AN: So here comes the long awaited battle. Hope I won't disappoint you guys especially with the last chapter, which I must admit, was a bit of a blasphemy from my side. I was hyped and depressed at the same time. Those two are not the best of friend.
This chapter will start in the first person point of view to understand more of Firiel.
Italics will be used to indicate the thoughts and any conversation that passed through the mind.
Chapter 18: "Though lovers gone, love shall not."
I have dreaded this moment. From the time Er-Galadh came back into my life, I have dreaded this. Nothing is eternal, he said, and how right he was. It disturbed me to realise that this, everything, might ended by the next sunset. I should have known. Perhaps I do, after all, but I don't care anymore. Death come and goes. Ultimately, we all will go one day but today, I felt so vulnerable. I am, after all, a half-elf. To me, death come closer than any elf could imagine.
Yet it was not death that I fear. Truly, death will be preferable compared to losing your love. Trust me; I've been through this over and over again. It's like a circle, a never-ending circle.
I am so tired. Please, spare me of this. Have I not been through enough? First it was my father, Elen, and then I lost Er-Galadh for a very long while. I found him again, but must I lose him again? Friends and family pass me by for I have elven blood in my body and am doomed. Doomed for I cannot pass. I cannot go to Mandos Hall when time sees it fit. I am doomed…
This is it. If you must come, then come. But can I, at the slightest, be prepared of your coming? Or will you come like a thief, from the window, in the dead of night, sneaking like a cat? Then come. Come and take whatever left inside of me, inside this shell of protection. I cannot care anymore. I cannot fight anymore. One thing I wish, I desire, is to go to Mandos Hall when these task is over. And there, I will remember the reminiscent of the live that I once had and the dreams that I once dreamed…
*****
Firiel stretched and turned around. Er-Galadh had just woken up and his movement woke her also. He was gathering his clothes and his weapons. His bow and arrows and his sword. His presence reminded her of the previous night and she blushed subconsciously. He seemed to have felt her gaze for he turned around, studying her carefully before walking towards her with a smile in his eyes.
Firiel saw the happiness he projected and her heart ached for she realised that soon she would never see it again. Yet despite of this, she smiled back at him and the two embraced. Firiel relished in it. Her thought reeled again, her fear coming back and amidst all this a voice called out from the back of her mind, her own voice. Last kiss, last touch.
They parted and Firiel could not help but feeling disappointed. He touched her face softly, tracing the scar on her cheek. She could not bear to see to his eyes anymore. Her feeling was too strong, she feared it would break through and she did not wish him to see it. She wanted him to know that she understood. And she did understand but it's not easy to dispel of one's fear.
Her gaze fell on his chest and frowned for there was something she did not see the night before. His body was covered in scars, so fine that it was impossible to see in the absence of light. Er-Galadh followed her gaze and saw that she noticed his token of the past conflicts. "Who…?" the question died in her lips and trailed off into the air.
"The same creatures that gave you this," he replied, touching the scar in her face once more.
"Tell me," she pleaded. Her throat was tied into a painful knot that could not be rid of. Her voice sounded hoarse and she swallowed hard to pressed it down.
Er-Galadh sighed, thinking whether he should or not. After a long while, he decided to tell her. There was no harm in it after all. Not that he could think of at least. "I was captured once, to Dol Guldur. That is why Alfirin was very upset with my leaving. I thought that I can never escape from it but someone freed me. It was almost unreal, even as I say it now I cannot understand it. The person who freed me was one of the leaders of the army and he was the same person who captured me. Sure he did not revealed himself to me deliberately but I could tell and I cannot understand why."
Firiel glanced at his eyes. He was telling the truth. She looked down, unable to suppress the seething anger in her heart. Her eyes were glazed as she bent her head down and kissed along the scars. She felt a caressing hand on her hair. "What had happened cannot be change anymore. It is best to be left behind," his voice spoke gently in her ear. She turned her head up to meet his gaze and forced a smile.
"We must go now," he decided for a change and she nodded. She watched as he readied himself before starting on their journey once more. He walked in front of her, his step leave neither sound nor mark on the newly fallen dew. This time, it was him that left her on her own mind.
His voice rang in her mind and anger arose in her again. They will pay for this, she swore vehemently to herself. They will.
AN: I know I promised that this chapter is a fighting scene but it went for too long so I have to cut it short on this one. The next one though is a full on fighting for approximately, 5 pages. So enjoy the next chapter. Sorry to cut this one short.
