Assailed the monarch's high estate;
(Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.
Edgar Allan Poe
Chapter 4
Wonderland
If the situation had not been so dire, he probably would have laughed at himself. In truth, he had given no thought whatsoever to his arrival at the destination … only his departure … so-to-speak. When he finally emerged into the darkened hallway on the other side of Ethan's doorway, he spent the first few seconds and the first five feet, trying not to fall on his face like an elfling who had not been watching where he was walking.
He turned around to look at the doorway but saw that in the few seconds since his arrival, it had disappeared, leaving only a long darkened hallway in back of him and the same in front. He settled the two swords attached around his waist and adjusted his tunic, patting different pockets to make sure that the extra supplies he had hastily shoved into them were still there.
Sitting on his heels, Greyfell began to assess his situation, the immediate area around him and also the area in front of him. His elvish senses told him that there was no being or creature in his immediate vicinity at the moment and in that regard he was both glad and disappointed. He was glad, for that meant that he would not have to meet and engage a bizarre creature or being in combat, who either had a fascination with cutlery or with death – and not necessarily in that order. He was also disappointed for that also meant that he would have to enter and travel through unknown territory containing unknown enemies to find Anayah.
There was nothing to indicate the size of the "house" or the layout so the problem would be to try and find Anayah with absolutely no clues to go on – he laughed quietly at the absurdity. Then an idea came to him. He had always known that he and Anayah shared a special bond, something he had first become aware of in Hoth when he had seen her use her magic to subdue an abusive jailer. He had immediately known not only what she was doing but also why she was doing it, even though he did not know how or why he knew such things. The two of them were connected somehow and he would try and tap into that connection now and hopefully use it to find her.
He closed his eyes and mentally reached out into the darkness, sending his own fëa down corridors, passed shadowy doorways and darkened rooms, searching for Anayah. He found her and his heart leapt in his chest when she raised her hand and laid it on her cheek when he mentally placed a kiss there, a gesture meant both as a hello and as encouragement. When she turned and started walking in his direction, he withdrew his mental touch then sat back to wait for her to come to him.
While he waited for Anayah to arrive, he looked at the doorways around him where he could dimly sense conscious thought, a fact that meant there was life behind the doors. As he listened, he heard bodies shift and floors creak as whoever was sitting just on the other side of the doorways moved restlessly. He frowned, for the fëas of the beings seemed altered, twisted and frightened, with their inner light diminished or totally absent. He shook his head sadly, for if he guessed correctly, the locked doors weren't keeping these pitiful beings imprisoned but were protecting them from a place and "things" that had destroyed their minds.
He started walking in the general direction he sensed Anayah would be coming from, noting as he did the gouges and chunks that had been torn out of the walls on both sides of the hallway. When he saw the bloody handprint he drew his sword, for there had obviously been a serious fight – and not all that long before. Whoever Anayah had engaged in battle could very well be somewhere nearby – right at that moment.
He smelled the air, trying to find a scent – anything that might provide information about this place he was in or the beings he might possibly encounter, both good and bad. He almost gagged and swiftly put his hand over his nose and mouth, trying to block out the putrid scent that came to him, the smell of death and decay. It was an all-out assault on his elvish sense of smell – and he immediately knew that there were more things hidden in the darkness than he would probably want to know about.
Slowly and quietly he made his way up the darkened hallway, listening to the sounds and faint rustlings around him. He maintained a constant state of alertness, always looking for signs of danger, but it was when he sensed something pass over his head, that he flattened himself up against the wall and turned his glow off to better hide from whatever was there. Once he thought he heard a low growl from one of the darkened corridors that branched off from the hallway he was walking down. He quickly moved past the area and even though he heard the soft padding of an animal walking on all four feet, after a time there was only silence.
On more than one occasion, he had to stop and take some deep, calming breaths and consciously slow his breathing and heart rate. Though he had spent most of the long millennias of his life facing danger and evil in many forms, there was something about where he was at that moment that made anything he had faced and feared seem insignificant in comparison. He shuddered when he considered that he was becoming unnerved after only a short time in this place while Ethan had spent over two millennia here.
The rustling noises continued and on more than one occasion, he had been tempted to brighten his glow so he could see what was lurking in the shadows although the sensible part of himself warned him not to, that what he would see should remain hidden.
