Breath of Midnight
Please read and let me know what you think.

The Door in the Floor

Friends can be foes.
Strangers can be brothers.
Enemies may one day be allies.
Judge carefully,
The eyes are often blind.

I had a vision.

I stood at the edge of a dark chiasm. The world around me was burning and my only escape lay hidden in the deep unknown. I fought to keep my footing on the edge, but a foul wind pushed me off my feet. I fell and fell, until at last I came to the end. As I lay lost in the darkness, I heard a still small voice call to me from the void.

Wake up!

My body tensed violently and I was jerked into a blinding light. At first all I could see was gray. Then slowly the darkness melted away and the world was no longer consumed in flame; the void was but a dismal memory. I was no longer dreaming but wide awake in a strange, small, windowless room. The only way in or out seemed to be a door like opening in the floor with a menacing iron ring handle. I sat up from the straw cot I had been laying in and tried to open the door. I grasped the cold iron and pulled up with all my strength, but it didn't move. The door must have been locked from the other side. I raised my hands in silently frustration and sat roughly back down on the cot with my head hung low. I did not escape from one prison only to end up in another. What wrong turn did I take to lead me here? I mumbled a few choice words in my own tongue and then a few more when I heard a voice from the other side of the room.

"I don't know what you just said Elf, but I certainly know how you feel."

I shoot a glance back and saw that tracker I had shouldered half way through Fangorn laying on his cot near the opposite side of the room; his hands casually resting behind his head.

"You look better than the last time I saw you." I said.

He replied, "Odd… you look a lot worse."

We looked each other over from head too toe. Neither of us knew yet if the other was actually a friend or a foe.

(Such things are never clear in times of war; friendships can too often be a thing of convenience.)

He had helped me during the ambush in the woods, and I had helped him when he was injured, but neither of us knew the true motives behind the others act of kindness.

After some time we both came to the conclusion that it didn't matter. We were both locked in this strange room, and we both needed to find a way out; together.

We thought and planed. We pulled and tugged on that ring until we thought we would go mad. We even used the leg off of one of the cots to try to gain leverage on the door; but nothing worked.

"All we can do is wait for that door to open itself." I said

It wasn't a pretty thought, but it as the best plan we had.

"What shall we do until then Elf? Trade war stories over tea I suppose?"

There wasn't much else we could do, someone would have to come up here eventually, and we would just have to wait it out.

"Save the tea for later, first I would like to know your name…I only know you as the tracker from the woods, and that is not a formal enough title for polite conversation. My name…not that you asked…Is Feaestel. I'm a friendly fellow, and I've been told that fair maidens find me to be rather dashing."

He sat down on the three legged cot and it tilted awkwardly. He frowned and brushed some lose straw from his back. He did not seem to be amused by my attempt at humor.

"My name is Aswin. I am a son of Rohan, if there be any left in these dark days."

He didn't seem too interested in passing the time with words; he seemed to prefer the silence and said no more for quite a time. I decided to keep to myself and to make no further attempts to lighten the mood. Thankfully he soon grew tired of the silence, and so did I. We again found ourselves forced into conversation. He left his broken cot with a kick and sat down on mine. He looked both cautious and curious as he worked up the nerve to ask me a question.

"You really must tell me…where did you learn to hide and move through the forest. You are very difficult to track. I've never in all my days seen anything like it. At times it was if you were nothing more than a leaf blowing amongst the trees."

"Let's just say I had lots of practice hiding from my older sister when I was young."

He laughed, and wiped away a small tear.

"Indeed, one needs to be quite skilled to hide from the wrath of an older sister. I stole my sister's doll once and feed it to our goat. She was so angry I hid myself up in a tree out of pure fear for two days."

We were both laughing now.

"Where is this mad devil, I would like to meet her…or avoid her at least. I Hope she's not still waiting for you to come down from your tree."

He removed me from his gaze and looked back to the ground. The laughter faded as he grew somber again.

"She is gone...they are all gone."

A somber pause hung over us both. It is easy to forget that both sides suffer wounds in war.

"Forgive me, I did not know… Please, can you tell me what happened to them?"

"We had a good farm and a good life on the southern border of Rohan close to the northern border of Gondor. My father died when I was young; but my Mother, my Sister, and I made do with what we had. I tracked wolves and other unwanted animals off our neighbors land for a small fee. With that money, and our crops, I managed to support my family. We led happy lives until the army came through. They told me we owed allegiance to Gondor for their protection over the years. They said that if I didn't serve a year with them in payment, they would burn our farm to he ground. So I did the only thing I could do to protect my family; I dawned a foreign uniform."

