Through the Portal

When William awoke, he hoped to see Katherine waiting for them, but she was nowhere to be found. The children were given fresh clothes and he decided to try and check in on her. However, he found Tristan guarding the hut where he had left her and refused to let William inside. “I’m still not convinced you are a friend and I won’t let you near our lady when she is vulnerable.”

William sighed, already tired of dealing with the suspicious elf. “We are not her enemies. I’m just worried about her.”

Meredith laid a comforting hand on his arm and smiled at the elf. “It’s clear that you really care about Katherine and I understand your concern, but my friend is very worried about her. Perhaps, you could just have the healer come out, for a moment, and assure him of her condition.”

Tristan considered her and relented, a bit. He stepped into the hut and came back out, soon after, with another elf.

The elf nodded to the children. “I am Galen, chief healer. I am told you are the group that was found with our lady.”

Meredith nodded. “She was guiding us to the Blue Palace and protected us when we were attacked. We wanted to make sure she was going to be okay.”

“She will be fine,” he assured them. “However, she used a lot of magic, so there is no telling how long it will take for her to wake up.”

William frowned at that. “She said we needed to get to the palace, quickly. Isn’t there anything more you can do?”

Galen shook his head, sadly. “Any attempt to wake her may just make things worse. I’m afraid you will simply have to be patient.” He offered them a smile. “Have faith, though. She is strong and will certainly be awake in time to take you where you need to be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should return to my work.” He gave them another polite nod and slipped back into the hut.

“Are you satisfied, now?” Tristan asked.

William frowned at him, but chose not to respond. He decided that he didn’t like Tristan very much and walked away. Josie took his hand and smiled up at him. “Katherine’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.”

He returned the smile and gave her hand a squeeze. “Come on. Let’s walk around, for a bit. It’s not every day we get to see a real elven village.” He had no intention of wasting such a rare opportunity, especially since it didn’t look like they were going anywhere, for a while.

They wandered around and found some elves weaving on looms. Henry was fascinated and convinced one of them to show him how to do it.

She smiled, always happy to have a new student, especially one who was a friend of the guardian. “You just have to glide the thread in and out, like this.” Her deft hands moved quickly across the loom. “The trick is to not do it too tightly or it will pinch in the middle.” After a few more demonstrations, she allowed him to have a try.

Henry was not nearly as fast as her, but he had a few rows done before long. “This is actually pretty fun.” She nodded and showed him how to make patterns. His hands weren’t as skilled as the elves, but they were better than most humans and he had the basics down in no time.

“You’re quite good at this, for a human, at least,” the she-elf told Henry. “I would be happy to have you helping as much as you like until our lady heals.”

Henry beamed at the compliment and nodded. “I would really like that, too.”

Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Jake talked another elf into letting him try. However, he did not have nearly as much luck as his brother. Even when trying the simple weave, his was too tight and caused the piece to warp inward. The elf politely took over it, again, and undid the damage before continuing his work. Despite being identical on the outside, the pair tended to be rather different when it came to personalities, as well as skills. Jake started to pout and William decided it was time to move on.

“You can come back, later,” he promised Henry, knowing Jake wouldn’t leave without his brother. They discovered an archery range in a clearing away from the buildings. The elves practicing there rarely missed the center of the target and the children had to admire their skill.

“Wouldn’t it be great if one of us could shoot like that?” Meredith commented. “That way, we wouldn’t have to depend on Katherine to protect us all the time.”

The others nodded their agreement, still worried about the unconscious girl. An elf turned to her. He held out a bow and smiled. “I could teach you, if you like.”

Meredith stared at him, in surprise. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to be any trouble.”

He shook his head. “If it may help our lady, it is no trouble, at all.” He walked over and handed her the bow. “I’m Theron, by the way.”

“Meredith.” She took the bow, hesitantly. She looked back to the group, still uncertain, but they showed no sign of concern, so she decided to give it a try. However, she was disappointed when she couldn’t even pull the string back.

The elf paused and took the bow back. “I guess I should have realized a longbow would not suit someone of your size.” He handed her a differently shaped bow. “This is a recurve. It should work better.”

Meredith gave the string an experimental pull and felt relieved when it worked.

The elf showed her out to nock the arrow and release. “Your long sleeves should be adequate protection, but you should remember to wear something on your arms, in general. She nodded and gave it a try, frowning as it hit the ground in front of the target. The elf just smiled at her. “It’s okay. You just need to remember not to drop the bow right after the arrow releases. That causes it to go low. Instead, release the string and count to three.”

She did as he said and hit the outer edges of the target, causing her to smile. It wasn’t nearly on the same level as the elves, but it was a start.

