Reincarnation: A fight for survival

Chapter 16

"Wake up, Galen."

His eyes began to open, revealing to him... a world with no walls. No ground, no ceiling, just an endless sea of white.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice echoing all around.

"Your mind," Tanza answered.

Galen whipped around, but there was no other presence there with him. Only the empty vastness of his own consciousness.

"I can see your memories from here, Galen. I can feel your thoughts. You had an unfair advantage in the mental test, having heard our riddles before. But I will let it go as it is not as important as the final test. Besides, most others are not so keen or sharp-witted to answer all three questions but they were allowed to continue as they still proved pure enough."

"You I can see are quite intelligent, along with being well-practiced. Not only in riddles, but in many fields that require a strong intellect. Including war... I see the pain you feel for your lost comrades, the fear that others from your Company may have died back in your realm. But you quell these hindrances and focus on what's before you. That takes strength indeed. Take comfort in the thought that they may still be safe. Know that they are alive, and they will be so. And if they have slipped the bonds of mortality, know that they still live on if you keep them in your heart. So long as you remember them, they never truly die."

Tanza's voice moved; Galen turning about on his heel to follow it.

"Men of dark hearts would carry themselves in an abyss of darkness, yet you are filled with the light... You were willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your friend. So easily would you give your life for others. Is it bravery? Heart? Yes, but there is much more to it... it is part of who you are. I see the why now. That is great of you, Galen. I am impressed. However..."

Below him, the sea of white began to change. Black wisps stretched out from his boots and rolled across a now-visible floor, tainting it black with streaks of red. This twisted darkness lashed out and screamed at him, a bloodied hand reaching for his boots. He stepped away from the gruesome appendage, turning as the voice once again changed its location.

"You are softened to the horrors of death, Galen. There is some darkness to be found in your spirit and fresh blood spilled by your hands, yet your heart is one of gold. A soul bathed in light. Do not allow this darkness to breed, Galen; do not lose sight of what you have inside. Do not corrupt what is in your heart and you shall never fail."

He gave a solid nod in the direction of Tanza's voice, "I won't ma'am."

"Then you have passed our trials, Galen. Return to us."

His vision pulsed with a flash of white, returning his mind to body and his body to the floor. All the energy that he had was sapped in that very moment to leave him motionless as two elven girls scooped their arms under his and lifted him up from the floor. A familiar hand lifted his chin, bringing his ocean-blue eyes up to meet Celia's cloud-white. He cracked a weak smile, and she giggled in return, pressing her lips against his in the moments before he passed out.

................................

"You are quite taken with him," Tanza stated as Celia pulled her lips away from the unconscious human.

The elvish girl swept a lock of her green hair back behind one of her ears, touching a tingly hand to her sparking lips as she turned to her elder.

"He is not like the others, Elder. You saw it yourself. There is an aura about him stronger than the one about ourselves. That, and he saved me from death at the troll's hands, I owe him my life."

Celia's gaze returned to her soldier and watched as her elven sisters removed some of the things he wore. Namely his helmet, boots, and jacket. They stripped the pieces away to leave him in just his olive drab pants and green T-shirt. One of the girls giggled as she pressed a finger into his chest to probe the muscle mass. Though he was nothing spectacular, the firmness of his upper body earned him an admirable series of coos and giggles as several of the other girls homed in and began to feel him all over.

"We will see where his heart lies after the feast," Tanza stated as the elven girls explored his body. "If you can still claim his heart as the others claim his body, I shall give you permission to leave. But only if you do not interfere, or take exception as he does what must be done."

"Of course, Elder. Are you... participating in the rituals?"

A smile on her dark lips, the telepathic elf placed a hand on Celia's shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek as Galen was carried out of the Great Tree. "It is my duty, and my pleasure. But do not worry child, I see that he is strong, his endurance capable. When the ceremonies are complete, I shall try to use my magic to ensure he is ready for you when your turn comes."

With that she stepped past Celia to join the others outside, leaving her alone to gaze up at the pod-like baskets suspended the entire way up the hollowed trunk of their home. Each one of those hanging weaves of vine contained a lush bed made from the furs of hunted animals and the fuzzy leaves that fell from the Tree's branches. Those soft beds were the traditional settings where the elven kind flocked when a man with a noble heart had proven himself. It was up there that his true final challenge awaited him before he was allowed to leave their village.

If he was to stay so pure of heart afterward, she could only wait and see.

...........................................

Before the entrance to the tree, a long table was set with wide plates of fruits several flowing trays of vegetables beside many more jugs of milk or wine. Cheese and breads, cakes and pastries, all sorts of delights made their way into what was quickly looking to be a marvelous lunch. Along the table, the forty-six elves took their seats with Galen placed in the high-backed chair at one end. In front of him being the only platter of meat present in the entire feast.

Sitting at the opposite end of the table from the still-sleeping soldier, Elder Tanza stood from her throne and raised a glowing hand toward him. Closing her eyes she began chanting something in elvish and he quickly began to stir.

