The Song of Eloh Saga

by Megg Jensen

  “So you didn’t know that I was awake in here?” Maybe I’d been wrong about him after all.

  “Oh, I knew because it was suddenly quiet.”

  “Quiet?” I took my first bite of the bacon, letting the sweet juice wash through my mouth.

  “You snored all night.” Chase winked at me. His lashes fluttered against his cheek.

  I put the piece of bacon back on the plate. “I do not snore.”

  “You did last night. I considered putting a pillow over my head, but I needed to be able to hear everything. Not like I could have heard anything over that horrible noise anyway.”

  “You’re the one who’s horrible,” I said. I pinched a crumb of bacon between my thumb and forefinger and flicked it at him.

  Instead of ducking or catching it in his hand, Chase opened his mouth. The bacon bit landed on his tongue as easily if that had been my aim all along.

  “Nice catch,” I said.

  “I never let a speck of food go to waste,” he said with a wink. I laughed. I had noticed already how solid he was. Most of the men in Fithia were short and stocky. Bryden and Kellan were like my people, tall and thin. Chase was built unlike any man I’d ever known. Not only was he tall, but his muscles seemed to ripple along every inch of his body from his shoulders to his ankles. He must have led quite an active life up until now. I couldn’t imagine that sort of build happened naturally.

  “So you said you’d show me around today, right? Then can I leave?” I was anxious to get out of the community and back to Bryden. I wouldn’t pressure Mags to see me if she didn’t want to. Her life had spun out of control and most of it was my fault. If she didn’t want me here, then I had no reason to stay.

  “I will show you around right after breakfast. The medicine that helps with vertigo is already in your tea.”

  I eyed the cup in front of me. I’d already taken a few sips. “You’re drugging me? Maybe next time tell me first. I don’t appreciate anything being done to me without my knowledge.”

  Chase nodded his head. “Understood. Sorry about that. I told you about the meds last night and just assumed it was okay.”

  “It is,” I said with a sigh. I took another long drag from the cup so he’d know I meant it. “I just like to know first.”

  I looked at him, waiting for him to answer my second question, but Chase continued to shovel food in his mouth. He looked up at me, his eyebrows raised. “What?”

  “Then can I leave?”

  He finished chewing and swallowed. “No. It’s not safe. They’re still after you.”

  “No one is after me, Chase. The Dalagans think I’m some kind of savior and the Fithians are defeated. No one else on this planet is going to care about me. I’m nothing.”

  “I think you’ll feel differently by the end of the day,” Chase said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I waited while he licked the bacon grease off of his fingers. Knowing my own were greasy too, I looked around for a cloth, but didn’t see any on the tray. I discreetly lifted my fingers to my mouth and licked my fingertips. Chase glanced at me and laughed. “I’m so sorry we don’t have cloths. We have to be very conservative with everything we use up here. The opportunity to do laundry doesn’t come often. Necessities change in a place like this.” He then rubbed his hands on his pants to dry them.

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” I did, kind of, but I didn’t want to say any more about it. Somehow he always found a way to change the subject. “So, why will I feel differently when we’re done?”

  Chase stood up and held out his hand to me. I rubbed my damp fingers on my dress before slipping my hand in his. He led me out the door and into the sun. I braced myself for that sickening dizzy feeling. My stomach clenched along with my fists. I glanced at the trees, and off to the side where makeshift stairs wound up around tree branches. This time I didn’t feel any different than I did on the ground.

  “The medicine worked,” I said with a grin. My eyes swept over the tree house community and for the first time I was able to take in the whole scene. The treetops were dotted with suspension bridges leading from our platform to at least twelve others. Each platform held two or three tiny homes, though ours was occupied only by Chase. The brown shingles and cedar siding blended in perfectly with the tree branches and trunks. It almost seemed as if the community hadn’t been built by humans, but had grown along with the trees.

