Murder In The Night

Gondor. How it loomed in the distance. She frantically took step after step away from it, but somehow each step seemed to take her closer to her homeland.
It was not that she hated her homeland. Nay, it was quite the opposite for her. However, now, Gondor simply was associated, to her, with danger itself.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Drowned every other noise from her ears. Every rational thought from her mind. She could feel it in every part of her body as phantom-like silhouettes crowded her menacingly. She sank to the ground, squeezing her eyes closed and covering her ears, but she could not escape the noise. The feeling.

She was caught. Doomed.

Her heart continued drowning out every noise. Pounding. Thumping. Painfully expanding and constricting.

Somehow, she felt a gentle wisp caress her hand in the midst of the panic and chaos. The flutter of wings distracted her from the roaring of her own mind, causing her to gently lifted her head and lower her hands. It had been a crow's feather; she was surrounded by a rather large murder of crows.

The menacing shapes seemed repelled, shrieking behind an invisible barrier in a circle around these crows. They desperately wanted to get at Dru, but the crows stared at them firmly, refusing to move.

Her heart calmed as she lifted her head more and gazed at the largest of the crows. It stood, facing her, unblinking. Though it made no noise, she understood.  "You need not fear. You are protected."
She stood slowly and looked out at the dark shapes, which had begun to fade with the rising of the morning sun. They had no power. It was merely an illusion of power and they knew it. The only power they'd ever had was that which she had given them by her own fear and panic.

The crows all turned to face her as the sunrise shone across her face in a myriad of vibrant colours. As she turned and took a deliberate step toward Gondor, they moved with her.

She had no fear. She was not alone.

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Dru awakened and gazed around the guest room she'd been given. She was still in Imladris. It was peaceful. Beautifully peaceful. The first night in a long time where she hadn't awakened drenched in her own sweat.
Nay, she did not know what the future held. But she would no longer run from it. She would do her best to prepare for whatever was to come and to be her best self for whatever she could not prepare for, when it would hit her. If Gondor was to be her end, so be it. She would not lose herself.

She was protected.