by Kelly Carr
Valeria didn’t know where they had come from, nor did she care. They stared in astonishment at the scene before them for a moment, then charged at the Genvu, drawing their attention away from their prey.
“Aim for the heads!” Valeria shouted.
The next few minutes were a confusion of flashing swords and snarling Genvu. Afterwards, Valeria was never sure who had been where or just how they managed to bring down all the creatures, but at last, both Trevi and Humans stood, panting, surrounded by the bodies of men from Lezar. They kept their weapons at the ready, in case any more should appear from between the trees.
Chapter Sixteen: Liana
When it became clear that they were safe for the moment, everyone slowly lowered their weapons and Humans and Trevi looked each other over curiously. Liana was the first to speak.
“Valeria, Davu, Elias, are you alright?” she asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the Humans. Valeria and the others answered in the affirmative, and some of the tension went out of her. She rearranged her face into her most diplomatic smile and turned her full attention to the Humans. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said in the Common Tongue. “I believe we would’ve been done for if you hadn’t arrived when you did. Are any of you injured?”
Several of the men spoke at once, each displaying bloody cuts on their arms or torsos.
“Sit down,” Liana said kindly, gesturing at the logs that had served them for benches by the fire. The men sat obediently and waited while Liana and Davu fetched their water skins. They poured the cool, clean water onto their hands, which began to glow with the soft blue light of healing magic.
“Don’t be alarmed,” Liana said as several of the men flinched away from them. “It’s for healing.”
The men still appeared wary until Valeria stepped forward.
“Liana,” she said calmly, “perhaps you could heal me first? This is really rather painful.”
Liana gasped as she saw the cuts across her friend’s face. “I thought you said you were alright!” she said, slipping into the Aidan tongue without thinking.
“Well, I’m not dying, am I?” Valeria said with a shrug, kneeling down to give Liana better access to her face.
Liana frowned in disapproval of her friend’s logic, but she said nothing more as she ran her hands across the three deep cuts, feeling the tissue knit together beneath her fingers. She winced at how close her friend had come to losing an eye. When she lifted her hand, the cuts remained, but appeared days old, rather than minutes. Liana felt a twinge of sadness as she realized that they would likely leave scars.
Valeria let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” she said gratefully, and turned to the Humans with a smile, switching back to the Common Tongue. “There, see? Nothing to fear,” she said.
The men still looked unsure, but suddenly one of them let out a gasp of pain and Liana hurried to his side. “Alright, you first,” she said. “Davu, take care of the lighter injuries, would you?” Without looking to see if he would do as she said, Liana focused her attention on the young man’s arm, which was oozing blood from a gash so deep that she thought she could see bone. She let out a small sound of sympathy and placed her hand over the injury.
Almost instantly, the boy’s eyes went wide, and he let out a small groan as the flow of blood eased and his pain receded. Liana spent several minutes on him before she was satisfied that he was no longer in any immediate danger. When she lifted her hand, the boy looked down at his arm, dumbfounded.
“Th-thanks,” he finally stammered.
After that, the others had no hesitation. They each came to Liana and Davu to have their various injuries tended to in turn.
Liana swayed slightly from fatigue as she healed the last of them, a big, broad-shouldered man, with neatly combed hair and beard, who had insisted his own injuries could wait until she had seen to those of his comrades. The man steadied her with a strong, calloused hand.
“Thank you,” he said. “My name is Jacob. May I ask who you are?”
“I’m Liana,” Liana said. “These are my friends Elias, Valeria, and Davu.”
“You come from the forest, don’t you?” another one of the men said. It wasn’t really a question.
“We’re Trevi, yes,” Liana replied.
There was a thoughtful silence. Finally, Liana broke it with a question of her own. “And you? Where do you come from?”
“I lead a small party of traders from Torvain,” Jacob replied. “We were turned back at the border of Lezar, so now we’re on our way to Marakai to see if we can sell our goods there. My friends and I were woken by the sound of fighting and came to see what was happening.”
“You have other people back in your camp?” Liana said, an edge of worry in her voice. “We should go make sure they’re alright. There could be more of those creatures, you know.”
At her words, the men, who didn't seem to have considered the possibility, turned and ran back the way they had come, Liana and her friends right behind them.
The traders’ camp was only a little way down the road from their own. If they had walked a few minutes longer that evening, they might have run across it already. Several small campfires burned low, the occasional popping sound as a log broke the only sound in the clearing. Some dozen or so people lay huddled under blankets, snoring softly. All appeared to be well.
The men relaxed. Jacob turned back to Liana. “Why don’t you join us for the night,” he said, keeping his voice low so as not to wake his sleeping companions. “It seems we’ve done away with those things, whatever they were, but just in case we haven’t, there’s safety in numbers.”
Liana glanced at her friends. Davu nodded, Valeria shrugged, and Elias just let out a resigned sigh. “Thank you, I think we’ll do that,” Liana said.
