Chapter 9-
I woke up as i was picked up and handed off of the horse, and laid down onto a blanket, slowly sitting up I asked, "How long have I been asleep?"
"No more than a few hours." Silinde awnsered.
Gliren gently lifted her head, shivering under her cloak and blankets, "Where is Erualarion?" Gliren asked.
"Checking all of the caverns on this peak for goblin gates and orcs." Silinde said as if it were a casual ordeal. I grew frightened that suck evil things could live in a place that contained such beauty. "Nunilwen is with him, and I am sure no harm will come to either of them." he finished.
I stared up into the night sky, clouds hovered there, covering the moon. The wind was beginning to blow and I knew that there was going to be a storm. Gliren seemed to know it too, and Silinde made sure the fire was built up well. I lay there shivering on the cold stone floor of the cavern, wishing that I was back in my own lands, tossing and turning in my own bed miserably in the heat. At this point it would be better to roast on the sweltering heat than to freeze.
I sat up and got closer to the flames, and the wind began to whip tendrils of my hair about like they were wisps of wind themselves. I groaned, I reached into my pack, clutching onto a piece of long ribbon. I tied my hair up behind me and continued shivering miserably.
I raised and tilted my head as I heard the sound of racing feet coming toward us. A know of anticipation began to twist inside me, and I reached into my back and pulled out a dirk. Silinde and Gliren both looked at me as they heard it unsheathe. I squatted down on all fours as if I were a cat ready to pounce on a mouse, and I backed up to get leverage. Gliren pulled out her daggers as she heard the footsteps too. I listened for a pattern to count the pairs of feet. I heard two, and then five, and then eight, and still more coming. Silinde's face turned from amused to serious.
Erualaron and Nunilwen raced in, "They have our weapons!" Nunilwen shrieked.
That was when they both noticed my defensive position, and Gliren's to. Erualarion's eyes grew wide, and just as the first few orcs and goblins ran into the cavern, Gliren threw herself into the thrall, I followed her. If I did not have the raining in hand-to-hand combat as a child that I had, or the tumblers skill I had been taught, I do not think I would have survived.
Jumping up into the air like mad cat, I flipped over the first orcs head, sliding my dirk in his gut as if he was warm butter, and I turned around, slicing a goblins throat as he reached for his sword. Gliren and I fought madly, and the others looked only in disbelief. Gliren's daggers gleamed brilliantly in the fire and moonlight, and my dirk sliced through everything that came near it, at least until it was knocked out of my hand.
Tumbling around the orc with a pixie's ease, I landed near my bag, pulling out what looked like overlarge throwing stars, and I dug my fingers into the hand grips. I leaped forward, jamming the long points into nearly everything that moved. I looked over at Gliren, and everything on her path was killed instantly, her arms sweeping around her so fast I could barely see them. I pushed off the ground with my feet, flipping over an orc, jamming the stars into it's head, and landing silently, crouching on the stone floor of the cavern with my stars crossed in front of me.
As no orc or goblin stood standing, I crouched in-between corpses of the wretched things, and I daresay I looked like a wild cat, feral, and ready to strike again at any moment. Erualarion stared, his jaw lowered in shock, "Where did you learn such a skill? And what weapons are those? I have never seen such things!" he asked quietly.
"One of my stature is taught to keep herself safe," I said, wiping the blood off of my stars, "years of tumblers and weapons training wasted because I was considered to be flawed." I finished bitterly. I rose and walked around the cavern, looking for my dirk. When I found it, I picked it up with a sigh, wiping the blood off of it too.
"Is my lady alright?" Silinde asked Gliren, then turning towards me to make sure I was alright too.
"Yes I am fine, I need some rest though." Gliren muttered. She staggered over to her pike of blankets, which remarkably, had been untouched and not a drop of blood had stained them. When she reached them, she quickly laid down, and quickly fell back to sleep. Every nerve in my body was on edge, and all of my senses were intensively alert, picking up the sound of a bird's wings, which was nowhere in sight.
Erualarion tried to convince me to go to bed, taking my dirk, and offering to take first watch, but I would not move from my place. For the rest of the night, I crouched defensively at the entrance of the cavern, dirk tucked into the metal waist clasp of my dress and my stars crossed in front of me. I spotted a lot of orc activity below that night, but too far below to be a bother to us, but it was enough to keep me alerted like a wild animal on the hunt.
I watched the sun rise, and still I kept watch, when Silinde awoke, amazed that I was sill awake, and in the same position, "Have you been awake all night? You absolutely must be exhausted!" he exclaimed, concern flowing through his voice.
"Halfway down the peak, there is an orc troop of nearly twenty, they have been making their way up here all night, searching for the numbers they lost last night. I do not think they will look much longer, but if there would be a chance, I wanted to warn you." I said quietly but clearly.