“Anyone else want to try?” He looked to William who held up his hands and shook his head.

“No thanks,” he replied. “I prefer a sword to a bow.” He was a little surprised by how eager the elves were to help them. He realized it was probably because the group was considered to be friends with the all-important guardian. It seemed the elves would do anything for her.

Theron smiled. “Alright, we’ll see about that.” He looked over to the practicing elves and called out, “Valda.” When a she-elf looked at him, he beckoned her over. “I was hoping you might give a demonstration with a sword. This boy seems to be interested in them.”

Valda looked at William, sizing him up. She had laid her bow down, but still had a sword attached to each hip. Her golden hair was pulled back, preventing it from hindering her vision. Her amber eyes were sharp and calculating. “If we fought, he would die.”

Theron laughed. “We both know you have enough control to avoid that.” He offered William a sword, which the boy took, nervously. He looked at the elf, thinking she seemed like someone who would kill him without a second thought if he made a wrong move. He’d made the comment about the sword without thinking and regretted it, now.

“Very well.” Valda drew one of her swords and took a stance.

William set his feet and watched her, thinking something was familiar about the pose. He didn’t move, remembering how easily Katherine had taken him down when he struck first. Thinking of that, he realized that Valda was using the same stance she had. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but, suddenly, Valda lunged and knocked the sword out of his hand before knocking him to the ground. William stared up at the she-elf as the point of her sword touched his throat. He had only ever used a wooden sword before, so it was a new sensation and he decided it wasn’t one he wanted to get used to feeling.

Valda drew back her sword and looked at him. “You are weak and clearly untrained.” She paused. “But your stance was strong and you may have potential.” She started to walk away, but William stopped her.

“Wait.” He stood and dusted himself off. “Where did you learn your technique? It’s very similar to Katherine’s.” He thought he may be able to find their teacher and learn some of it. He didn’t like feeling so helpless all the time and learning to use a sword properly seemed like a good way to protect his friends.

“It should be.” Valda turned back to him. “I trained her because I am better with a sword than anyone else around here.”

“Tristan may argue about that.” Theron smiled, as though he knew a secret joke. “Perhaps, I should ask him to train our lady’s friend.”

Valda’s sharp gaze fell on him. “Tristan is a fool if he thinks he is better than me and the boy will likely be killed if he tries to learn from him.”

“Will you train me, then?” William asked. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here or how much time I’ll have to learn, but, surely, someone as skilled as you could teach me enough to defend myself in what time I have.” He made the request of her, mostly because he didn’t want to wind up asking Tristan, but he wanted to learn. He made sure to compliment her as much as possible, thinking that might encourage her to help.

Valda considered him, briefly. “You are very good at flattery.” She paused to mull it over. “Meet me here first thing in the morning and we’ll begin.” She picked up her bow and walked away.

“You are quite fortunate,” Theron told William. “She doesn’t take many students. I believe Katherine was the last person she trained.”

William nodded, hoping he wouldn’t regret his decision. She scared him, a little, but he would never admit that.

“Well, lunch will be soon,” Theron commented. “We should head to the dining area.”

The children noted that the other archers were already heading that way and nodded. William led them to where they had eaten the night before and they took their places at a table. As before, Alesia and Ezra sat with them. Once again, fruit was brought out, but it was different than what they’d had at dinner the previous night.

“I heard you’ve been busy,” Alesia said, as she took her seat.

William shrugged. “We wouldn’t want to be idle while everyone else is working.”

“That’s understandable.” She smiled at him. “Since you are now Valda’s student, you won’t be idle much more while you’re here. I expect you’ll come to miss it.”

He felt a bit concerned by her comment and looked around for his new teacher. He was surprised to see her sitting with the elf he had taken to be the king, so he commented on it.

Ezra glanced over and nodded. “Valda is Lord Aelfric’s daughter.” He looked back at William. “Did nobody mention that?”

The boy shook his head. “So, she’s a princess, then?”

“In a way,” Ezra replied. “Of course, Aelfric isn’t exactly a king. He rules over the forest, but the king of Mirra lives in the Blue Palace. I expect you’ll meet him when you get there. At any rate, Valda would probably rather die than be thought of as a princess. She much prefers fighting to ruling.”

William nodded his understanding. “She seems to be very skilled.” He looked at Ezra as he remembered his conversation with Theron. “Is there a disagreement between Tristan and her? Someone mentioned something, today…”

Ezra couldn’t help grinning. “Oh, there is, indeed. They are equally skilled with weapons and always seem to come to a draw when they duel, so each claims to be better than the other. Nobody dares to argue with either since they are the two best warriors here.”

