By the Sword - By Sara Flower Page 0,40

She felt like a fool for avoiding God for so long. Her soul had felt empty for so long, but she had grown accustomed to the vacant feeling.

Before I die, I want to help him. As Uittan said, there is still hope for him. Maybe after I get rid of Jalarn, it will be easier to accomplish that.

*****

Tanel had finished shooting targets for the evening. With help from Pori and Timlin, he had learned the basics of fighting with the sword earlier that day. At least he had a backup plan if he ran out of arrows, as he had in the past battle. With the magically created monsters that Malinor would unleash on them, it would take many rounds to take just one of them down.

Tanel was still in shock that Talya was on her way to Hunter Forest at that very moment. It meant that he would not have a chance to apologize to her before the war. He had been cruel to her since their journey to Malinor, especially considering that they were both still grieving Hanten.

I was blessed by God to still have Talya as a friend. I should have been there for her, especially when she had been doing a good thing by helping that defenseless girl back in Malinor.

Now he might never have the chance to tell her that he was sorry.

General Edandir was approaching him. Tanel cleared his throat.

“You are improving with the sword. I saw you dueling a while ago. Good work,” said the general.

“Thank you, Sir,” replied Tanel. “I just wish that Talya was here to see it.”

“My one comfort is that she’s excellent with that sword of hers. She’ll get herself out of anything that she comes across,” said General Edandir.

Tanel nodded. At the very least, she would have her valuable weapon. That gave him some peace of mind.

Atalsa ran up to them. Her indigo eyes were wide and she was holding a sword.

Tanel’s heart raced when he recognized it. It was Talya’s sword.

“What are you doing with that?” Tanel asked.

“Talya left it beside my cot with a note saying, ‘I am giving this to you for the battle. Please use it well. It’s high time that you fought like a real knight.’ I – I thought that it was a joke, but then I didn’t see her at all today, and I heard about her mission to Hunter Forest from Sir Timlin.”

Has Talya completely lost her mind?

“Why in the world would she leave her sword here?” asked Tanel.

“Give that to me,” Edandir said as he took the sword from Atalsa.

The general scanned the field for Uittan. He saw the prophet and stormed over to him with Talya’s prized weapon.

Tanel followed close behind him.

“Do you know anything about this?” Edandir asked the prophet.

He gestured at the weapon with his free hand.

“She is not to bring any weapons on her journey,” replied Uittan.

“Oh no,” said Tanel.

The thought of his friend without a weapon of any kind made him feel sick. This was Hunter Forest she was traveling to.

“I would be very careful what you say, lad. The Lord gave me the terms of this mission.”

“Yes, Sir,” Tanel replied.

General Edandir shook his head. He gave Talya’s sword back to Atalsa and walked away. He was obviously too furious to speak with Uittan.

Atalsa rested her hand on Tanel’s shoulder.

“I know this must be hard for you, but Talya would be quite the scrapper even without a weapon. The giants are not animals. She will be fine. Why don’t we fire some rounds before dinner?”

Tanel nodded. The only thing that he could do for Talya now was pray for her. God would protect her. She was doing His work, after all. In the meantime, he had to stay alive so that he could make it up to her later.

“We should also make sure that you get some lessons on how to use that sword, too,” said Tanel.

“Yes. It would make Talya proud,” smiled Atalsa.

*****

The full moon highlighted the treetops of Hunter Forest below. Talya figured that reclusive giants would probably prefer being in the thickest part of the forest, so she waited until they passed over the center to signal that they needed to land.

Now, if only I knew how to steer a Pegasus horse downward. Well, here goes nothing.

Talya clicked her tongue and pulled gently on the mare’s mane. The horse complied and they swooped down quicker than Talya would have liked. She cinched her arms around the horse’s neck.

The Pegasus landed gracefully,