Eliad and Ulfey continued to talk as Iriul led them.
“That is worrisome,” said Ulfey. “Why have you not informed the Watch of her?”
“How would I say it?” replied Eliad, glancing towards Ulfey. “How would I explain that I know her? No… This is my fight.”
“Do not allow pride to get in the way. There are innocent lives in that town, Eliad.”
“I’m not having any pride,” said Eliad. “I just don’t want anyone else to be involved. To be hurt.”
“To have an agent of darkness lingering within the town is a risk already…,” said Ulfey. “She may already have caused harm.”
Eliad fished into his pouch before taking out the small wooden bird, holding it up.
“Still,” said Eliad. “I will make sure that I will end it. For… her sake…”
“Can she not be changed?” asked Ulfey.
She turned her head towards the giant statue that they were close to arriving to and observed it thoughtfully.
“As I have said, she follows my father’s footsteps,” answered Eliad, shaking his head. “It’s too late for her. She even only accepts the Angmarim side of her, thinking that Mother was weak.”
“If you had known of her darkness and her place in Bree, then why has she not been ended?” asked Ulfey.
Iriul looked up over the great monument with respect.
“King’s Crossing…,” said Iriul.
“She’s a difficult one, having more training than I have,” answered Eliad.
Eliad glanced back down at the wooden bird, as if thinking of someone.
“You seem to have a mind to end this on your own, Eliad…,” said Ulfey.
As soon as they got to High King’s Crossing, Iriul let Gambit go, trotting off to the feeding trough. Eliad had stopped close to the water, turning to face it.
“I don’t…want to involve anyone else in our problems…,” said Eliad. “It’s not safe.”
Ulfey carefully dismounted her horse and looked over to Eliad.
“It is not safe to have her lingering in those lands, in that town,” said Ulfey. “She is among innocents and she is an agent of darkness…”
“Will you be alright spending the night to rest here, Haetîra?” asked Iriul, arcing a brow unsurely. “The hangings here won’t disturb you?”
Eliad closed his eyes, curling his fingers around the small wooden bird. Ulfey looked around slowly and nodded.
“Perhaps I can put those to rest that still linger should anyone be lost,” said Ulfey. “It should calm the grounds.”
“Let them be lost,” said Iriul. “Don’t forget why they’re here in the first place…”
Eliad opened his eyes before slipping the wooden bird back into his pouch.
“Their debt is paid…,” argued Ulfey. “No one deserves to be lost in the afterlife. “It twists them… I am certain you have heard of haunted grounds and ghosts.”
“Don’t believe I’ve got to warn you about anything obvious, Angmarim,” said Iriul, nodding to Eliad.
“You are among others…,” said Ulfey. “You need not call attention to this.”
Iriul twisted his lip at Ulfey’s words and pulled back his hood to ruffle out his hair, taking a breath. Ulfey stared at Iriul as a rare frown found her. The woman afterward turning to let her mare rest at the stables.
“It’s not that…,” said Eliad.
He turned to face the water, looking at the sky.
“I shall speak to the people here and see if they have room for us to stay…,” said Ulfey. “Do try and behave…”
Ulfey reached a hand over to Iriul’s shoulder to try and give it a light, reassuring squeeze as she looked at him.
“Mhmm…,” replied Iriul, squinting over a smile.
“There is good in those that are evil and there is evil within those that are good…,” said Ulfey. “If this man speaks the truth then let us not push him back towards the darkness he is trying to escape. I do not ask you to trust him… But do not feed the wolf that may not lie dormant.”
Ulfey smiled and gave his shoulder another small squeeze before continuing onwards to speak with whomever is in charge of the camp. Iriul took a broad stance and crossed his arms once he stood a bit away from Eliad, staring down the flowing water. Eliad sighed softly before looking down at his feet.
“It would be for the first time, if we had you hanged from this bridge,” said Iriul. “First time an Angmarim’s been hanged here… Do you know the fate of the city? Of Annuminas?”
Eliad cast his gaze over to Iriul before glancing away.
“I don’t,” answered Eliad.
“Agarochir, Guldurchir, Siridán, Unagh, and Valtair,” said Iriul. “Angmar’s captains that have their forces in there. Do you know any of these names?”
“I wasn’t really wanting to hear of the affairs so I kept my distance,” said Eliad.
“It’s utterly convenient that these elite Angmarim men and women search for something here, and you know nothing,” said Iriul.
“Because I don’t give a damn about the other Angmarim,” said Eliad, glancing towards Iriul.
