Almarëa

Winter's Waltz

The sight was so familiar she recognized it immediately. This was not the first time she was here. The few rays of golden sunlight that were able to filter through the dense canopy of the trees danced around her delicately, tracing strange patterns on the green grass.

She walked straight to the front, slowly, the grass caressing her feet softly. She already knew what lied ahead. She had seen in it before. The green leaves cracked smoothly as they swayed on the gentle breeze, like silent witnesses to her short journey.

She felt not surprise at the sight of the very familiar stream leaping freely through the forest, its shallow waters glittering in silver sparks under the scarce light. The gentle lullaby of its waters as they ran downstream was soothing, unchanging. But it this time it felt different.

She let her eyes look up from the hushing waters, gazing straight into the darkening forest at the opposite shore. There was no elfling. She looked over her shoulder, halfway expecting the innocent child to be playing somewhere else, quietly singing to himself as his tiny hands swayed around him. There was no one.

She did not know where to look, did not know what to do. The stream kept flowing quietly, uncaring about her presence. The forest continued to waltz at the gentle breeze, its movements monotone, perfectly choreographed with the frail beams of golden light. And she waited.

Nothing came. Nothing happened. There was nobody; no elfling, no lady. Only her in the vast emptiness of the majestic forest. So alive and yet so dead.

Without knowing what she was doing, she stepped into the water, the cold liquid dancing around her feet as her toes sunk in the sandy bottom. She walked slowly, the water reaching up her knees, her dress sticking uncomfortably around her legs.

Then, everything changed. Suddenly the crystalline waters turned a bright red color, spreading through the stream like a poisonous stain. She felt her heart stop, her legs frantically attempting to return to shore. But there was no shore. The forest was gone, vanished into nothingness.

Then, bodies floated slowly downstream. Too many bodies. Too many faces. Some facing down, arms and legs spread apart, carried carelessly by the current; others facing up, empty eyes looking at the sky, not seeing anything. There were too many. Faces flew in front of her eyes, the horrifying floating bodies merging with tall elegantly dressed ones spread on the ground, also dead.

She screamed, air flowing out of her lungs, but producing no sound. Faces contoured in pain, limbs bent at strange angles, crimson blood spreading out poisonously, flowing into water and running over land, black arrows sticking out of shoulders, backs and legs, faces again, and then a glazed pair of hollow green eyes, staring vacantly at a red sky....

She woke up with a start. Her heart raced inside her chest, drumming loudly as she involuntarily jerked upright.

"It was a dream, Rina. It was only a dream. You are safe." She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders as her eyes looked up to meet a gorgeous pair of liquid silver ones.

"Dan!" She breathed out both in surprise and relief, a smile automatically appearing on her lips as her fear immediately seemed to vanish, her heart feeling entirely at peace. He smiled at her in return, her heart nearly melting at the sight, feeling herself drown in his endless liquid silver eyes, so deep and welcoming.

Bright rays of sunlight illuminated the room, entering freely at the now opened ivory curtains. Somehow, the room felt larger now, brighter than it had the day before. She could hear the soothing songs of birds outside, a melody that played in perfect coordination with the swaying trees of the dense forest of Mirkwood. There was no sight of the King.