She and the others returned to their camp and retrieved their possessions. Soon they were stretched out on the ground next to the traders, and for the first time in two thousand years, Trevi and Humans slept side by side.
Chapter Seventeen: Davu
When Davu awoke the following morning, it took him several moments to remember where he was. He sat up and stretched, his muscles sore from the unfamiliar experience of sleeping on the ground. The hazy light that preceded sunrise illuminated the clearing just enough for him to see that others were also beginning to stir. He looked down at the spot beside him where Liana lay, still fast asleep.
Gently, Davu reached out and brushed the heavy locks of auburn hair from her face, marvelling at how much she had changed since the day he had found her. He often wondered if he had done the right thing in taking her away from her Human companions. He and the other Trevi had placed a heavy burden on her shoulders at such a young age. Would she have been happier among her own people?
Davu jumped as glowing lights appeared above Liana and began drifting lazily through the air. He stifled a chuckle. Liana had never grown out of letting her power leak out when she was dreaming. He pushed away his musings about what might have been. She was still the most powerful person in existence, and the stars only knew what might have happened if that power had been left to run unchecked among Human beings.
Davu frowned as the light in the clearing grew. Liana was very pale. Concerned, he peered closer at her face, then checked her hands and arms. All appeared well. It was when he pulled back the light blanket that lay over her that he saw a large red stain on her tunic. He swore loudly and colorfully and ran to fetch some water, heedless of the outstretched arms he trod on along the way. By the time he returned to Liana's side, most of the inhabitants of the clearing were sitting up and looking around for the source of the disturbance.
Davu knelt next to Liana and cut her tunic open, exposing her wound from the night of the festival. It had reopened during the previous night’s fight, and Liana had either not noticed or neglected to mention it out of concern for the injuries of others.
It was several minutes before Liana’s breathing was steady enough to comfort Davu. Someone behind him hel
pfully handed him a roll of bandages, which he bound around Liana’s waist, wishing he had a poultice to go with them.
“Is she going to be alright?” Davu turned to find the entire camp gathered around him. It was Jacob who had asked the question.
“With time and rest, she will be,” Davu answered, “but she’s really in no condition to travel. We may have to turn back.”
“No!” Valeria said emphatically. “That’s not what she would want. We haven’t accomplished anything yet. If we go back now, nothing will have changed.”
“Well, if you’re going south, we can carry her on one of our wagons as far as the Cliffs of Kerval,” said Jacob.
“Thank you,” Valeria said, "that would be very helpful."
Davu sighed but lifted Liana off of the ground as easily as if she had been a pile of blankets and carried her to the wagon Jacob indicated.
When Liana was safely settled among the traders’ wares, and Davu had reassured himself that the color was returning to her cheeks, he allowed Jacob to take him back to the central area of the camp. The rest of the company had already dispersed and were busy packing their things to leave.
Elias was rolling up their blankets and stuffing them into bags. He looked up as Davu and Valeria approached.
“I don’t know that travelling with the Humans is such a good idea,” he said. “They'll ask too many questions. It's probably best to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.”
“What better way to do that than to travel among Humans?” Valeria pointed out.
“They may be able to help us,” Davu agreed.
Elias still looked doubtful but, outnumbered as he was, he let it go and quietly finished packing their things.
Liana remained unconscious all day. Davu, Valeria, and Elias kept to themselves as they walked along, though they could feel the curious eyes of the Humans on them. Unspoken questions hung heavy in the air. Davu noticed that one man, in particular, kept staring at him. He let it pass. He was sure the Humans found his appearance unusual. Finally, however, when darkness fell, and they were all gathered around the campfire, the man approached Davu with a furrowed brow.
“It’s you, isn’t it?” he said, his voice low enough to avoid attracting attention from the others.
“Excuse me?” Davu said, confused.
“You’re the one who took the little girl from our camp twenty-five years ago,” the man said.
“Ah,” Davu said, remembering the man he had knocked out when he took Liana away. “Yes, I am, but I would never have taken her without good reason.”
“What reason could you possibly have had for kidnapping a child?” the man said, his voice becoming louder.
“Keep your voice down! There’s no need to alarm your companions. I assume you remember what else happened that night?” Davu said.
The man scowled. “It’s not something I could forget in a hurry.”
“All of that was caused by that little girl. For whatever reason, she was born with the powers of the Mother of Magic, the leader of the Trevi. If left among you, untrained, there’s no telling how much damage she might have caused, how many people she might have killed. I took her to keep her, and you, safe.”
The man sat heavily, his eyes wide. “What happened to her?” he asked.
Davu smiled slightly and inclined his head in the direction of the wagon where Liana lay, a peaceful expression on her face. “My sister and I raised her to be what she was meant to be: the leader of our people.”
The man’s eyes went wide. He got to his feet and walked over to the wagon. He reached out tentatively and placed a hand on the crown of Liana’s head. “I always wondered what happened to her,” he said, so quietly that he seemed almost to be talking to himself.
“Is she some relation of yours?” Davu asked, wondering what that would mean to Liana when she woke.
