Chapter 5: Deafening Silence
Erin awoke to the sound of Aegnor stamping his feet frantically. She immediately became fully awake and alert as she looked around nervously. She could hear something coming towards them: the noise of something heavy and awkward and the footsteps were ragged and uneven. The noise was still far off, and it was moving slowly.
She quietly climbed down from the tree and untied Aegnor, then hopped on top of his back, after taking the rope off of him, and they galloped off. It was then that she noticed the woods: none of the animals were making a single sound. The deafening silence was broken by an inhuman scream, one that sounded olike a mix of ripping metal and shattering glass.
She kicked Aegnor and he picked up the pace as they wove between trees and bushes. After a couple of minutes she couldn't hear the creature following them so she slowed her horse to a lope and continued on. It was nearly dawn now; at least she had the slight comfort of daylight.
.........................................
It was early in the morning but fully light out as Erin stopped. She had been alone, lost in the woods for six days now. Over the days she had traveled along the stream and would stop occasionally to scrounge for food. Erin knew that she couldn't go on like this for much longer. Aegnor was fine since there was plenty of grass in the thick forest, but she could hardly find so much as a berry for herself.
She was slowly starving to death, and she was now very weak. Since the first night that she had fled from the tree the creature had chased after her once more, but had left her alone since then. It was a good thing too, she was so tired that if it did chase her she wasn't sure that she'd be able to hold on to Aegnor if he went any faster than a walk. That was how they'd been traveling the last few days, at a walking pace.
Erin slid off of Aegnor's back and crawled over to a nearby tree to rest. She crawled up into the branches and closed her eyes, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep. Erin didn't realize, however, that she hadn't tied Aegnor up.
Aegnor walked around the tree and began to graze, looking up occasionally. After a few minutes his head shot up and his ears faced forward, listening closely to something in the distance, then he trotted off towards the noise.
Erin awoke to silence. Dead silence. No animals in the area made a single noise. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized the implications of this. She looked down, trying to spot Aegnor, then began to panic as she saw that he was nowhere to be found. All she could possibly do was sit there and wait, hoping that the thing didn't find her, for she knew that she had absolutely no chance trying to get away on foot.
A flash of something caught her eye. It wasn't dark, but in fact it was light, very light, like pale hair. Whatever was making the noise was walking silently through the woods. It was then that she heard very light hoof beats and saw Aegnor following quietly behind the stranger. Was he stealing her horse?
She didn't care very much at the moment though, she was just incredibly happy to see anybody in these seemingly abandoned woods at all. Erin shifted so that she could climb down.
The man's head turned sharply in her direction and the thought that he had good hearing flitted through Erin's mind. Before she could have another thought, though, there was an arrow flying towards her head. She dropped flat to the branch quickly, just as the arrow struck the trunk behind her. It seemed that he thought her dangerous in some form or another. What was she supposed to do? She certainly couldn't TELL him that she meant no harm.
She thought quickly and, with as little movement as possible, ripped a small piece of cloth off of her long sleeved shirt and let it fall from the tree. She could see him watching the small piece of cloth flutter to the ground. Slowly, he lowered his bow and began to approach the tree with trepidation; his eyes constantly fixed on the tree. When he was about twenty feet away his face seemed to soften as he realized it was a girl in the tree. He put away his bow entirely and smiled.
"Do not be frightened, Lady, I will not harm you. I'm afraid I just did not realize that you were a woman. There have been many evil things lurking about this forest."
If Erin could have spoken she would have said something to the effect of "Well no shit Sherlock." She'd the misfortune of meeting one of those 'evil things.'
Eyeing him nervously, she began to climb slowly down the tree. She dropped the last five feet to the ground and ducked behind the tree, her head poking out around the trunk as she gazed at him. She then noticed Aegnor standing behind the attractive man. Erin reached her hand around the trunk and did a few flowing gestures very quickly, then pulled her hand back behind the tree.
Aegnor walked from behind the man, around the tree, and stood behind Erin. The man looked at them strangely.
"How did you do that? You are able to converse with your horse without speech?"
Erin looked at him and didn't move.
"I promise I will not hurt you. Please do not be afraid of me." He held his hand out to her. She stared at it for a moment then, after some hesitation, placed her hand in his and stepped out from behind the tree. Erin let go of his hand and put both of hers behind her back after she was in full view. He stared at his own hand for a moment.
