If he knew what awaited for him in the Middle Earth, he would have returned sooner.
Halbrand is a man with a dark past, but where will his choices lead him?
He starts to crave for light in his life when he finds the peace in the eyes of a mysterious...
"Luthien!". Her name kept being repeated. "Wake up, please" a voice begged her in the fog of her mind "Come back to me". In her need to leave, to run away, she suddenly stilled. She didn't want to run from that voice. She wanted to run from the pain she was feeling, from death that seemed close to swallow her. What if that voice would save her from that darkness? "Luthien, please. Breathe". Was she not breathing? Then she remembered the water, the fire, the rocks... Fear shook her and panic made her wake up. Her eyes opened weakly, seeing mostly smoke. She breathed smoke. But in that hell, she saw a beloved face. "You're here" Halbrand sighed with relief "I've got you. I thought I've lost you". She tried to pull herself up, to hug him and comfort him, but a sudden wave of pain hit her and she held her breath. "Stay still. Something's broken" he said holding her down. Breathing was painful. "Your armour trapped you underwater as the current pulled us away" he explained with anguish. She looked at him and noticed blood on his abdomen "You're hurt". He shook his head "All that matters is that you'll be alright. We need to get away from here". She looked around, her heart sinking at the sight of the desolation. Life was all burned to ashes around them. Sound of falling branches kept echoing nearby. That had to be a nightmare. She wanted to wake up. When would she wake up? "We are not safe here. This smore can choke us. Do you think you can walk?". She coughed and the pain blinded her for a moment. Breathing was already an agony so how bad could choking be? But she wanted Halbrand to be safe. So she nodded and they made a big effort to stand up. They decided to leave their armors. The heat was unbearable. Luthien covered her nose with her sleeve but she couldn't suppress the coughs that shook her and worsened the pain she felt in her chest. They tried to orientate, but all around them was burned. The whole world couldn't be all burned, so they hoped to find an end to the desolated lands and to find air clean from smoke. As time passed, it turned darker as night fell so they decided to take a break. "We'll get out of this. Don't despair" Halbrand said to her, although he was sickly pale. She leaned against him. She didn't mind the heat, clinging to him was the only thing that made her wish to move on instead of letting herself die. She nodded and hid her face on his shoulder "I wish you were safe. But I'm glad you're here. I wouldn't get out of this hell on my own. You're saving me. I wish can help you". She wished to gather all the power in the world just to save him. Instead she was agonising and powerless. His forehead pressed against hers "You are already helping me. Alone we would be hopeless. But together we can survive this. We'll get out of here". She believed him. Other noises startled her, until something different caught her attention. Halbrand turned around, then pulled her down on the ground.
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"Orcs" he whispered and signalled her to be silent. They were harmless and hurt. They had no chance to defend themselves. Again Luthien felt so close to death. She could smell it all around her. She bit her tongue for the pain and hugged him, hiding her face against his. They breathed carefully, waiting for the noises to move away. When they realised they survived it, it felt like a miracle. They didn't move much from the gathered leaves they used as mattress. They tried to rest, but their aching bodies constantly woke them up. When it dawned, it felt like the most bitter start of a day. Even the sun was smoking and Luthien wondered if there was still some place untouched by that destruction. Halbrand was confident that there was. And after another half a day wandering slowly on the ashes of the burned woods, finally the smoke vanished and Luthien was in awe to see the blue sky again. Also breathing fresh air was an immense relief. She cried with joy, although they were both so exhausted that each step could be the last one. Halbrand collapsed several times and his skin had an awful color. She held him up with her last energies, but he was taller and heavier and her legs bent under him. At least he recovered quickly and encouraged her to go on. She felt that the next time his legs would give up, she would collapse too and they wouldn't get up ever again. But that seemed a fair end. To die together. It was better than survive to him. Suddenly they spotted human silhouettes on the horizon. After all the horrors she witnessed, the sight of human faces was a miracle. "Help!" she called too feebly, but someone heard her anyway. Arondir turned and spotted them. "There's someone there" he shouted to his companions. Luthien fell on her knees next to Halbrand, who curled forward. She held him and waited for the people to reach them. "Help. He's hurt" she begged, surrendering to the arms who took her. A healer checked Halbrand and tied some cloth to stop the bleeding. "We'll carry you both" Arondil promised, picking her up in his arms as other men took Halbrand. She swinged from unconsciousness to moment when the pain blinded her. Bronwyn, the healer, warned her that she had some broken ribs. Luthien bet that there couldn't be a worse pain than what she felt. The group slowly reached a camp. Luthien asked to be on her feet to stop feeling the need to vomit. Seeing that people survived the doom filled her with hope and joy.
