When his rage had abated, her turned to see Voriathion's small frame lifting Barantûriel's shivering body from the mud, which now was stained crimson with her precious blood. He took one look at her eyes, the tears streaming down her cheeks, and he felt something within him burning. Voriathion's silvery tears mingled with hers as he pulled her close.
Baranturiel knew this time there would be no healing available… she felt a gentle pair of arms surround her, and looking up into a pair of green eyes, she began to cry. "Voriâth… Where's Yaomond?"
Yaomond stepped forward and knelt beside Voriathion, gently placing a gloved hand on her cheek. He winced as she curled around her stomach in a convulsion of pain.
"There is no returning now. I… I'm scared Voriath."
These words stung both men, and both of them lowered their heads. They found no words to soothe her, nothing to console her. Yaomond's voice sounded hastily over the hissing of the rain.
"Don't talk like that Baranturiel, you'll be fine. We're both here with you."
Baranturiel's face glowed for a moment as she gave a trembling smile, then clutching Voriathion as pain took her again. She gave a slight whimper and timidly spoke out.
"I would not want it to end any other way… you have given me so much, and now I cannot repay… Voriath, I love you."
She convulsed again and Voriathion closed his eyes silently, speaking an affirmation of her last words in Elvish, and then she grew heavy in his arms, the tension in her body had vanished and he pulled her up to him sobbing openly now.
At this precise moment, Yaomond's heart suddenly felt as though it was pumping ice through his whole body. An emptiness took hold of him and he shook his head, his mouth open in a silent cry of anguish. Taking up his sword Yaomond grabbed the corpse of the goblin that had killed her and slammed it hard against the nearby rock, shouting angrily at it, screaming incoherent curses at it as he furiously hacked at the still, silent body. Slowly though, he sank to his knees and he released his sword, which fell to the ground beside him. Tears flowed, and yet he did not seem to be crying. He couldn't feel the anguish he had felt moments before, and what scared him most, was that he felt nothing. Except an absence deep within himself…
