Hanna rolled over in her bed, scrunching the bedding around her, wishing she had never woken from her sleep in Rian's room. She had been told to rest after Lord Elrond spoke to them, but how did anyone expect her to relax knowing Thuringwethil was out there, and they weren't leaving to pursue her immediately?
Thuringwethil had chased Hanna from her home in Mirkwood and then continued the chase after Hanna and Taelen had left Lothlorien. Hanna had sought safety from the demon in Rivendell. That was until she saw Arien's power in the forest. It was evident to her that Arien could face Thuringwethil - so why were they not leaving?
Hanna sighed, sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. There was a green dress laid out along with a pair of soft slippers that must have found their way into the room during one of her brief bouts of sleep. Along with this, was a large tub filled with water and various soaps, their smell reminding her of home during the spring.
Home felt far away as she washed off the dirt and grime from the past few weeks of travel. Mirkwood wasn't the most delightful place in Middle Earth, though she had always done her best to keep the small hut she shared with Radagast friendly and inviting. There was no way to compare it to the splendor of Rivendell's delicate archways and vaulted ceilings that stretched into hallways with tapestries of Middle Earth's history. She was amazed by the architecture, but also with the carefully tended gardens and fields. The view outside her window stretched on for leagues, showcasing flowers and grassy knolls dotted with elegantly trimmed trees and bushes. It was a mini paradise, but for the darkness haunting the recesses of her mind.
Hanna needed to distract herself, and she wandered out of her room after dressing in hopes of doing just that. Perhaps Taelen had had trouble sleeping as well. If what had happened to him, happened to her, she wasn't sure if she would ever sleep soundly again. Though she mostly blamed herself for that.
Freezing water swirled around Hanna's ankles, the sensation welcome as she stooped to refill her and Taelen's water sacks. The sun was casting an eerie blue glow through the morning mist, and Hanna would return to the camp to wake Taelen in a moment, but they had not had fresh water since leaving Lothlorien, and when Taelen had told her he sensed a clean stream nearby when they stopped the previous night she couldn't resist stepping away from camp to surprise him.
As she stepped out of the water, putting the water sacks down to put her shoes back on, the hair on her neck suddenly stood up. The cold water, which had been soothing on her swollen feet moments before, became bitterly cold, biting her skin. Her heart dropped, and she ran for the camp, the water sacks forgotten.
Hanna broke through the trees in time to see Thuringwethil raise her arm over Taelen's sleeping figure.
"TAELEN!" she screamed, watching the demon's long black talons slash through the air and cut Talen's arm - which he had raised in alarm at Hanna's cry. Taelen yelled in pain, pushing himself away from Thuringwethil.
Hanna screamed again in panic, knowing what came after Thuringwethil's talons cut through something. "Stay away from him!"
She raised her hands, the rocks around the camp raising as well, and clenched her fists. The stones flew at Thuringwethil in unison, but the demon just laughed and flew out of their reach, disappearing above the treetops.
"Taelen, Taelen!" Hanna called to him, running to where he had pushed himself.
"Water, I need water," he whispered, holding his injured arm.
Hanna took off back to the river and the forgotten water sacks, willing herself to move faster than she ever had before. She grabbed both of them and was back by Taelen's side in a minute, looking at his horrific wound - three deep gashes in his forearm, almost to the bone. The skin had turned grey, but it wasn't peeling as she had expected.
Taelen took the water from her, pouring one of the sack's entire contents over his wound. He put his hand close to the surface, muttering a few words Hanna didn't recognize. When he moved his hand again, the skin was not grey anymore but looked oddly burned.
"Why did it not close?" Taelen asked himself.
"How did you do that?" Hanna asked at the same time.
"I have never had a wound I could not heal - we need to get to Rivendell." Taelen stood, leaning on Hanna for support. "Lord Elrond can help me."
Hanna swallowed painfully as she thought about the ride to Rivendell that followed that morning. It was all she could do to not run back to her room and hide until the memory of Thuringwethil's cold laughter had faded.
"Are you alright?"
Hanna swore, clutching her chest.
"Oh, um, sorry." Rian stepped gingerly out of the shadows at the end of the hallway. Hanna would have been more embarrassed about not noticing her, but Rian was dressed in all black, and Hanna guessed there was more to Rian than met the eye.
"You were standing in the middle of the hallway a long time," Rian said. "I was worried something was wrong."
Hanna grimaced. "I, I lost track of what I was doing?"
"That's a question?" Rian raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?" Hanna rubbed her hands on the front of her dress.
"Well, I am not sure what you were doing before, but if you want, we could head to the food hall together? I believe they are serving the mid-day meal."
Hanna just nodded, trying to take a few deep breaths. She wished she hadn't been thinking about Thuringwethil.
She and Rian walked to the food hall without any further conversation, which Hanna couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not. They sat at the same table, and Hanna tried not to eat too fast as Rian picked at her food.
"I assume your journey to Rivendell was not very pleasant," Rian said at last, pushing her plate away.
Hanna shrugged, laughing awkwardly. "It could have been better."
"Did Thuringwethil follow you from Lothlorien?"
