Chapter 8: Stuck in the Dark

A gray mist hung over Rohan, never leaving and always hovering over the weary people as they walked along the almost deserted streets. I had resorted to wandering around the stables during the long, dreary days that followed Theodred's departure, and even though visiting the horses and ponies gave me some comfort in mind, there was still a tiny piece that would always be missing. I often took Beinion with me and showed him how to ride and treat horses. He absolutely loved it and would wake me up every morning excited to head out to the stables. On this particular morning, though, the mist seemed to be thicker than usual and the air more damp and heavy. I opened my eyes to a dark lit room and a dreary feeling that wouldn't go away.

"Maddy?" asked a small voice. I sat up and spied Beinion standing in the doorway, his face held a mixture of worry and fear on it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, getting up and walking over to him. He jumped into my arms and buried his head in my shoulder.

"I had a bad dream." He said, sniffling a little bit.

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" I asked, sitting him beside me on the bed, a sudden feeling of dread creeping its way slowly into my bones.

"I had a dream that Theodred died! And a wizard came to save the King." He said, a little too calmly. I hugged him and smiled reassuringly.

"We all have bad dreams once in a while," I said, "Theodred is fine." But in the back of my mind a little voice whispered over and over again the exact opposite of what I wanted myself to believe. Nonetheless, I sent Beinion off to eat breakfast and dressed myself in the dark brown dress I had shoved to the bottom of my clothes chest. It was a bit wrinkled, but it worked just fine. I put my dark green cloak on over it and silently crept down the hall and escaped from the Great Hall unnoticed.

"Four stalls down, two to the left, and over five." I repeated over and over to myself, remembering the exact location of the stall where I had hidden my stolen sword, dagger, sheath, and riding boots that I had collected from around the stables in various places. I hurried to it and when I finally reached, closed the door behind and breathed in the musty air shakily.

"You chose to do this." I said to myself, fitting on the belt and sheath, and pulling out the beautifully made sword, feeling the blade with my hand. "So be it." I put the dagger in the side of my boot where there was a small pouch intended for a small dagger or knife. I put my cloak on over my entire ensemble and walked down the hallway of stalls to where there was a younger, dark brown stallion.

"Come on, boy, we're going for a ride." I told him soothingly, leading him out of the stables and into the crisp, dreary air. Once in the open, I mounted him and sped out of the city at top speed, the hood of my cloak whipping off my head and flowing behind me along with my uncombed, unruly hair. After riding at top speed for about an hour, I slowed the horse down to a fast trot and continued along my way towards the tall trees I saw in the distance, a forbidding feeling ever-present in the pit of my stomach.

Night fell fast. The shadows pulled in all around me, and I felt a strange dread creeping up into my muscles, making me twitch at the snap of a twig, or the sudden hoot of an owl. I stopped the horse when we had reached the woods and jumped off of him. I led him by the reins into the woods and slowly navigated my way through the strange trees, a small whispering sensation ringing in my ears. Suddenly, the horse reared and kicked me down. All I felt was a sharp pain in my forehead, and smiled as the dark sky above me fell swiftly up.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"What should we do with it?"

"What da yer think? We're goin' ter eat it."

"Hmm…Roast or raw?"

"Roast, since we've got this nice, toasty fire goin' an' all."

"Yes, roast it we will."

I slowly opened my eyes, terrified at the bit of conversation I had just heard from above. The two evil voices that somehow had shook me from my pitch black, forced sleep.

"Look, Brint! It's awake!" Said the first evil voice, which I could now see belonged to a large, gray-skinned troll with a nose piercing and one eye missing. The other, his skin more of a dark yellow color, nodded and reached towards me. I instinctively reached for my sword, only to find that it, along with the entire belt and sheath had been removed. I gasped when I couldn't find it and hurriedly pushed myself back along the ground and away from the troll's outstretched hand.

"What's yer name?" Asked the second one, chuckling a bit.

"Give me yours first." I answered, gritting my teeth at the sudden pain I felt in my forehead. The trolls laughed at me, their laughter booming all around me.

"I'm Brint and this 'ere's Cran." Said the second one, focusing back on me.

