Finally! We were on the move! Arindiis and I felt the excitement and anticipation for adventure most for we were young and while we've both been through our fair share of hardships, we were still new to this world...
Our company consisted of five... Although Ebold assures us that we will meet with Dagramir at Ost Forod, personally I am unsure of him, after talking with Ashaia a few times in the Prancing Pony, his previous lover... But a bump in the road for him of course... But that's none of my business.
Fialed accompinies us on this task too, the Dunlending of no little ammount of skill in survival, it was she who seen to Arin's wounds when she was attacked... By poachers I assume. Our Dunlending friend often traveled at the back of the convoy, always on alert and seldom talking.
Ealstan too joined us, a seasoned man indeed, but of course he still has the life in him to fight, I felt that he was easier to talk to... But when we passed through into the North Downs and stopped at the foot of Deadman's Dyke he grew silent as did the rest of the company.
We gazed upon the desolate harrowing hills and mounds and it felt to me as though the skies themselves darkened as we stepped foot in those lands, I have oft heard the tales of Deadman's Dyke, the fields of Fornost once saw a great battle with much bloodshed, ere Fornost fell it was once the capital of the old Kingdom of Arnor. But all throughout these dark lands stood grim testaments to the battle, bleak mounds stood throughout the landscape like bare and barren barrows and pyres of moss covered stone stood through the mist, silhouetted shapes contorted and warped through the thick fog. Rays of dim sunlight broke through the thick overcast above illuminating the ground, though it was not a warm light, there was no beauty in these fields and mounds of death. Even the trees were contorted and deathly looking, it was as if they too were as cold and accursed as the graves themselves.
We walked on in all but silence as a wind picked up from the East. There was something wrong about this place, and I knew I was not special in any way feeling this, the entire company felt this strange sense of oppression and nerve, Fialed seemed especially wild eyed as we continued through the lands, it was as if she was ready to strike at some unseen threat at any moment. I was relieved when we found ourselves in fairer lands, the grass was not so bleak and dead here as we stood at the gates of the lands of Evendim. Ebold spoke with several sentries situated there briefly before we were allowed to pass.
The trek was easier going now. Arindiis seemed ever more eager to head on, she kept talking about lights in the sky at night... Whatever this meant I simply had no idea. We scaled the hills up towards Ost Forod and finally got to rest...
The people here were rough and I could not trust them, several of them had the look of brigands though I was told this simply was not the case. They were refugees from some off distant land, the crumbling stone walls and cracked cobble floors was the only home they had.
Fialed was ever on edge and said that she would never rest truly until we were safe back in the lands of Bree. We're all going to need our strength when we reach the lands of Forochel. Our journey was just beginning and we had just completed the first leg of it. The going will only get colder from here on, as I gaze out into the North and look up to the snow peaked mountains and distant snow covered valleys late in the evening I see a sense of beauty in these lands. What does the frozen North hold in store for us? Ebold had warned us all of the Gauredain ere we set off. They were described as large, hostile wolf like men. These savage men if they could be called men were our main threat other than the cold.
It is a good reason then I have faith in my spear and faith in my beloved, Arindiis will keep me warm and we will keep eachother safe. I am sure of it.
But for now... We rest.
