Cael continued to run, deftly maneuvering through wild landscape. The dark forest was familiar. It was no more difficult for him to avoid trees, as it would be for someone to avoid the couch in their own living room.
Finally, he spotted his father across a clearing and slowed. Once to the man, he turned and fell into step with him. “I am glad that you received my message. Come quickly.”
The seventy-seven year old man nodded. “Yes, though the damn bird refused to give me your note for a good five minutes," he told him. "Those jays aren’t too bright.”
Cael smiled a little. “Had to use what was available.”
Eligh nodded. “Anyway, I’m sorry I couldn’t bring a horse to make the journey faster. I still don’t have one, nor the money to buy one.”
“That is fine,” Cael said. “Hopefully we will still make it in time. I must say, though―I was worried, with all of the temples being closed, whether or not you would even be there. I was unsure where else you may have gone.”
“King Xavien will have to do more than close the temple to stop me,” Eligh said with a confident smile. He was a tall man with a large build. It was obvious that he had been very strong when he was younger―handsome, too. He looked tough, like he could have been a fighter in his day, but in truth he had never raised a hand against anyone in his life. Healing clerics were always gentle, nonviolent people.
Cael looked a lot like him; his features were softer because of the femininity of his elven half, but he still had his father’s strong jaw and intense blue eyes. Eligh’s short hair, which was gray now, had once been a sandy blond instead of Cael’s redwood color.
“So, tell me who’s poisoned,” Eligh said. “I can’t imagine an elf accepting my help, even if they were dying.” Then he had a sudden thought that worried him. “Unless it’s Vaera?”
“No, my mother is fine,” Cael assured him.
Eligh let out a relieved sigh.
“I have recently met two people, Falcon and Julia,” Cael told him. “They are also fighting against Xavien and Kieran. We have joined forces.”
“Good to hear,” Eligh said, reaching over to pat his son’s shoulder. “No doubt you’ll succeed.”
“Thank you for your faith. I hope so,” Cael said, giving him a small smile. He turned his attention to where they were going as they entered the forest. He sighed. “Right now I am worried about Julia, though more so about Falcon. She is the one poisoned, but he is the one who will truly suffer if she dies.”
“Heartbreak is survivable,” Eligh commented knowingly. “He’ll be okay in time.”
“They are meant for each other,” Cael told him. “It is equal between them. They are connected.”
“I don’t want to hear about your rahnam crap,” Eligh said, a bit sourly.
“Perhaps you do not believe―I rarely do myself anymore―but when I see how people like Falcon and Julia love each other, when I see how much they are willing to sacrifice… it renews my faith. It makes me hope.” He glanced over at his father. “And if you truly feel that there is more than one person who is right for you, then why have you stayed alone all these years? You have not even seen my mother since my birth.”
Eligh sighed. “Perhaps it’s just hard to replace someone who, to you, was everything.”
“You say that, you feel so much devotion, and yet she chooses her people over love,” Cael shook his head. “I cannot understand that. I would give up everything to have that connection with someone. To have that love.”
“You, dear boy, are what we call a die-hard romantic,” Eligh said with a soft chuckle.
Cael rolled his eyes. “Romantics are irrational, I am not. Some things in this world just happen to be more important than others. And love… love is the highest of them all. The thing most worth fighting for, most worth sacrificing for. It is the thing we all crave. It is the food for our starving hearts. That is not romantic, that is merely a person’s soul calling out for its other half.”
He said it with such conviction that his father had to smile. “You’ll meet that person someday,” he told him. “You have an advantage over most of us―you have so many more years than us humans do, so much more time to find your rahnam.”
Cael just nodded, and they fell silent as they continued heading west through the forest.
__________
The world spun, and it felt like she was floating on a stormy sea. Everything was fuzzy. Things faded in and out, like bad reception on an old TV. Dreams and reality bled together until she couldn’t tell one from the other. Falcon was there, talking to her, but in the next instant, he was gone.
Suddenly, giant spiders were crawling over her. “Get them off!” she screamed, but no one came.
Then she was surrounded by fire; thankfully it scared the spiders away, but the wall of flames was getting closer, too close. It was too hot―she felt her skin burning―and yet inside she was cold and couldn’t stop shivering.
Next came water. It seeped up from the ground, but the circle of fire wasn’t extinguished―it continued to blaze. She cried, filled with terror. The water was getting higher, and she couldn’t move. She lay there on her back, paralyzed.
Falcon was sitting beside her, telling her it was okay.
“No! It’s not okay. Help me!” she pleaded frantically.
He wanted her to die. Why? What had she done? “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Then he was gone again. “Don’t leave me. Please make it stop. Make it stop!”
The water continued to rise until it covered her completely, and she couldn’t breathe. The longest time seemed to pass as she struggled, slowly drowning, yet unable to move.
Then a calm feeling started pouring through her, a stillness. Am I dying? she wondered as the pain slowly began to subside, and then everything faded into nothing.
__________
Cael looked up at the dark sky through the small openings in the canopy above. It was a little while before he could see the moon. It was after midnight.
Suddenly he stopped, putting a hand on his father’s arm and holding him in place. He listened intently for a moment. “Run,” he commanded. “They are close, but only one of them is breathing.” He took Eligh’s hand as he moved quickly through the trees, guiding the human so he wouldn’t fall or run into anything.
They reached the others a minute later. Julia was lying on her back, still as stone, while Falcon held her hand, crying. He looked up as they came into view, his dark eyes filled with anguish.
Eligh rushed to her and fell to his knees beside her. He placed a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. “Undo her laces,” he instructed in an urgent but steady voice.
Cael moved Falcon aside and did it; his hands were faster than a human’s. Falcon sat down a few feet away and watched helplessly, looking half-dead himself.
When Julia’s shirt was opened, Eligh placed another hand in the middle of her chest and started speaking under his breath in ancient Presbelic, the language of the gods. The chant was a prayer to Aryst, drawing upon her divine healing power. His hands began to glow a soft white, and suddenly Julia gasped. He kept chanting as she took greedy gulps of air into her lungs.
Cael glanced at Falcon, smiling in relief.
It was almost ten minutes before Eligh finally opened his eyes and removed his hands from Julia. He began lacing up her top. “We were barely in time,” he told them. “But she will be okay now.”
“Thank you!” Falcon breathed fiercely. “Thank you.”
Eligh smiled and nodded. “I’m very glad we made it.”
When her shirt was laced again, the two men moved back so Falcon could be next to her. He gathered her into his arms, caressed her face tenderly, and kissed her cool forehead. “Why isn’t she awake?”
“She’ll sleep for some time,” Eligh answered. “Her body has to rest; it still needs to recuperate after its ordeal, and that will take a little while. I will stay until I’m sure she is more fully recovered and has no more need of me.”
Falcon nodded and rubbed his face with one hand, wiping away the tears. He met Cael’s gaze for a long moment. “Thank you,” he told him wholeheartedly.
The ranger just nodded, extremely happy that Falcon would still have his Jules. Now he only hoped that they would survive the rest of their quest and go on to have a long life together.
