Ruthraon had been right. Elwil had no reason to doubt that the letter was from Delioron, or to decline from meeting him at the Greenway Crossing west of Bree. In truth she was relieved to get out of the house and the dubious company of Greengage and his sullen wife, who seemed to resent Elwil for her youth and beauty. She had changed her clothes and taken only her purse with her. Greengage said there was no reason to pack her things or take her horse; he did not know the reason why Delioron wanted to meet her, but it was not to leave Bree just yet. Delioron needed her help with something. No, Greengage had not met Delioron himself, but that's what the messenger had told him.
Elwil shrugged into her cloak and thanked Greengage before she walked out of the house. Perhaps she would have been more suspicious, more inclined to ask questions, if the days spent under the roof of Greengage’s house had not made her so claustrophobic. At this point she was glad to take any excuse to get out of there and breathe the open air for a change.
Elwil felt nervous walking down the street towards the West Gate of Bree, throwing glances around her and over her shoulder every now and then. Being pursued by an assassin did that to a person. Elwil wondered if it was safe for her to walk the streets again. Had Delioron taken care of the threat to her life yet? Obviously all was not taken care of yet or Delioron wouldn’t have arranged a meeting in such a secretive fashion, a meeting outside of Bree. But Elwil trusted Delioron and missed his quiet strength. Delioron would not have put her in danger if it was not necessary; and if it was, he would have warned her to be careful. She had to believe that.
She walked out of the gate, smiling and nodding to the gatekeeper. The air was crisp and clear but not too chilly today, and the Great East Road was serene and empty. The sky was gray. Gentle rustling of the wind was the only sound.
Farther away she could see the stone bridge and the signpost where the Great East Road meets the Greenway, but no sign of Delioron. She walked to the signpost and looked around, confused. No Delioron, no sign of anyone in any direction. Had something happened to him? How long was she supposed to wait? What should she do if he didn’t come? She even went to look under the bridge. Nothing there either.
Elwil loitered around the signpost, hoping to see Delioron any moment now, emerging from behind the trees and waving to her. Elwil smiled at herself. She was being too romantic, but it was a nice thought. Here they would be alone at last.
Elwil looked down and noticed a wide, flat stone at the base of the signpost. The stone was white and seemed strangely out of place here. She bent down to pick it up. She turned it in her hand and there it was, a message:
To E. Walk south of Greenway, to the old ruins. I will meet you there. D.
Elwil smiled and frowned at the same time. It was so like Delioron to complicate simple matters like this, to distract and mislead and create all these diversions when there was no reason to, at least not one she could think of right away. Why couldn’t he have mentioned the ruins in his original message? Didn’t he trust Greengage?
Was everything all right?
She remembered the ruins from her journey to Bree. They were south and not far away, just beyond the horizon. Elwil started walking down the Greenway. Her stomach churned out of nervous trepidation. She had an ominous anticipation that something was not right, but it was probably just her nerves acting up on her after all that had happened these past weeks. She would see Delioron soon. He would make things alright. Elwil wanted to trust him. She wondered if she was falling in love with him.
Slowly the crumbling ruins came into view. First a couple of stretches of stone fence bordering the Greenway, and beyond them the ruins, remnants of some outpost or citadel of some kind, thousands of years old. There was still no sign of Delioron. She walked to the overgrown yard of the ruins and looked around.
”Delioron…?”
Then a man stepped forth from behind a stone structure, but it was not Delioron. He was clad in green and brown robes and a cloak, and he was holding a bow. Aiming an arrow at Elwil.
She felt like a sleeper caught in a nightmare, struggling to wake up. Her movements seemed slow. Everything seemed so slow.
Turn. Run!
Elwil turned and started running. She felt something swoosh by her ear and screamed. She tripped on a hole on the ground and tumbled down. She rolled on her back and glanced towards the ruins, and saw something her mind could not understand. The bowman was now on the ground too, writhing and spasming as if in agony. There was another man standing above the bowman now, a man dressed in gray cloak. There were traces of some kind of green dust cloud in the air, but it evaporated quickly. The man in gray cloak stared at Elwil, like a cat stares a mouse before striking.
Elwil scrambled up and started running again, running north, sobbing and panting. She wanted to scream and then she wanted to throw up. All the time she anticipated a sharp sting to hit between her shoulder blades.
So he had decided, was all she could think now. Delioron had decided that she was more trouble than worth. Maybe Parthadan had ordered him to; it didn’t matter. She could not go back to Bree now. She would not be safe anywhere anymore. Now she was truly alone, with no place to go.
Why did he have to send someone else to do his dirty work?
Elwil could have accepted death from Delioron’s hands. He could have waited her in the ruins and they could have made love and then, after she had fallen asleep by him, trusting and open like a child, he could have broken her neck. And that would have been the end of her misery. She could have accepted it that way, accepted the gift of death from his hands.
Why did he have to crush him like this? He didn’t even respect her enough to kill her himself!
Damn you, Delioron! Damn you!
The croaking of the Crebain was her only answer. The black birds circled above Elwil like scavenger birds waiting for their prey to tumble down and die.
