The hunter walked outside of the gates of Aughaire, the window picking up the dust and ash that lay across most of the foul lands of Angmar. He wondered quietly to himself if these lands had always been like this, or if they were once like many of the others, lush, filled with beauty and mystery. He carefully made his way down the steep hill, knowing that these were but baby steps compared to where he needed to go.
He ventured to the place he knew all to well, the place that woke fears and memories that he thought long dead. The pains of the paint sticks, the crudely shaped needles beating into his worn skin, the pain of the fires and embers. The crack of the whip, and its foul bite with the bits of stone, glass and bones that they wrapped into the leather. Not only did these memories stir about his head, as did the memories of the screams and pains of the others that were there. He had to look upon its gates one more time, to stare at the stones and metals that formed its walls. Carn dum awaited him, the very name sent chills across his skin, shivers down his spine. He gritted his teeth and carried on.
He sent for those he knew would not let him down, two that had earned his trust. Rannie, the one who he felt that she was a rat, the lowly, street rat. She did not see her full potential, but he planned on changing that. Then there was Gaildrin, a young man who came from Dale. He was strong, but he was also young and lacked experience that was so essential to situations like these. It was not just their lives that depended on their success, but many, many others as well. He could almost still hear Alkawens voice upon the wind, uttering his name and almost picturing the scowl on her face as she mentioned it. The name felt like poison for the tongue, a taint in the air. Many would deem his mission as vengeance, many would deem it foolish, but those many do not understand, and he prays they never will have to.
He looked up, he was getting closer to the encampment, he would not stop for the night, he could not afford to. He had to press on through the night, he had to get the information as quickly as he could, what ever the cost was. He knew this, he knew what it meant. This man caused her pain, this man made her suffer, but that is not why he was there, not the only reason. Information, why this man wanted to deal with the order so badly, why this devil wanted Fairlain so badly. Either way it mattered not, he was to be dealt with, there would only be one walking away from this fight, and he does not hail from the east.
Cynraede smiled as he walked past the tent, the cold breeze flowing past him as he huddled inside his cloak and continued to press onwards, where devils feared to tread.
