Ellas Past

Kane

Three more days we travelled in the same manner, stopping only when Garath determined that it was full dark in the world above, and that we needed to eat and sleep.

I was sure that, being creatures of Dar’cen’s design, Garath, Gremok and I, could easily have gone without the dictated rest. And as for Anna, I was sure that there were hidden reserves in that woman; a strength and determination that I believed would have driven her to keep pace had we not stopped.

But none of us argued; we all knew that in the days to come we would be glad of the rest we took now.

Conversation as we walked seemed to mostly be in pairs – Garath and Gremok spoke as if long lost brothers, each telling the other of their people and their histories, and Anna and I, talked of what we would do when we arrived at the Ella'ren's home, and of plans for the battles to come.

On the seventh day, Garath stopped after only a few hours march. ‘We are here,’ he said, as another chamber formed around us.

‘A few hundred yards further and the roots of the great trees you talked of, Gremok, will fill the ground. We will need to surface here lest we harm them. But beware, it is midday above so you will need to shield your eyes. Your eyes have long adapted to the faint light that mother Ellas has provided, her gentle and yet sufficient gift.’

‘Here already?’ Anna asked, almost disbelievingly.

I, too, was very surprised at Garath's words.

Garath smiled, but before he could respond, Gremok laughed and said, ‘Another magic that my brother and his kin possess.’

‘Not ours, little brother, yet another gift from Mother Ellas. It is she who allows this thing.’

‘But magic only you and yours can harness. So yours nonetheless,’ Gremok retorted, with a grin.’

Garath, too, smiled. ‘It is as you say—’

‘Will you explain please, Garath,’ I asked. ‘The journey to your home was long and arduous, yet even that seemed less than it should. But this journey should have been weeks, not days. I thought that we would surface many times if only to replenish our supplies. So tell us, please.’

‘Did you not see? Did you not at least suspect when you saw how quickly the rocks and the strata changed as we move forward?’

I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and my face must have reflected my mystification.

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‘Ellas moved around us, as we moved,’ Garath said. ‘She, knowing our need, helped by moving to where it is we needed her to be. It is a thing that happens only when need is great. It is not something we Roken control or can call upon.’

‘That… but surely, the whole world cannot be moved just… just for us?’ Anna asked, astonishment plain in her words.

Garath laughed. ‘No, it is not that, daughter. Again, I cannot explain. Learned ones amongst us believe it to be the workings of time, but I do not understand how that can be so, for we have travelled for seven days, and in the world above only seven days have passed. Yet we are here… a journey of weeks has passed. Accept it as so. A boon from Mother Ellas, that is all.’

I looked at Anna, and knew that she, too, shared my thoughts without needing to use any of her gifts. It is well that the Giants aid us. What they are capable of may change the tides of this war.

We emerged from the ground just as Garath had said, some two hundred yards from the forest's edge. Yet even at that distance, huge roots had crisscrossed our path and Garath had to reshape and reroute his tunnel so that we could slip past without damaging them.

The sky was overcast with clouds heavy with rain, but still Anna, Gremok and I had to shield our eyes for long moments, just as Garath had said, though he did not seem troubled at all.

As we squinted towards the trees which, even from where we stood, rose up to almost blank out the sky, Ella'ren emerged from between their huge trunks in their hundreds. All slowly, carefully it seemed, making their way towards us. Gremok broke from our party and walked forward. Garath, too, stepped forward to follow.

‘No, brother,’ Gremok said, as he turned back to us. ‘This I must do alone. When Anna returned Morta and Uel to my people, she said that what was done to them was not taken well by my brethren… and my changes are far more extreme despite what Anna did to heal us both.

'Long ago the Wise Ones named us innocents, children even. And it is true… the hurt he has done to the world, few of us comprehended… It was not our affair, for he did not touch us. But with the return of my brethren, that has changed… and they see now what is to come. But they are still as children, and may turn their back on the evil he has done.

'To not see a thing, is the same as if it does not exist to some of my people. They may yet shun me… and I alone must face that. Kane tells me of a bargain my people made… I must make them honour that bargain, even if they turn me away. Wait here, Brother. If all goes well, I will come for you, and you will meet my kin. And if not, well…’ his voice trailed off, as he turned and walked towards the trees, and the ranks of Ella'ren that awaited him.

Garath voice was filled with anger as he spoke, ‘Will my brother be safe, Daughter? The others, he talked of, were they harmed by… by their own people?’

‘No harm came to them… but seeing how they were changed, even though they were not as Gremok, many were afraid. They rejected them because they feared that such a thing could be done to them. It was not all… many welcome them back with open arms. But even in their eyes, I saw fear as they tended to their loved ones. Gremok, even with what I have done for him, is a formidable sight… and I truly do not know how this day will end,’ Anna said.

‘They will not harm Gremok,’ I said, with certainty in my voice. ‘And they will honour our bargain.’

‘And you know this, because?’ Anna asked. ‘Or is this again something that I must not know?’

The truth could not be spoken, I knew, but the faith I had in Gremok had grown with each passing day. ‘Gremok is a child no longer, Anna. He is not an innocent. He has seen the horrors that Dar'cen has committed… he has felt them. No, Gremok is not a child. He will convince them… and he will then lead them.’

‘I believe what you say to be true, but still I fear for my brother… I wish to follow and stand at his side. But I will wait as he has asked,’ Garath said, as he lowered his huge frame to the floor and began to gouge huge ruts out of the grass that surrounded him with the blades of his one hand.

‘So we wait,’ Anna said, as she, too, sat.