The warm, familiar scent of venison filled Galen's nose, filling his lungs with life as his eyes began to open. The light of the sun was shining directly down from above to bath the base of the tree in light as a cool breeze blew against his cheek. All the pain in his body had gone, replaced by soothing sensation that waded through his muscles and tempted him to fall back to sleep. Sleep he desperately craved. At least until he finally focused on what sat in front of him.

Life suddenly pulsed in his veins as he locked onto the steaming plate of venison waiting to satisfy that hunger that began to burn in his belly. His mouth watered at the sight of it and he didn't even hesitate to reach out to grab it. Before he could place a single finger on the meat, however, a pale green hand reached out and slapped his knuckles.

"Neya. Neh kepa teyah ta sissa, Galen."

Confusion dominated the private's expression as he looked around and discovered himself seated before a mindboggling amount of food. The whole village was seated in front of them with the whole rainbow that was their eyes moving in between him and Tanza. Smiling nervously, he looked to the elf on his right and politely said, "I don't know what you said, but I think I get the message."

In the next moment, Tanza's voice rose over the whispers at the table, clearing the drowsiness clean from his head. Though her speech came in elvish, the fact that every elven girl at the table now had their eyes trained upon him rather than their elder likely meant that these strange words were to his distinction. As their elder came to the end of what she had to say, the elves broke out into applause while some raised their glasses to him.

"Galen Martin, you have passed our tests where dozens have failed. You have overcome body and proven your mind in our trials and have not only shown your soul to be one with the light, but unafraid to venture into the dark in the path of helping others. To this, we elves have readied a feast in your honor. To you sir, we toast. Together, we eat. Ona! Begin!"

Chaos ensued as hands crossed the table and food was passed around. Helpings were served, plates were filled, and without even asking, a goblet of wine was placed before Galen along with several plates of fruit and vegetables. He didn't even hesitate to dig in, shoving mouthfuls in at a time.

To think, before the smell of what these women had prepared for him had hit his nose, he hadn't even realized how empty his stomach was. The last real thing he had eaten other than his ration that morning was an egg and toast breakfast at the airfield before taking off on his final flight. But that meal had been lost after he woke from the crash, and the little ration food he had eaten wasn't enough.

The elvish girls who had placed themselves at his end of the table giggled at his savagery. In their musical language they joked and had laughs at his expense with only one of the women among them being an exception. Galen froze as she slapped a hand to the table and began to scold him in her own tongue, mimicking his rapid eating habits and giving a show of disgust before berating him with more unintelligible words.

The young man may not have understood what she said, but he recognized the rant of an angry woman who was a stickler for good manners.

"Hey, I ain't eaten in a day an' a half," he hastily defended with a mouthful of baked apple rolls. "An' this is th' best foo' I eaten since I left San Francisco!"

One of the elvish girls whispered into the ear of the scolding elf, obviously translating what he had just said. It only took a second for that elvish woman's frown to flip around. Word quickly circled the table and the elves began cheering, breaking out in applause as the scolding elf stood up and bowed to her happy diners.

"She cook food," whispered a voice.

Galen nearly jumped from his seat as Celia appeared at his side and settled in on the arm rest of his chair. The mouthful burying his tongue quickly slid down his throat as he tried to find the words to say but she just looked to him and smiled. Taking a cloth in hand, she dotingly brushed off a touch of fruit juice from his cheek and then tucked it into his lap.

Once again he was speechless, his whole thought process frozen by her presence. The only thing that could come to mind to do at that moment was move over in his seat and try to make room for her. She gave him a quizzical look, wondering what the man was doing before he finally asked, "Sit?"

Celia giggled as she slid off the arm rest and landed herself right in his lap. This move caught the eye of several of the other women at the table and drew plenty pairs of curious stares. For those that did not giggle or swoon, Galen noticed that they stared at the lady in his lap with a tinge of... jealousy? Why would they become jealous?

"Eat," Celia said in her simple manner as she brought the slice of a strawberry to his mouth.

With a faint chuckle, he took a bite of the fruit as his eyes remained locked with hers. One at a time, she brought more slices of the various fruits and salads to his mouth. She even went as far as feeding him a slice of venison, though it was clear in his eye that she abhorred handling the cooked meat, just as it was clear that the other tree elves did not have a taste for it either.

Not wanting to feel babied, Galen took one of the cookies placed before him and raised it to her mouth. She responded by nabbing one of the more exotic dishes on the table for him to try. With each little game they played together, with each passing moment spent with her in his lap, Celia caught more of the sly looks of approval cast in her direction from the elder and some of her sisters.

At the end of the day, even when everything was finished, she knew that this man would still be the one that she could call hers.

"Galen, have you had your fill?" Tanza questioned from across the table.

Swallowing what he had in his mouth and patting his stomach, he answered "I believe I have. Is that all to the feast?"