  “Where are we going first?” I was anxious to get the tour going as fast as possible. If Chase wasn’t going to tell me how to get down, I’d have to figure that out on my own. Maybe if I pretended to be interested in everything he had to show me, then he wouldn’t realize I was really scouting for an escape.

  “Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Follow me up and let me know if you’re getting dizzy at any point.”

  I nodded. Chase let go of my hand and walked to the nearest staircase. I hesitated to think of it that way. It certainly wasn’t like any set of stairs I’d walked on in my life. In the castle, the sturdy stairs were carved from stone. Here, they were half-ladder and half-stairs. Swaying lightly with the breeze, they wrapped around the tree trunks. Wooden planks served as risers, connected by a dizzying maze of rope and knots. Railings on the side were also lengths of rope, tied up in intricate patterns.

  Cautiously, I stepped on the first one, steadying my hands on the ropes. I didn’t look to the side. Even though the medicine was helping, I wasn’t sure it could do much if I glanced over the edge. Still...I really wanted to know.

  “You want to see how high up we are?” Chase asked. I shot him a dirty look. “Don’t worry, I’m not reading your mind. Anyone can tell you’re curious, even if you are afraid. From what I know of you, I think you’d relish the challenge.”

  He was right. I really did want to see. “Okay, but don’t let me fall.”

  In a flash, Chase’s hands were on my hips, holding me steady. “Go ahead. I’ve got you.”

  I leaned over the ropes. The stairway shifted, only slightly, underneath my feet. My hands gripped the ropes tightly as I looked down. Leaves crisscrossed each other, forming a precarious floor. No one could see through it, but no one could step on it. Such a simple veil protected us from the rest of the world. Disappointed, I started to straighten up, but then a patch of brown caught my eye.

  I leaned over farther, forgetting I needed someone to anchor me until I felt Chase’s grip tighten. His legs pressed against mine, balancing me. My stomach rested against the ropes as I strained farther over, trying to get a glimpse of the ground below through the tiny parting of the leaves.

  “Do you see anything?” Chase asked with labored breath. For such a strong guy, I couldn’t believe he was having that much trouble holding on to me.

  “Am I too heavy for you?” I inched a little farther over the rope.

  “Of course not.” He wrapped his arms around my waist. With a grunt, he lifted me up off the stairs and over the rope rail. My feet no longer touched the wooden risers.

  A huge smile unfurled across my face. The wind ruffled my hair, caressing my face as I wiggled my body farther over. Chase wouldn’t have gone so far to save me if he was waiting to dump me over the railing. I decided to trust in him and his muscles.

  I reached out and pushed the leaves out of the way. Below me, the green grass sparkled. A tiny deer bent its neck down to the ground, lapping up the morning dew. It was like peering into a magical world from the mundane. I never would have guessed that as of yesterday, that had been the normal world. It looked so different from above. Upside-down, it felt like the trees anchored themselves in a green sky.

  The deer’s ears pricked up and it bounded away.

  A strong gust of wind blew through the community and my dress lifted up above my knees. Chase pulled me over the railing. We tumbled down on the stairs, my back pressed firmly into his chest. He clapped a hand over my mouth.

  I tried to disentangle myself from him, but his arms, snaked around m
e, were too strong. Using the only thing I had, I jabbed my elbow into his solar plexus. He flinched, but didn’t relent one inch. His burrowed his face into my hair, his lips brushing my ear.

  “Did you feel that gust of wind? Nod if you did,” he whispered.

  I nodded.

  “That’s the warning signal. Someone’s down there.” He took his hand away from my mouth, but didn’t release me from the embrace. “We have to sit here until they pass through. Another sudden gust of wind will tell us when it’s safe.”

  We sat for what seemed like hours. Silent. Still. No one and nothing in the tree house community stirred. It was as if we’d become a ghost town, with Chase and I as the only two residents. A gust wind of blew at us again.

  His arms relaxed and I stood up. “Does that happen often?”

  Chase’s face darkened. “No, it doesn’t. Not many people come through this part of the woods.”

