The city didn't have a prison, or any sort of dungeons, so Velir found himself trapped in one of the homes that hadn't been destroyed, with around fifty others. It was crowded, there was hardly any room to think, but it could have been worse. When they had rounded all the inhabitants up, there had been less than half of what Velir knew to live in the city. He had hoped that it was because those who had fled to the water on boats had escaped. But then he had seen the burning harbour, and the bodies lying face down.
The male walked through the house, taking sight of all the people. Several people looked at him, some even pleaded for aid. But he couldn't help them. The Khand's had taken his bow and daggers, and the belt with a few herbs that could ease pain. Velir looked at all the people in the room he was in, which was supposed to be a bedroom. Summayah wasn't in here either. He cursed out loud, and kicked the bed. He needed to see that someone he knew wasn't dead.
He heard whimpering from behind the bed, and looked behind him. A small child was sitting there, eying him fearfully. "I didn't mean to scare you. Do you know where your parents are?" Velir asked the little girl. There was a nasty gash across her cheek. The girl shook her head. "If I help you find your parents, do you think you could help me find a woman. She's got braided black hair, and a black marking just here." He said, and he tapped the girls nose. The girl giggled slightly, and Velir extended his hand.
"You look funny." She said, as they walked, once again, through the house. The girl was called Jayne, and was six years old. The old man found the child rather endearing, if a little blunt.
"Yes, I do," He said, causing the girl to pout, as she had obviously been expecting a better explanation. They entered a room at the back of the house, and it was much emptier than the other rooms. There was only an old couple, hunched over each other. Neither of which were Summayah. Velir sighed, finally admitting defeat.
"Summ- Sumiah- Summayyh." Jayne frowned, struggling with the name. "That woman must be in one of the other houses." She said, and began to pull on Velir arm, so they could start to find her parents. Velir shook the child off, grief threatening to overcome him. What is the woman, who supposedly knew something about him, was dead? He let out a choked sob.
"Why are you sad? We can get to the other houses from the tunnel." Jayne said, confusion in her face. Velir's head snapped up, a small gleam of hope in his eyes.
"What tunnel?" He asked, a tiny bubble of hope emerging. Jayne smiled, happy to know something an adult did not. She pulled on his arm again, and this time he did not resist. The man was lead back upstairs, to the room he had found the girl. The two others in there quickly moved out of the room when Velir re-entered; the mad grin on his face might have had something to do with their sudden exit. At the little girl's instruction, he shifted the bed, revealing a hatch.
Spinning around, he embraced Jayne. The girl squealed, and protested playfully. "Thank you, thank you." He muttered. He let go, his heart lighter. Together, they opened the small hatch, which revealed a ladder that went down, further down than the house's basement. He couldn't see further than that, because there was no light, and it was a narrow hole.
Velir started to scale down the ladder, and Jayne eagerly followed. The descent didn't take long, but at one point the girl slipped and fell, landing on Velir's head. As they reached the bottom of the ladder, a cavernous tunnel opened up before them, although they could not see it, because it was pitch black.
Velir turned his head this way and that, hoping for some shred of light, but in vain. He heard the slightly laboured breathing of Jayne beside him, and he gasped when her cold hand touched his. "Follow me." She whispered, seemingly unafraid of the dark. She pulled him along, and Velir stumbled and tripped several times, caught unawares by stray pebbles and sticks. Jayne seemed to know the tunnel well though, as she danced along ahead, seemingly bored.
Eventually, Jayne told him to stop. She left his side, and Velir felt a little fear trickle up his neck. Then, there was a crackle, and a torch burst into life a few steps away. Velir blinked several times, and then looked at the elegant stone tunnel. Little carvings decorated it haphazardly.
"What is this place?" The pale man asked, his hands tracing the beautiful sculpture. To his surprise, Jayne giggled, obviously feeling smug.
"The light tunnel. It's a secret." She said, and putting her finger on her lips to demonstrate. "Around 50 years ago, visitors came to the sea. They were pale and pretty, and very dangerous. They needed to hide something, something precious to them. The chief agreed, because he was kind and noble, and in return, the pale people fortified the city. They were good builders, and they built the walls. In secret they built the tunnel, so that if we ever needed to hide something, then we could. This leads right outside the city."
The two had stopped walking, the man entranced by the child's words. It was a pretty tale, if only a children's bed time story. But the story seemed incomplete, not correct. He took the torch from the girl, and started walking again.
"Who were these people? These pale men? Where did they come from? What did they hide?" He asked the girl in quick succession, a slight sense of urgency in his voice. He was unsure of why this mattered so much for him, when only minutes ago he had been set on finding Summayah.