"And who be you, young lass, and what're you doin' in these parts?" I tried hard to recoil my breathing and calm down, but failed.

"M-Maddy," I said after a long pause, "I was looking for a friend." They grinned at each other and it was then that I looked over to the fire and saw a large skeleton sprawled out on the ground. It was the horse. I gulped back tears that suddenly bit at my eyes and forced myself to take control and stay as calm as I could.

"Lookin' fer a friend, eh? Ya hear that, Brint, she was lookin' for a friend."Said Cran, grinning at his horrible companion.

"Yeah, Cran, maybe it was that horse we 'ad for dinner." Continued Brint, and they both burst into the horrible laughter. I smiled suddenly, remembering all the things I read about trolls. Mentally, an ingenious plan formed itself in my mind.

"Yes, woe is me for being stuck in such a pitiful fate. Just eat me, would you! And stop this mind-toying!"

"Brint! We've an interesting one 'ere, we do! Lister to 'er!" Cried Cran, his voice filled with the aftermath of severe drinking.

"Yes, interesting am I." I answered, feeling my boot to see if the knife was still there. It was, and mentally I sighed with relief.

"Before we eat 'er, do ya think we could have 'er tell a story?" asked Brint, chuckling softly.

"Yeah, lass, tell us a story." Agreed Cran, eyeing me warily.

"Alright, then," I said, clearing my throat, "What kind of a story?"

"An elvish one." Said Brint eagerly.

"Blimey, Brint, you Booby! She ain't no elf! Look at 'er, she's jus' a little ol' dish maid!"

"I am not a dish maid!" I retorted angrily, I mean, it was bad enough that I was about to be eaten, but I didn't want to die with them thinking I was a dishmaid. Geesh!

"What're ya then? A worrior?" Asked Cran, beginning to laugh.

"Suppose I am! What would you think of that?" I asked, my cheels flushing with anger.

"We'd ask you why such a galliant warrior was wearin' no armor." Cran shot back, watching me with a humorous expression on his face.

"Then I'd tell you that a real warrior of my kind needs no armor or sword at all…just their mind." I said, a grin forming on my tired face.

"We'd laugh at you." Said Cran, grinning evily back at me.

"I'll bet you anything that every war has been a battle of mental power and not of strength." I teased; mentally noting that by this time dawn would be on its way…just a little more procrastinating.

"I'll bet you're lyin'!" Brint shouted angrily, "Whoever heard a such a thing as that?"

"I have!" I yelled back, standing up and clenching my fists. "How do you think the different sides came up with the different techniques of fighting? By planning ahead and not just rushing into battle! There were brilliant minds behind every trick and scheme even you have ever played! Do you still think I lie?" They were both silent, and after a long pause, Cran smiled broadly and scratched the enormous wart on his chin.

"This one is interestin'." He said after a while, "I think we should keep 'er-at least until she runs out of interestin' things to say. What do ya think? Eh, Brint?"

"Aye, she 'tis interestin', but annoying nonetheless. Who'd want to keep an' annoying, pesky li'l thing like 'er?" Brint answered.

"I do!" Shouted Cran, "Besides, she's a hell of a lot more interestin' than you!"

"Maybe she is! Well I still say we should roast 'er!" Brint shouted back. All the while they were arguing, I slipped away to the place where my sword lay and picked it up hastily, not noticing that the trolls behind me had gone silent. There was short laughter from behind me and I screamed and dropped my sword as Cran lifted me off the ground by my waist.

"Maybe you're right, Brint. We wouldn' wan' 'er to slit our throats while we was sleepin', now would we." Said Cran, laughing wickedly, "Whadda ya say we cook 'er right now?"

"Yes, let's cook 'er!" Agreed Brint, "I'm mighty hungry!" I tried desperately to think of something to say and only panicked more as Cran brought me towards the fire. I reached down to my ankle and pulled at the dagger. It wouldn't budge. I yanked and yanked, but it seemed to be jammed or something.

"Wait!" I shouted desperately, "Are you sure you want to cook a-a-a great sorceress?" Cran stopped short and began whooping with laughter. Brint joined in and stood beside Cran, an overly large butcher knife in his hand.