  “I did.”

  “You’re different,” Chase said. “I wouldn’t take anything you do and apply it to the general population. Your instincts lead you places most people’s wouldn’t.”

  “Are we starting our tour now?” I asked.

  “Yes. We need to talk to someone special. It’s about time you meet her.”

  Chapter Eight

  I followed Chase up the stairs to the highest cottage in the community. I counted one hundred twenty-one steps as we ascended. I hadn’t realized the trees out here were so high. My breath went from smooth to ragged about halfway up, but Chase didn’t seem at all winded so I refused to admit I had trouble keeping up.

  We weren’t the only ones headed up. Our twosome turned into a small parade of people, all following Chase higher. I searched the faces, but didn’t see Mags among them. I wanted so badly to find her, but she’d made it clear she couldn’t handle dealing with me now. Maybe if she gave me only a moment, she’d understand I hadn’t meant for Aric to die. I’d done everything I could to get Trevin back to her.

  But she didn’t materialize with the crowd.

  Chase paused at the top, where the stairs ended in a doorway. No platform to stand on, just one door leading into one tiny cottage.

  He raised his voice. “All of you go down. I’ll get answers and bring them back.”

  Silently and slowly, the crowd turned and headed back.

  “Does everyone always do what you say without question?” I asked Chase.

  He knocked on the door and looked at me over his shoulder. “Everyone but you.” The door opened from the inside. Chase held out an arm. “You first.”

  I stepped over the threshold, not knowing what, or who, to expect. An old woman hunched over a table, her long gray hair streaming down her back, nearly to the floor. Her hands, long and wrinkled, grasped a shabby wooden box.

  “Welcome, child,” she said. “Is the medicine working well for you? Is the vertigo gone?”

  “It is. I would love to thank the person that made it for me.” I stepped fully into the tiny room. Unlike Chase’s room, this one was filled with light from the sky. Completely open to the elements, this cottage had no roof. Along the wall, dozens of herbs hung upside-down in bunches. “Oh! Did you make the medicine?”

  She nodded, her eyes never leaving my face. I studied hers in return. The wrinkles were set so deeply into her face I wondered if she had the muscle tone to smile. “Yes. I made it for you two days ago.”

  I glanced over at Chase. I’d only been there since yesterday.

  “Chase told me you were coming.” The woman waved her hand in the air. “So, I made it up right away, assuming he’d give it to you when you got here.”

  “He didn’t. He waited until this morning.”

  The old woman clucked her tongue against her teeth. “Chase, you are just as stubborn as your father. You always think you know what’s best for everyone else. You should be more like your mother and let others decide for themselves.”

  “If I would have given her the draught when she arrived, she would have probably found a way off before morning. She can’t leave yet.”

  “You know better than most that no matter what you do, life will take care of itself. Stop trying to protect her and let her make her own decisions.”

  I waved my hand between the two of them. “Hello? I’m still here. Stop talking about me like I’m not.”

  The old woman laughed. Her wrinkles moved out the way to reveal a large, toothy smile. She held out one gnarly hand to me, still clutching the large container in her hand. “I’m Johna, the leader of this tiny little village in the sky. I’ve been here for nearly twenty years. Waiting for you, mostly.”

  “Me? Why not just come get me if you’ve been so close? Why wait for me to come to you?”

  She laughed again, her guffaw sending shock waves through the room. “Yes, I can just imagine it. Three babies arrive for adoption into the Fithian community as a peace offering. I’m sure they would have let a crazy old woman nobody knew take one of them. No, child, you needed to come to me.”

  “Chase brought me here. I didn’t come of my own will.”

  “Didn’t you come into the forest with a baby, in an attempt to find its mother?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, but—”

  “And Chase helped you accomplish that goal, correct?”

  If she wasn’t an old woman, I might have slapped her. “Yes,” I said, my teeth gritted.

  Her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head. “You are a hothead, aren’t you? It’s a good thing Chase blocked your magic or we’d all be in trouble.”