“What if your sister followed us here?” asked Iriul. “Would you give a damn then, if she’d hang here?”
He leaned against the stone while waiting for an answer.
“If she were to come, I would personally deal with her, sword or no sword,” replied Eliad.
“To death?” asked Iriul, raising a brow at him skeptically.
“She…is my own problem,” said Eliad.
Ulfey nodded slowly after a long chat with one of the locals and carefully removed her sack from her shoulder to place within one of the tents. She then walked back to the two.
“Do you know what they’re looking for, in that city?” asked Iriul. “You must have heard something.”
“They will lend us a tent for the night but we shall not share their supplies,” said Ulfey. “I offered what we could spare of supplies in exchange for a place to rest.”
Eliad glanced towards Iriul before shaking his head.
“One word,” said Iriul. “You must have heard one word of why they came here. You’re one of them for the l-…”
He balled his fist until the leather of the gauntlet creaked.
“Even if I did know, Mister Gamber, would you have thrown my words away like the rest?” asked Eliad.
“I want some reason to why they comb through Annuminas so thoroughly…!” exclaimed Iriul. “Nowhere else, from here to the Misty Mountains, has the Enemy launched an attack of this size, proving its importance. But not even we understand what they’re looking for, or what they think they’re looking for. The treasures in those tombs does not warrant an army!”
“I said I don’t know!” replied Eliad, raising his tone of voice.
“This is something we can speak of later…,” said Ulfey, looking between the two. “We are guests here. There is no need for this now.”
“I’m…sorry if you lost someone dear to you in the attack,” said Eliad, casting his gaze away.
Iriul stopped himself from raising his voice further, looking at Ulfey as he was near to lose it.
“Let us be respectful towards our hosts and not raise our voices and bring them unease…,” said Ulfey, stepping closer towards the edge of the bridge. “They have been kind enough to let us stay here. We shall be proper guests.”
Iriul scoffed and shook his head, holding himself from saying more.
“Hate me all your life, Mister Gamber, if you should wish to…,” said Eliad, sighing as he turned around.
He walked to go sit down by a wall. As the two had talked, Eliad took out the small wooden bird again into his hand.
“I’m so sorry…,” muttered Eliad. “I’ll give this to you soon…”
He placed the bird away before rolling up his sleeve a little to look at his tattoo. He knew that he had to do something in order to help them so it would prove that he was good and he could be free. He rolled down his sleeve before standing up on his feet in order to join them again.
“M-May I ask something?” asked Eliad.
Ulfey turned her head to Eliad and smiled, nodding a few times.
“What do you wish to ask?” asked Ulfey.
“Hm?” asked Iriul, looking over his shoulder.
“In this…city you have said…,” said Eliad. “Are there treasures of great importance?”
“None,” answered Iriul, shaking his head. “Tombs and treasures, wealth, but nothing worth this amount of effort.”
“Nothing that you have heard from your youth about back then in the past?” asked Eliad.
“Scholarly learning, tolls of old arts…,” replied Iriul. “Nothing the Angmarim should value so dearly.”
“Relics?” asked Eliad.
“I know the city as Ulfey here knows Bree,” said Iriul, crossing his arms. “If your memory is coming back to you about why they’re here, do tell.”
“It’s…a theory,” said Eliad. “What if something was there that the rest of you didn’t see or go deeper to see it?”
“My Lady knows exactly what we’re warding here,” said Iriul sternly, inclining his head. “But we wonder what the Angmarim think they are looking for.”
Ulfey quietly looked between the two as she listened.
“And this…lady of yours,” said Eliad. “She doesn’t know too well either?”
“If you think I will mention any of these things we guard to you, then you are mistaken,” said Iriul. “I am not so eager to throw away the caution necessary around that mark of yours.”
Eliad walked towards the stone, leaning against it.
“…I may have an idea,” said Eliad. “Risky but… Perhaps it’ll work. And it’s ‘marks,’ thank you very much.”
“Yes, I’ve got one, too,” replied Iriul, chewing his lip. “Jump in. My Lady will surely tell you.”
Ulfey allowed the two to speak in peace while she turned to sit at the edge of the bridge, her legs crossing and her hands resting in her lap with palms facing upwards. Inhaling deeply, she stared ahead for a moment then shut her eyes.
“I don’t like this more than you do,” said Eliad, glancing toward Iriul. “But what I’m proposing is that I would go to this city to see for myself. Word of me running away most likely wouldn’t have reached these captains yet. Though I would need to act as a prisoner of war and to be given. If I should find a captain, I’ll talk.”
