Free Mira's View by Erin Elliott Page B

change in
the elven world. It saddened her to think of how much life the old
elves wasted being petty.
    Galena jumped in surprise when Elenio bent
down over her shoulder to see what she was reading. Turning her
head upward so that she could see his face, she smiled. He smiled
in return and then ruffled her hair. Scowling, she ducked away from
him and straightened it back out.
    “Naradin just sent an elf by to let us know
that they’re ready for us,” he told her, still grinning
broadly.
    Tark set down the scroll he had been looking
at and stretched.
    “I thought he said he would let us rest for a
couple of hours before the feast.” Galena stood, stretching as
well.
    Still grinning, Elenio shook his head. “It’s
been a couple of hours.”
    Galena looked around, trying to gauge the
position of the sun and saw that Elenio wasn’t pulling her leg. She
knew she had read quite a bit, but she hadn’t meant to read the
entire allotted time away. Tark and Elenio had already begun
descending the spiral staircase as Galena took one more look
around. She hurriedly descended as well, returning to the room
below. She headed toward the small washroom and took advantage of
an empty pitcher she found in there. She thought about cool, clean
water as she filled the pitcher up and proceeded to wash away the
grim and grit from her face and neck. Removing a brush from her
pack, she combed through the snarls in her hair and proceeded to
braid it in a simple braid, which she wound around her head. Her
hair was so long that she was able to loop the braid around several
times before tucking it neatly away.
    She glanced at the bed and saw to her
amazement that Twoit slept soundly. She had never believed the old
tales that ferrets would spend the majority of their day sleeping,
but with Twoit around, she was coming to find this particular part
of history was true.
    Feeling rushed, but satisfied that she no
longer looked as rough as she had, she raced down the remainder of
the stairs where Tark and Elenio were waiting for her.
    “Ready?” Elenio asked, as he looked her
over.
    With her face turning red, she nodded and
strode to the door where Tark held it open for her.
    Stepping out onto the little doorstep that
led up to the grand door in the tree house, Galena blinked in
surprise. The fading daylight surrounded her and the air was
considerably cooler than when she had first gone in.
    Where had the day gone? Surely, she had not
wasted an entire day staring at old scrolls.
    “Do you intend to spend the rest of the
evening on the stoop, or are you going to follow the elf they have
sent for us?” Elenio whispered in her ear.
    Giving her head a little shake, Galena
stepped down and waited beside the young elf. He was younger, based
on his childish features and his height, but he held himself
proudly.
    He must feel that he has an important
role . Galena smiled down at the young one. Elenio and Tark
stepped down to join her as the young one turned and began to lead
them back toward the village. Nodding grimly at the other two,
Galena started after him, rushing until she had caught up. She
noted that all the elves that had poked their heads out and greeted
the trio earlier, were nowhere to be seen. Assuming they were all
gathered for the feast, she glanced back at Elenio.
    “Not an elf in sight anywhere,” he muttered
more to himself than Galena.
    They passed through the center of the small
village and past the way they had entered. The young elf trudged
on, with no hint of hesitation or slowing down. Galena began to
feel unsettled. The young elf was the only sign of life in this
village. Surely, they should have seen a stray elf here or there,
making their way to the celebration.
    “Are we almost there?” Galena asked quietly
of their young escort.
    He nodded vigorously, grinning all the
while.
    Taking small comfort from his friendly reply,
Galena trudged on. Several minutes more passed before they began to
see light glowing from somewhere in