I awoke to a clamor of glasses and sat straight up. How could I've been so stupid? I'd given in to my instinctive want and thrown myself into this trap; there was no way to get out but through the pub, where the drinkers were settling in (or far beyond). I could not sleep now, either I was stuck listening to them from above, eyes wide open, or I descended and shook. Neither was appealing. Had I truly thought I'd sleep till morning?

Shakily, I put my still-booted feet on the spongy floorboards, looking down at my frayed knapsack, which itself held close to nothing. I'll have to fill up on some traveling food before I left again, I thought bitterly, and watched the candle flickers where they danced under the door. Oh no, oh no.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to shut down the nausea.

What am I doing?

I stood up abruptly. I'd forgotten my original means for coming here. Was it not to face my fears, destroy the few 'demons' that remained? Without a second thought, or rather, with not thought at all, I stood up, walked determinedly to the door, opened it surely, and waltzed down the stairs into the opening of the bar.

It was identical. The flames sent restless shadows over the faces of customers, illuminating a fraction of their frames and then decrescendoing away to focus on another part. About six tables were set up, along with a few stools in front of the bar. The smoke from a number of pipes left a papery haze around the ceiling, and I was thankful once again for my height.

I walked around for a bit, listening to conversations and trying to keep from shaking. There was some sort of shadow over only me, trying to make me give in and start screaming for release, and I knew I couldn't give in if I didn't want to be thrown out as a mad woman, which in their definition I probably was already.

Their looming faces would look at me occasionally, and I would look back at them for the slightest moment and then away again, quite against my normal routine. The air was so thick I had to force the condemned air to go down my throat without gasping. I wished I was away, home, wherever that was, was it here? I wasn't quite sure. With Aragorn or Gandalf, or anyone really besides these strangers I knew far too well. I could name most of them, after all, but they did not know me enough to recognize the girl they labeled a demon.

Perhaps I hadn't gotten enough sleep. How late was it when I went upstairs? How late was it now? The day had been cloudy, and several folks were still eating dinner. I hadn't slept last night, and hardly at all the night before, nervous upon almost reaching the crest to Nove. Little sleep had never been a problem much before, it was something I was used to, perhaps the bed had made me soft, the absence of the war…

I was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell and swayed a bit, and, unknowingly grabbed the edge of the nearest table. As soon as my hands touched the roughly-cut and smoothed with age wood I felt a jerk and…

Alright, I can do this, I can do this…It's this or die, you selfish brat, just pick one and talk to him, do the things you saw those other girls do, trap him in! Everyone said you were the town beauty, before they found out about Mother. Just do it, it's the only way! Undo the top button and go talk…

My face was about a foot away from a young slightly-bearded man I did not recognize, most likely because he was probably around my age. His face mirrored what I could feel the muscles in my face retorting to; fear, tension and all-out wonderment. I had not lost myself for such a long time! And…oh, not here!

My breathing was coming in short raspy breaths, and the few other people around me who'd seen it were turning and whispering to their neighbor, so that by the time I slowly straightened my body the entire pub was staring at me, the most silent I'd ever seen it. And I stared back, not at anyone in particular, but at a ward that was drawn on the wall across the room. Oh, what had I done?
The silence was drawn out and beyond it's boundaries of a couple of seconds, which is how long it truly lasted. Then the murmurs came in a low hum, followed swiftly by the questions, and the accusations.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes! How can it be?"

"Just like the other one!"

"Could it be her?"

"No-no, of course not?"

"The age is right…and she looks-"

"Girl, who are you?"

"What do you want of us?"

"What demon's do you carry?"

"Are you the same?"

"Have you come for revenge?"

The final word triggered the final section their claims got to.

"She is! I remember…"

"She's out to get us!"

"Kill her!"

"Burn her!"

"Destroy her, before she destroys us all!"

"Help me!"

"Save us!"

"She's come in the night to revenge her own death!"

I had not moved while this all had gone on, with the exception of my eyes, which flickered from mouth to mouth as they had their say. But I was here for a reason, and although I'd forgotten it at the moment, I knew sitting here and doing nothing was not it.

"Yes, I have!" I cried out. "You KILLED me! You all MURDERED me with your silly words and thoughtless acts! I've been haunted by this damned place my entire life! I do not fear death, or war, or even confrontation anymore. I have seen them and lived through them, fought through them and survived. But this…this place has haunted me and it's YOUR fault!" My rage had me pacing the floor and tears torrenting down my cheeks, my voice cracking with angered delight. "You say I am a demon, but I am not! I know demons, oh, I know demons, and you are one that has haunted me! You…you…YOU!!"