He froze when he heard two set of footsteps coming in his direction, the first and lighter set of footsteps belonging to Anayah. Then it felt like an icy hand clutched at his heart and squeezed for the footsteps of the second person were loud, steady and even and could only mean that whoever the person was that was following Anayah was very large. Though that fact disturbed him, it didn't disturb him as much as the fact that Anayah's footsteps were unhurried and could only mean that she didn't know the other being was behind her and gaining on her.
What is wrong with you, Baby Girl? He thought to himself. Don't you hear him walking behind you?
When he judged that Anayah was close enough, he reached around the corner of the corridor, quickly grabbed her and drew her to him. He was not prepared for the fist that came around the corner with her. For a time, Greyfell thought he was looking at stars and listening to a swarm of bees, for there were sparkling lights in front of him and a buzzing in his ears that drowned out all other sounds. To his credit, however, he did not let go of Anayah, but drew her struggling body to him, confining her arms and holding her tightly until both his vision and hearing recovered enough for him to start whispering quietly to her.
"Anayah. Anayah, calm down for it is only me. Sh. Calm down. That's it."
He continued to sit and stroke her hair and rock her until her frantic movements ceased and she sat quietly in his arms, trembling. Gently he brushed the hair out of her eyes so he could see her face and was alarmed to note that tears were running down her cheeks which he wiped away with the sleeve of his tunic. Whoever had been following her had either turned back or had gone in another direction for when he listened, he could detect neither the footsteps nor the man's fëa, meaning that for the moment, they were alone.
Greyfell was certain of two facts, the first being that Anayah was in shock and he would have to find someplace fairly soon where he could see to her injuries and let her regain her focus. The second fact was that he knew that they were both in grave danger if they stayed where they were for much longer. He kept trying to get Anayah's attention but she continued to just sit listlessly, as if she no longer possessed the will to go on.
Finally, he managed to get her to turn her eyes to him and was instantly saddened by the look of despair in them. He gave her another hug to try and reassure her.
"Anayah, I need to check your injuries."
When he attempted to move her bloody tunic aside to look at her wounds, she flinched and pulled away so he decided that for the moment he would just let her be. She didn't seem in imminent danger of bleeding to death so he would forego treating her injuries and would try to get her to speak to him. After some moments of just sitting quietly and rocking her soothingly, she began to speak.
"I have killed the skinny man twice, yet he still walks the hallways of this accursed place and while I do not claim to understand how this is so, I just know that it is."
She laid her hands over those of her friend as if she drew comfort from his touch.
"Greyfell, why would the grace of immortality be given to such a creature – being – whatever he is? Even with all the faults of our race, and all arrogance aside, the elves have the same grace. We have a purpose and we understand that purpose and we strive our whole lives to become, and be, the best elf that it is in our power to become. I just don't understand why this same grace would be given to a being whose only purpose seems to be to injure, maim and kill.
The skinny man is evil and I get this sense that he would and probably has killed without remorse or thought for the consequences and from what I have come to know of him, he has no conscience and kills for his own gratification only. There is no balance in this being, no light whatsoever ... only shadow and darkness, and that frightens me more than anything ever has."
She finally relaxed and leaned back, resting her body and head against her friend.
"At first it bothered me that Ethan should have been able to survive in this place for two millennia and I am almost overcome by the darkness of this place in a single day. In this we must applaud the resiliency of the race of man for, and I mean this in a good way, they do not have the ability to feel as deeply or completely as do the Firstborn and because of that, Ethan was somewhat emotionally shielded from all this evil.
And the big man ... I do not sense consciousness in him at all and while I do not understand the devilry that drives him, I do understand that his strength and purpose are singular – he is hollow and exists only to kill – no more."
Anayah looked up at an attentive Greyfell with tears in her eyes.
"I have brought down and killed Uruk Hai much larger than this being yet my attacks seemed to do nothing other than fuel his purpose. In this place of horrors it seems that my magic is useless for not even my fireball managed to stop him."
"But it did save your life, Anayah."
She sighed.
"But it did not accomplish what I wanted it to and only drained me of a portion of my life force, leaving me exhausted, physically and emotionally vulnerable while he lived and gained strength, Greyfell. Yes, the human and I lived, but so did the creature."
