Elerrina

Let it Burn

The Sun was already high in the sky by the time  Elerrina awoke from her deep sleep. At first she felt confused, slightly disoriented, but soon everything came  back to her as she felt that she was lying on the hard ground in the middle of the forest. Slowly sitting up she also noticed the twins discussing something only a couple of feet away from her, always in that strange musical language. 

It had been three days since now since they had abandoned the fallen debris of the village behind, and every day still felt as if it had been nothing but a horrible nightmare. Her delicate fingers slid down her long locks of hair, as if trying to comb through them but she already knew the tangled knots would be a lost cause. 

Next to her, the twins  must have heard her move because two identical faces suddenly turned quickly in her direction.

"And she is alive!" Said one of them.

She still had trouble identifying which twin was which, and was again glad that they had not discarded they travel cloaks. The one who had spoken wore a green velvet cloak around his shoulders and she quickly identified him as Elrohir. Elladan, wearing a light blue cloak, laughed at his twin's exaggerated statement, shaking his head lightly.

She threw him a deadly glare before standing up and making her way towards them. They both also stood from their spot on the grass, their mischievous grins slowly disappearing from their faces to be replaced by a solemn expression. She could feel them carefully studying her, watching her as if she was a crystal vase falling in the air, waiting for her to hit the ground and crash into a million pieces. But she did not blame them, not after she had furiously hit one of them only three days ago, even if she had not managed to left even the tiniest of bruises on his skin. But she felt calmer now, had done so for the past day. There was nothing left for her behind. 

"Are you ready to go?" Asked Elladan, cutting her out from her wondering thoughts. He looked carefree, a soft smile playing on his lips. At first she had not expected him to talk to her, not after how she had hit and slapped him, but he acted as if nothing had ever happened.  And she could not tell whether or not she felt glad about that. 

"Go where?" she asked for the first time. For three days it had been the same routine: waking up in the cold damp ground and them mounting behind one of the twins and galloping the entire day, only to make a fire at night and fall asleep again on the hard earth. And yet, she had not really question whether or not they had a destination, or what said destination was. 

"Imladris" They said together in perfect coordination, a thing that had surprised her the first couple of times but had now seemed to become normal.

Her eyes widened slightly at the familiar name. She had heard of the elven sanctuary, protected by a powerful Elf-Lord, in many children stories before. Traveling men had mentioned it when they stopped to spend the night at her village, and it had always sounded like a far away place that was only meant to be heard of but never seen. She remembered playing around the yards with the other children, pretending to be respected elven warriors and princesses, her imagination transforming the old rustic small houses into an elven paradise.

"With elves?" she asked, mentally kicking herself after she had spoken, realizing how dumb she must have sounded. Two identical pairs of grey eyes looked at her puzzled, both with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes" said Elrohir. "You are an elf" he reminded her, suddenly looking incredibly entertained.

He had already mounted on the back of his horse, and she saw his mirror image do the same seconds later.

"Unless of course you would rather stay here" Said Elladan, who was now sitting straight on the back of his horse. His tone seemed to tease her, and for a second she really doubted whether or not they would leave her there if she did not say anything.