Chapter thirteen: Winds of Cold and Ice
“Thendryt!”
The snowy peaks of the Misty Mountains appeared darker, he thought.
“Thendryt.” Lowering his head and slowly turned it towards Faorie, he gave her a dark glare. She shouldn’t be brought into this situation.
He mounted Bovad and the horse started to walk up the path towards the mountains.
“Wait.” He heard her say. He ignored her.
“Wait!” Faorie mounted her steed and rode up beside him.
“Thendryt, where have you been?”
“Thendryt, stop!”
He had no intention of stopping. Instead he lowered his voice.
“Eregion.”
“Why?” Her reply came was quick, and to the point.
“To visit an old friend.” Thendryt said.
“And where are you going now?”
Thendryt slowed Bovad down to a halt and looked at Faorie.
“Upwards.” He replied. “Go back, I will return to the Vale soon enough.”
“Not until you stop!” He looked at her. She looked determined, almost upset. Without a word, he urged Bavad to continue.
The hours went by. Faorie kept following Thendryt, where ever he went. Thendryt could sense her irritation and anger build up for every hour that passed. Until she finally had enough and moved her steed in front of him, blocking his path.
“Your silence has gone on long enough.” She said. “Your suspicious ways must end. What has gone on?” She waited for a reply that never came. He had lost himself in his encounter with Myrith, and he was not considering telling her anything about it.
“Why do you remain silent?” Her voice was starting to get lower, her anger starting to show.
Thendryt looked her in the eye.
“My demons are my own. Go back to the Vale.”
“Your demons will only bring you to your demise.” She replied, with a small hint of concern.
“Then my demise is overdue.” Thendryt said, and tried to go around her. Faorie would have none of it.
“Enough Thendryt!” She almost shouted it. The wind forced her hair into her face but she didn’t mind it.
“Why do you insist on battling your demons on your own?” She reached out towards the blood-stains on Thendryt’s armour. “What have you done?”
Thendryt looked her in the eye but kept silent.
“Answer me now, Thendryt!”
Enough of this, he thought.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
Faorie stared at his armour.
“Yes…”
Thendryt stared at her for a moment. His mind wandered. Images flashed before his eyes: Bryn, Myrith, Rohan. Rohan…
“I do one thing well. One.” He started.
“Pick the sword up, child!”
“We didn’t recruit you to fail like this, boy!”
“Hit him!”
“Fighting.” He had Faorie’s attention, he noticed.
“It’s what I was taught to do, born to do, bred to do. You know nothing about me, Faorie Liamna. Maybe that’s why you insist on following me.”
“We’re going to have extra fun today, my little Warrior. Extra fun…”
“Maybe that’s why you demand answers that are not yours to know.”
“They may not be mine to know as Faorie, but they are mine to know as your comrade, your ally.” She replied, while adjusting her mount.
“How is it that you’ve so easily forgotten? You had come to me when we first met, long ago, requesting aid from me.”
“You requested from me to fight by your side. To help you! And you want nothing!?”
Thendryt urged Bovad forward and pulled up right next to Faorie’s horse.
“What I want, is for you to get out of here before you get caught up in my nightmares” He thought, glaring at her.
“There’s something happening. You’re different now, something has changed.”
“Go back to the Vale.” He said, with a cold voice. “I can’t tell what will happen at the end of this road. Leave my demons to me.” He looked upwards, along the path. “I will handle them.”
The wind begun to speed up, making Faorie shout to raise her voice above its icy presence.
“End this nonsense, Thendryt! You speak of demons as if no one has ever faced their own!”
“I’m proud of you, boy.”
“Hold him down!”
“Find Odak, Thendryt! I trust you with this. Prove yourself!”
“Can’t you find a duller blade? This one is almost sharp, we need a crude knife for this game.”
“You forget who you are and where you are. You forget why you’re here! Faorie’s voice seemed like an echo in his mind, rather than in the blazing winds. How is it that you’ve come to this? To have forgotten yourself so easily? Are you truly so weak?”
Thendryt’s shoulders stiffened. He spoke. His voice low. And as cold as ice.
“I am Thendryt Morson. I am in the lower parts of the Misty Mountains. I am here to speak with an acquaintance.” He paused. “You don’t know me, Elf. You never have. My weakness is none of your concern nor is it your place to judge me.”
“I know my kin. I know my allies, and I know those who protect. You are causing uncertainty and suspicion amongst your fellow warriors, but is matters not to you.”
“You’re right.” He replied. “It matters not to me.”
“You have given up on your role as a protector.”
Given up as a protector? He couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know anything. He was making sure no one would ever have to go through what he did. No one in the Warband will suffer so greatly if he could put an end to it. No one should have to be burned, impaled, eaten, cut, discarded, broken. If this was the role he had to take to ensure that would not happen, so be it.
“You are no ally of mine. Thendryt. Morson.” Faorie turned her steed away, towards the way back to Imladris. “I will be speaking with the Council. And to Lady Elisbeth, and the officers regarding what has gone on.”
“Do what you wish, it matters little to me.” Thendryt growled.
Thendryt continued on, leaving Faorie standing still in the raging winds. When he looked over his shoulder he saw that she wasn’t following him anymore.
“Finally.” He thought. “Let’s finish this.”