The man shook his head. “My name is Andrew. I was only an apprentice at the time, travelling with my master and his family. They all died, and the little girl was taken. My companions were too afraid to pursue you into the forest. We assumed the worst all these years, but here she is.”
“I hope you can forgive me,” Davu said. “I did the only thing I could think of at the time.”
Andrew shook his head, but it wasn’t a denial of Davu’s apology. “I don’t know what was right, or even if you’re telling the truth, but she’s alive, and you seem to care for her. As an orphan, I doubt she could have hoped for anything better if you had left her with us.” At that moment, he yelped and jumped backwards as Liana’s little lights began to glow around her.
Davu laughed his deep booming laugh. “She does that when she’s dreaming,” he explained. “She must be getting better.”
“You really are magical, aren’t you,” Andrew said in astonishment. “Both of you. I’ve seen what she can do, and you, you haven’t aged a day in twenty-five years!”
Davu shrugged. “The Trevi age much slower than Humans do and live perhaps ten times as long. Liana was born Human, but she’s unquestionably one of the Trevi. I don’t know how she’ll age.” He frowned. It was a question that had bothered him from time to time.
Just then, there were cries of alarm from the other side of the camp. Davu hurried over to where the others had been setting up a campfire. It appeared that Valeria had taken it upon herself to light it, startling the Humans who hadn’t seen her use her powers yet.
She shrugged apologetically. “Sorry. It just seemed faster than what they were doing.” She pointed somewhat disdainfully at a contraption that one of the women had dropped when she jumped away from the fire, which was now blazing cheerfully.
“Don’t be afraid,” Davu reassured the Humans. “It’s no different than any other fire. She was only trying to help.”
The Humans gathered around the fire to warm their hands, but they eyed Valeria, Davu, and Elias with some suspicion.
“I think perhaps it’s time that you tell us exactly who you are and what your intentions are in going south,” an elderly woman said with an edge of irritation in her voice.
The three companions exchanged glances.
“They deserve to know.”
Davu jumped slightly, then relaxed as he turned to find that Liana had joined them by the fireside, bending slightly at the waist as though it pained her to stand upright.
Chapter Eighteen: Liana
Davu hurried to Liana’s side to check her wound.
Liana waved him off. “I’ll be fine.”
“Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word about that when you passed out last night without telling anyone your injury had reopened,” Davu said irritably, though she could tell he was only worried about her.
Liana rolled her eyes and gingerly took a place by the fire with everyone else as she allowed Davu to check her bandages. “I think perhaps we do owe you an explanation,” she said, looking around at the Humans gathered around them. “You came to our aid when we were attacked last night, and clearly you’ve agreed to allow us to travel with you. You should know what you’ve gotten involved in.”
The Humans seemed to lean in closer as one, listening intently. No one said a word.
Liana began by once again introducing herself and her companions. She explained where they came from and about the visit they had received from the Lezarians. She told of the attack at the festival and its aftermath and finished by explaining their mission in journeying south. By the time she finished speaking, the moon had risen above the treetops.
There was silence in the camp for several minutes as everyone digested the new information. Finally, a young woman spoke. “Why is it your responsibility to make this journey?” she asked.
“That answer would require a much longer explanation,” Liana said. “Suffice it to say that, against the wishes of many, I am going south because I believe it is the best hope of saving my people, and...well...no one else was willing to try.”
Again there was silence. At last, Jacob spoke. �
�Well then, you’ll be needing to speak with the king. Corralis, the capital city, is much farther south than we’ll be going, but you can travel with us as far as the Cliffs of Kerval, provided that you lend a hand with the chores, same as everyone else.”
“Thank you,” Liana said. “That’s very kind.”
With that settled, talk slowly resumed around the fire. Liana listened curiously to the conversations around her. She had been so small when she joined the Trevi that she thought she had forgotten her native tongue, but its sound was still familiar to her, like the strains of a well-known song, sung too far away to be heard clearly. She closed her eyes, trying to make some sense of it, but instead, the sound lulled her into a stupor, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
Liana woke the next morning to the sound of cheerful voices. For a moment, she thought herself back home amongst the Trevi, until she felt the rumbling underneath her. She opened her eyes and found herself once again in the back of a wagon. Slowly, the events of the past two days returned to her. She recognized several of the Humans around her and felt the reassuring tingle of magic in the air that meant her friends were nearby.
Just then, Valeria soared overhead on her glider. With a graceful movement, she released one end of it and dropped down into the wagon beside Liana, making the horse snort in alarm.
“Finally awake then?” Valeria said, amusement in her voice. “About time, too. You’ve slept most of the day away, though I suppose no one can blame you. You’re still healing.”
“How are the Humans receiving our presence?” Liana asked.
Valeria shrugged. “Their reactions are a bit mixed. The ones who saved us from the Genvu are the friendliest towards us. Davu treated their injuries again this morning. They’re mostly healed. Clearly, they see magic as a good thing.