Anayah grew silent once more and Greyfell decided that she had perhaps regained enough strength to move on.
"Anayah, we have to move on for if we stay much longer, one of the creatures in this place will find us. Do you think you can stand and walk with me?"
With another sigh and a nod of her head, Anayah started to stand and with Greyfell's help finally made it to her feet. They started off down the hallway and as they walked, Greyfell talked quietly to Anayah.
"The name of the human that you saved is Ethan and he is the human that disappeared from Imladris all those millennia ago, the human from the story Elladan was telling when all this started. He has told us much about this place, Anayah, and was genuinely worried that you were here by yourself and without a weapon to defend yourself with. I brought Guruthos for you, so if there is a need, he is attached to my belt.
Gandalf seems to think that Lord Elrond's house is wedged into the world this place exists in and is only slowly making its way through it to where it should be. Time has stopped, which is a good indication that what Gandalf told us is so and while it should be almost dawn, the moon shining down on your house is not even halfway through its nightly journey.
I must tell you that bits and pieces of this world are beginning to bleed through into our own and the phenomena are increasing in intensity. First we only saw Ethan, and then more and more things became noticeable, like when you passed us – through us – for it felt like an icy chill when you did so. There was also damage – four great gouges along the walls and doorways in the upper hallway and blood on the floor as well. Just before I left, there were the sounds of battle coming from the Common Area then someone or something knocked Lord Glorfindel completely off his feet."
Anayah looked sharply at Greyfell.
"Was he injured?"
"Only his pride. He was quite surprised that he had been laid low by something or someone that he could not even see."
Anayah gave a small smile. Greyfell looked at her seriously.
"The situation has gone from guttering candles to physical interactions and while I cannot tell you if things will get worse or not, I do know that you need to be with your family for it is a true saying that there is strength in numbers. Having beings around you that you know and trust will help recharge your spirit and having the knowledge and expertise of a grey wizard can only stand in our favor, for who could understand a mystical world better than one of the Istari?"
Anayah gave a small sarcastic smile.
"I don't know if exchanging one world of evil beings for a chance to be around my brothers will be much of an improvement."
Greyfell looked at Anayah and smiled.
"You must be feeling better, for your wonderful and unique sense of humor seems to be with us once again."
"I do feel a bit better, my friend, and I want you to know that the efforts you made to find me have not gone unnoticed."
Anything more that they would have said was interrupted when they suddenly found themselves facing a wall.
"I didn't see this wall here a moment ago."
"It is this place, this house. It is guiding us somewhere."
"The house is guiding us? I do not understand."
As the two elves turned left into another darkened hallway, Anayah tried to explain.
"I can only make guesses and assumptions, Greyfell, but I believe that the house is doing what it can to help me and in this particular case, to guide the two of us somewhere. For too long, this place has harbored only evil and I believe it was overcome by that evil and long ago lost, or forgot its true purpose – whatever that may have been in the beginning. It seems to be a maze of some sort, an ever-changing puzzle for us to figure out and find a way out of. I imagine that over time, many beings have found their way here, but were unable to find their way out and it is probably them that we sense on the other side of the locked doors – or what is left of them.
The evil creatures that live in this place are trapped here by their own evil natures and have no other purpose or desire other than to continually hunt for beings that have become trapped here. They have lost all desire to find a way out and my heart tells me that keeping these atrocities here may be the kindest thing – for everyone else.
The house is doing what it can to help us and since it cannot speak in the same fashion that we do, as far as I know anyway, it speaks by putting walls in our path, like what just happened. That wall appearing in front of us like it did was a sign saying 'Go this way.'"
Greyfell nodded.
"Then why can't it show us the way out of here? If it is so sorry about us being here then why can't it created a door right now so that we can go home?"
Anayah stopped still a moment and looked at her friend before continuing on.
"I don't think that it can, Greyfell. It is my thought that this 'house' is a caretaker of sorts, not only for those who have emotionally or physically died here but for the evil beings who are here as well, and it is its job to keep the evil confined within its boundaries – whatever and wherever those are. I believe that it can create doorways for us to get home but the doorways cannot stay in one place for very long and cannot appear in the same place twice because if they did, there would be a great danger of some of the creatures escaping into whatever world the house comes in contact with. Also, the beings that get trapped here, us included, have to know that that shimmering space in the air is a doorway – obviously a lot of those who became trapped here, lost their minds before they figured out that the doorway back to wherever they came from was right in front of them."
