Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams

[Nurumaiel]

Argeleafa started but when she saw it was Bellyn who was speaking to her she relaxed and even smiled a little. "I apologize, Bellyn," she said. "I was thinking of something else." She reached over to help the younger girl pack her bedroll. "Where are we going?" she mused. "I really haven't the faintest idea. If you like I'll go ask Ædegard." She stood from her knees and went to the aforementioned Ædegard. Bellyn watched her with a startled but pleased expression. The past day or two Argeleafa had been more friendly... no, perhaps friendly was no the correct word. But the Rohirric maid had been more willing to speak.

"Ædegard." She tapped his shoulder and then blushed in confusion. How many times had her mother told her it was not polite to tap one's shoulder to get attention? But if she was not tapping one's shoulder she was pulling one's sleeve. It would be best, she resolved, to, in the future, keep her hands behind her back so she would not make any such mistakes.

Ædegard had turned. "Good morning, Argeleafa," he said. He did not seem to mind in the least that she had tapped his shoulder. Some people in the past had.

"Good morning, Ædegard," she replied. "Bellyn has asked me where we're going, and I don't know at all. I thought perhaps you...?"

[littlemanpoet]

Ædegard was greatly pleased to see Argeleafa standing before him, wseeking to talk. She was blushing, which made her cheeks rosy, which set off her blonde hair and fair complexion, not to mention red lips, quite prettily. Her hands were held behind her back, which only served to make her the more intriguing. What a fool you are, Ædegard! he said to himself.

"Good morning, Argeleafa."

"Good morning, Ædegard. Bellyn has asked me where we're going, and I do not know at all. I thought perhaps you...?"

He smiled. "I do not know. But I will ask Erebemlin and tell you what I have learned."

"Thank you." Her eyes met his briefly, then lowered with a deeper blush to her cheeks.

"How do you fare, Argeleafa? Did you sleep well?"

"I am well. And I slept well."

"Good. If you have any need, please tell me. I will go ask Erebemlin now. Would you join me?"

Her eyes widened of a sudden and her face turned pale. She shook her head, glancing at the Elf with eyes opened wide in awe. "I do not think...."

Ædegard smiled again. "It is nothing. I have seen the awe of Elves in most other folk, and I do not know why it is not so with me. I will speak with you soon."

She nodded once, met his eyes again, and blushed, a small smile coming to her lips. Then she turned and walked back to Bellyn. Ædegard heard the simple tune again, faint on the wind, as if Argeleafa was catching the words out of the air:

"Deep in my heart are you, Rohan my home,
Far from your quiet fields now I roam.
In a distant land bends my way,
But I shall return to you some day."

With light heart he walked to the Elf, humming to himself,

"Many tales I shall speak to each friend,
Of stout hearts whose words always mend,
Of loyal friends on the road I did greet,
And a maiden fair it was my joy to meet."

He came to Erebemlin.

"Good morning, mellon. Where do we go today?"

[littlemanpoet]

"Mithrellas," The Elf said.

Raefindan looked up. The Elf glowered at him from his seat. Raefindan had been thinking about his dream.

"What about her?"

"You will speak of that to me, human. She was an Elf. What cause have you to think of her?"

The Elf was reading his mind! Most unnerving! He would have to be careful not only of what he said, but what he thought! It would be the most difficult thing he had ever had to do. What if the Elf could force him to think of things he didn't want to think of?

"I dreamed of her."

"Do you know who she was, human?"

"An Elf. She served another Elf lady but lost her in the White Mountains."

"And in this dream of yours," the Elf's tone dripped contempt, "what had you to do with Mithrellas?"

Raefindan narrowed his eyes at the Elf, who was bating him, or worse.

"I think you know already."

The Elf rose and stood over Raefindan menacingly, his eyes narrowed to slits of ill feeling.

"I do indeed, human." The Elf's jaw clenched and his teeth gnashed; his voice came out soft as a hissing snake. "How dare you take an Elf to marry!" The Elf raised his arm to slap Raefindan, but he raised his arms to ward it off. The Elf grinned. "Bodily pain is too good for you." He stalked back to his seat and leveled his gaze at Raefindan, full of rage.

He dreams again, all of a sudden. The Elf forces him asleep, and dreaming, and according to the Elf's will. He is Imrazor again, and Mithrellas is the mother of his two children, a boy and a girl, but Mithrellas is changed this day. She looks at the walls of their home as if her gaze passes through them. She walks out the door; he assumes for fresh air, but minutes pass. He calls for her. There is no answer. Perhaps she has gone walking, as she does from time to time. Hours pass. He seeks her. She is nowhere to be found. She is lost to him and his heart breaks, for even as he dreams that he is Imrazor and has lost Mithrellas, he is aware that it is the Elf that forces him to see, and whispers into his dream that he never deserved her, and that he is now cursed for having taken her, and he will never know happiness again.

[Orual]

"I am not entirely sure that I like this place," Ravion said darkly, shouldering his pack. Aeron glanced at him in disgust.