"Your skin is so cold. How long have you been out here?"
Erin put her hands in front of her and held up six fingers.
"Six hours?"
Erin shook her head and held up six fingers again.
"Six days?" He raised his voice slightly, his eyes filled with surprise. The man looked down at her clothes and his eyes widened even more. "What has happened to you?"
Erin's clothes were dirty and torn, with some blood splattered on her shirt from a couple days ago when she had fallen from a tree and had been slashed, fairly deeply, on her arm by a sharp rock. She looked down at herself and shrugged.
"Come with me." She shied away from him. "It is all right. My name is Legolas. What is yours?"
She was silent. He seemed to take slight offense to her silence.
"Well if you will not tell me then I will simply give you one. I will call you Sain."
Erin felt a little guilty. He thought that she wasn't talking to him because she didn't trust him. He turned to lead her off. She grabbed his arm and turned him around, then held up her pinkie finger.
"What?" she figured he probably didn't know sign language so she tried a different approach. She pointed to her eye.
"You see something?" She shook her head no. She pointed to herself.
"You?" She smiled and nodded. Then she shook her head and mouthed the word 'not'.
"You're not.........." She nodded. Then she pointed to her throat and then to her mouth.
"You're not talk.You're not able to talk?" he asked. She nodded. "Oh." He seemed to think over this for a moment. "Will you come with me anyway?" She nodded and began to follow on Aegnor as he walked off. Legolas stopped and turned around, "May I ride with you? It will be much faster." She nodded.
Legolas walked up to her horse and moved to get on. Aegnor jumped to the side and prepared to run. Erin put her hand where he could see it and made a few sharp gestures, then Aegnor seemed to calm. Legolas walked up to him again and this time hopped up on top of his back without a problem. He reached his arms around Erin and put his hands on the horse's neck so that he could control him.
Erin was glad that Legolas couldn't see her face at that particular moment because she was blushing furiously.
An hour later her eyes began to droop; she was really tired. She felt herself leaning back into him. Not allowing herself to give in so easily she jerked back up, determined not to fall asleep on him. Her eyes began to droop again, and then, her mind losing the battle with her body, closed all together. She finally gave in and leaned into him, surrendering to sleep.
Erin could hear something. It sounded like a drum: a deep steady thumping. It was dark all around her, but she could hear the last vestiges of the thumping echoing around her, then everything went silent. The darkness seemed to swirl around her, enveloping her. It was cold: very, VERY cold. She could feel the life being sucked out of her. Something was whispering to her in the shadows. Erin began to cry, and then she screamed.
Erin jumped awake, her eyes wide in terror. She struggled: something was holding her in her place.
"Shhh. Calm down, it is okay. You only slept and must have dreamed of something terrible by the looks of it."
Erin calmed down a bit as she recognized Legolas' voice then, after she had calmed down completely, she began to think about the unnerving dream. It seemed so familiar. What had unnerved her the most, though, was that she had screamed. She had actually made noise. She had never made any noise in a dream before. Erin looked at their surroundings. It was midday and the sun was high up in the sky. Legolas bent over slightly.
"We're in Mirkwood and almost to my home."
Erin looked up at the sky. A little bit of sunlight was filtering through the trees, casting shadows about the ground. Because she wasn't paying attention, she began to slip from the horse's back and didn't notice until it was too late to stop the fall. She slid to the side and fell to the ground.
"AH!" she squeaked when her butt came in contact with the hard ground. Erin froze. She'd made a noise, an actual word, well..........sort of.......... She looked up at Legolas who was standing on the ground with a worried expression on his face.
"I though that you were unable to speak."
She pointed to herself and shook her head.
"You can't? But you just..........." He was interrupted by her grabbing a stick and writing in the dirt. He looked over her shoulder at the markings.
"I am sorry, but I am afraid that I cannot read the writing of your language."
Erin sighed. She pointed to herself then shook her head, did a gesture with her hands, and mouthed the word "before".
"You were never able to before?" she nodded. "That is strange, but we must hurry we only have a few hours before night comes, and even I do not wish to be caught in the middle of Mirkwood in the dark without a larger company." She nodded and hopped back onto Aegnor's back. Legolas followed suit and they began to ride once again.