Greyfell had noticed that Anayah was starting to lean on him more, almost as if she was tiring and even though it was dark, he could still see the luminescent drops of blood that were creating a trail – something he suspected the creatures would follow until they found them both. The need for finding some kind of Sanctuary was fast becoming a necessity.
Then as if the house had sensed his thoughts, Greyfell saw light from a room lighting the hallway not too far from where they were walking. He put his arm around Anayah's waist and hurriedly walked toward the light then once inside the room, he helped her sit on the floor and after only a cursory look around them, knelt beside her.
Anayah was sitting with her eyes closed and her hand over the wound in her side that seemed to be bleeding more than when they had first found each other. Reaching inside his pocket, he took out the packet of athelas as well as rolls of bandages in addition to needle and thread. After carefully cleaning the stab wound, the slash across her chest as well as the four slashes on her arm, he liberally packed each wound with athelas, sewed them closed then bandaged them.
At first, he had been concerned that Anayah had neither moved nor flinched when he had been tending to her injuries, and in truth, that concern had grown as more time had elapsed. Then he noticed that she was beginning to tremble and as the trembling increased, he put his arms around her and held her and she allowed him to do so. At first Greyfell couldn't tell what she was saying for her words were no more than a whisper but the longer he listened, he could make out what she was trying to say.
"I can't do this." She said over and over. "I can't do this. I just don't have enough strength to do it."
He cradled her head against his shoulder and tried to soothe her.
"What can't you do, Anayah?"
At first he thought she hadn't heard him but just when he was going to repeat himself, she answered him.
"I have ridden against the Úlaire and have fought more evil creatures than most humans three times my own age, and most elves millennia older than me. But I would rather sit down and have a cup of tea with the Witch King himself than stay in this place one more moment."
When she turned her eyes to him he suddenly realized just how young she was ... much too young to be facing what she was now.
"I want to go home, Greyfell."
"I wish I could grant you your request, Anayah, but we both know that I cannot. The best thing that I can promise you right now is that I will do everything I can to get us both out of here – I will not leave your side until we are gone from this pit of despair."
There was silence for a moment then Anayah raised her hand and placed it on the side of his face.
"Then I will hold on to that promise and let it be my strength until this place is but a bitter memory. Just remember that your oath is mine as well and I will let nothing more stop me from finding a way home for both of us." Then she frowned. "How did you get this bruise?"
She gently traced the blossoming bruise on the edge of his jaw. He smiled at her then took her hand and kissed it before he returned it to her.
"When we first met in this place, I had detected someone behind you and reached around the corner and grabbed you to try and hide you from whoever was following you. Apparently you were startled for the first thing that came around the corner of the corridor was your fist. I apologize for not letting you know that it was only me."
She frowned.
"As do I for harming you."
"So are you ready to assess our situation?"
"Yes, my friend, I am."
"Well, my Lady, then let us begin." Greyfell made himself more comfortable although he was careful to sit himself so he could have an unimpeded view of the door. "I brought Guruthos to you so you can now defend yourself with a bit more force. I have athelas, bandages, needle and thread, as well as water. Ethan told us what you had told him about the doorways so I will be looking for just such an event. Other than that, I will have to depend on you for knowledge of this place."
Anayah nodded.
"This is what I have discovered since I have been here. I think that this place, this house has a consciousness although it is limited to caring for the beings within its boundaries. I do not know what its boundaries are but I can tell you that I have marked certain hallways and have never been in the same one twice – as far as I know. The house can move its walls at will and did so, I believe, in order to get my attention although I also wonder if it directs the creatures in this place in other directions as well."
Greyfell reached up and gently touched a small bruise in the middle of her forehead.
"Ethan told us about your encounter with the wall."
"I don't think the house was purposely trying to hurt me but was trying to get my attention. On more than one occasion, it has guided me certain places."
"And what about the doorways?"
"I don't think they are ever in the same place twice, Greyfell, but the reason for that is not to confound us but to confuse and disorient the evil inhabitants of this place. It can't take the chance that they will be around when a doorway opens."