"Well, I am entirely sure that we have no choice but to go on," Aeron snapped. They had not been walking long, but it seemed long enough. "Raefindan is counting on us, right? So we cannot turn back."

"Did I suggest that we turn back?" Ravion exclaimed irritably, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation. Aeron shrugged, but did not reply. Ravion sighed. "I am sorry, Aeron. I just hope that we find Raefindan and Gond soon."

"Do you think his fever has broken?" Aeron asked. Ravion sighed and shook his head. "You do not think his fever has broken?" Aeron persisted, for clarification.

"I do not know," Ravion said. "He was showing no signs of coming out of his sleep. It has not been that long."

"It has been long enough for something to have happened," Aeron said. Ravion glanced at him, and the boy quickly added on to his statement: "Anything, something good included."

Ravion passed his hands over his face and through his hair, which was growing longer than he liked it. His fingers snagged in knots and tangles. Everything seemed to be falling apart: this mission, his friends, himself, physically and emotionally. With these thoughts in mind, he was not paying much attention when his foot caught on a small indentation in the ground.

He caught himself quickly, but examined the mark. "This is Gond's!" he exclaimed. He gestured for Aeron to follow him, and took off at a jog. He wanted to make sure he did not miss any of Gond's prints.

He had not gone far when he heard a low whinny. He rounded a corner and saw his horse. "Gond!" he called, and the horse looked up sharply. He gave a loud neigh, and cantered up to his master. Ravion stroked his neck and spoke into his ear. "Raefindan, Gond. Where is Raefindan?"

Gond looked at him with soulful eyes, as though to say, "We can just go. That would be fine," but turned and trotted back to a small house. Ravion turned to Aeron, putting his hand on his sword hilt meaningfully. Aeron nodded.

Slowly, Ravion approached the house. His knuckles were white as he gripped his sword. Whatever had Raefindan, if it meant any of them ill, it would meet with his sword. He looked to Aeron and mouthed a count to three, then burst into the house.

"Raefindan!" he cried as he burst through the door.

He stared at the scene ahead of him. He had not known what to expect. But he had not expected this.

[littlemanpoet]

He walks among the mountains, high above their home. He holds in his hand a tatter of her garment, which he had found hanging on a branch; torn, as if she were in too great a hurry, and could not or would not pay it mind to go back and retrieve it. Chased? Chasing another, so focused on whom she followed that she cared not to retrieve the fragment? He finds one shoe caught in a cut of rock standing up from the ground. This tells no more than the tatter. He comes to a cold, shallow lake, before which is cast off, the other shoe. She has waded or swam across to the fir tree lined far side. He follows, his clothes wet to his chest by the time he reaches the far shore. Through the trees that grow close about. He comes to a stone wall, a cliff, perhaps, for it is not made by men. There is a way through, narrow as the width of a human, or elf, walking, and it is closed overhead. He passes through, and stops. Before his feet is a gorge, and the path is just two feet wide, following the gorge to either side. To his left is an Elf, his eyes are slits, and his mouth is gritted in ill will. He knows this Elf, not by name, but by mien.

"Look down, human!"

He drops to the ground, convinced that if he walked up to the edge, the Elf would push him. He slides up to the edge and peers over the edge. Hundreds of feet below lies a body. It is she.

"No!" He raises his head, his eyes blurred with sudden tears; the Elf's features are unclear. "You pushed her over!"

"Fool. This is a dream. Have it so if you wish, but now you know her end. You deserve to know what you have done to her by winning her heart, human. You killed her."

He wept.

There was a crash. "Raefindan!" The voice was familiar to him, but he did not care. He couldn't believe that he had killed her, but his heart believed it, even if he could tell himself otherwise. His love had died. Just like the other time.

"Mithrellas!" 0h Angela!

[mark12_30]

Raefindan lay on a bed, eyes unseeing, despair in his face. Ravion stood at the door, blade drawn. Between him and Raefindan stood a slender darkhaired elf. The elf did not smile.

"What! Has my home become a highway for ruffians and tramps? Begone, vile manling! Or perhaps you come for the sick man, " he spat.

Ravion stepped into the cave.

"His plight moves you to pity, does it not? It should. Pitiable indeed." His voice was ice cold.

[alaklondewen]

Erebemlin looked up at the young man from his position on the ground, but continued his task of packing. “Good morning, young Ædegard. We shall continue following the Anduin today. Lord Amroth believes it possible that the lady may have gone there seeking the music of its waters.”

Ædegard nodded in response and said, “I hope he is right in his thinking.”

“Aye, so do I…so do I.” Erebemlin closed his pack and rose, towering over the young man. “Can you assure the others are ready to leave? We must start early for our journey shall be long.” How long…Erebemlin was afraid to say. In his heart he felt that they would not find the lady by the river, yet something kept him from dissuading Amroth from his choice of direction…

“Yes, of course,” Ædegard answered. “They are nearly ready now.”

“Very well, then…shall we?” With those words the elf lifted his pack and readied his horse, awaiting the others to follow his lead.