"A great sorceress? An' what' kind of a sorceress would ya be, lass?" Cran asked, still recovering from his laughter.

"A sorceress powerful enough to defeat the both of you!" I yelled back at him, wrenching at my mind for something to say to buy more time.

"Oh, really?" Asked Cran, starting top laugh again.

"Really!" I yelled, yanking one more time at the dagger. It came free and I swung it around and stabbed it into Cran's hand. He yelped in pain and dropped me to the ground. I hit the ground and rolled out of the way as Brint's mighty knife came crashing down where my head had been only seconds before.

"Damn you, vermon!" He screamed, whirling around to follow me. I turned back and aimed, throwing my knife as hard as I could at his face. It hit him directly in the eye and he dropped his knife in pain.

"Cran! Cran! She's gone an' blinded me! Help!" Screamed Brint. Grabbing at his bleeding eye. Cran looked at his friend and then turned to me.

"You'll pay, lass!" He yelled, jumping at me. I screamed and ducked as his mighty fist came crashing down beside me. The earth shook beneath his punch and I was thrown off balance and rolled down the hill towards the flames. He followed, though, and trapped me with a burning wall of fire behind me and his giant shape in front of me.

"You'll pay, lass!" He yelled, raising his fist with the butcher knife in his hand. He moved as if to bring it down and then stopped as a brilliant light shown over the trees. He growled and I watched in horror as his entire body turned into a large gray, stone statue of the troll that had been there seconds before. I stood up slowly and walked around his lifeless form and spotted Brint off on the other side of the clearing, his hands still clutching his wounded eye.

"Yup, I really paid this time." I said sarcastically to myself, chuckling a little as I picked up my sword sheath and buckled it around my waist. I picked up the sword from the place where I had dropped it and sighed defeatedly as I noticed that the blade had been broken at the top, leaving a jagged, but still pointed edge where the point had once been. Along the ground where I had found the sword, I also found the broken shards of the sword, and put it into the sheath along with the sword. I stood and surveyed the scene around me. The dawn had sent a small grey light through the clearing, slightly illuminating the stone figures of Brint and Cran, and what was left of their belongings. I sorted through them and found some bread, but nothing else worth eating. Still hungry, I made my way out of the clearing and into the deeper woods where little of the rising sun could shine into. It was a pretty hard going, seeing as there was no one to talk to and in these situations I usually resorted to talking to myself.

"Why did you come out of here anyway?" I asked myself, thouroughly grumpy from the lack of sleep. "I mean, what did you think you were going to find? You can't stop things from…happening…" I swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears that were biting at my eyes. Distant memories started flooding back.

Flashback

The smell of the hospital was clean…too clean. I sat awkwardly in the big, cushiony grey chair in the waiting room, my hands folded in my lap and my hair strung about messily in my face. The nurse at the counter across the room would look over at me every now and again, pausing from her magazine to study me. I would sometimes raise my head and stare back, and she would smile at me, but I never had the strength to smile back at her.

"Do you want some coffee?" She asked, walking over and sitting beside me. I shook my head.

"I'm not allowed." I said quietly, tears forming at my eyes. She nodded and stood up.

"Cheer up." She said, and walked away down the hall. I waited in the quiet, clean-smelling room for what seemed like hours before a tall surgeon entered the room and strode towards me. I stood up and looked at expectantly.

"I'm so sorry." He said, removing his mask and revealing a clean-shaven chin, "There was no way we could have saved him…" But his voice was drowned from my ears. All that mattered now was that my father…my world was dead. Just like that…

End Flashback

"This isn't happening." I said aloud to myself, swallowing back tears, forcing myself forward.

"What isn't happening?" asked a voice and I stopped dead in my tracks. This wasn't good.

Author's Note: I finally updated! Whoo-hoo! Aren't you proud? Lol. Anywho, I am so sorry that I didn't update sooner, but I had a severe case of writer's block and I finally got over it. Plus, I just got back from a backpacking trip to the Gila wilderness and I have like three major tests to study for. Don't you hate school? Lol. Well, I'll try to update soon. TTFN!

P.S.-If you want me to continue, please review. The number of reviews last chapter dropped my self-esteem to about twenty-percent. So, please review if you want more!