“Setting you loose to them could go either way,” murmured Iriul, chewing his lip further.
He peered over his shoulder at Ulfey, scratching his scar in thought.
“Do you want to know or not?” asked Eliad, keeping a steady gaze at Iriul. “What would you have suggested? To just go there and have a friendly conversation of asking what they’re doing there?”
“Your offer is noted…,” said Iriul, nodding impatiently. “I’ll take those close to me to council, and answer you in the morning.”
“Very well,” said Eliad. He looked forward finally, biting his bottom lip. “If it should happen like that to where things would plan out like so, you should show all of my top half to them. They won’t just take one brand as accepting.”
“Crossing that bridge when we get there…,” said Iriul.
“…Mister Gamber?” asked Eliad.
“I said, we will worry about those details when and if it’s been decided,” said Iriul.
“It’s not that…,” said Eliad.
“What is it?” asked Iriul, peering at him.
“I’m not…mad at you for having to take me away like you did,” said Eliad. “Even though it was sudden.”
Ulfey smiled to herself. Iriul glared and brushed himself off.
“My icy heart melts, Angmarim,” said Iriul sarcastically. “I go to rest. Will you be well, Haetîra?”
“Do not worry about me, Gamber,” replied Ulfey. “Rest well.”
“Until morning then,” said Iriul, nodding before walking away to rest.
“I don’t…blame him for not trusting me anymore,” said Eliad.
“It is only natural that people are wary and untrusting,” said Ulfey.
“I only…want to help,” said Eliad.
“And you shall have a chance to show such,” said Ulfey. “If your heart and mind are true, then it will show… though I doubt that you are rid of the taint from that place.”
Eliad glanced down at the ground, rubbing his eyes.
“The man that is siding with my sister…,” said Eliad. “I fought him one time after he shot Aeru.”
“Oh?” asked Ulfey.
“I was…so angry because Aeru and I just had our talk to clear things about Mother…,” said Eliad. “I went to chase the man and we fought. After he threw a dagger at his leg, I… I cut off his hand…”
“And what has happened after these events?” asked Ulfey.
“He ran away,” answered Eliad. “Though… I met him again not too long afterwards. He got himself a fake metallic hand. Though… I felt like...when that blade plunged into my leg, I blacked out.”
“And when you woke again?” asked Ulfey, nodding slowly as she listened to him.
“Well, not black out as in falling into unconsciousness,” explained Elida. “Just…a break of myself… Anyways… It wasn’t until he ran off that I felt more like myself again. I went to find my friends afterwards.”
“Your friends,” said Ulfey. “Who are they?”
“Well…,” said Eliad. “There is Aeru, though I think it’s safe to say that he’s…sort of like an acquaintance. Then there’s this blonde-haired woman named Bryn. She took care of Aeru and my wounds. And then…” He moved to take out the small wooden bird once again, looking at it. “…There’s Cassie…”
“Is there something special about this Cassie?” asked Ulfey.
“She is…very dear to me…,” replied Eliad, closing his eyes. “I care about her a lot… Feelings if you should call it that…”
“A woman you are courting?” asked Ulfey.
“No,” answered Eliad, sighing as he shook his head. “We’re not courting. It’s…complicated… She is very dear to me because… Well, she was the first one who didn’t’ judge me of what I am, of what blood courses through my veins.”
Ulfey slowly opened her eyes and stood up, making her way around the little wall so that she could face Eliad, her usual kind smile finding her lips once more.
“Your voice betrays that there is something more to this woman and your feelings towards her,” said Ulfey.
Eliad opened his eyes to look toward her before glancing away, blushing a little. Ulfey tiled her head a bit as she watched him.
“Is that correct?” asked Ulfey.
Eliad could only nod, not saying anything.
“Does she return these feelings?” asked Ulfey.
Eliad could not help but to remember a past day, blushing as he remembered the events. He then cleared his throat.
“It’s complicated…,” answered Eliad. “Her heart was broken many times before so she’s cautious. Which I understand. She knows that I’d wait for her as long as needed be. If she…does return the feelings.”
“You are uncertain if she does?” asked Ulfey.
“W-Well…,” said Eliad, glancing down at the bird. “It’s just complicated…”
“I would like to heart it if you are willing to share, Eliad,” said Ulfey.
“Well, I think she does…,” said Eliad.
“But there is something, isn’t there?” asked Ulfey.
“Probably but….someone else could treat her better and she doesn’t have to worry about being with a scum like me,” said Eliad.
“You sound as if you wish for her to seek another companion,” said Ulfey.