"She had been following me since I left Mirkwood," Hanna shuddered. "In fact, she was the reason I left Mirkwood."
"What happened?" Rian asked, leaning forward in her chair.
"She attacked me." Hanna gulped water from her glass and put her hands in her lap. "Radagast knew the time had come if she had been able to find me again, and I needed to get word to Elrond."
"Again? She had attacked you before?"
Hanna tried to take a deep breath but ended up coughing. Tears came to her eyes, and she wasn't sure if it was from the coughing fit or the memory. She pushed herself away from the table and nearly tripped over her feet as she stood.
"Sorry, um, excuse me," she said in between coughs.
Rian gaped at her as she left, but Hanna didn't wait to see if she would follow her. It would have been easy to get lost in the endless hallways and open-air rooms, but Hanna let her feet guide her to a small garden somewhere just outside of the central courtyard. She had stopped coughing, but her heart raced, and her face was flushed. She wished so badly that Taelen was there.
"Was it something I said?" Taelen asked, frowning.
Hanna shook her head, "No - no, I have just never spoken about those memories. I mean, other than Radagast, who was I to tell?"
"You have not spoken to anyone besides Radagast since then? I feel honored to be your first!" He wiggled his eyebrows, and Hanna laughed. "In all seriousness, though," Taelen lowered his voice, "I am sorry you had to see that. No child should ever have that memory."
He reached across and took her hand in his, and Hanna felt warmth spread from his touch. But it didn't quite reach her memory.
That memory. Hanna grimaced, sitting on the hard ground with her palms touching the soil. She took a deep breath, grounding her thoughts as images of Thuringwethil's talons passed through her mind.
"Was it something I said?"
Rian walked toward her, hands splayed in front of her. Hanna blinked, taking her hands off the ground and placing them in her lap.
"No! No, I just - the only one I have ever talked to about Thuringwethil is Taelen, and I was, I was not expecting you to ask." She bowed her head, trying to hide her red cheeks.
"It's alright," Rian said, sitting next to her. "You do not have to tell me, but perhaps it would be good to practice talking about it?"
"I am not sure, I-"
"You do not have to if you do not feel comfortable."
"I appreciate that," Hanna said, taking a deep breath, "But you are probably right. It would be good for you to know and good for me to talk about it."
She took another deep breath and moved off her knees, crossing her legs as she plucked a strand of grass out of the ground and ran it through her fingers.
"Thuringwethil killed my Mother and Father." The words caught in her throat. "And she has haunted my dreams for many years."
"Thuringwethil killed two of the Valar?" Rian exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"No, no - sorry," Hanna said hurriedly. "A couple in Lake Town raised me, and I believed I was their daughter. I grew up with occasional trips to, and visits from, Radagast. He would teach me small things about my powers, telling me they were a secret, and my parents would help me practice while he was away. It was wonderful, and I loved them very much.
"One day, when I was returning with Radagast from a visit to his home in Mirkwood, we heard screams coming from my house." Tears started to well up in her eyes, but she kept going. "Radagast tried to make me leave, but I broke free from him and ran as fast as I could, knowing something was wrong.
"When I got to the house, it had gone quiet. The air was cold and lifeless, but as I walked up the stairs, I heard Thuringwethil cackle, and when I turned, my parents were lying dead on the floor with her hovering over them, their blood on her hands. Their skin was torn and had gone an ashy grey. If I had touched them, I am convinced their skin would have fallen off in large flakes - it was cracked and dry."
"That is horrible," Rian said as Hanna paused to wipe the tears from her face. "How did you escape Thuringwethil?"
"Radagast had run after me. As soon as she saw him, she left." Hanna put her head in her hands. "I have never been able to rid myself of that horrible image, Thuringwethil over Mehr and Danelle. Nor have I ever stopped missing them.
"Radagast would leave me alone for months on end. He, of course, left me with plenty of food and necessities, and there were lots of protective wards on the hut we shared, but this last week of traveling with Taelen has been the first time in fifteen years I have had a companion for more than a few days."
"I know what loneliness is like," Rian sighed after a moment, placing a tentative hand on Hanna's back. "Gandalf left me in the care of several different families in Bree for most of my childhood, visiting every few months as you said Radagast would do. The families passed me around, unwanted, and held at arm's length. I was different from the other kids, but they couldn't tell me why."
"I am sorry, I did not know," Hanna said, lifting her head out of her hands.
"Your experience is not singular," Rian shrugged. "But, I have not been haunted by Thuringwethil in my dreams."
"If I do nothing else," Hanna clenched her fists, balling up the fabric of her dress. "I will see that Thuringwethil meets her end. I will not let others be harmed by her."
"Then, you are not going to be happy when I tell you Gandalf and Lord Elrond are not planning on us leaving any time soon."
"What?" Hanna raised her voice, and the rock sitting a foot or so away cracked.
"I know." Rian dropped her head. "I think we need to take things into our own hands - we cannot trust others to understand the urgency."
"No," Hanna said, waving her hand over the broken rock. The fissure disappeared with a snap. "No, we need to act on our own. We need to track Thuringwethil down."