  “I’d never use my magic to hurt anyone,” I insisted, folding my arms across my chest.

  “Ah, but you have accidentally, haven’t you? Isn’t that how your sister died? Your anger boiled over, the flame grew so intense, and you accidentally released a blast of wind at her.”

  “How do you know that? Are all of you spying on my every move?”

  Johna shook her head. “Of course not, a young girl like you, with a handsome suitor like Bryden deserves her privacy. I have spies who tell me the things I cannot see for myself.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” Chase said, “but can we talk about what just happened. Who’s down there? So few people ever come this way and I’m concerned. It’s not like there’s a road, or even a path, down there. Someone’s snooping around.”

  Johna’s smile disappeared, replaced by a very serious set of pursed lips. “I don’t know. I saw only one man. He had a sword on his hip, but he was moving slowly, carefully observing the ground. I think he was looking for tracks. There may be dozens of them out in the forest looking for Lianne.”

  “We erased any clue that Lianne had been through this place,” Chase said. His firm stance showed that he had complete confidence in himself. “They won’t find anything.”

  “And yet, he searched directly below us for nearly an hour.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I’d sat encased in Chase’s arms for that long?

  “He finally moved on,” Johna said, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if he returned. He knows something or he wouldn’t have spent so much time in one spot.”

  “I didn’t miss a thing,” Chase insisted. “There’s no way he can know we’re here. Only one person has left the community since Lianne got here and she’s not in a place where she can tell anyone.”

  “Did he tell you your friend is gone, Lianne?” Johna asked.

  “Mags? She left?” My surprise must have shown across my face, my eyes wide, my mouth in a circle. “Where did she go?”

  “We couldn’t allow a baby here for long,” Johna said. “We offered to put an enchantment on the child so it wouldn’t cry, but she refused so we had to ask her to leave.”

  “You asked her to leave?” I wanted to scream, but I knew I couldn’t to protect the community. “Did you just dump them in the forest? Then that’s why that man found something to see down there. I can’t believe you would just drop her there without even letting me say goodbye!”

  My hands form
ed fists and my arms shook. I plastered them to my sides, trying to control the rage flowing through me.

  Johna raised an eyebrow. “It appears she has quite a temper, even without the magic stoking it.”

  “Don’t analyze me.”

  “Quite right, I’m sorry, child. No, we did not just dump Mags in the midst of the forest. She’s moved on to another place. It’s very safe. We drove away the Malborn when Chase was just a twinkle in his mother’s eye.”

  “She’s in your homeland? But how could she find it on her own? I don’t understand.”

  “We have ways of transporting people across long distances in seconds. It’s part of the way our magic works,” Chase said.

  “Really? That’s incredible. Can I learn it too?” For a moment I felt some hope in learning more about magic. I’d seen it as a curse that had only brought pain and suffering to those I loved. I saw it as an evil tool my people used to control others. It hadn’t really occurred to me I could do something benign with it.

  “Perhaps. We’d like to teach you, but Chase tells me you’re anxious to leave us,” Johna said. I opened my mouth to respond, but she held up her hand and continued. “Lianne, you are the bearer of great potential. It pains me to know your people bound up your gift when you were born, unleashing it only when it was useful to them. That’s not fair to you and it’s a gross misuse of your gift.”

  I nodded, in full agreement with what she’d just said. “But Chase tells me there’s a bigger problem than my people invading Fithia. Will you tell me?”

  Johna sighed and sat down on her chair. She was so vital, but her body was obviously very old. I wanted to know her exact age. I didn’t dare ask. “My people have had access to our gifts, what you call magic, for as long as we can remember. Many, many, many years ago we were invaded by people who called themselves the Malborn. They sought to exploit our gifts, and even found ways to breed their own gifted army. In our land, people with the gift have a spark in their eye - a magical twinkle only another gifted person can see. It’s what helped us identify each other, but still kept us hidden from our enemies.