"Then how do you propose that we find a doorway?"
"I think that we are safe in this room because it is well lit and there is no feeling of darkness or evil in here. Perhaps it was created as a safe-room for beings that have become trapped here – I don't know."
Greyfell nodded.
"Yes, Ethan spoke of this room and said that he came here often to rest and even saw one of the creatures pass by the doorway without seeing him."
Anayah frowned.
"He said he has been here often?"
"Yes. Why is that significant?"
"I have never been down the same corridor twice that I know of. Now I know that Ethan was here for much longer but I am assuming that this place is like an ever changing maze with an infinite number of possible and probable hallways – continually changing, never the same. If Ethan was here more than once then perhaps we can assume that this room is at the exact center of this house – maze – puzzle – whatever it is."
A momentary look of excitement appeared on her face but quickly disappeared to be replaced by the previous frown.
"What?" Greyfell asked.
"My great idea has about as much value as a basket full of candles in this place."
"Why not?"
"Because we have no flint to light the candles with – no point of reference to navigate by ... no stars ... nothing."
Greyfell gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Not to worry, Anayah. If all else fails, we will just start walking, handle business as required and hope that we eventually run into a door – although literally running into a door is probably not a good thing either." He gently rubbed the bruise on her forehead and winked at her.
"However, I do not believe that our job will need anything more than us being in the right place at the right time and remaining alive until that time arrives for us."
"What do you mean?"
"After listening to Gandalf try and explain what was happening, I am assuming that whatever time and place this house exists in will at some point in the near future, exist entirely within Imladris."
The look of dawning comprehension on Anayah's face made Greyfell smile.
"I see you are starting to follow my train of thought." He took a sip of his water before he continued. "When this place is fully within Imladris, then any door at any place will lead home. And that means that we don't have to search for the entrance to this place, nor do we even have to pay particular care to where we are. Sooner or later the doorway will appear. And if our friends and family in Imladris are paying attention, and I am sure they are, considering the circumstances, they will do what they can to point the way for us."
Anayah smiled and nodded her head in understanding.
"And so by your reasoning, we won't have to pay attention to what direction we are going. All we will have to pay attention to is us keeping out of the way of anything that can slice, dice or gnaw upon our bodies."
"Well, I probably wouldn't have put it that way, but yes. All we have to do is survive until we find a doorway or a doorway finds us."
He started to look around the room.
"There it is!"
As Anayah frowned in puzzlement, Greyfell quickly got to his feet and walked to the far side of the room where a small book sat on a table. Picking it up, he walked back to where Anayah was sitting and sat himself beside her.
"Ethan told us about a book that he found and I am assuming this book is the one he was talking about."
Greyfell opened the book and began to thumb through the pages with Anayah peering past his arm. They both frowned.
"What language is that? I do not recognize it."
She felt the page and gently rubbed what she assumed were words.
"This is not parchment and these words are not written with quill and ink. I don't like this book." She pushed the book away from them although Greyfell would not loose his hold on it.
"He also said that at first the book and the words on its pages confounded him but the longer he stared at it, the easier it was for him to read it. Apparently this book is an accounting of the evil creatures that inhabit this place."
The two of them continued to look at the book and soon found themselves beginning to understand the words on the page.
"Ethan told us that this book is an aid and also a warning not to ignore legend and myth nor to allow our lives to become unbalanced by allowing too much shadow to overcome us."
Anayah once more felt the page.
"Does the book list the name of the person who wrote this?" When Greyfell looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she just shrugged her shoulders. "I was just curious."
Greyfell looked through the book for the name of the person who had written it, but rather than being at the end where the beings in their own world would have put it, the name was inside the front cover. Greyfell read what was written; not being the least surprised that he could now do so.
"It says: 'Read this book and heed our warning, travelers. Be ever watchful – for our children live in every corner. We are sorry.'" He had to squint to read the small word at the end. "It is signed, Lament." He looked at Anayah. "What kind of a name is that?"
"It is indeed a strange name for a strange place."
The two elves then spent some time reading the book for they could now do so with ease. They were both horrified at the description of the creatures that lived in the house and what the foul things had done. Every once in awhile Anayah would point at one of the pictures and tell Greyfell that she had encountered that being. He could tell that to even see pictures of the creatures on a page of the book made her nervous so he read as fast as he could. Neither of them could figure out the large man for his face was extremely disfigured and was totally lacking normal skin coloring or expression of any sort although the eyes, even though just a picture, held a large portion of hate in them.