Erin awoke to the sound of Aegnor stamping his feet frantically. She immediately became fully awake and alert as she looked around nervously. She could hear something coming towards them: the noise of something heavy and awkward and the footsteps were ragged and uneven. The noise was still far off, and it was moving slowly.
She quietly climbed down from the tree and untied Aegnor, then hopped on top of his back, after taking the rope off of him, and they galloped off. It was then that she noticed the woods: none of the animals were making a single sound. The deafening silence was broken by an inhuman scream, one that sounded olike a mix of ripping metal and shattering glass.
She kicked Aegnor and he picked up the pace as they wove between trees and bushes. After a couple of minutes she couldn't hear the creature following them so she slowed her horse to a lope and continued on. It was nearly dawn now; at least she had the slight comfort of daylight.
.........................................
It was early in the morning but fully light out as Erin stopped. She had been alone, lost in the woods for six days now. Over the days she had traveled along the stream and would stop occasionally to scrounge for food. Erin knew that she couldn't go on like this for much longer. Aegnor was fine since there was plenty of grass in the thick forest, but she could hardly find so much as a berry for herself.
She was slowly starving to death, and she was now very weak. Since the first night that she had fled from the tree the creature had chased after her once more, but had left her alone since then. It was a good thing too, she was so tired that if it did chase her she wasn't sure that she'd be able to hold on to Aegnor if he went any faster than a walk. That was how they'd been traveling the last few days, at a walking pace.
Erin slid off of Aegnor's back and crawled over to a nearby tree to rest. She crawled up into the branches and closed her eyes, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep. Erin didn't realize, however, that she hadn't tied Aegnor up.
Aegnor walked around the tree and began to graze, looking up occasionally. After a few minutes his head shot up and his ears faced forward, listening closely to something in the distance, then he trotted off towards the noise.
Erin awoke to silence. Dead silence. No animals in the area made a single noise. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized the implications of this. She looked down, trying to spot Aegnor, then began to panic as she saw that he was nowhere to be found. All she could possibly do was sit there and wait, hoping that the thing didn't find her, for she knew that she had absolutely no chance trying to get away on foot.
A flash of something caught her eye. It wasn't dark, but in fact it was light, very light, like pale hair. Whatever was making the noise was walking silently through the woods. It was then that she heard very light hoof beats and saw Aegnor following quietly behind the stranger. Was he stealing her horse?
She didn't care very much at the moment though, she was just incredibly happy to see anybody in these seemingly abandoned woods at all. Erin shifted so that she could climb down.
The man's head turned sharply in her direction and the thought that he had good hearing flitted through Erin's mind. Before she could have another thought, though, there was an arrow flying towards her head. She dropped flat to the branch quickly, just as the arrow struck the trunk behind her. It seemed that he thought her dangerous in some form or another. What was she supposed to do? She certainly couldn't TELL him that she meant no harm.
She thought quickly and, with as little movement as possible, ripped a small piece of cloth off of her long sleeved shirt and let it fall from the tree. She could see him watching the small piece of cloth flutter to the ground. Slowly, he lowered his bow and began to approach the tree with trepidation; his eyes constantly fixed on the tree. When he was about twenty feet away his face seemed to soften as he realized it was a girl in the tree. He put away his bow entirely and smiled.
"Do not be frightened, Lady, I will not harm you. I'm afraid I just did not realize that you were a woman. There have been many evil things lurking about this forest."
If Erin could have spoken she would have said something to the effect of "Well no shit Sherlock." She'd the misfortune of meeting one of those 'evil things.'
Eyeing him nervously, she began to climb slowly down the tree. She dropped the last five feet to the ground and ducked behind the tree, her head poking out around the trunk as she gazed at him. She then noticed Aegnor standing behind the attractive man. Erin reached her hand around the trunk and did a few flowing gestures very quickly, then pulled her hand back behind the tree.
Aegnor walked from behind the man, around the tree, and stood behind Erin. The man looked at them strangely.
"How did you do that? You are able to converse with your horse without speech?"
Erin looked at him and didn't move.
"I promise I will not hurt you. Please do not be afraid of me." He held his hand out to her. She stared at it for a moment then, after some hesitation, placed her hand in his and stepped out from behind the tree. Erin let go of his hand and put both of hers behind her back after she was in full view. He stared at his own hand for a moment.
