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animatorweirdo · 8 months

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The star that once shone

You didn't think one fateful trip to the mountains could make you find your fate intertwined with an elf lord. It was wonderful till one day someone took him away from you.

Warnings: Mention of death, blood, poison, nightmares, violent mutant bear, dead animals and tripping.

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The wind blew against the chimes. The gentle music echoed across the empty garden. The white flowers gleamed in their flowerbeds, and their petals decorated the colorless pavement around your feet in their soft color.

You stood motionlessly in the middle of the colorless garden. There were no sounds other than the wind and the chimes. There were no colors other than the gray color of the stone and white flowers. Even the sky was colorless. It was dark with gray clouds that flew by along with the wind. It was like– the world has been robbed of its joys and colors, leaving nothing but emptiness and sorrow.

Why was that? And why were you here?

You look up and see something in the distance. It looked like a wide stone bed. Your vision was blurry, so you couldn't properly see what it was. In your haze, you walked closer.

Your footsteps echoed in your ears, and when you walked closer, you finally made out what was before you. It looked like a stone table, and someone was lying on top of it, dressed in blue and bright silver.

When you stood next to the table and looked down on the person before you – your ears began to hear a song. It was soft and filled with sorrow. You recognized the words being from the elven language of Sindar. Not many mortals could speak it, but you luckily knew the meaning of those words and realized what the song was for. It was a song the elves sang for their dead, but the question remains. Who has died?

You looked down on the person before you. Their hair was dark as the night and from the sharp points of their ears. You could tell they were an elf. However, you could not see their face. You tried to take a closer look, but it did not work. Their face remained blurry to you.

Tears suddenly began to flow from your eyes, and you felt unexplainable sorrow when you continued looking at the elf. You tried to dry your tears, but you couldn’t. The tears continued falling, and you didn’t know why. Why did you feel such sorrow for this elf? Who were they to you?

You don’t remember ever meeting someone like them.

You suddenly fell onto your knees, jolting in pain and feeling something flow from your nose. You brushed the beneath of your nose and found black blood dressing your fingers. You then saw the veins of your hand turn dark, and you felt compulsive pain through your body. You crouched against the stone altar and started coughing. Blood splattered against the white stone after you coughed something out of your throat.

You stared at the blood in horror as it slid against the stone. It was dark and thick with sickly-looking bubbles. Touching the blood that dressed your face, you tasted something foul. Poison?

All then went quiet. The wind and the song of the elves fell silent.

You looked around and felt unimaginable unease. It was silent. Too silent.

You heard something sizzling and looked down to see one of the petals of the white flowers burn slowly in bright embers.

Your surroundings suddenly became bright, and your heart raced when you saw the sky burn in colors of red and gold. The clouds had turned dark, and there was smoke everywhere. It was like the sky was on fire.

You gasp when you hear whispers and look into the dark that surrounds the garden and you. Your eyes fell upon the entrance of the garden, where the darkness was at its thickest. Shudders and goosebumps lingered across your back and skin as you sensed something hiding there. You were not alone.

The whispers became louder, speaking in an unfamiliar language. You couldn’t recognize it, but you sensed something dark about them.

A figure appeared from the darkness, making you shiver in fear. An eye suddenly appeared in your mind, and the malicious phantom charged at you, making you yelp in fright and wait for the worst.

You gasp, snapping your eyes wide open. You breathe as you lay on your bed, feeling the drops of sweat running across your skin. You take deep breaths, looking around your home while trying to calm your beating heart.

The sun was shining through the window, and you could hear the birds singing outside along with the busy noises of the people. Nothing was burning, and there was no shadow.

You take a deep breath and release a relaxed sigh. It was just a strange nightmare. You stared at the ceiling in thought, trying to remember what happened in the dream you saw. Strangely, you didn’t remember it anymore. It just came, and now it’s gone. It happens to you sometimes, so it was not a big ordeal. However, you had an odd feeling about the dream. You didn’t know why, but it felt like there was more to it than being just a passing vision of mind.

