Chapter 23
Ethrin woke up to darkness, and a soft hand caressing her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw Legolas looking at the stars. She knew that the stars' beauty was great, and they would hold Legolas's attention for a very long time. So she closed her eyes and snuggled tightly under the blanket.
Airedaeiel had quieted for some time, but it was then that she opened her eyes. She saw Legolas next to Ethrin, but couldn't recognize either of them. Then she wondered why she was there, and not on the way to Mirkwood, as she remembered being. She sat up, but dizziness kept her on the ground, too weak to get up and run away from the possible captors that the two might be. But then she turned her head and saw a man and another elf conversing. She recognized the man as the King of Gondor, and guessed the elf was Glorfindel, a great elf she had heard her father talk about. She turned away from them, and saw two lady elves sitting on a boulder, conversing quietly also. Airedaeiel was confused, afraid, the fear running up her spine, giving her a chill that made her shiver and her skin crawl. She could only remember stopping at a town somewhere, and a man had given her a draught of some kind…and…and…that was where her memory stopped. Airedaeiel shivered again and tried to get up, but was again lost to dizziness. This time, she didn't get up.
Aragorn had spotted out of the corner of his eye that Airedaeiel had awakened. He turned and watched her struggles so look at her surroundings, and he noticed that she was unusually…calm. He watched her when she finally lay down again, and stayed down.
Glorfindel noticed that he was gazing at Airedaeiel, and turned to look at her also, and saw that she was lying down, though he could see her eyes were open, staring at the stars. Glorfindel saw her shivering and got up, walking towards her. She looked deathly white and her lips were turning blue. Glorfindel took from his pack a blanket and covered her with it. Airedaeiel kept her eyes open, afraid that he might attack. But she felt so dizzy that she closed her eyes again, fearing she would slip back into unconsciousness. Airedaeiel started to warm up under the blanket. She tried to stay awake, but the warmth lulled her into a deep sleep.
The demon still followed the light until he finally reached the colony of lights. Close up, he could see they were faeries. Little people surrounded by light, mischievous yet good. And they hated demons. The demon turned and sprinted away, but soon he was surrounded by those lights. Fear crept into the demon's eyes for the first time.
It died with much more pain than a dead being would ever expect to feel. He died screaming and wailing pitifully for his unworthy body of the living dead.
The cloaked figure sat in what used to be Sauron's throne. The dark, so thick, was almost tangible. It's black cloak and heavy draping clothes made it seem so much like a wraith. An orc scampered across the floor, shaking as it eyed the figure that was drawing nearer. When it reached the figure, the figure spoke in the common tongue.
"Guka, what news have you for me. I hope you have not been caught, like that previous spy of mine. He did die a little too quick for my liking, so if you fail me, you can help me improve my machine…" the figure said.
"Yes, mistress of the dark, Lord of Middle-Earth. One of your shadow creatures wandered to the south, and it was mysteriously destroyed. Should we send scouts to see what might have been the cause of your other servant's mysterious death?" Guka replied, shaking as his master gave him a look.
"No. That fool didn't ever know what it was doing. Don't waste any more of my soldiers," the figure said calmly, and Guka gave a sigh of relief, but stopped shortly when the figure continued to speak," but Guka, you gave me bad news. I do not like bad news. If you want to prove yourself forever loyal, you would be glad to help me test my…machine."
The figure grabbed Guka and brought him into a room, the door slamming shut. Guka's shrill screams could be heard all through Mordor and quite a bit beyond.
Airedaeiel woke up again, and looked around. Now she remembered what had happened right before she seemed to have passed out. She touched her long blond hair and felt the dirt and mud in it.
"I must look a fright," she thought. All that had happened right after she went to that tavern to rest frightened her. The man had grinned at her when she started feeling dizzy after drinking her glass of water. He had held up a weed whose name she could not remember. She got up to run, but the man chased after her, obviously not expecting her to run after drinking the drugged water. But run she did, and the man couldn't catch her. She had run until she collapsed in a bush, but now she was here, and she had no clue how she arrived in such a place.
Ethrin watched Airedaeiel's actions. Why was this elf all of a sudden calm; very different from the constant wails before? She shook her head and got up and, seeing Legolas still occupied with the stars and his thoughts, she walked towards Airedaeiel, determined to find out what had happened, but felt a tug on her arm. Turning around, she saw Legolas shake his head. Confused, she asked, "Why do you hold me back? What is so wrong with me taking a good look at her to see if she is alright?"
"The others can take care of her," he replied.
Ethrin took another look at Airedaeiel, and sighed. She was looking for an excuse to stay away from Legolas, and it pained her to think that way.
"Then I'll go talk to Diamond. There is something I must tell her," Ethrin said, pulling free from Legolas's grasp. Legolas watched her go.
It was, once again, time to start the trek to Mordor again. Ethrin kept on looking at Airedaeiel; she had stayed with them, because she and Arlena knew each other. Why Arlena didn't tell them right away that she knew her was a mystery Ethrin wasn't willing to reside on right then.
They journeyed quickly. Though Ethrin was still weak, she led them further south, closer and closer to Mordor. The evil formed a thick fog around them, so thick that they could almost reach out and touch it, thought it would scorch their fingers mercilessly. Though they still weren't close enough to Mordor to see Mount Doom, traces of demon passage was still clear. Small tuffs of grass were burned, each in the shape of some footprint of the demons.
Frodo started passing in and out of consciousness, each time nearly falling off his pony. Sooner or later he was going to fall off, so Aragorn decided to carry Frodo on his horse to keep him safe. Arlena told them that because he had been a ring bearer, the ring's mark would always be on him. Although traveling across the sea was good for him, he would never be fully healed. Now that he had come back, it would be worse. The spirits of the company could not have been lower.
Ethrin looked around, still alert although she was still quite exhausted. It never hurt to be wary of danger. All of a sudden, black shapers started forming a few hundred meters away. Sensing the danger, Ethrin whistled shrilly, and the rest of the company spurred their horses on, never looking back. The shadows pursued them, never stopping and coming closer and closer. No weapon could kill these, and Ethrin did not have the strength to fight them off, unless she looses her life and kills only two or three of them. All they could do was flee as the shadows drew closer and closer, faster than even Starlight.
Elrond quickly dressed quickly that morning, ready to read more on the histories that were stored in the safest quarters of Rivendell. There, more could be found, now that they knew what to look for. The information that the Mithwinrell gave was mostly in riddles, and to find out the whole future, the riddles would have to be solved. To solve those riddles, more would have to be found.
Still wary of more demons to come, the soldiers were restless at the borders. An invisible enemy that could was as strong as those they had encountered would never leave the remaining elves' minds soon. Many had lost a brother or a best friend, a son or a father. Forever the elves had been changed.