7/5/3028
It was just after midday when we arrived at Possen Valley. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.
The valley was narrow and sloped downward—more like a cleft than a valley. The ground was mostly covered in rocks and pebbles instead of the lush green grass we had traveled on earlier in the morning. On either side of us was barren mountain with jagged rocks jutting out of the sides.
Possen Valley was undeniably eerie, particularly with its lack of sunlight, but that wasn't the worst of it. Worst of all was the smell. The air was dead and smelled as if rain water had been trapped under the rocks for a long time. The humidity only served to magnify the dreadful odor.
"It's a good thing we're here in the daytime," Elossai said in her usual cheerful tone.
"Why's that?" I asked. Martin glared at me.
"Well, there are a number of reasons. The terrain isn't ideal for horses, and creatures tend to roam in the night."
Creatures?
For all I knew, creatures could mean friendly raccoons, or it could mean wolves. I can cope with raccoons. Wolves, not so much.
"Stay close," Keiran said under his breath, just loud enough for us all to hear.
I rotated my stiff shoulders, trying to relax the tension from my muscles as I listened to our horse's hooves trot against the rocks. Some of the rocks seemed so loose that I winced every time I saw rocks rolling out from underneath Keiran and Ilta's horses, and when my horse stumbled. What would be worse—tumbling down the valley, or having a landslide make your muddy grave? I couldn't decide.
"Elossai..." I said with a shaky voice.
"It's alright. After we pass through the valley, we'll be clear of the mountain range," Elossai encouraged.
I wanted to relax, but my nerves simply refused. Everything I watched seemed to only make me more anxious, so I decided to shut my eyes.
After a while, the clomping hooves became a steady rhythm and I felt a lot calmer. I tried opening my eyes, but my vision was blurry. The calm feeling I'd just experience disappeared.
My heart throbbed and my skin felt like it was burning up. It was the same feeling when the blond Ra approached me—an overwhelming sense that something dreadful was about to take place.
I tried to shake off the panic.
"Ellis Ann are you alright?" Elossai looked over her shoulder. "I sense your anxiety."
"I don't know." I stalled. "How can you tell when I'm sitting behind you?"
"I'm an empath—I can sense your emotions." Elossai shifted in the saddle as if trying to work away discomfort. "Your emotions are quite loud at the moment."
"I think I might be having a panic attack."
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"Hey, Elossai." Martin rode up next to us from behind. "How much longer 'till we're out of this valley?"
"Duration should be under two hours," replied Elossai.
"Good, 'cause I think Bertha needs to rest."
"Bertha?"
I shook my head, doing my best to hide my smile. "You named your horse Bertha?"
"I am sure he is fine to be called Bertha," said Elossai.
"He? I guess I'll call him Bert, then," Martin said, giving Bert an affectionate pat on the neck. Bert was starting to slow his pace, so Elossai held the reins back for us to remain at the same pace with him. "Ell, you should take over for Elossai—you've been sleeping for most of the trip."
"No way." I shook my head. "I'm not taking the reins while we're still in this terrain."
"Maybe Elossai needs to rest though. Are you tired, Elossai?"
"I'm fine," she said, her voice clear as a bell. She certainly didn't sound tired. "Are you feeling fatigued, Martin?"
"Sort of. Talk to me so I stay awake."
Elossai thought for a moment before continuing. "Is it alright if I ask you about your tribal markings?"
"Tribal markings? Oh, you mean my tattoos?"
"Yes, your... tattoos. Were they for a rite of passage?"
"Nah." Martin shook his head, wavy strands of hair falling over his brow. "I just like body art for the most part."
"You mean, none of them have significant meaning?"
"Most of my tattoos mean something." Martin slapped his right deltoid a couple times. "I got a bear when I was twenty—it's for strength and courage."
"Did you feel as if you did not have enough?"
"I felt like I needed a heck of a lot more to raise Katie when our parents died." Martin lost the jovial ring to his voice.
"I think it takes a lot of courage to take on the role of a guardian at that age. Even now, you are still young."
