“I do not have to make any turns?” Eldana asked.
“No. None at all. You just move straight. The land rises from here to there though.”
Eldana smiled appreciatively. “Thank you, Meko. Really.”
“Do not thank me yet. Thank me when you have felt better.”
Eldana smiled. “Well, I best get back to my mother. She likes to have me around.” Meko said.
“I will see you later, then,” Eldana said.
“Later,” Meko corroborated.
Eldana watched Meko disappear into the trees and smiled.
She is so friendly, she thought. Eldana realized that the hostility that Meko had displayed earlier was just the result of distrust. At least now she saw that the company were peaceful.
Eldana turned and went through the direction Meko had pointed out. Just as Meko had said, the land began to rise. Eldana had never heard of this section of the Ciroc before. However, she had never had cause to be here in the past. The atmosphere gradually eased into one of a humid chill.
I must be getting close, Eldana thought. As she walked, she thought she heard a thunk from the woods to her left. She turned and saw nothing. Leaving no stone unturned, she reached out with her mind, feeling psychically for any objects in the region. She felt rocks, squirrels, birds, but nothing more. She brought her mind back to herself and walked on.
Soon, she began to hear the sound of crashing. The crashing grew louder as she walked closer until she came to a chasm at the bottom of which lay clear blue water. She looked to her left, and saw a river that stretched out from the horizon, and fell into the pool beneath as a waterfall.
Excellent, Eldana thought, feeling a flush of excitement.
She turned around, looking for any path that might lead down to the pool. She found one soon enough, a trail through the brush. She followed it until she broke out the trees and into a small band of sand which the pool lapped at. She stood for a moment, staring at the crystalline brightness of the water, then she pulled off her boots, and sunk her feet into the soft wet sand. Eldana exhaled from the feeling of coolness that wrapped her feet.
Smiling, she unfastened the studs on her shirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on her boots. Her trouser followed, and so did her underwear. She walked to the edge of the pool and dipped a foot in to measure the temperature of the water. It was just the right amount of cool. She took a few steps backward, took a breath, then ran and sprang into the water. She broke its surface with a splash.
The ripples that Eldana had formed from breaking into the water were just beginning to settle when she re-emerged from the depths. She gasped and smiled with delight.
“Oh, Meko, a thank you is not enough for this.” She said aloud.
Eldana whooped and dove back in. She took longer this time to re-emerge, and when she did, she was no more in search of air, as she was the first time. Her face was an emblem of glee and satisfaction. She waved her arms back and forth through the water, as she stayed afloat. Then she closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. The past came back, like the water, into her mind and bringing Sinto’s picture before her. She hated him now, yet, she could not help but remember the times she had caught him staring pityingly at her. She sighed, letting the peace of the water seep into her, to wash the ugly feelings away.
A sound woke Eldana with a start. For a moment she had fallen asleep right there in the water! Her eyes flew open to stare fully into the sun before she flinched and shut her eyes. She turned away from the sun and opened her eyes slowly.
She was about to turn, and go for her clothes when the sound came repeated; a thud. Quickly, she turned, just in time to see something, a creature lying a few meters away from her, at the foot of the ascent that led out of the chasm. The creature was huge, almost the size of a brown bear. Eldana’s heart pounded.
What’s that? She asked herself.
The creature had hairy gray skin, covering a well-muscled frame. Just then, it grunted, shook, and got to its feet.
Eldana was silent all the while, watching the creature stand to its towering height, and then it turned, and she saw its face, broad, and long, with teeth like an array of miniature tusks...
Orc!
The creature roared and jumped towards Eldana. Without thinking, Eldana raised a wave of water and smashed the orc back to the edge. The orc spluttered and wiped its huge hands on its face. But it charged again. This time, Eldana raised water out of the pond in the form of a tentacle, and hurled it at the advancing orc, almost at the same time, that she muttered a spell. The tentacle of water became solid ice in mid-air and speared through the orc. The impact was so heavy, it knocked the orc back to the band of land circling the pond.
Eldana watched the orc twitch, and gurgle as blood gushed from its mouth, then it stilled. Her heart was pounding fast.
What is an orc doing here? She asked herself, before panic caught at her. The elves!
Eldana scrambled out of the water and was about to reach for her clothes when a fist smashed into her from behind. Eldana tumbled to the ground. She heard laughter in a very gruff voice, and fear spread through her blood like cold water. She groaned and tried to stand to her feet. But a kick to her ribs sent her flying to the edge of the water. Eldana lay, struggling to breathe beyond the stinging pain in her lungs. A large hand clasped around her
