Secrets of the Trees

26 - Message Recieved

I awoke at the cause of a tingling sensation in my spine. I lie flat on a not too soft ground, my face smushed into what looked like someone's coat. The light around me was dim, and I instinctively reached to touch my back because I could not see well, slowly trailing upward. Instantly I knew something was off. My muscles felt, thicker. Halfway up my back, I knew before I even felt it: wings.

Thick, powdery wings. The material felt durable, and light, but soft. There were two ovular wings that were small, and two larger ones that curved from my shoulder blades, tipped and the end, and dipped back in a leaf shape. I sat up quickly, my breath short and fast. Chest heaving, and my fingers shaking, I crawled out from the tent that I lay under.

When I stretched up to face my surroundings to my surprise, my back felt heavy. I almost fell over with the new weight. The space behind my right ear begun to feel hot. That must be where my tattoo is!

What lie in front of me, was the desolate Wraithmarsh. Though, it was eerily quiet. Mutilated bodies of many brave Kloftcesni lay across the soggy plain. It was deja vu all over again, the dead being lifted onto carts, driven away to be taken to their loved ones.

A brisk wind shot from the North. With I shiver I looked around, searching for familiar eyes but found none. In a perfect line on either side of my tent were similar ones, all very rudimentary though. Wounded were probably lying inside them. One of the clearly well fairies was making her way to a tent, and I stopped her. She gasped at me.

"Excuse me, but where can I find Gwyn?" her eyes never left my wings.

"He is in this tent, your highness. I will ask for his permission to let you see-" she began, but a shout cut her off: "Let her in."

The lady nodded and I followed her inside the tiny tent. Gwyn was lying on the ground, head resting against another makeshift pillow. A two inch gash slanted down the side of his left eyebrow. Dirt, grime, and crusted blood were all present on his skin and clothes. I found that when I stepped in, my wings nearly knocked over the thin sheet over us. I felt handicaped.

"Your wings, Traeh. They are incredible!" he gleamed at me and instantly wincing in pain.

"Thank you. I have yet to see them considering I just woke up. How are you, what are you in here for?" I said meekly.

With a sigh he shot a look to his right knee. "That shockwave you created blasted me over and nearly shattered my bones. I was incapable of hitting the ground when you sent the signal since this blasted Eramthgin was trying to blast me to bits."

I shot a hand to my mouth, and gently over his knee. He looked at me and I him for a few seconds. Our gazes were broken when he looked down smiling. "It was, and was not your fault. Do not worry I beg you."

A sort of half hearted laugh was given in reply from me. "Goodness you know I will never stop apologizing for that! Are you going to be crippled, or can this be fixed?"

The nurse, who was wiping the grime from his face with a damp cloth, spoke. "I gave him a mending spell, and that will fix it fine. But he may have discomfort and pain while it mends itself. There is always a possibility in the future that he will be slightly crippled. We will hope for the best."

Still I gave him apologetic looks and he shook it off. I squeezed his hand. The nurse left us.

"Gwyn, I know we just had this victory, but how much is there to do once we recover a bit from the battle wounds?" We couldn't afford to give enough time for our enemies to regroup in the mountains and attack while we are so weak.

"The Master is still out there somewhere, and the few males are left to protect their women and children in the Hataed Mountains. We have to wipe them all out. Most importantly, the Master." he ruffled a hand through his curls in thought.

Sighing I agreed. "Yeah. I wonder how Blythe is doing back in the underground. Wait, if Kael told the Master everything about us, then he must know about the underground. He could be anywhere and if he knows that we're still all the way over here, he could be in Palladia as we speak..."

Gwyn seemed to catch on to my thought. "And there is no communication from there to here. A third of our soldiers are either dead or wounded or exhausted. This is not good. Someone needs to send for the underground as fast as possible." It appeared that Gwyn was trying to reposition himself, and ended up yelping in pain from his knee.

"Stop moving. I'm gonna get your message out alright?"

His wings bent down a little in defeat that he was imobilized. But he nodded in agreement that I hurry and go. In the distance I saw carts of the deceased rolling towards home, or were they floating? I broke into a run but was tired within seconds.

How am I supposed to catch up with them? There's no one else around besides in tents broken, or tending to the broken. Why do I have to be so weak? And then I remembered...

Wings out straight, I pushed myself to start sprinting again, and there I found that my feet no longer touched the ground. I let the wind carry me on its drift as I had seen birds do, and reached my destination quickly. After the message was passed on, I flew back. This time successful I was not. The wind was now against me and it was a struggle to push past the new pain in my shoulders.

Making it back to Gwyn's tent, I felt more fatigued than the night before after using up all of my energy. "Message received. Now I really need to just sit so if you need something, ask your nurse." 

He laughed, gesturing to the floor."You have sacrificed a lot for our kind and now for me. Take as long as you need." 

***

Four months had passed by in Palladia. I turned seventeen in what on Earth would be considered October. In this time so much has happened. Lilwen Palace was restored to its former beauty, no longer is the color grey but a gleaming white marble. The paintings had been fixed by cautious art workers, my parent's bedroom had been replaced with proper furniture as did all of the guest rooms. And of course, the gardens were also replanted. My favorite is the long tunnel-like, plant-covered, walkway. 

Seasons in Palladia, well, there really are none. The weather stays mild half the year, and cools down to no lower than sixty degrees farenheit. Otherwise our wings might freeze off (depending on how delicate they are). Many of our surviving families have built wooden homes atop the Wymon hills. Yes, my people were so pleased with his bravery, they named the hills after him, which is no less than he deserves.

I have been working on foreign communications as well as seeing to the needs of my small kingdom. Still, until I chose, I am a princess. There is a ceremony held for royalty that upgrades princes and princesses to kings and queens after a marriage has taken place. Since the rule of the kings hasn't taken place in seventeen years, it was apparently up to me when I wanted to be crowned.

At least a third of the population were killed in the battle at Wraithmarsh. This left many people without mothers, fathers, sisters, or brothers. Any orphaned children which were around thirty, have been placed in Lilwen to stay until everything can be set in stone for them for a new life. Coping with aloneness was hard for all, but living in the palace has given these children a sense of luxury that they mightn't have experienced before.

Speaking of set in stone, the enormous brosba left behind by the Master is soon to be demolished, and turned into jewelry for everyone. A team of crafters are going to take the precious stone and make small pendants. They are to represent the day we took back our country.

Now, you're probably wondering what happened to our hideous foes and the lovely Deliah. Well, let me go back to what happened after word got back to Palladia to warn the families in the Underground...

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Hah, her flashback is to be continued ;) Sorry guys, I was grounded for a looong time and the day before I was going to finish this chapter, I got grounded... Soo.. There was an almost ready chapter sitting around un-published for a week. *harmony of groans from the audience* Well, here it is now. Thanks for your patience, and leave feedback if you like.