CHAPTER 11
Carella awoke long before the roosters crowed. She fingered through the pages of the book of Arcanscape until throwing it on the ground in frustration.
“Carella?” Zanfire called to her outside the tent.
“Come in.”
“I was hoping you would be up early. Where is Iangold?”
“He went back to his home in Triloft,” Carella shrugged her shoulders. “He wanted me back at the castle. To live a life cloaked in an illusion of comfort with him. I cannot do that.”
“I see.”
“But he may be right about what we're doing. Maybe we are placing these elves in mortal danger by having them join us at Graceonna.”
“The Dark Queen will not give them mercy,” Zanfire said. “They have no defense against her. We have castle walls to protect the old and young. And soldiers that defend those walls.”
“So we know what is best for them?”
“It’s best for all of us. And after yesterday, they don't look like they need any further convincing. How you exorcised the demon out of that man was nothing short of a miracle.”
“I don't know how many miracles I have left,” she said. “And I don't want to become like you.”
Zanfire went quiet and looked down, hurt. Spotting her Arcanscape on the ground, he picked it up and began thumbing through it.
“I didn't mean that the way it sounded,” she said. “You do these things and it raises expectations and pressure and the elves want more and more from you. And when you can't deliver anymore they discard you like an old scarf.”
“I used this spell,” he said, pointing at a page in Arcanscape. “To make an object levitate. Used forks and spoons mostly. I used it as a crutch after my healing ability was gone. I wanted the elves to think I still had a gift.”
Zanfire closed the book of Arcanscape and laid it on Carella's belongings.
“I never told anyone I had the gift,” Carella said. “I had everyone, even Iangold, thinking that I was merely casting spells from this book. I remember when I first discovered I could heal. It was when my cat was missing. Woodrin. I called out for him and heard all of this squealing near the pond. So I ran over and there he was, biting down on a rat's neck. But the rat was still alive and was trying to squirm his way free. Woodrin was a really small cat and I was worried that the rat would hurt him so I tried to pry him free and then Woodrin loosened his hold. But then the rat clawed Woodrin in the neck with his hind feet. His claws just ripped his throat. He howled in pain and convulsed, choking on his own blood. So I laid my hands on him and petted him and didn't know what to do but then it happened. My hands felt like they weren't my own anymore. I felt...this heat...I looked down and my cat's throat just healed itself. Within a few moments he was up and purring like nothing ever happened. Then he ran back to the pond to look for more rats. I thought I was imagining things. But it became real. I knew I could heal by touch.”
“Excuse me,” a woman poked her head in the tent. “My name is Megwyn. I'm here with my daughter, Krislynn. May we have a moment of your time please?”
The princess nodded her head and Zanfire waved her in.
Megwyn wore a long brown gown with a sleeveless tunic. She ran her fingers through her hair, self-conscious about her appearance. Krislynn, nine years old, wore a long sleeved white tunic over a blue dress. She clutched a small knitted bear with both hands.
“I'll be outside,” said Zanfire as he stepped out.
“I'm so sorry to bother you,” Megwyn said. “But yesterday, before you healed that man you sang a song so that was so sweet. It did something to me...It was so soothing... But my daughter is deaf. I was wondering...I mean...I heard rumors that you can heal afflictions...I was wondering if you can make my daughter hear again.”
“I don't know,” Carella said.
“Please.” Megwyn handed Carella a small pouch of emeralds. “I wish I had more to offer. I am a widow but my husband left me with some jewels he bought in-”
“Stop.” Carella waved away the woman's gift and motioned for Krislynn to come forward. As the girl walked toward her, Carella knelt down and they looked at each other eye to eye. She tried to take hold of the bear but the girl resisted.
“She reads lips,” Megwyn said.
“Can I hold him?”
The girl hesitated but then let Carella take away the toy. The princess planted a kiss on the bear and the girl smiled. Carella placed the toy on the ground and then covered the girl's ears with her own hands.
“Close your eyes,” Carella said, her face a mirror of the girl's own playful smile.
Krislynn shut her eyes.
“When elves die,” Carella began singing. “The birds all cry...”
A line grew outside of Carella's tent. Zanfire thought he should send all of the elves away and tell them that Carella had come down with an illness. He did not want the entire elven world to come to the princess looking for a miracle.
A blind woman stood waiting, arm in arm with her son.
“My mother can no longer see,” the woman's son said to Zanfire. “We heard that Carella is the giver of miracles. Is this true?”
“It is,” bellowed a deep voice from the back. Zanfire recognized the man as Xavros, the half-breed that Carella healed of vampirism. “I want to thank her. There was a demon inside me that I couldn't control. It was so strong. I just gave in to it. But with one touch. With one touch she freed me from the possession of the evil one. Is she in there?”
Laughter could be heard coming from inside Carella's quarters. Megwyn ran out of the tent with Krislynn's hand in hers.
“My daughter has been healed!” Megwyn said. “She can hear! She can hear!”
The line that gathered in front of the tent gasped.
“Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Krislynn?”
A joyous smile crossed the girl's face as she nodded.
A sparrow landed on a tree branch to the side of them. It chirped and hopped before flying off again.
Krislynn pointed at the sparrow.
“Bird,” she said.
“Yes!” Megwyn hugged Krislynn, tears welling in her eyes.
“A miracle worker is here!” Xavros cried out.
The elves began pushing forward to the tent.
“Hold on a moment, please!” the cleric said to the raucous crowd.
Zanfire went inside the tent and closed it shut.
“There are a line of elves out here,” Zanfire said to Carella. “And they all want a piece of you.”
“You're kidding?” Carella opened her tent and closed it with a shudder after seeing the amount of elves that had gathered around.
“They are all out there. Blind elderly. Crippled youth. Every infirmity imaginable.”
“What if my gift just stops without warning?” Carella said. “Like it did with you?”
“Carella?” a male voice shouted. “Please heal my son!”
“Princess!” a woman's voice yelled out. “Come out and heal my daughter! She cannot walk!”
The assorted pleas for help increased in volume until becoming one loud cacophony of pain and need.
“There is nothing special about me.” Carella looked down at her hands. “Why me?”
“Don't try to make sense of it,” Zanfire said. “That's what I did. And then I tried to cling to it. And when I lost it, I wanted to die.”
“I don't know if I can go out there,” she said.
Zanfire opened the tent.
“You didn't choose the gift,” he said. “It chose you.”
“But what if it is a curse?”
Carella stepped out of the tent and surveyed the crowd of elves. She felt all of their eyes on her. Young children carried by their parents, unable to walk. Deformed elves with large goiters on their necks. Blind elderly barely able to stand. They all yelled out for her attention, their voices coalescing into one collective cry for help.
Holding up her hands, they went silent after a f
ew moments.
She took a deep breath then laid her healing hands on the elves, one by one.
Thank you for checking out episode one of When Elves Die.
I would like to invite you to check out the rest of Season One, now available on Amazon.
When Elves Die Season One Complete (Episodes 1-5)
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