"Your skin is so cold. How long have you been out here?"
Erin put her hands in front of her and held up six fingers.
"Six hours?"
Erin shook her head and held up six fingers again.
"Six days?" He raised his voice slightly, his eyes filled with surprise. The man looked down at her clothes and his eyes widened even more. "What has happened to you?"
Erin's clothes were dirty and torn, with some blood splattered on her shirt from a couple days ago when she had fallen from a tree and had been slashed, fairly deeply, on her arm by a sharp rock. She looked down at herself and shrugged.
"Come with me." She shied away from him. "It is all right. My name is Legolas. What is yours?"
She was silent. He seemed to take slight offense to her silence.
"Well if you will not tell me then I will simply give you one. I will call you Sain."
Erin felt a little guilty. He thought that she wasn't talking to him because she didn't trust him. He turned to lead her off. She grabbed his arm and turned him around, then held up her pinkie finger.
"What?" she figured he probably didn't know sign language so she tried a different approach. She pointed to her eye.
"You see something?" She shook her head no. She pointed to herself.
"You?" She smiled and nodded. Then she shook her head and mouthed the word 'not'.
"You're not.........." She nodded. Then she pointed to her throat and then to her mouth.
"You're not talk.You're not able to talk?" he asked. She nodded. "Oh." He seemed to think over this for a moment. "Will you come with me anyway?" She nodded and began to follow on Aegnor as he walked off. Legolas stopped and turned around, "May I ride with you? It will be much faster." She nodded.
Legolas walked up to her horse and moved to get on. Aegnor jumped to the side and prepared to run. Erin put her hand where he could see it and made a few sharp gestures, then Aegnor seemed to calm. Legolas walked up to him again and this time hopped up on top of his back without a problem. He reached his arms around Erin and put his hands on the horse's neck so that he could control him.
Erin was glad that Legolas couldn't see her face at that particular moment because she was blushing furiously.
An hour later her eyes began to droop; she was really tired. She felt herself leaning back into him. Not allowing herself to give in so easily she jerked back up, determined not to fall asleep on him. Her eyes began to droop again, and then, her mind losing the battle with her body, closed all together. She finally gave in and leaned into him, surrendering to sleep.
Erin could hear something. It sounded like a drum: a deep steady thumping. It was dark all around her, but she could hear the last vestiges of the thumping echoing around her, then everything went silent. The darkness seemed to swirl around her, enveloping her. It was cold: very, VERY cold. She could feel the life being sucked out of her. Something was whispering to her in the shadows. Erin began to cry, and then she screamed.
Erin jumped awake, her eyes wide in terror. She struggled: something was holding her in her place.
"Shhh. Calm down, it is okay. You only slept and must have dreamed of something terrible by the looks of it."
Erin calmed down a bit as she recognized Legolas' voice then, after she had calmed down completely, she began to think about the unnerving dream. It seemed so familiar. What had unnerved her the most, though, was that she had screamed. She had actually made noise. She had never made any noise in a dream before. Erin looked at their surroundings. It was midday and the sun was high up in the sky. Legolas bent over slightly.
"We're in Mirkwood and almost to my home."
Erin looked up at the sky. A little bit of sunlight was filtering through the trees, casting shadows about the ground. Because she wasn't paying attention, she began to slip from the horse's back and didn't notice until it was too late to stop the fall. She slid to the side and fell to the ground.
"AH!" she squeaked when her butt came in contact with the hard ground. Erin froze. She'd made a noise, an actual word, well..........sort of.......... She looked up at Legolas who was standing on the ground with a worried expression on his face.
"I though that you were unable to speak."
She pointed to herself and shook her head.
"You can't? But you just..........." He was interrupted by her grabbing a stick and writing in the dirt. He looked over her shoulder at the markings.
"I am sorry, but I am afraid that I cannot read the writing of your language."
Erin sighed. She pointed to herself then shook her head, did a gesture with her hands, and mouthed the word "before".
"You were never able to before?" she nodded. "That is strange, but we must hurry we only have a few hours before night comes, and even I do not wish to be caught in the middle of Mirkwood in the dark without a larger company." She nodded and hopped back onto Aegnor's back. Legolas followed suit and they began to ride once again.