Chapter Six: Shattered Spirit

She held back a cry of pain as she lost her balance and fell hard against an old tree. Her breathing was raspy and uneven and her chest heaved with each painful breath she took. Her muscles screamed from overuse and her entire body felt like lead. She knew if she did not keep going they would find her but she couldn't move. She had long ago discarded her long dress and boots and now wore only her thin shift that was becoming increasingly torn with each day.

She had not stopped in twelve days and even being elven her body was now faltering from lack of food and drink. She closed her eyes as she tried to find re-summon the courage that had carried her these past days and found only the horrible faces smeared with blood that had belonged to those appointed to protect her. She was not from Middle-earth and had dwelt nowhere but the Grey Havens and had no idea how to reach Rivendell on her own.

They had hunted her like a stag, fifty of them at least. She was careful and stayed in the trees but there were so many. Just when she thought that she had left the last of them behind, another appeared. Her delicate ears caught the sound of her latest pursuer and she forced herself to stand and continue running with the speed that only elves possess. It had become impossible for her to keep her balance in the trees any longer and as she ran the forest spun.

The sound of her purser's hooves pounded in her ears like drums of war and she knew that she could not hope to outrun his mount. He had spotted her and blown an obnoxious sounding horn and she heard others coming from all directions. She felt an overwhelming terror as she pushed herself with every last ounce of strength she had, but knowing somehow that it would not be enough. Five were merely a length behind her, three more coming from the left, two more from the right, seven more in the direction she ran. They had her.

She knew before she began, that she was falling, and that she would not have the strength to stand. The riders stopped and one walked towards her. Her body felt numb from pain and she could not seem to get enough air as he knelt at her side. There was no intention of kindness in his movement that she could plainly see, and felt fear as she had never known as he laughed snidely at her as the forest around her was plunged into a silent darkness.


Her pale skin was streaked with mud and dried blood from the uncountable blows, kicks, whips, and searing burns that decorated her body. She could not guess how long she had been here, locked in this room, hidden from the light of day. At first she had been made to work the fields as all his other slaves, but having received a little nourishment she regained enough strength to finish the impossible task load he gave her. She had then been thrown in here, kept without food, and beaten whenever he fancied she deserved it.

She was rendered blind as he opened the small door and closed it behind him with a resounding thud. He smiled at her and it sent a shiver of fear down her spine. It angered him that no matter the pain he caused her he could not cause her to scream, she knew it and that is why she would not scream. She would not give him the satisfaction, but something was different this time. He brought nothing that he could pain her with beyond any knowledgeable sensation; he brought no guard to keep her from resisting him.

He smiled at her horribly, walking slowly towards her. At one time she knew that his smile would have brought burning animosity, but here in this small room, starved and beaten it brought only terror. He saw her terror as she cowered from him in a corner, and his smile grew even wider. This is what he had been hoping for she knew, but her fear of men had become an instinct, a reflex and she could do nothing to contain it.

He stepped quickly towards her, pressing her up against the wall, his face nearly touching her own. Her stomach clenched with fear as he spoke words that she could not understand before pressing his mouth against hers hard. His tongue had forced its way into her mouth and was choking her, she beat her hands against him using her last strength to fight him but he only pressed against her harder.

His hands began to wander, sending ice through her veins, his hands cold and clammy like that of an orc. He pressed, groped and tore at her for what seemed like an eternity before her paused for breath. He drew his knife and she hoped that it was over, sighing at the thought that he might just kill her and end it now. It was not so. Torturously slowly he slit the thin dress she had been given from the neck down. She knew that she was crying now, her sobs providing him with some delight. He threw the knife aside and pulled her dress from her, kissing her once more and pressing against her hard.

She moved in protest, her sobs muffled against his horrible mouth as he trailed lower and lower leaving her mouth for the moment. She felt inhuman. He had already removed his own clothes and she closed her eyes, not wishing for that sight to be forever imprinted in her immortal memory. He leaned close and she trembled as he whispered in her ear before becoming wholly absorbed in his game. He picked her up and she knew now that he would not stop. She knew now that he would steal from her something that could never be returned. Her tears burned her face as she screamed into the darkness of that stone room. Screamed until she had no voice. Screamed as heshattered her spirit.


Aragorn woke suddenly and completely from where he had fallen asleep in the chair beside the bed. The sun had risen and set once more while he kept his vigil over her, keeping his promise not to leave her side. It took a moment for his senses to take in his surroundings and he heard again a sound that chilled his heart in a way that the Nine had never done. Saeorii, thrashed on the bed, fighting the unseen enemy of her dreams and he immediately moved towards her to try and awaken her. Her screams continued as he spoke to her in elvish and tried to calm her struggles. They were hollow and haunting and told of true fear like few had ever known; they were the cries of a tortured heart and a broken spirit and terror worse than Sauron had had in his power to inflict.
She screamed. She began to pull herself from her memories, realizing that someone was next to her. She fought against them, seeing them as one of the tormentors from her dreams. The person held their arms around her loosely letting her fight but keeping her from running. Then she heard his voice.

"Please, Saeorii. I mean you no harm. Leave those that frighten you in the darkness you have left behind."

His voice was calm, and he spoke in elvish. She ceased her struggling, but stiffened as she realized that he held her in his arms. He dropped his arms, sensing that she now knew who he was, but he did not push her away. Her whole body shook like the last leaves in the first storm of winter and she felt weak. Her body was ice as if her master's terrible hands were still there and she could not shake his voice from her mind for now she understood what he had said, and it was burned into her mind.

She did not know when they had came there, but his arms now held her against him, her head resting on his broad chest. She tensed and waited for the wave of terror to come crashing over her, but it did not. His arms seemed to force warmth and life into her deathly cold limbs. Her violent shaking was now only shivers, and she found her racing heart now following the calm rhythm of his own. The words of her former master's were mere whispers now, the coldness of their hands gone. She felt something she had not felt since she was taken from the elves. She felt something that she had never known or felt among men. She felt safe.

To be continued...

Estel-Ara: Sorry about this one, but sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Following chapters should be a little less intense, but I had to tell a little about what had happened to Saeorii before the rest and some of the earlier stuff would really make sense.

Blacksand: Thank you so much and I hope that you continue to read my story. We'll see if he'll be able to help her.