The skinny man seemed disfigured as well and the two elves determined that he had been involved in some sort of accident although he had all the normal features that the big man did not.
Two of the creatures were similar to creatures from elvish mythology and one of the beings, a man who had committed a crime, had been executed by the victim's family and seemed to have come back from death to exact retribution. It saddened both elves to know that this particular man didn't seem to be able to tell members of the original family from the beings of another time and place, and continued to kill even after he had come to wherever this place was.
The last of the creatures was, or at least had been at one time, human and apparently had at one time been the caretaker of the house they were now in. The book didn't say what had happened but the man, also horribly disfigured, now walked the hallways, looking for innocent travelers to try and bend to his will and if they would not submit, would kill them. Finally the book was finished and Greyfell closed the accursed thing and pushed it away from both of them.
"I want to go home, Greyfell."
She could tell that her friend had been as disturbed by the book as she had been and the detailed accounting of how the evil creatures had killed their victims. Finally, he sighed then stood, extending a hand to Anayah and helped her to her feet. He took Guruthos off his belt and handed it to Anayah who frowned.
"What is it, Anayah?"
"Usually when I pick Guruthos up he will flame for me. It's kind of his way of saying hello." Anayah caressed the ebony blade. "If my magic is weak in this place, then maybe his doesn't work at all."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"No matter. He is still a sword and I can still wield him." She flinched as she twirled the sword.
Greyfell looked at her with a raised eyebrow but Anayah just shrugged her shoulders.
"I want to go home really, really bad, my friend and I am not going to let a little thing like enough stitches in my body to sew a new robe for Erestor, to keep me from getting there."
The two elves touched fists then Greyfell motioned to the door.
"Then, young lady, let us get this thing done."
8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)
After leaving the room, both elves walked quickly up the hallway, the elf in front keeping careful watch with a 180 degree field of vision and the elf in back carefully keeping watch over the other 180 degrees. They both had military training and used it now to creep as silently as possible through the house while praying every step of the way that they would not encounter the place's inhabitants.
The first indication that they were anywhere near an inhabitant of the house was when they went around the corner and down another hallway and suddenly came upon a man sitting on the floor with his forehead on his knees. The being was quietly weeping and when he raised his eyes to the two elves, the despair was plain for both to see. As was prudent, Anayah stayed back, keeping an eye on their surroundings while Greyfell knelt beside the man.
"Good day, sir. Is there something my friend and I can do to assist you? I take it that you are as lost in here as we are."
The human shook his head as he continued to weep.
"I don't know what happened. I was walking through my gardens where I live and closed my eyes for just a moment so that I could smell the fragrance of my roses and the next thing I knew, I was here. And now I can't find my way home."
He looked at the two with large, brown eyes that were silently begging for their assistance. Anayah set her stance and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword for when the human had looked at her, for a small space of time, she could have sworn that she saw something cold and calculating in the being's eyes. The man looked up at Greyfell.
"Why doesn't the lady come near, sir? Have I done something to offend her?"
Anayah had gotten the strangest feeling and sure enough, the second that Greyfell turned his head away from him and toward her, the man leapt to his feet and grabbed the elf around the throat from behind. The only thing that saved Greyfell's life was the fact that it took time for the creature to change and that small amount of time was enough for Anayah to reach the two.
It was difficult for Anayah to do anything to free Greyfell for even though it was between forms, the creature's grip was still firm and it was slowly throttling her friend into submission. His struggles were steadily weakening and Anayah knew they were running out of time. Greyfell was not a small elf, nor was he weak. He was as tall as Súrion at 6'3" although he was nowhere near the Silvan elf in weight, being more on the lean side. His size was all for nothing, though, for when the creature had finished changing, the massive forearm around the elf's neck was almost as big around as his thigh.
He tried everything he could think of to get the hulking creature to loose his grip. Then his vision started to tunnel and his ears buzzed as all outside sound faded away, then just when he thought he would pass out, he heard Anayah yelling at him.
"Knees!" She yelled at the strangling elf. "Knees NOW!"
