Alfýkin: The Last of the Elves

Cold Be Hand, Heart, And Bone

Illeandir woke in a cold sweat, chest heaving as he gulped huge breaths of air. His heart beat painfully against his ribs in a rapid pulse. For a moment he didn't know where he was. The full moon cast a silvery glow on the charred remains of the village, already a new building was being errected. Nothing moved, save for an owl hooting softly in the distance. The stars blinked delicately in sky in a silent song.

Illeandir tried to listen to the sounds of the night but the blood roaring in his ears blocked all sound. He would get no more sleep. Not that he ever slept, no elf did. Instead he dreamed, or lay in a subconscious, aware of his surroundings yet not awake. Most nights his dreams were filled with a soft light but others he woke in terror. They gripped him with paralyzing claws of fear, fighting to destroy him. Each time it was the same unseen force that pulled him into its deadly embrace and each time Illeandir found it harder to break free. He desperately feared the day he could not free himself and was forever a prisoner.

The only way to prevent the dreams was to keep moving, never staying in one area for more than three or four nights. He'd tried staying once. After a month the dreams became so terrible he would wake, unable to move from fear. Many times they would haunt him even while he was awake. Twenty years ago they'd started and were growing steadily worse until he was afraid to slip into the elven dreams.

Recovering his breath, Illeandir stood up from his sleeping spot, a slight indentation in the grass where he had slept since arriving. The sun had not yet begun to lighten the dark, starlit sky. Judging from the position of the stars and moon there were about four hours left before the first rays of light would appear over the eastern horizon. Just enough time to hunt and disappear before anyone woke.

He shook his shoulders as if to erase the memory of the night's terrors before grabbing his bow and slipping into the night at an easy lope, though at times he ran as if the Nazgúl chased him, fleeing from his dreams though he knew he couldn't. He could not escape himself. Long he ran until once again he became aware of himself. He looked at the sky, an hour had passed since he had woken. The land around him was dotted with steeply angle hills that rose barely twenty feet high. Heavy mist clung to the ground between them, obscuring Illeandir's feet from view.

A sense of dread settling in him as he padded silently between the hills. Unease grew into a feeling of being watched by malevolent beings intent on killing. A low, mournful song rose up on the still air.

"Cold be hand and heart and bone
and cold be sleep under stone
never more to wake on stony bed.
Never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead.

"In the black wind the stars shall die
and still be gold here let them lie
till the Dark Lord lifts his hand
over dead sea and withered land."

Illeandir gave a small cry of dismay. Borrow Wights. He had wandered into one of the few Borrow Downs in all of Middle Earth. Cursing his ill-fated luck Illeandir spun around and ran. Headlong into a Borrow Wight. The spirit was blacker than the night with eyes that glowed cold and white. It reached out with a rotten bony hand covered in rings that rattled with each movement. With a soft hiss the spirit clutched Illeandir's shoulder and horrible cold spread down his arms to the very tips of his fingers. The cold crept up his shoulder and into his neck while he stared in a trance at the wight, who sang his mournful song.

The wight gripped Illeandir's other arm with the same awful cold. But before it could spread Illeandir broke contact with a savage cry and fled. The wight screeched and gave chase, ghosting over the uneven ground. The effort to break free from the Borrow Wight's spell had drained Illeandir greatly. It wasn't long before his legs gave out and he fell, rolling over several times before stopping. Lungs heaving and heart pounding Illeandir looked up just in time to see the wight pounce on him.