His last words drifted away as he thought.

"You don't want to hear anymore, and I don't want to say anymore. I hate myself for what I've done."

"No, please go on…what happened? Did you fight in the last battle?"

"I was in a small regiment and we didn't even make it to the field in time for the battle; only for the clean up. I was assigned to help track down any remnants of the…um… enemy who could still be hiding in the woods.

He checked my face for a reaction. When he felt it was safe to continue he did.

"I hated my job and my Captain. The Captain was a fool… but he finally got what he deserved in the end. One of the prisoners tried to escape, and the Captain was sent to go after him. They got in a fight, and that fool of a Captain fell on his own sword in the struggle. I unfortunately had to bring the escaping Elf back into custody. The Elf was nice enough. He didn't even give me a hard time. He was more concerned about his daughter I think. Some of the guards, including my Captains brother, were looking in her direction and yelling threats at the Elf…The whole thing made me sick. All I know is the next morning they took them all out and shot them in cold blood. Cowards."

"Yes, I remember that quite clearly. That Elf was a friend of mine. You know his daughter wasn't even supposed to be there. She had followed her father into battle despite his protests. She was very brave."

"But you! You survived somehow and escaped. My captain's brother wanted to see your dead body and spit on your grave. He was very upset when you could not be found among the dead one morning, and he went straight to the Commander. The Commander sent me with a team of dogs and men to track you down. I found some torn cloth and blood near the entrance of the forest that I believed to belong to you, and began my pursuit."

"I was wondering what you found to set you on my trail. I knew I had been sloppy, but I didn't know how sloppy until now."

Aswin smiled a little and gave me a mock pat on the back.

"After that point I couldn't find a single trace of you. I was moving solely on instinct and on more than a fair share of luck. Once we got as far as the river I knew it was over, there was no way we would find you. I sent my men down stream to look just in case, but I choose to stay behind. I could feel a strange presence in that place. I don't know what it was, but I felt at peace. The presence grew stronger and I was frozen where I stood. It was as if the trees were whispering to me. I was afraid; I left that place and returned with my men to camp. I explained to my superior that there was no hope of finding you now that you had crossed the river, but failure was unacceptable to him. He sent an entire regiment to my home. He ordered them to burn the farm to the ground and return with my Mother and Sister. He wanted to make an example of me for the other recruits. The message was simple; fail me and I will murder your family before your very eyes."

"I'm so sorry…that monster…"

"He then marched my Men, their dogs and myself into the woods. He told us that the only way we would ever leave that place would be if the wolves carried our bodies home to their cubs. He said that you had suddenly become of great interest to Gondor, and your capture was of the utmost importance. He called us traitors, and tore the seals from the men's uniforms. One by one he had me watch as they were skewered alive on pikes; even the dogs were shown no mercy."

The image of those pikes and the smell of the blood that morning came back into my mind.

"So that's what happened… Striper killed those men."

"Striper? Oh you must mean Osric. He's very dangerous, not someone you want to toy with."

I was drawn in by this man's story. It was so irreversibly tied to my own.

"What happened next? Surely this Osric didn't just let you go?"

"No…no he wouldn't. He tied my arms and legs to four posts in the ground. He then left me to listen to the cries of my comrades in the darkness. He is truly a monster. He left three guards over me with instructions to kill me if I wasn't dead by morning. They firmly stood watch… until the storm came. They soon became frightened of the woods; they swore they could see the trees moving, and hear them groaning. Two of them threatened to leave and return to camp. The third one drew his sword and ordered them to hold their posts. A fight soon ensued in the midst of the storm, and one of the guards was slain. His sword fell near me and I managed to lose one hand from its binds and reach for it; all the while the other two continued to fight."

He paused and then went on.

"I cut myself free and began to crawl away through the mud. The whole time I felt that strange presence I had felt in the woods. That same strange peace…I was not alone. I stood and made a run for the angry woods, but not quite fast enough. I was struck down by two arrows, one after the other, right into my back. I continued moving, dragging my body in pain; hoping I could not be followed in the storm. It did not seem as if I was pursued. I can only assume that they continued their fight, and killed each other before they could come after me. The rest you know already. Surely there was some hand guiding our paths to bring about our meeting."

"I would not doubt it…friend…I would not doubt it."

I head it first, but Aswin was not far behind me. We looked down towards the door.

The floorboards began to creak and groan. Voices were rising through the floor. The door began to moan, and the ring clanked against the moving wood. The door was opening. Someone was coming through.

This was our chance!

To be continued…