"Young?" Martin gave a snort. "Sounds kind of funny coming from a twelve-year-old."
"I have been ripe for sixteen years, and if you count the three years I spent in bud stage, I would be all of nineteen years."
"Are the three years in bud stage like the nine months we spend as a fetus?"
"Correct."
"Doesn't count."
"Elos are communicative and cognizant after the first year of bud stage. If we are measuring from onset of communication, at the very least I should be considered eighteen years of age." Though Elossai was polite, I could tell that she was offended.
"Speaking of age, how old is Sye-Liene?" I asked.
"Well, you disappeared at the age of eighteen, a few months before your nineteenth year. It has been six years since your disappearance. If we counted from your Elorian birthday, you would be twenty-five years of age—but we must factor in the five years you spent in the Ora, unaging. The laws of time work differently there. Since you only have memories from the past year, I would only add another year to when you disappeared."
I nodded slowly to myself, letting it sink in.
"I have a question, Elossai," I said. "How is it that you can enter an Ora with a map and the map itself doesn't get vaporized along with your clothes?"
"Good question," Martin said, eagerly awaiting the answer.
"That's simple—the map is made of uni-elk."
"Uni-elk?"
"It's a very rare species of elk in Eloria. A phenomenal creature really."
"So, what makes it so special?"
"Its hide has unique properties, but they're very rare to come by, and even more so, now, because they were hunted to near extinction."
"Well if it's magical, of course everyone wanted 'em."
"The hide from the uni-elk is the only non-living thing we know of that can pass through the Ora without disintegrating," Elossai said.
The uni-elk.
For some reason, the name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't pinpoint where I had heard it from.
"Watch where you're going," Jarek's voice boomed from behind us.
"Hey, check that out." Martin pointed ahead to an enormous log that Keiran, Ilta and Stanjah were in the process of passing around. Before I could open my mouth to speak Martin spoke again. "You wanna see me jump over it?"
"No!" I shouted.
"Is everything alright back there?" I heard Keiran ask.
"Babe, it's fine. It'll be fun."
He winked, then before I knew it he and Bert were in a full gallop.
"Martin, no!" Elossai shouted, sending our horse in pursuit. Elossai was faster than Martin and we were right behind him in an instant, but there was nothing we could do to stop them.
"What's happening back there?" Stanjah demanded.
A blur of Martin and Bert sprung up into the air, volleying over the log. Elossai sent our horse after them and my heart caught in my throat, skipping a beat as it seemed for a moment that we were flying, frozen in mid-air.
The only sound that managed to escape me was a distorted cry when I saw the steep cliff below. I knew what the outcome was.
We were going to crash onto the jagged rocks below.
Sharp rocks and pebbles flew up on impact throwing off the balance of our horse, and we skidded down the cliff.
"Elossai!" I cried. I tried to hold on to her waist but lost my gripping and was flung like a ragdoll before crashing into rocks and pebbles.
Pain. Confusion. Shock.
My arm was raw with bright red specks that pooled together slowly.
Blood.
My arm throbbed in pain, but I didn't feel like anything was broken. It certainly could have been a lot worse.
I struggled to lift my head to check on the others. My world was spinning.
When I saw the log above me by the edge of the cliff, I had a better idea of where I was. I was on a ledge, under the cliff. No one else was nearby. Jarek was running up a slope from below, coming toward me.
"Ellis Ann!" Jarek came running from the slope that he, Keiran, and Stanjah had safely traveled on. He crouched down beside me. "Are you okay?"
"Ugh... Yeah."
"Anmus, she's okay. Where are Martin and Elossai?" Jarek called. We waited for a moment but there was no answer. Jarek stood up. "Anmus!"
"Jarek, is she able to walk?" I heard Ilta's voice from further below us. I couldn't see where she was.
"Can you?" Beads of sweat had broken out on Jarek's brow.