Silinde nodded and I made my way over to the blankets and laid down. Erualarion's eyes opened to see the rising sun, and he wrapped his arms and blankets around me, easing me quickly into a deep slumber. I awoke to the smell of flatbread and jam. It would be a cold breakfast, but at least it was food. Erualarion smiled sweetly at me, and I looked outside, it was nearly noon and the sun was high overhead. I realized that this was not breakfast, but lunch.
"Did you sleep well?" Gliren asked, "Silinde told us that you were still keeping a good watch when he awoke."
"Yes, thank you, I did sleep yes, and I do not know if you could call it a good watch, but I did try." I replied, then I sat down again, wishing for a bath, and ate my cold food. "One more day in the mountains," I thought, knowing now that traveling over the mountains took so long, because of the height changes and the distance it takes to cover them.
"If we start soon, we may be able to reach the edge of the mountains by nightfall, we can make camp there if we are successful." Silinde said, he sounded quite hopeful, and he was quite eager to reach home.
"I shall start packing our things." Erualarion said, "I am quite eager to leave these mountains, and the creatures that crawl throughout them." Of course he began packing immediately, and he was done rather quickly. I quickly emptied a water skin on what remained of the fire, a pile of red hot embers. They sizzled and let out the last tiny cloud of smoke, and turned and climbed onto my horse. It seemed ready to be leaving, and I was too, a feeling of eeriness crawling about my skin.
We set off only a few moments after that, and we began to work our way down the mountain. It was not long before I got the impression that I was being stared at intently. I turned my head and saw Erualarion staring at me intently, his gaze sending shivers up my spine. I quickly turned my head, trying to act as if I did not notice him, as if I did not feel his desires. Truthfully, I possessed the same desires as he did, and I turned my head again slightly. His haze had not been broken. I bit my lip, trying desperately to resist the urge to stop and climb onto his horse. I closed my eyes and listened carefully, besides the sound of eagles calling and hoof beats around us, I could hear his breathing, slowly becoming heavy and ragged.
I inhaled deeply and remembered the night before the feast in Rivendell. His hands gently running over my entire body, his lips tantalizing every nerve in my body. I could resist him no longer. I stopped my horse, and Silinde and Gliren looked back to make sure everything was alright, and quickly turned their attention to the path again. I lifted myself onto Erualarion's horse, and let myself relax in his arms. A grin washed over his face, and his arms slid around my waist, gently tickling my exposed skin.
I slowly slipped my hands behind my back, and ran my fingers over the bulge in his breeches. He quietly sighed and closed his eyes momentarily, reopening then to look at me and smile. I felt his hands slip behind my back, running his fingers over my lower back. His fingers brushed up against the waist clasp on my skirts. As he clasped and twisted the tiny lever holding it in place it unhooked and my skirts loosened, the metal creating a pocket of space now that it was no longer clasped.
As I gently played with, and untied the strings to Erualarion's breeches, he slowly slid his hands into the space which had just been freed, his hands teasingly sliding over my hips and towards my inner thighs. I let out a very quiet moan, so quiet it was almost inaudible, as Erualarion's hands found what they had silently searched for. I untied the final string, and the fabric of his breeches parted loosing him from the fabric that had caged him. My fingers slowly ran up it, and we stroked and tantalized each other for a very long time, forcing ourselves to be silent. By the end of it, I giggled, feeling completely alive and very exhilarated.
I noticed Gliren looked back and grinned at me, and I felt my cheeks get red hot as I blushed. Erualarion laughed, "She noticed about an hour ago." he said.
The embarrassment quickly diminished as the ever familiar mist shrouded my vision. A tall man entered a room, draped in white. Everything about him was white, his beard, his long straight hair, his clothing, and his staff. Everything was white except for his heart. His hear was black, and it shown through the cruelty and malice that oozed from his unnerving gaze. Then to my horror I saw orcs, but they did not look like the ones we had fought the night before. No, they were very different.
Taller than men, and over built. They looked as if they had been bred. And I saw two of the halflings that had been in Rivendell and I nearly called out to them as I felt their despair. Even more despairing, I saw myself. I was being carried away, bound and gagged. Erualarion shook me, trying to shake me out of my vision. I later found out that I had been screaming. The vision faded, and tears streamed down my cheeks as I clinged onto him.
"My love, what have you seen?" Erualarion asked, stroking my hair and holding me tightly.
"I have seen the tall man in white, the wizard that was spoken of in Rivendell." I said, "And I have seen a new breed of orc, stronger, faster, and able to travel through the daylight unharmed." I did not tell them of my kidnapping. No, I could not. How could I tell them that no matter what they all did that I would be taken, how could I lead them into the mad whiteness of despair?
"We must tell my father, he will need to know of this!" Silinde said, obviously concerned. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Remarkably I was conscious, "I need rest, but yes my lord, I am fine." I replied. I laid my head on Erualarion's chest, inhaled deeply, and we continued riding. The guilt I felt that day was ruthless, I should have told them, but thinking it was for the better, I didn't.