"I don't know. Grandad killed the chief, and he didn't know the tunnel existed until after. When grandad was chief, he didn't care much about stories, and dad can't find the hidden treasure. All I know is that the people had pointy ears."
Velir froze, and his ears twitched. His pointed ears. Could it be possible his mother, maybe even a grandparent, had been one of these people? How had he never known, never questioned his existence like this, ever? Could this have been what Summayah needed to tell him? Why he looked the way he did. He began walking again, Jayne's questioning gaze shattering his new focus.
"Your father is the chief of this city?" He asked quietly, as it seemed wrong to speak loudly in a darkened tunnel. The little girl nodded, and Velir felt his heart be crushed in his chest. He remembered the fire, where Mutta had perished. He pushed the images of the head held in the dragon's mouth. He refused to let any of this show. Let the girl be innocent a little longer.
Their walk turned into an awkward silence, neither one having anything to say to the other. Finally, after what seemed like years of walking, they reached another ladder. Jayne went to climb it, but Velir put his hand on her shoulder. "No. You must stay down here. For all we know there could be Khands, orcs, or something even worse up there." He said, and the girl looked torn. Eventually, she got off the ladder, pouting.
Velir handed her their only light source. "If, when I'm up there, you hear screaming, or hear something coming back down that isn't me, you drop the torch. You run. You say this tunnel leads out of the city?" He paused, and the girl nodded once. "Then you run out of the city. You don't ever stop running, not until you reach Gondor."
The ascent into darkness was no more pleasant than the previous descent, although at least there were no children falling on top of him this time. His head was not altogether speared though, as he only realised he had reached the top of the ladder when his head banged against a rough ceiling. He cursed quietly, before listening into the murmurs coming from the other side of the wall. They did not seem joyous, in truth, they seemed hushed and scared. Slightly more confident he was not about to jump into a room and be instantly killed, he pushed against the hatch, and tumbled out into a crowded room.
The whole room fell silent as Velir entered. He quickly raised one arm in a gesture of surrender, and the other to his lips, urging them not to alert any guards. He stood up slowly, as everyone waited, staring at him, yearning for an explanation. He took a deep breath, and then explained about the tunnel. Their faces lit up in happiness, many hugged each other.
Once Velir had finished, someone made to for the hatch. He blocked it with his hand. "Have any of you seen a woman? She'd have a straight, black marking on her nose. She's around 30 winters old." Everyone in the room shook their heads, and even more doubt bled into his heart. He lowered his hand, and people started to climb down. He examined every singled woman who passed him, as the house became quiet and empty.
Eventually, he decided she must have been in a different one, that she couldn't possibly be dead, and he followed the people down into the tunnel. When he finally reached the tunnel, people were crowding around Jayne, who held the torch like some kind of trophy. But her face was crest fallen, nether of the parents were in the crowd. Guilt overcame Velir, knowing that the girl would never see her father again. Her mother probably suffered the same fate.
He went over to Jayne, who gave him the torch. Together, they quieted the crowd, and Jayne explained how escape the city. The group of around 50 people, some more injured than others, started moving forward. Soon they reached yet another ladder. Jayne was much happier to wait with others this time, and Velir ascended once more, alone.
He attempted to listen to voices outside the hatch, but he was confused, as there were also murmurs of conversations coming from below. He took a chance, and opened the hatch a fraction. Knives of light hit his face, and from what Velir could make out, the room was empty. He quickly jumped through the hatch, not making a sound.
Then he gagged. The room had indeed been empty of living things, but the dead lay everywhere in heaps. He didn't vomit, but it took all his will power not to. He quickly closed the hatch, and didn't even look at the faces, focusing only on the door to get out of the room. He stumbled over the corpses, and wrenched the door open.
Then the pointy-eared man stared at the two orcs. The orcs stared at him, both parties in shock. Then the orcs charged. Velir ran straight into the fray, but it was over quickly. Two heavily-armed orcs are more than a match for one, unarmed man. Even if the man possessed unnatural speed and agility.
To his surprise, the orcs did not kill him. He was bloody, and bruised, but not dead. They hissed something in the black speech, one word over and over again. Velir had had the fortune of never learning the filthy language, and had no idea what they were saying. It was not, however, the biggest issue on his mind, as he was bound and dragged down the corridor.
That was a rather abrupt ending, wasn't it? I was going to continue the story further, but then the chapter would have been over 2000 words, which is quite long by my standards. I also want to see how you people like Jayne as a character, because I am not sure just how big a role she will play in the future chapters. let me know if you have any opinions in a review, or PM me.
I'm also looking for a beta for this stories, and if anyone is interested, please let me know!
Disclaimer: The universe this is set in belongs to J.R.R Tolkien, and any future canon characters are also his.