The Veil Lifted

[Dimturiel]

The night had proved darker than Darlariel had thought it would be. Dark things that had been until then well hidden, showing themselves only in troubled nightmares, had now emerged into the real world. They had been forgotten, their haterd was now a matter of legend, but they still remembered the world of men, they knew it and loathed it. Here they were, ready to attack again. And this time, they had chances of winning. None believed in their existence, it would take time before people would really accept that such creatures of shadow still lived. And they did not have that time.

These thoughts were in Darlariel's mind as she was following the others in the dark tunnel. The beam of Gilli's torch glittered somewhere in front of her, a tiny ray of hope in the darkness and dread that she felt all around her. She told herself that what Jack had said to them in the library meant that they need not despair completely, not yet. But she felt too afraid to pay much attention to that. What could four people do against such dark things, were they to encounter them? What else save resist long enough to make a brave stand that would be worth many songs? Yet what songs? The time when people sang lays in which they praised the brave deeds done by others was long passed.

Darlariel shook her head, wanting to drive such thoughts from her mind. What cared she about songs? And so what if she were to die that night? If that was to be her fate, she would not complain. She would not regret her meeting with Aiwendil, indeed, she would not regret even the fact that she had followed him in the library even if she had had the choice of turning back.

Suddenly the sound of whispers came to her ears. She stopped short, together with the others. They were now near the end of the tunnel, but there seemed to be a commotion there. She could hear movement and voices talking to each other, although whoever it was spoke too quietly for her to make out what they were saying. Yet she was not sure she would have understood even if they had spoken louder.

Darlariel looked uneasily at the others. She knew they had no choice. Sooner or later they would have to go down, and meet whoever was already there.

[Noinkling]

Heavy footsteps rattled down the spiral stairway. And echoed in the entry to the pitch-black tunnel. Some light, a lantern of some sort, he thought bounced wildly off the walls and shown through the perforated metal treads of the stairs. Tolly craned his head out from the dark interior of the tunnel trying to see what sort of beast or beasts were moving down toward them.

‘It’s somethin’ big tromping down the stairs!’ Tolly whispered low to Bran. ‘Something real big . . . or maybe a whole flock of ‘em,’ Bran said, shivering a bit at the thought of who or what approached them.

Daisy reached out and pulled Ferdy back from the tunnel’s edge. He was younger than she by three years or so. And being the older sister she felt obligated to see to his well being. ‘You two get back here, too!’ she hissed at Bran and Tolly, slipping into the rustic Westron dialect they most often spoke among themselves. ‘I knew we shouldna sneaked in here this year to see the Professor’s new books. Not really a bookstore, you know,’ she went on. ‘I heard the Missus that runs this place doesn’t really like us leaving those silver pennies for her books.’

‘Well, I like getting them here,’ Ferdy broke in. ‘You get to feel the covers of the books, smell the leather bindings. And riffle through the pages to see if you like the pictures.’ He swiped the back of his sleeve across his mouth, clearing it of the last traces of chocolate bar he’d been munching on from his trick-or-treat. ‘Better than trying to figure out that Amazing.com and what things you’re supposed to click on to get your book.’

‘Quiet you all! Quick! Hide here. It’s nearly upon us!’ Tolly grabbed for his friends and shoved them in behind some old wooden packing crates stacked along the tunnel wall. The Hobbits crouched down, holding their breaths as they waited for whatever beastie it was to pass them by.