CH 2 The Chase

AN:It's a little later than I originally planned on posting, but the content turned out really well! I hope you enjoy it! And a special thank you to An Unlikely Fate's very first reviewer, FloraTheCake. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings

Here's some help for viewers on my writing style:

Italics are Almárëa's thoughts

"Italics with quotations are dream/ethereal/other worldly beings' dialogue"

Whispers. What are they saying?

Her vision was dark, fourteen clouded grey shapes moved about, looking at her, gesturing, yelling at the top of their lungs, but never could she hear them scream. Their voices were mere whispers in her ears.

I can't hear anything… What are they talking about?

The only feature she could ever pinpoint on the cloudy figures were their eyes. The only reason being one thing. They would glow varying bright colors. Her favorite were the green and lilac ones. They looked at her with hope, love, faith and trust. The others scared her.

"…This one … you have to believe … do not be stubborn…"

That was the lilac lady… She only knew them apart by their eyes and whispered voices that would echo around her ears as they spoke. They were fighting again, if only she knew what about…

"… We cannot … you … how mad … imbecile… another perhaps … you must … do not-"

The one with light grey eyes was yelling and pointing at her.

It's coming soon isn't it? God please no.

She felt a wetness that was apart from the dark space she was in. Almárëa knew then, that she was crying in the waking world, when she was lost in this dark sleep realm she came to dream every night since her eighteenth birthday —two years ago. It would be those fourteen, continually fighting until—

"…Show her … fate … knowledge … and it's… demise…"

A figure she came to despise and fear glided towards her through the murky darkness. In her subconsciousness, she cringed away from the figure, but it didn't help nor prevent the ensuing terror…

Almárëa woke in a cold sweat, her body quaking and pale green in sickness. That dream had plagued her consciousness during the day and her dreams at night. The first time it had occurred she shrugged it off, convinced it was just a coincidence and side-effect from her reading fantasy novels before she fell asleep. However, after the first month of nothing but that nightmare she started to worry.

That same worry was always with her. She would look over her shoulder when she helped Father in the fields, or constantly scan the tree line when she helped Mother with housework. The tingling sensation would spark and chill her flesh, even in near hundred degree weather.

But this time, she felt different. Almost relieved when she awoke, sick to her stomach. She wiped sweat from her face and preformed her daily routine of dressing before she deemed herself calm enough to face the day.

Breathing in slowly, she let her breath out slow to placate her frantic heart as she sauntered through the house to the front door. Her heart knew something she did not. But what, she didn't have the slightest clue, and it's not like she could ask the fleshy organ.

Glancing around, Almárëa walked into the field to find her father to give him aid in handling the livestock as they were supposed to prepare for the faire soon with their prized mustang and philly. However, he was no where to be seen … and her mother was not on the porch playing with their deck of cards.

"Mother? Father?" She turned in a circle crying out their names, her voice shaking in fear of being left alone. Her ears strained for their voices, but she heard nothing. Literally nothing. There were no birds chirping and singing to each other, no horses neighing to be let out, no sound of distant cars from the town. What was happening…?

She turned back towards the house only to stop in her tracks immediately. Her eyes zeroed in on black, misty creatures that were hunched over like big dogs, but they were much bigger than any dog she had ever encountered.

She took a step backwards, which unfortunately was a very grave mistake. The shovel and bucket her father used in the field happened to be directly behind her. Her step back knocked the bucket across the shovel which alerted the creepy wolf creatures to her location. The crash and fright caused her to lose her balance and slice her calf on the shovel blade, which only added pain to the deadly concoction of emotions Almárëa was experiencing.

What if they got mother and father? What did they do to them?

Her worry escalated her fright, and instinct took over as the creatures started to approach her, sniffing at the air, molten black eyes narrowing at her. Fight or flight. Most definitely flight, there was no way in the known universe she could fight those things, whatever fucked up beasts they were. So she stumbled up to her feet, calf sticky with blood from her fall, and tried to run for the tree line. She ended up limping most of the way, collapsing against a tree before the wicked howl of the creatures pierced her ears. Her eyes widened with terror and she started to run in earnest as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She would not let herself look back at those nasty creatures that were dead set on getting her, her view was of her immediate way of escape — forward.

Forward, forward, only forward.

She was panting now, her heart beating just as frantically as it had this morning after that horrific dream. She twisted and turned through the forest, trying to find the familiar places she had explored ever since she was younger, but this forest she didn't know. The trees were much older, colossal and twisted. She frantically searched around for anywhere to stop and breath for just a few seconds so she could evade the creatures that were growling behind her.

Just as she wished for a reprieve from her mad dash, a voice whispered maliciously around her as dark fog closed in on her sides and behind her with the creatures.

"There is no escape …. Surrender now… let the wargs release you from your fleshy confines and fate before it is too late…"

LIKE HELL

She gasped for breath and ran harder, there was no bloody way she was going to let those things — wargs is what the voice called them, kill her. She flung her left hand out, grabbed a nearby tree and catapulted her body in that direction to further evade the disgusting creatures behind her — and the voice, yeah the voice too.

What Almárëa didn't count on was the intelligence the wargs possessed. They had separated their pack early in the chase to intercept her if ever she tried to evade the main pack. A signal howl from a warg behind her reverberated through the thick, black fog and trees; a sinister snarl from next to her was her only warning that the sister pack was there before a pair of jagged claws sank into her left side. The claws ripped through her simple shirt and tore at the flesh of her rib cage and hip.

A shrill cry escaped her as she pushed forward, her body aching with exertion, pain from her injuries, and terror. She knew they were gaining on her; they had been toying with her all along, staying just far enough behind that she thought she would make it out alive. That inkling of hope was decimated. The continual onslaught of bargaining from the voice just added to the feeling of inevitable doom.

When all her hope was lost and there was nothing she could possibly do but run, Almárëa was struck with a bolt of energy. This bolt was nothing like lightning, but shined with a more ethereal gleam. That's when her world was turned upside down.

A deep pit opened up in the forest floor underneath her. She had only seconds to react to the impossibility of the event that had happened, knowing full well what would logically happen next.

"Oh shit…" She gasped looking at the wargs charging towards her.

She prepared for claws, but instead was sucked down the pit in a maelstrom of howling winds and darkness.

She expected to hear the voice from the fog; however, as the winds died down she was met only with silence. Almárëa waited to crash against rocks, hard-packed dirt, or even water, but none of it came.

She felt as if she had been falling for an eternity; not knowing what had happened to her parents, why those creatures had chased her, or when the falling would end.

Finally, when she felt her back hit a solid surface, it wasn't what she expected. It was plush and soft. That was odd. She couldn't see anything; still held in the encompassing darkness, unaware of the goings on around her. A weight fell on top of her, covering her from the neck down.

What is happening…?

Her neck was sore, as if she'd been sleeping for an extended period of days, but still her eyes ached for sleep. She felt her body grow heavy with the drowsy sensation and gave in finally. She made a final plea for her life before drifting away.

AN: Let me know what you think in a review or private message. Any input, negative or no, is welcome. :)