Elerrina

The Ring of Air

She could see the feeble fog engulfing the rider as it moved with a ghostly appearance, the torn black cloak floating tenebrously around its figure. She could feel the cold, the hopelessness and emptiness that seemed to radiate from it, like haunted claws traveling in the cold air, grasping her arms, face and hair.

The entire forest seemed to have gone cold, darker than it had been seconds before. Dead leaves floated in the wild wind, sprawling to the sides, as the totality of her surrounding suddenly appeared to be lifeless. The trees had gone silent, like dead trunks of wood that stretched thin and frail towards the black expanse of night.

Elladan turned the horse to the left, jumping over some low bushes, away from the other elves they still had in their sight. He was leading them deeper in to the forest, expertly zigzagging through the trees, making her have to duck her head a couple to times to avoid some low branches.

Elerrina turned her head to glance back once more, only to find the rider following closely behind. It had also turned left. Her body went cold, her heart beating rapidly. The rider seemed to be following them, coming closer and closer.

They kept running fast, the foliage only a chaos around her as her eyes could not make out any of the shapes that flew past her. She knew Elladan was using the forest to their advantage for he knew the territory, maneuvering with perfect exactitude around the thick vegetation. However, the rider never fell behind. She could see it directly behind them now, slightly to their left, its dark, ghostly figure only obscured by the thick branches and tree trunks that squeezed in the way.

Seconds seemed to stretch and she felt as if her senses had accelerated to a point in which everything else appeared to go slow. The rider was almost parallel to them now, the black horse breathing fervently while its condensing breath seemed to threaten her, vanishing in the cold air, which was now heavy with despair and desolation.

Suddenly, a dark figure jumped ahead of them, to their right, making Elladan pull to the reins of the horse abruptly. A muted scream left her lips, her voice never leaving her mouth as the horse suddenly rose on its rear legs for a quick second, almost throwing her down before it sprang into a quick run again, turning sharply to evade collision.

Her already wild heart seemed to accelerate, if that was even possible, as she recognized that it was the second rider what had jumped at them in surprise. Her blood went cold inside her veins, pumping with inexplicable fierce through her body as they continued their despaired run, now flanked by two riders.

They were trapped to left and right, the black, beastly horses pressing close to them, almost touching them now. Cold seemed to emanate from their foggy black figures, the dark cloaks floating weightlessly, swirling like black vapor around their empty bodies. She could feel despair taking possession of her, all of her hopes vanishing as pure, iced fear swallowed her.

Vilya continued to screech, the loud noise ringing in her ears, pushing into her mind and almost blurring her vision again from the noise. She pulled away, her heart drumming insanely as she looked from left to right. She forced her eyes to focus, to think straight, but she could not concentrate on anything other than horrifying terror.

Elladan drew out his sword, holding it securely in his right hand, as he kept his eyes focused on the front. Realization struck her as her eyes caught sight of the silver sharp edges of the long sword, and suddenly she felt all of her security, the invisible protective shield she felt around him, vanish. Somehow she suddenly knew that the sword would be useless; that their only option was to run and escape.

Her fear suddenly disappeared, abruptly replaced by pure instincts and adrenaline.

She knew that Elladan would try his best to protect her, but at the same time she somehow understood that this time he could not protect her, he could not protect even himself. She did not know what the terrifying rider in the black cloak was, but suddenly she realized that this was an enemy Elladan could not fight. No one could protect her now.