Athrana (Wandering Shadow)

Chapter 29- Nightmare

TA3019, February

Finally Elladan and Elrohir fell into reverie, but it was not a peaceful sleep. Their identical brows furrowed and their heads tossed from side to side in unison as they shared the same dream. For hours they had stayed awake trying to process everything that had happened in such a short time. Their anger hadn't lasted very long considering Athriel's explanation. After she had left them alone they had made their way slowly back to their rooms to think. Neither had any idea what they were going to do or how they should react to having their old friend back in their lives. It was going to be difficult letting go of over 80yrs of mourning. Besides that they could see that she needed their help, she would need all the help she could get if she was ever going to heal from this. If she healed at all.

Now they were finally asleep but their worries remained. Side by side they walked towards the figure sitting with her back to them. It was Athriel, but Athriel as they knew her before, as they remembered her. She was sitting on a stone bench in the gardens. They expected her to turn as they approached but she continued to face the other way as she spoke. "It's all your fault" her head tilted slightly to one side and suddenly they weren't in the gardens anymore. They were suddenly surrounded by trees and it was dark.

Athriel was different as well. Her clothes were ripped and her hair was short. They could see the blue marks on her neck alongside the horrific scars. "You could have saved me." They stopped just behind her not wanting to go any further, not wanting to see her face now. "You could have killed me" Their vision flashed from Athriel now to the Athriel they remembered and back again. "But you did nothing."

She turned towards them then. Her mouth was smeared with blood and her eyes were black. Her hands were covered in gore and her finger nails were long. She was kneeling on the ground beside a mangled corpse. She licked her fingers and smiled grotesquely. "You made me what I am." They took a step back in horror. "You made me a monster."

""Aaaaaahh!"" They sat bolt upright before realising that the sound had come from them. It took a long time for their heart beats to calm down. Needing to feel the air on his face Elrohir retreated to the balcony while Elladan went to splash water on his face. Evidently they still felt guilt over leaving her that day, despite her insistence. But what of the rest of their dream? Where had those images come from? The scars had shocked them yes, but perhaps they hadn't realised just how much.

Suddenly a figure moved across Elrohir's vision. "Dan!" Feeling his distress Elladan ran out onto the balcony. "What is it?" Elrohir pointed as the figure swung itself up into a tree across from one of the balconies further along. It was Athriel's balcony. Suddenly everything fell into place. The clues they had been ignoring all this time. The confusing tracks whenever the bodies had been found, the reason so many orcs had been killed in the wilds around the valley. The reason they had been prevented from seeing the culprit when they had looked for them. Finally they knew what Athriel had been doing all this time. They should have seen it a long time ago. ""The Shadow""