I started pointing at all of them, so mad I could hardly see. Their voices had been shocked into silence, but now they were starting up again, and I had to yell to be heard, if I was heard at all.

"Your petty ways have stretched the truth for your own liking! Talcum murdered my brother over a stolen loaf of bread! Not over some selfless good deed! Do you forget we were starving children who begged for food and jobs? Do you forget we were alone, and lived in a cave? Do you forget that is no way for any human being to live?"

Their voices were overcoming mine now, scream and belching over my own cries.

"Kill the demon!"

"Hang her!"

"Burn her!"

"Ya! Ya!"

"Kinya, Kinya!"

I was still ranting, though what about I have forgotten, and I forget little. But I continued my protests as theirs increased and suddenly there were hands on my shoulders. They were going to kill me; I knew it, out of an old fear. Fools! They knew nothing, were nothing, and I would die from nothing. I struggled from the hands that clasped my shoulders, tears screened the shadowed shapes and I forgot sanity for a moment as I thrashed and the heat increased as they got closer.

"Kinya, KINYA!"

I was shaken, and the hands moved to my face and I was looking straight at Gildor, his face a pale remnant of another dimension. His brow was crinkled and his face was searching for some bit of recognition in mine. I let out some sort of half wail and the creases on his forehead instantly demolished and his arms came around me and he held me there, and I sobbed.

The sound was no longer a roaring beat but still continued with outraged protest. I could assume it looked quite odd for an elf to walk in and start straight for the 'evil demon girl', but I was so thankful for him I didn't care. He'd followed me? Why? It was as much his decision for me to come as it was Gandalf's and Aragorn's and, indeed, mine.

"Who's he?"

"What right does he-"

"Get that man out of here!"

"No!"

"That's right!"

"He's an elf!"

"In disguise!"

"On of her minions, pretending to me an elf!"
"Aye, or she seduced him into service!"

"Yes, just like her mother…"

"Horrible."

"Burn the sorceress!"

Ah, so I was a sorceress now, not just a demon. Which was worse? I wondered. If it even mattered. I half choked and half laughed into his tunic.

His chin, which had been resting on my head, lifted up a bit and I could almost feel his eyes going from calm protective to hard and cold.

"Enough of this, you fools! Is your fear so great that you cannot see what is there? This girl is no demon, but magic she knows. Yes-I will not lie to you. But you all better bless your own hides in her name, for if she didn't they'd all be orc meat! Kinya here was a huge influence in the Great War, and without her the table would've turned. The flash you see in her eyes is the Sight, where she sees all the wonders and horrors of the world, not a demon showing its presence! It is because of this you should hail her, not assault her! This girl-" and with that he did the most outrageous thing; he put his right hand on my right shoulder and his left hand on my left shoulder, and spun me around and held me out in front of him so I was naked in their eyes. "Has seen the very evil depths of humanity and lived through it all. Death, war, famine, rape, sickness, stealth, plot and fire, she has seen it all, and do you know what the only thing she feared was? THIS FUCKING PLACE!! The place she was born, the place that still haunts her after seeing the world almost end and start anew. And you people, pushed by each other and your fear for yourselves, can't even take ONE BLOODY SECOND to wonder if perhaps she's just as scared as the rest of you."

I was shaking. Never, in my hearing, had anyone said such things about me, or at least in such an extent and completely focused on a person I tried to avoid, that person being myself. Everyone was staring at me, shocked dumb at least for a moment. A few looked guilty, a few convinced, but most just amazed at the elf's speech. In a month or so, even the doubting one's would believe me a demon and Gildor a minion, or, perhaps, even the other way around. I was surrounded by my fear, stuck out into it by a friend and completely helpless. I realized they were distracted enough, perhaps, for us to leave before they started up again, and possibly for the last time with the circumstances.

"Gildor, let's go."

I realized my mistake when I recalled my bag sitting upstairs; it contained a small amount of food, water, my brother's dagger and a variety of other things I would rather have not left behind.

"Wait." I told Gildor quietly, and, leaving him in the pub, wafted through the wave of people who parted for me without knowing why, and sprinted up the stairs, grabbed my bag and flew back down again.

Upon my descent, I heard a few muffled whispers. Any moment they would start again, with their chants and accusations. "Gildor!" I said with a slight tension in my voice.

He was at my side almost immediately, and together and ignoring the many pairs of eyes that followed us, walked out into the night.