"I think I can," I replied. Carefully, and with the help of Jarek, I limped down the slope and there I saw Keiran, Ilta, and Stanjah standing around Martin, who was lying flat on the ground. Elossai was crouched beside him.
"Martin, you can be such an idiot sometimes!" I said angrily as we approached them. He was going to get an earful from me. What sort of stunt was he trying to pull by endangering us? The closer I got to them, the more I reached boiling point. I was about to unleash hell on him, but then Elossai looked up at me with glassy eyes.
"Ellis Ann..." Elossai said, her lips trembling.
Elossai's cheek was bruised and her arm was covered in blood. I caught sight of our horses that had tumbled down the cliff with us. My horse lay limp on the ground and Bert lay further ahead with its head bloody on a jagged rock. Bert's breaths were shallow and I knew he didn't have many more before, he too, would be gone.
There was a ghastly wheezing noise coming from Martin. I finally turned my attention to Martin, looking at him properly for the first time.
My heart stopped.
Clear through his stomach protruded a splintered branch, jutting awkwardly from the ground and covered in blood.
"Martin!" My voice broke.
"Ell..." Martin groaned feebly. I knelt beside him. Any vitriol I was about to spew at him vanished at the sight of his injury. Tears spilled out of my eyes as I helplessly watched him struggle to breathe. "Katie..." Martin wheezed heavily. "Ell, you have to... promise me you'll—"
"Martin, don't speak right now." I gently stroked his bruised cheek. I knew what he wanted to say but I couldn't let him say it. I won't let him entertain the idea of passing the torch of finding his sister—I won't let him give up.
"I can fix this," Elossai said.
"It's too dangerous, Elossai," said Stanjah. "You have acquired substantial injuries. You don't have the strength."
"If I do not, he will lose his life. I am the only one who can save him," Elossai insisted.
"Your value to the mission is indispensable, Elos."
Elossai turned to Keiran as if asking for permission. "Anmus."
"My Anmus, I must appeal to your rationality," said Stanjah. "The mission!"
Keiran's expression was serious, jaw set hard. After a moment, he gave a firm nod to Elossai.
"You have my permission, Elossai. Do what you must to save him.
Martin mumbled something, then winced. I squeezed his hand, letting him know that I was there to support him.
When Keiran began to pull the branch, Martin shrieked in agony. Jarek and Ilta pinned him down as he screamed and struggled. Martin's face contorted, his breaths shallow and choppy. Then, his eyes went wide and focused on some object in the sky that didn't exist.
Keiran spread his stance wide, and after taking on quick, deliberate breath, pulled the branch clean through. Martin let out a final gurgle before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Blood gushed from the wound and Jarek pressed down on it firmly to slow the flow. The smell of iron from Martin's blood was nauseating and I had to turn away and cover my nose.
I looked to Keiran with tears streaming down my face, seeking affirmation that Martin was only unconscious.
"It will be all right," Keiran said before he gestured for Elossai to do what she needed to do.
Ilta repositioned herself, crouching down behind Elossai—hands extended as if ready to catch her. Jarek took a step back, removing his hand from Martin's wound.
Elossai held Martin's free hand and the yellow gemstone on her forehead started to glow dimly before turning into one single, magnificent beam that shone directly at Martin's bleeding stomach. Elossai's eyes intensified into a piercing emerald that glowed. For that minute, I was enthralled by the act that I, too, was warmed, just by being near such power.
Minutes passed and Elossai's naturally pale complexion lost blood and vitality. She became gray as a stone sculpture and even her eyes, dimmed to a muddy brown.
"What's happening?" I whispered to Jarek, but he didn't answer.
Eternity passed when finally, Elossai exhaled deeply and the beam from her gemstone shut off. As soon as it did, Elossai collapsed into Ilta's arms behind her.
"What's going on?" I asked, this time much louder.
"We wait," said Keiran.
Ilta scooped Elossai up and held her in her arms.
"Wait for what? Why did she pass out?" I wanted answers.
"Elossai heals through transference," Stanjah said. "And she has now acquired your friend's injuries."