“I’d…be jealous but…if she’s ever happy with someone, I’m happy,” said Eliad, glancing down at the ground.
“If you truly care for her then you should not give up on her so easily, Eliad,” said Ulfey. “If you truly wish to be with her then you must tell her so.”
Eliad glanced towards Ulfey before looking away.
“She knows already…,” said Eliad.
“And what did she tell you?” asked Ulfey.
“To be patient with her because of her heart being broken a few times already by others,” answered Eliad. “That…and… Well, she was kidnapped and I found her wounded outside of Bree.”
“Then you shall be patient and not lose hope already,” said Ulfey. “For when you do that, you are asking the woman to leave your side and find another arm to hold… I am…sorry that we took you away from her, from Bree. But you must understand our worry…”
“Can you…promise me something, Miss Ulfey?” asked Eliad.
“What is it?” asked Ulfey.
Eliad held out the small wooden bird to her.
“If we should undergo the plan for me to sneak into the city in order to find out whatever it is that Angmar is doing there and if I don’t come out at all, could you give this to her?” asked Eliad. “It was meant to be hers because… Well, a friend thought we were mates…”
Ulfey reached her hands out to gently cup his hand and enclose his fingers around the bird.
“If we go with such a plan, then I shall take the bird…,” said Ulfey. “Until then, you keep it with you.”
Eliad kept his gaze on her before looking away, clenching the bird tightly in his hand.
“Tell me, Eliad…,” said Ulfey. “If you were given the chance to forget the life you lived in the darkness, given a new life to remember. Would you take it?”
“More than anything…,” answered Eliad.
Ulfey nodded slowly as he pulled her hands back. Eliad moved to slip the bird back in his pouch, still keeping his gaze away.
“There may be a way to do such, should you truly desire a new life without memory of the old…,” said Ulfey. “If you are to help us with what we ask then perhaps I can speak with the others and grant you this.”
“Like…amnesia?” asked Eliad, casting his gaze over towards Ulfey.
“No,” answered Ulfey, shaking her head a few times. “You would not forget what you do not wish to be forgotten. Your time in the darkness would be hidden from the memory under a new veil. It will not be gone… Only masked.”
“A new…veil…?” repeated Eliad.
“The odd entertainer would call it an…illusion, of sort,” said Ulfey. “A false memory.”
“A false memory…,” repeated Eliad thoughtfully.
“To you, it would be however be as real as the air you breathe now,” said Ulfey.
“But…what if that should break?” asked Eliad.
“Then your old life shall flood your mind once more,” said Ulfey. “It is why preparations would have to be made before this would be done. Such as your sister and the woman you’ve grown to care for.”
“In order for nothing to attempt to break or trigger the memories,’ said Eliad, glancing away.
“I can sense the good in you and it would make my heart happy to see one born of darkness be turned towards the light, to be granted a new life…,” said Ulfey. “However, there is much that has to be done before. Your sister is still a threat to the land and its people and she must be driven back or-…”
She sighed with her smile fading, letting the words simply trail off instead of speaking them directly. Eliad kept his gaze on her, nodding.
“Aeru and I will deal with her and whoever will be with her,” said Eliad. “We had set up an alliance for now.”
“I wish to aid you in the task…,” said Ulfey. “It is my duty. I cannot draw a blade against her but I may help by other means though that shall be talk for another time. We still need much from you and I hope that you may prove your loyalty to the cause, Eliad.”
“I will help in any way that I can, whether I am completely trusted or not,” said Eliad, nodding. “I may not be as strong or intimidating looking like the rest of you but I’ll do my best to give you all a peace of mind with…whatever we will do here in this region. But I don’t want to have you guys involved in my fight though.”
Ulfey stepped closer and reached a hand out to touch his arm.
“Then I put my trust in you, Eliad…,” smiled Ulfey softly. “And I pray that it will not be broken. This is not your fight alone... She is in the land I have sworn duty to. To keep the darkness at bay. To have allowed her this far in shows that I have failed and I must mend it.”
Eliad cast his gaze upward toward Ulfey before looking away.
“Very well…,” replied Eliad.
Ulfey gave his arm a light, friendly rub before dropping her hand away.
“Come…,” said Ulfey. “Let us find some rest. We still have ways to go and need our strength.”
Eliad glanced back up at her and smiled before nodding in agreement. Ulfey clasped her hands together and smiled kindly, nodding once in turn before turning to make her way into camp.
“Come along, then,” said Ulfey.
Eliad smiled a little before following, knowing that he would need his rest.
