First things first, wow! I need to thank leelee202, Blue1258, durinsdaughter2469btw, FriendlyNeighborhoodHufflepuff, HaldirLove, leeward1992, Raider-K, Guest, Auriene, and Cricklewood16 for your reviews on the latest chapter. I wasn't feeling well over the past few days, and reading your comments brought a smile to my face. You guys are awesome! Thank you!


CHAPTER XI

ON SILENT GROUND

Is he…?

Baffled by the sight before her, Annalyn craned her neck to better observe her companion.

Earlier in the night, when the rocky ground had proved too much for her frame, she had awakened to find Haldir surveying the dale. Suggesting that he take some rest, she had taken up the watch, but instead of lying down and closing his eyes like any other person would, Haldir had lowered himself into a seated position. With an arm draped over his knee, he had sat long in silence, staring off into the distance.

At first, Annalyn had reckoned him deep in thought, but now she wasn't so sure. His sapphire eyes were set in a strange gaze. It was hard to describe. He seemed aware and yet not, as if he was dreaming while in the waking world.

Uncertain, Annalyn leaned a bit closer, her eyes widening a little when she realised that he was, in fact, asleep. How strange, she marvelled and blinked a few times. With growing amusement, Annalyn bit the inside of her cheek. Will Elves ever cease to surprise me?

As the waning crescent of the moon shone above the distant trees, she watched him for a moment longer, her smile lingering until she looked to the east. She sighed. In a few short hours, the sun would rise, and the search for her kin would resume.

Though she had been incredibly worried since the start of all this, Annalyn would not give in to despair. They are out there somewhere. They are safe. Ere nightfall, they would all be sitting together, relieved and joyful as they recounted their separate adventures.

It was a hopeful thought, the only outcome she was willing to consider at this time.

Haldir awoke some time later, when the first hints of light tinged the horizon. Once in readiness, they got underway, marching eastward beneath a clear lavender sky.

With Haldir walking beside her, Annalyn maintained a resolute stride, her eyes on the towering firs that lined the periphery of the dale. With any luck, they would pick up the trail again, and find her kin in short order.

"There is a fissure ahead," Haldir indicated after a while. "It is not too wide," he observed as they neared. "We can leap across."

And he did, swiftly and easily, while Annalyn hesitated on the edge of the drop. The gap seemed awfully wide to her. But when Haldir cast a look over his shoulder, to see if she was following, Annalyn felt her cheeks redden. Embarrassed by her nervousness, she restrained her features, gathered her courage, and leapt, her feet landing on the other side.

If he had discerned her trepidation, Annalyn could not say. But when she lied, saying, "That was easy enough." the corner of his mouth twitched.

So they marched, reaching the edge of the forest in short order. After a relatively brief search of the area, the companions spotted some tracks. Hooves, two sets of them.

"I see no other tracks," Annalyn said, her heart soaring with the discovery. "They must have eluded the Orcs."

Haldir, for his part, seemed uncertain for some reason. For the span of several heartbeats, he remained where he was, stooping as he studied the forest with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Are you coming?" Annalyn asked over her shoulder, her feet ferrying her ahead.

Wordlessly, Haldir rose, and hurried after her. But as he neared, he stopped her by placing a hand to her shoulder. His gaze conveyed that he wished to go first.

Slightly puzzled, Annalyn frowned but acceded this time.

They walked in silence for a long while, venturing deeper and deeper into the forest as the midday sun cast slender beams of light through the canopy. When Haldir came to a sudden stop, his hand rising to indicate something up ahead, Annalyn followed his gaze.

Her stomach twisted in a sickening knot.

On either side of the hoof tracks were several sets of footprints and pawmarks, all of them converging toward the middle. It could only mean one thing: her kin had been ambushed here.

Her heart in her throat, Annalyn made her way forward, her fretful gaze searching the ground as she walked.

At last, a sliver of reflected light drew her eyes. "Look!" Annalyn pointed, then bolted ahead, paying little heed to Haldir's quietly uttered, "Annalyn, wait!"

Without pause or forethought, she hurried between the trees, rustling ferns and flattening smaller vegetation as she went.

It was a blade, a scimitar, and the Orc who'd apparently wielded it lay dead a few paces away, its neck cleaved nearly in two. Slowing, Annalyn scanned the forest, saw another of the dead creatures nearby. She moved closer. Crusty black blood stained a corner of its mouth, trailed downward. From the looks of it, it had been dead for long hours, most likely since yesterday.

"There is another one over here." Haldir's voice reached her ears as she straightened. "Your kin put up quite a fight."

"It would appear so," Annalyn replied, somewhat encouraged.

But it wasn't to last.

Turning, she caught glimpse of a large… something. Then, she drew a sharp breath.

Abrax, the steady mount that had borne her uncle for nearly seven years, lay motionless a short distance away, its body partially hidden by an old, partly uprooted tree.

Tears blurring her vision, Annalyn made her way toward the dead animal. It wasn't very far, but the walk seemed endless, each step more difficult than the last.

Fingers rising to cover her mouth, Annalyn scanned the immediate area, then knelt by the poor beast. "He is not here," she breathed before finding her voice. "My uncle is not here."

Angling her head to the side, Annalyn gazed at the poor animal, placed a trembling hand to the side of its neck. "Oh, Abrax," she said as her mask fractured further.

Grief clogged her throat. Annalyn looked up and saw that Haldir had gone ahead and was now standing still, his eyes directed at something she could not yet see. Dread coiling in her gut, she rose on trembling legs, and started in his direction. He met her gaze with a sombre look that said it all.

"No." Her voice cracked. Shaking her head, Annalyn repeated the word—forcefully this time—refusing to believe what his eyes were telling her.

When she finally reached Haldir—at the bottom of a slope wedged between a thicket of trees and a low rock wall—he respectfully lowered his gaze. "I am sorry," was all he said, the words incredibly low. She had to force herself to look.

Sick at heart, Annalyn covered her mouth and took in the grizzly scene.

Her uncle was sitting against a boulder, his body pierced by three arrows. He was completely still, his head tilted down. And though his profile was partially hidden by his hair, Annalyn could see the ashen colour of his skin.

There could be no doubt. He was…

Annalyn's legs gave way, and her knees hit the ground. This cannot be, she thought, unable to accept the sight before her.

Feran, her uncle, the man who had been like a father to her, was dead.


So here was chapter 11. I really do want to apologize for killing off Feran. I was reading all your comments recently, and many of you were hoping this wouldn't happen. As a fanfiction writer, I really do felt bad for killing him off, and I hope you will forgive me. But this story is pretty much all laid out in my head, and with the ending in mind I couldn't really diverge from this particular arc. Again, I am sorry. I do hope you will bear with me. This story, while very gloomy right now, will have joyful moments. I promise. Again, I wish to thank each and every one of you for the time you have spent reading this story. It means a lot.

Kindest regards,

CygnusRift