Meredith looked at the she-elf, thinking she was impressive. She had always felt there was a distance between herself and the boys, but Valda hadn’t let that hold her back. She wondered if she could ever be so strong and decided she would, at least, put her all into learning archery while in the village.

Alesia smiled at Josie. “Well, since all your friends are going to be busy, tomorrow, I thought you might help me out with some cleaning, if you don’t mind.”

Josie nodded, always eager to help. She had taken a liking to the she-elf and didn’t mind being alone with her. “I’m really good at cleaning.”

Alesia gave a kind laugh. “I’m sure you are.”

Jake sat quietly, deep in thought. Everybody had plans the next day, except him. He thought about volunteering to help clean, but he’d never been very good at that. When he washed dishes, they always seemed to need rewashing. When he dusted, it always just wound up spreading. These things hadn’t bothered him so much, back home, where he didn’t need to clean that often. However, with everyone developing new skills, he felt rather useless. He knew he couldn’t be an archer because he couldn’t hit the broad side of a house with a rock. William was much better with a sword than he was, so he could never keep up with their classes, even if he were invited to join. Even his brother had turned out to be good at weaving. Jake ate his dinner in silence, not wanting to ruin everyone’s excitement.

As they were heading back to their hut after dinner, William caught sight of Galen and made a beeline for him. “Any news on Katherine?”

The elf shook his head. “Between you and Tristan, I have had to answer that question more times than I care to, so, please, believe me when I say that I will let everyone know as soon as she is awake, alright?”

William frowned, but nodded and headed back to his group.

“Any word?” Meredith asked. When he shook his head, she sighed. “Well, I’m sure it will be okay. She just needs some time to rest. We should make the most of our time here until she wakes up, right?”

William nodded his agreement, but he didn’t seem particularly encouraged.

“Just think how impressed she’ll be when you show off your sword skills after you train,” Josie offered, wanting to cheer him up.

William smiled at her. “You’re right. I’m sure she will be very impressed.” He didn’t really believe it, but he wanted Josie to think she had helped. “Now, let’s get to bed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us, tomorrow.”

The sky was just starting to turn to daylight when he woke up, the next day. William had always been good at waking himself up when he planned. It had helped him when he was in foster homes without an alarm clock and needed to get to school.

He carefully got up, doing his best not to wake the others. He picked up his clean clothes and looked at the sleeping group. He had never changed clothes in front of them, before. No one ever even saw him in short sleeves. They never asked questions about it and always gave him privacy. However, he couldn’t wake them up and make them leave, but he didn’t have anywhere else to go change. Deciding they probably wouldn’t wake up to see him, he quickly put on the fresh clothes and headed out.

He ran to the training grounds, hoping he might be there before Valda and make a good impression. However, she was already running solitary drills with her sword when he showed up.

“You’re late.” She swung the blade in his direction.

“We never really set a time…” he pointed out.

“I said ‘first thing in the morning’. It has been morning for nearly an hour.” She sheathed her sword. “You can start by giving me fifty push-ups.”

He stared at her, blankly, having never done that many before.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Do you not know what a push-up is?”

“I do.” He considered trying to persuade her to let him do something simpler, but her expression told him that would be a terrible idea, so he dropped to the ground and started the exercise. He made it through fifteen before he slowed down. By twenty-five, his arms were sore. He barely managed to make it to forty before he collapsed.

“Get up,” she commanded.

“I can’t.” He winced. “My arms are too tired.”

“Don’t be such a baby,” she told him, sounding annoyed. “You’re going to have to be able to endure a lot more if you want to accomplish anything.” He started to shake his head, but she knelt beside him and spoke, again, “If you ever want to be able to protect Katherine, you’re going to have to try much harder than that.”

He stared at the ground for a moment as he considered her words. Slowly, he pushed himself back up, somehow making his arms work, again.

“Good,” she commented. “But, because you quit, you’re starting over.”

He groaned, already regretting his decision to show up, that day.

After an hour, he was allowed to take a break for breakfast. He had done various exercises, but hadn’t touched a sword. Even so, his arms felt like putty and he was barely able to pick up a piece of fruit.

“I heard you started your first lesson with Valda, today,” Galen commented. He set a glass of orange liquid in front of him and smiled. “Drink that. It will help you get your strength back.”

William smiled, gratefully, at the elf and took a sip. It tasted like peppermint and, as soon as it passed his lips, he felt the pain receding and he started to regain the use of his arms. “That’s amazing.”

Galen nodded. “It’s helped many a warrior, here.” He walked away, sitting at his regular table.

William finished the drink and ate his breakfast, feeling more than ready for round two with his new teacher.