Then her face changed, and it was Amber’s face that Miro saw.
Miro’s blade swept through the enemy, furious and unforgiving.
The Alturan army poured into the enemy encampment. Support came down from the Ring Forts, massive creatures of wood and bone crashing through the ditches, bursting through the walls. Soon the enemy was in rout, fleeing for the security of their strength in the north.
Miro tried to focus on nothing. Nothing at all.
It didn’t work.
29
The first step towards developing an improved future is developing the ability to envision it.
— Sermons of Primate Melovar Aspen, 541 Y.E.
LAYLA stopped, looking at the earth. She crouched down, staring intently at a patch of grass. She picked a blade and put it between her teeth, chewing on it thoughtfully.
"What? What is it?" Ella said.
Layla frowned at her. Ella sighed.
The small woman — Ella had decided woman was more appropriate than girl — pointed at a patch of ground.
Ella couldn’t see anything, anything at all.
"He came this way. He is feeling better now, moving faster, his wound pains him less. He found some herbs to help him." Layla looked at Ella in reproach. "It seems your people are alone in their ignorance about healing."
"Yes, yes. Which direction?"
Layla pointed. "Also, he still wears the white clothing."
"Good," Ella nodded.
Picking up her satchel and throwing it over her shoulder, Ella followed Layla deeper into the trees.
Ella knew she never would have made it this far without the healer. Killian had left the road, taking a shortcut through the forest. This new route would make the going more difficult, but the same could be said for any pursuers.
She wondered how far behind her the High Enchantress was. She had experienced a pang of conscience and asked a guard to give her a message. She’d told Evora Guinestor she was heading south, that she knew Killian would be heading this way. She’d said not to worry, that she would set matters right.
The dry twigs and leaves cracked beneath her feet. Layla somehow stepped so lightly she didn’t make a sound. Ella felt like a lumbering beast in comparison.
Ella removed her shawl, growing warm from the exertions of the walk. Her dreams of altering Layla’s dress on the journey had so far come to nothing. Each night she collapsed exhausted, too tired to eat let alone sew.
She’d eventually had to give up on protecting her own beautiful yellow dress from the ravages of the forest. She looked down at it sadly, the bits of plant entangled in the hem, the threads torn by sharp branches or thorns. Her arms bore the same scratches, but she was somehow sorrier for the dress.
She’d rotated her clothing in the time that they’d been on the trail, so that it was all in the same sorry state. It was fortunate that she’d brought so much though — the cold at night was formidable. The only dress she’d kept unworn was her green enchantress’s dress. She knew she might need it later.
Frost covered the evergreens every morning. Mist sometimes flowed through the trees, so that it was hard to see a few paces ahead.
Growing up on the edge of the Dunwood, Ella was used to the sounds of the forest. But here, in the south, in a different forest with a different name, the sounds were much more ominous. Strange shrieks and terribly human-like voices cried out in the night. The disdain Layla showed for her fear was comforting, the little woman seemed to fear nothing.
"Tell me something of the Dunfolk," Ella said.
Layla grunted. "For one thing, we are not ‘Dunfolk’. That’s a word created by you of the houses, it means ‘moss people’. A stupid name. Loralayalanasa we are, and we have been in these parts far longer than you. Long enough to see the great trees grow from a tiny seed. Long enough to become a part of this land."
"Oh," said Ella, taken aback. "I didn’t mean to offend you."
"It is not you we are angry with. Some of your people are good, some of them are evil. For us though it is your power that is the problem. You have so much power, the power to burn, to destroy, to kill."
Now it was Ella who took offence. "But also the power to create, to warm, to protect."
"Our people create nothing; we grow. We plant a seed and give it our attention, and it grows. We don’t need heat — we have each other for warmth. We give our brothers and sisters love, and they give us their warmth in return. And what do you protect from? From each other. You protect yourselves from the evil ones. And something dies inside of you every time you fight, every time you take on their methods in the name of security."