Bloodlines
Act II Chapter II
As Alekith led the way, Lucifen began to examine the halls of the building. The smell of Gondor itself was different from what he is used to, but the estate itself had its own unique scent. The air tasted cold, even though his skin felt the strange crude warmth.
The path they took allowed Lucifen to view the condition of the estate. For the large building it is, it feels very vacant with how little of a staff it contains. As the two walked past open doors, Lucifen would find them dark and empty of all life. They would only contain boxes and old dusted up furniture that appear to have no maintenance what so ever.
After a few minutes of walking through the halls and up a few flight of stairs, the two finally arrive at Alekith's destination. That, being the peak of a tower that is connected with the estate.
The tower that is both connected and engulfed by the rest of the estate stand tall among the building. When Lucifen first arrived to the estate, he recalls seeing the dark outline of the tower, starring at it as it stood well over twice the highest peak of the actual building.
Lucifen finds his recovered eyes no longer wincing at the bright rays of the sun, but still they do not operate at their fullest. Thinking this might actually be his first time in a place like this, Lucifen would gaze all around him as the sight from standing so tall in the air bewildered him.
What he saw was the land divided into halves. One being the forest from whence he came. But at this altitude, he only now notices how the extreme length of it. The other half was the long and near flatlands of grass and crops. Hidden in the fields, a long road could be spotted from those with keen eyes.
"There." Alekith says as he points towards the empty fields. "A few hours on that road and you will find the village of Tâdcelon. The lord of Tâdcelon resides here in this very building, for at the moment he is away." his words would trail off before returning back to the subject. "My job is to make sure these lands are safe, but the men who have captured you are making that job much more harder than it should be."
Lucifen would find the unsettling silence after those words his time to respond. "Who are those men?"
Alekith took a moment of silence before replying. "They are pillagers, murderers who care naught for the health of those who are not in their ranks." he would say as he turns to face Lucifen. "They have already caused so much damage to these lands that there cannot be a price high enough for their heads."
"A bounty then?" Lucifen would ask, finding his position, while dire and dreaded from his kidnapping, exciting.
"Perhaps if you view it that way..." he would say before looking back at the direction of the village. "Our lord, Amarion, spoke with Denethor-" he cuts himself off as he realizes Luc's blank face would betray his knowledge. Sighing, Alekith tries to continue. "-The steward of Gondor, for assistance in protecting these lands. But his words landed on deaf ears." he would give a slight frown. "It is up to myself and the few who remain with my service to guarantee the safety of these lands. And because of these dark times, I have no other option but to ask men I do not know for assistance."
An eerie silence would fall on the two as Alekith's words would linger in the air.
As the cold wind blew through Lucifen's hair, he would turn to face Alekith fully. "I'll do it."
A honest look of surprise would conjure on Alekith's face. "Just like that? I was expecting you to put some cards on the table." he would then study Lucifen's face where he would only find a small smile appear on the corner of his lips. As much as he didn't know what he was getting himself caught up with, Lucifen felt like he needed this. Painful thoughts of Bree and the people he knew there would only cause him to go forward with this idea. He needed the time away, and what better place to start than a land for which he knows nothing about.
