The rain was still pouring down when Isil woke up from her short nap. She really needed to eat at this point and to her relief she was handed some food by Gandalf.
"What is this?" she asked, examining what looked like a cracker to her.
"Lembas, elvish bread." he said taking a bite from his piece. She shrugged and devoured the whole thing. When she looked up the three of them stared at her like she just grew two heads.
"What?" she demanded, crumbs flying from her mouth. Before anyone could say anything, a loud drumming noise thundered in the sky, followed by a bright lightning that looked like it could split the heavens apart.
"This is so inconvenient huh" she commented looking up.
"Perhaps it is no coincidence." said Thranduil earning a strict look from Gandalf.
"What do you mean?" she questioned looking back at the elf.
"To me it seems that somebody is trying to slow us down." he replied.
"You know perfectly well that no one but the white wizard is capable of controlling the weather" Gandalf interrupted sounding greatly offended. "And it requires great effort and concentration." he added.
"Who's the white wizard?" asked Isil.
"He is the second most powerful of all maiar after Sauron." explained Legolas.
"Is he one of the good guys?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes, Saruman The White is on our side." spoke Gandalf. Thranduil sneered at that and looked away and Legolas shifted in his spot in discomfort. "That is why it is not in his greatest interest to cause us any trouble" Gandalf added firmly.
Thranduil looked like he was about to say something, but instead, pursed his lips and looked away. Isil nodded and sat crossed legged, putting her chin in her hands. "Well, either way it looks like we will be stuck here for a while." she concluded. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She didn't really enjoy walking for this long, and staying here gave her time to rest. On the other hand, Gandalf looked slightly worried which means she probably should be too. She was the one the 'big bad' wanted after all. She couldn't even protect herself! The taser was the only weapon she owned, and even though she hated to admit it, it wouldn't do much against a whole army of orcs. She needed to learn to use her powers as soon as possible, only she had no idea how she was suppose to discover them.
Gandalf pulled out his pipe and began to blow rings of smoke while humming a melody under his nose, which Isil found very calming. She stared into the fire, and observed as the warm flames danced around in the air. Legolas looked lost in his own thoughts and Thranduil sat at the back, away from the rest of them, sharpening his sword. He looked more gloomy than usual and Isil wondered what was the reason for that. None of them were really sociable, but he just seemed to isolate himself on purpose. Even though he acted cold-hearted and proud, she still felt a tingle of compassion for him. He could have totally kick her out last night and behead her for interrupting his royal sleep, but instead he let her stay because she was a big baby about having a nightmare. Well also that freak scared her out of her mind, but it was after she decided to leave her room. Although it was his job to keep her out of harm, she was still grateful and decided to take it upon herself to befriend him, or at least try to.
For a moment it seemed that everything went silent, even the wind stopped blowing. Suddenly, a loud, horrid shriek pierced the air, taking everyone off guard. Gandalf took the pipe out of his mouth and stared into the sky with mixture of fear and focus in his eyes.
"Put out the fire!" he ordered, "Put it out!"
Isil reached for the earth beneath her feet and started dumping it on the flames frantically, while Legolas tried to stamp it out. Isil placed both hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut. She got on her feet, falling against the wall, and looked at the sky.
"Isil, get away from the exit!" yelled Gandalf.
"What?" she yelled back, not hearing what he told her because another shriek filled the air. A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards the back of their shelter and sat her on the ground. Thranduil lowered himself next to her, his sword in his hands. Isil brought her knees to her face, and covered her ears, attempting to block out the horrible sounds. She had no idea what could be making such awful noises, it was worse than what orcs sounded like and it made her sick to her stomach. Legolas tensed, readied his bow and arrow and knelt next to them, while Gandalf leaned against the back wall and searched the sky warily gripping his staff.
Isil heard another screech and opened her eyes forcefully, if she was going to die, she might as well see what kills her. Something black flew across the sky. Her eyes widened and she clutched onto the elf's arm, petrified. She felt him tense beside her, but didn't rid himself of her grip.
