The Whispers of Valinor

The Dark Pursuit

The night seemed to grow colder as Velanor stalked through the dense forest, his mind racing with dark thoughts.
The escape of the two sisters had been too swift, too smooth a fact that gnawed at him like an itch he couldn't scratch. The key, the one thing that had slipped through his grasp, taunted him now, its mysterious appearance unearthing suspicions he had long buried.
He had ordered the soldiers to keep watch, to ensure nothing went awry, but it was as though something beyond his control had played a hand in their departure.

His boots crunched through the fallen leaves as his shadow stretched long in the dim moonlight. He reached the clearing where he had left his soldiers, his keen eyes immediately noting the absence of the sisters. The soldiers, still standing at attention, shifted uneasily under his gaze, their silence confirming what he already knew.

"They've escaped,"
Velanor said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of a thousand unspoken words.

One of the soldiers, a grizzled figure with a deep scar running across his face, met Velanor's gaze with a flicker of fear. "We... we didn't hear them, my lord. They moved as though they were one with the night itself."

Velanor's jaw tightened. He wanted to lash out, to strike fear into their hearts, but he controlled the urge. The truth was far more troubling than the soldiers' failure.

He turned sharply, his cloak swishing like a ripple of dark water, and made his way toward the heart of the forest. He would find them. He always did.

POV: of the sisters

Althaea and Aurêlia ran through the underbrush, the dense forest offering little comfort in the midst of their flight.
The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the whisper of hidden things lurking just beyond their sight.
Their breaths came in ragged gasps, the soft rustling of the leaves the only sound besides their footsteps and the distant pursuit of Velanor's soldiers.

"How far do you think we've gotten?" Aurêlia asked, her voice breathless but still laced with hope.
She glanced nervously over her shoulder, but the forest was eerily quiet.

"I don't know," Althaea replied, her eyes scanning their surroundings. She had always felt a strange connection to the forest, as if it spoke to her in a language only she could understand. Now, however, the trees seemed to close in around them, casting long shadows that shifted like specters. "But we can't stop. Not yet."

The sisters pushed forward, the once familiar path growing more and more unrecognizable with each step.
The forest seemed to twist, the trees growing denser as they ventured deeper into the unknown.
The moonlight filtered weakly through the thick canopy, and even the stars appeared dimmer than they had in the clearing where Velanor had captured them.

"Do you think Velanor will find us?"
Aurêlia asked, her voice filled with the weight of fear and uncertainty.

Althaea didn't answer at first, her thoughts tangled in the mysteries of their situation. The keywhat had it meant? Who had thrown it?
Had it been a random act, or had someone been watching them, waiting for the right moment to intervene?
Her fingers curled around the cool metal of the key she had hidden in her pocket, its intricate markings seeming to pulse in the moonlight.
She could feel it calling to her, but its purpose eluded her.

"Althaea?" Aurêlia's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "But we'll fight, as long as we must. And if it comes to it, we'll hide in the shadows. Velanor cannot control everything."