The Girl with an Owl

Chapter 56

Joining the line of people still leaving the War Council, Ajana and her friends noticed that someone had already opened another portal. Everyone was going through it without any hesitation. It was as if they were heading for a walk in the park, not for war.

The hesitant trio went through the portal much more cautiously, not entirely sure where they would end up since neither of them followed the meeting carefully. They only knew they wanted to help, and that was all that mattered to them.

The moment they stepped into the portal, they got an uncomfortable feeling of ants crawling all over them, but in a matter of seconds the feeling was gone, and they were standing in the middle of a different forest.

There was a general unhealthy look about the trees as if there was a disease eating at them from the inside out. Life was seeping out of them, and they were lacking more and more of their very own essence.

"Do they have anything, but trees in this world?" Bluebells said.

He was trying to make a joke, but his weak, trembling voice was telling a different story. It was clear that he could feel that there was something wrong with the forest they found themselves in, and he wanted to divert their attention from it, in any way possible.

Ajana was unsure if he wanted to make her feel better, or Rex, or even himself.

Finally, she concluded that it was probably all three of them.

"This is territory of the Dark Elves. The corruption that took over their hearts is spreading to the surrounding nature as well since, we, elves, are so closely connected with nature. The trees are dying." Kieran said, appearing by their side.

"Can we help them? Can I heal them?" Ajana asked immediately.

"The only way to help them now is to defeat the Dark Elves. That will sever the tie that binds them, and only then the healing would be possible." Kieran said.

"Why?" Ajana asked.

"Well, you might cure the infection for a few moments, but soon enough, it will seep back in from the poisoned hearts of the elves. It would be a neverending task." Kieran said.

"I see," Ajana said with sadness in her voice.

She meant what she said, she could see the logic in Kieran's words, but that didn't stop her heart from aching for the hurting trees. After all, they were living beings, as well, as much as some people disagreed.

"Enough prattle. Wallace sent me to take you to the edge of dark elf territory, to our side of the woods, on the border to keep you safe and get you ready for the healing process that was bound to be needed." Kieran said.

Without a word, Ajana and her friends followed Kieran knowing full well that at their young age, they would be no match to elves who were born in war, shaped and molded by it, who had learned to fight since they were able to stand on their own two feet.

That didn't stop them from wishing that they could do more to help, that there was some way for those as young and inexperienced as them to change the tide of war.

Meeting up with elf healers, Ajana followed all of their instructions with Bluebells and Rex helping out in any way they could, yet she couldn't stop trying to find some way to stop the bloodshed that was bound to follow.

Before she could think of the solution, the first wounded elves started arriving, and she had to busy herself healing them.

Unlike her defense magic, healing came naturally to her.

She would put her hands on the wound and let her energy, her love, and her strength flow into the injured. With small wounds, it worked completely, with more serious ones, it helped. That gave her the will to keep on doing as much as she could to help.

However, even magic has its limits, and one elf was so heavily wounded, that there was no way to help him. He died with his wife holding his hand and crying rivers of tears.

It broke Ajana's heart.

She rushed out of the magical tent, set up for the wounded because she needed some fresh air, she needed to find her footing in the horrible reality that she had troubles accepting. A reality in which people died, where they were murdered.

As tears clouded her vision, she thought she saw something unusual. At least it was unusual to her, after seeing a life end in front of her very eyes, without her being able to do anything about it.

What her eyes beheld was a beautiful red rose that spoke of life and vibrancy, which Ajana found odd. It felt to her like life was mocking her for not being able to stop death from reaping a soul from the rich field of life, for allowing death to take root in the beauty of life.

Death had to be stopped.

Then it dawned on her. Perhaps she couldn't stop death, but there was more that she could do, a small ray of hope that the rose helped her remember.

She was reminded of the will-o'-the-wisp she had met and helped. The same one who told her to call upon him if she ever needed help. Being unable to remember any situation when she would need more help, Ajana decided to ask the little guy for help.

Although she couldn't clearly remember things she had heard about them, she was pretty sure they could influence people in some way. As far as she could remember, it was some kind of mesmerizing influence, and she hoped that would be enough to help the Light Elves capture the Dark Elves.

However, Ajana had no idea how to call upon such a mysterious being as was will-o'-the-wisp. She had to try something, she couldn't allow for anyone else to die without trying to stop it.

Having no other ideas, Ajana started making mental images of the will-o-the-wisp in her mind and the message it wrote to her before it disappeared. Sending that mental image out into the world, Ajana thought it was ridiculous, that it wouldn't work, so she tried to do more.

"My friend, will-o-the-wisp, I beg of thee,

come and help me." Ajana murmured.

As she said that, she tried to remember how the connection she made with the magical being who was even more mesmerizing than the most felt. In her mind, she recreated the same feeling she got when she first met the small glowing light that was more than met the eyes.

A few moments later, Ajana could feel a light breeze on her shoulder, like a small breath of air, and when she turned her head to the side, she could see the same bright blue eyes looking at her with warmth.

"We've come to help." The light wrote in the air in front of her.

As she looked around, she could see countless glimmering lights popping out of nowhere, and she hoped with all her heart, that it would be enough help to stop the fighting.