The thing that was in the air, was a giant creature, with leathery, bat wings, long neck and a tail. 'You've got to be fucking kidding me' she thought.'They have dragons here!' Looking harder into the sky, she noticed that someone was actually siting on top of the beast. It seemed that they were searching for something..or someone. A shiver ran down her spine causing her whole body to begin to shake at the thought that they could be looking for her. An image of the beast lowering itself to the ground and digging its talons in her flesh and ripping out her throat with its razor-sharp fangs, flashed before her eyes. Was this her life now? Coming face to face with death every waking moment? What was she thinking coming here? She does not belong in this world. At this point she wanted nothing more than to wake up in her warm, cozy bed, with the sound of sirens outside, from this God awful nightmare like she always did. Except this time she wasn't dreaming, it was all real.
Meanwhile the horrid creature circled the sky, filling the air with blood curdling cries. Isil wrapped her arms tighter around her knees, and lowered her forehead against them in an attempt to become as small as possible. Maybe if she wished really hard, she would disappear. Instead she felt a warm, heavy hand on her shoulder and instinctively leaned into it, squeezing her eyes shut again. 'Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop..' she chanted in her head slightly rocking back and forth. As if at her command, everything went quiet at once. She slowly raised her head, wide, gray eyes staring into the space before her, listening for any sound that could break the perfect silence. Minutes have passed and still there was nothing. She let out an uneven breath, unable to stop herself from trembling.
Gandalf was the first to move. He cautiously walked towards the exit and looked outside. After he inspected the surroundings and made sure the beast was gone, he motioned for them that it was safe. Legolas offered Isil a hand, and pulled her to her feet. She was barely able to stand up straight, her wobbly legs threatened to give in at any second. God, she was so pathetic.
"W-was that a dragon?" she stuttered, looking up at Legolas.
"No, they are called the fell beasts." explained the elf, "They are the steeds of Nazguls, The Dark Riders. They were once mortal men who's minds were corrupted by the power of the nine rings, given to them by Sauron." he added seeing a confused look upon her face. "They are the most terrible servants of Mordor."
"So they were looking for me." she confirmed her fears. Saying it out loud made it real and she felt a lump growing in her throat.
"Yes" said Gandalf walking up to her, "That is why we must get you to Mirkwood as fast as possible."
The rain had stopped, but the sky was dark and it was too late to continue their journey, so they chose to spend the night in the ruins. They didn't risk to light another fire, so Isil no longer had a source of heat. She decided to stay in the back, still shaken up from the whole fell beast business. Her fingers went numb and she hid them in her long sleeves and raised her hood up. Legolas left, and was on the look out outside. Gandalf dozed off, his pointy hat covering his eyes and his cloak wrapped around his shoulders. Isil turned her gaze towards Thranduil who rested his head against the back wall. His eyes were closed and his face looked relaxed and peaceful, which was something she haven't seen before. Isil herself didn't feel like sleeping anymore. Every time she closed her eyes, horrid images would appear in her mind and she was under the impression that if she let her guard down for a moment, the hideous creatures would come and drag her into the darkness. She considered going outside and chilling with Legolas, but she quickly decided against it. She would freeze completely, most likely in a shape of a very unflattering ice sculpture.
She began to shift in her spot that was very uncomfortable, trying to find a better position. No matter how much she moved around, the ground did not get any softer to her great annoyance.
"For the love of Valar Isil, stop fidgeting around and go to sleep." spoke an irate voice. She froze and looked at up at the elf who still had his eyes closed, but now had a frown on his face.
"I can't" she mumbled feeling like a child and crossed her arms to keep herself warm.
"There is a long read ahead. Get some rest while you have the chance." he replied flatly.
"Yeah, as if knowing that every evil bastard around here is after me will help me sleep." she mutter under her breath. The elf heard her and opened one eye, studying her. Isil turned her head in the direction of the murky sky outside, feeling the lump in her throat come back. It was only her second day and she had just about enough. The stars were not visible behind the thick fog that covered it. She spent some time observing it until her eyelids began to feel heavy and she dozed off.