Though he was almost unconscious, Greyfell still heard her clearly, and when he did, went completely limp and fell to his knees. The creature was pulled forward and off balance and instinctively let loose of his intended victim to try and keep himself from being pulled over. When enough of the thing's body was exposed, Anayah stabbed at what should have been the creature's heart.
The wolf-man raised his nose and half screamed and half howled in pain, throwing his massive head from side to side as it clawed frantically at the ebony blade imbedded in its chest, saliva splattering both elves and a good portion of the walls around them. It reached out with one massive clawed and hairy hand and swatted Anayah across the hallway as if she were no more than a fly but even though she hit the wall hard and bounced off of it, she quickly regained her feet and faced her enemy in a semi-crouch, weaving on her feet and shaking her head to clear the fuzziness out of it.
The wolf-thing clawed at the sword in its chest and careened from one side of the hallway to the other before it too went to its knees where it stayed for a time, alternating between piteous whining and a threatening growl. Anayah was horrified when the creature began crawling towards her, the deep rumble of anger and bared teeth meant to intimidate her for the only weapon strong enough to damage the creature was imbedded in its chest, which left her empty handed and vulnerable.
She started backing up in an attempt to lead the thing away from her downed friend. Locking eyes with it, she issued a challenge.
"Look at you, you piece of filth, you spawn of Sauron." She took two more steps backward, not even caring whether or not the shapeshifter even knew Sauron. "I bet you are wondering just how I knew you were a shapeshifter, don't you?"
The upper lip of the wolf curled back over white, dripping fangs as it continued to try and reach her.
"I'll take that sloppy growl to mean that you want to know. I knew you weren't human because in the first place, it is mid-fall and roses are not in bloom, and second, even from where I was standing you smelled like a wet dog. Have you ever heard of a thing called a bath?"
Anayah saw that the creature's attempts to pull itself forward were weakening and the blood trail it was leaving behind it was increasing. Finally, one of its front legs collapsed and it fell – driving the sword the rest of the way through its body. Then, its eyes closed, it exhaled one last deep sigh and drew not another breath.
She stood a few moments, until its body was finally still then watched as it changed its shape back into a man. She shook her head sadly then retrieved her sword and made her way back to the unconscious Greyfell.
Anayah turned him over very carefully, for other than almost breaking his neck, she didn't know what other damage he might have sustained in the attack. With trembling fingers, she first felt underneath his jaw for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it, listened carefully to his breathing, noting that he was breathing fine then examined the bruises on his neck,. Apparently, the creature had managed to "choke him down" but had failed to injure him any more than that. Anayah knew with certainty that if it had been her the wolf had grabbed that she wouldn't have lasted a fraction of the time that Greyfell had.
She pulled his body over to the wall then sat, and after leaning him against her body with his head on her shoulder, used a small bit of water and a piece of cloth torn from her tunic to bathe his face and carefully dabbed the darkening bruises on his throat.
After a few more moments, his eyes came open and after wandering around them, finally found then focused on her face. Greyfell tried to speak then reflexively reached for his throat with his hands, frowning at the pain his efforts had caused him.
"Is the beast dead?" His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper.
Anayah looked at the dead human and was surprised that she felt no remorse or sympathy.
"Yes, at least for the moment."
Greyfell looked at her and frowned in puzzlement.
"For the moment?"
Anayah sighed.
"Yes, my friend, for the moment." She helped him drink a little water before continuing. "Remember that I told you that I have killed the skinny man twice?"
He nodded.
"Though this is the first time that I have encountered the shapeshifter, and he does appear dead, I am afraid that if he is anything like the skinny man that death will not remain a permanent condition."
Greyfell sighed and patted the arms that she had wrapped around him to support his body.
"Then if that is the case, it is my suggestion as well as my most heartfelt wish that we move on – and as quickly as we are able."
After helping the elf to his feet, Anayah wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him walk until he was steady enough to walk on his own. Twice they encountered the skinny man but had been able to evade him. As Anayah remarked to Greyfell later, either the human was extremely arrogant or extremely stupid for he had the habit of dragging his knives against the wall when he saw them which helped them avoid him. Apparently the man had never dealt with elves before and the two of them would waste no future opportunity to educate the human on why angry elves were best avoided.
TBC