tears coming back.
“We can take you to my parent’s Homestead, near the City of Lomar. We were heading to your Homestead to talk to the Elders. Were there any that weren’t at the Homestead that may have survived?” Leeha asks her with hope in her voice.
Nolea shakes her head without replying and Leeha sighs. “Shit. And you’re sure they mentioned the Lake of Ruins?” She asks her intensely.
Nodding, Nolea confirms, “Yes, but we don’t know why.”
Leeha looks at me and I say, “Fire Rat?”
“That was my thought. What the fuck are the humans doing there that is disrupting the hunting grounds of the monsters that live there?” she tells me.
“Well, since they,” I point to the dead mages and the warrior, “are dead, we can’t ask them. But we still have Mig,” I say.
“We need to investigate this, Alex,” Leeha tells me with a look I know well. I have to agree with her, though. We came to inform the Elders of what is happening with the monsters from the Lake of Ruin. Instead, we find out that they were all killed and these Elves were all taken. But why only the young?
“Why the young?” I ask Leeha.
“What?” she responds, tilting her head at me questioningly.
“Why only the young Elves? Why not the older ones as well?” I ask her, waving to the young Elves around us who are watching us talk, their heads swiveling back and forth between Leeha and me. “Are older Elves never taken?”
She stares at me in shock and then looks at all the young Elves quickly. “Nolea, what is so special about these kids? I saw other children dead at the Homestead. What is so special about all of you?” she asks her quickly.
“What? Oh, they only wanted magic users. We have all shown we can use Elementals and magic. I mean, some of the younger ones aren’t trained yet. But they tortured the Elders until they pointed us out. Then they killed them all,” Nolea says bitterly.
“Alex, that makes no sense! Why would they only take magic users?” she asks me pleadingly, as if I would know the reason for that massacre back there.
“I don’t know, but I know someone who might,” I tell her, pointing back to where we had left Mig.
“Yes, we do,” Leeha says through gritted teeth, and there is fire in her eyes. For a Water mage, that is saying a lot.
“What about them?” I remind her, pointing to all the other Elves.
“Right,” Leeha says, nodding her head. “We need to get them back to my parents,” she starts, but Nolea interrupts her.
“I can lead us there,” she says. “I was there last year with my father.” She chokes up and Leeha takes her into her arms. I guess her father died back at the Homestead we were just at. Shit, I am sure all these kids lost their parents. After a minute of comfort, Nolea nods and smiles at her in thanks. Taking a deep breath, she continues. “I can take us there. I know the way.”
“It’s a long journey,” I say, but both of them look at me oddly. “What?”
“Alex, they are Elves. They will survive. We are born in the forests,” Leeha says with a laugh. “I would be more worried if you were leading them,” she finishes with a smile.
“Because I’m human,” I tell her with a chuckle.
“Yes. Humans don’t seem to do well outside of their cities. I mean, some humans do all right in the wild, but they are so loud. They feel the need to crash through a forest as if they own it. I am surprised they are even able to hunt at times,” Leeha laments, shaking her head in disgust.
“But we might be slower than usual,” Nolea says. She points to a young girl, close to the age of twelve or so, who is sitting on the ground. That is when I notice her leg is crooked. As I look closer, I see it’s actually not crooked, it’s fucking broken. “Bilar and I have been taking turns carrying her. The slavers wanted to kill her, but we told them we would carry her. And so, we will carry her again.”
The girl begins to cry and says, “I am sorry for being so useless, Nolea.”
Nolea kneels down next to her and hugs her. “Hush, you aren’t useless. We will get you to Leeha’s Homestead, don’t you worry.”
“Oh!” Bridget says suddenly. “Alex can heal you!”
Nolea looks up at her, confused. “What do you mean, heal? Like a splint or something for her leg?”
“No! Alex is special. He can heal you. Well, I guess I would be healing you, as I am his Elemental.”
“What?” Nolea cries out skeptically, and I suppress a groan.
“Yes. Here, let me,” Bridget says and throws herself on the ground next to the little girl. “Oh. What’s your name?” Bridget asks the girl with a smile.
“I’m Jila?” Jila says hesitantly, sounding somewhat scared.
“Well, Jila. Don’t you worry. Alex will have you healed in no time. Now, this won’t hurt one bit. So hold still, all right?”
Jila looks at Nolea for guidance and at Nolea’s slow nod, Jila turns back to Bridget and says, “All right.”
Bridget puts her hands gently on her leg and looks up at me. “I will need only Mind for this, to numb the pain for her, Alex.”
I not to her and I say,