You shrugged your shoulders and got up from your bed. You stretched your limbs and groaned in delight when you heard the pops from your joints. After doing your little morning workout, you tossed the blanket to the side and started dressing up for the day.

The doors to the tavern creak open, and you walk in with a yawn. The place was nearly empty, save for a few men and farmers who came early for breakfast. The tavern keeper was busy cleaning and preparing for a day of work.

“Morning, (Name),” Your friend, Callum, greeted with a yawn. “Morning. How’s the board looking for today?” You asked as you sat down beside him. “Surprisingly, fruitful. There are more jobs than yesterday,” Callum says as you both look at the board over the counter filled with pinned posters for several jobs. “There are some search jobs from faraway cities, two assist jobs from the elves, and even one from dwarves. Now they’re rare to come by,” he added as you take interest in the job with the dwarven seal.

“Hey, Don. Give me the one from the dwarves,” you hinted to the tavern keeper, who then walked over to the board and grabbed the job poster before handing it to you.

“Dwarves are usually proud creatures. They take no help from anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. What does it say?” Callum asked as you read through the text on the job.

“They want help to get rid of some wolves that have been seen wandering in their mountains,” you explained. “They’re pretty fast and troublesome creatures, so I can see the dwarves wanting someone else to deal with them,” you stated, then looked at the tavern keeper. “I’ll take this one,” you said, and the tavern keeper nodded and went to mark it up.

You folded the poster and placed it carefully inside your tunic before standing up.

“Aren’t you going to stay for longer?” Callum asked. “Nah. I think I’m going to do the job today. The guild doesn’t pay me for loitering around,” you grin, then point at him, “ You should probably get that job finding the cat done. It's already been two days,” you said as you reached the door. “I’m working on it! That cat is very slippery!” Callum groaned. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say,” you shook your head with a laugh before leaving the tavern.

You climbed on your horse, Copper, and checked the location marked on the job poster. The place was located near the mountain tops of Khazad-Dum, so it wasn’t too long for a ride. You might as well visit an old friend there after you finish the job. You placed the paper back into your tunic and clicked your heels, riding toward your destination.

The gates opened, revealing an elf standing outside. The elf walked in after the gate opened. A dwarf was waiting on the other side, and he grinned when he saw the elf walk in. “Celebrimbor! Good to see ya! How have you been faring?” the dwarf beamed with joy. “Was the journey well? Do you need some refreshments or time to rest?” he asked.

“The journey was long but not enough to exhaust an Eldar like me, Narvi,” Celebrimbor smiled, making the dwarf laugh.

“I hope you have enough to climb and investigate the mineral deposit I told you about,” Narvi said. “Well, that has kept me eager, so lead the way, friend,” Celebrimbor said.

“Then let’s get geared up. The path we will be taking will be rocky, so we might end up spending some time there,” Narvi said as they both walked in, and the gate closed behind them.

You look over the trail and the mountain tops. The wind was blowing against your face and it was a bit cold. The path led toward the higher tops of the mountains. It looked rocky and too challenging for Copper to get through, so your best option was to continue on foot. You also didn’t want to risk him getting eaten by the wolves, so it would be safer for him to stay.

Copper whined when you suddenly jumped down and held onto the reins. You patted his neck and looked him in the eye. “I won’t be gone for long, so behave yourself,” you said, and he let out an annoyed snort. A chuckle escaped you as you let him walk to a patch of grass to eat. You had no worries about him wandering off since he was trained.

You looked at the path that led to the mountains. It looked long and rocky, which made you feel a bit excited since you don’t travel around mountains very often. You began walking toward the top, ready to hunt and get some action.

When you got to the top, you stopped to take in the view of the world around you. The view was amazing – you could nearly see your house from there and all the distant cities. After admiring the view, you began looking for some tracks. You found footprints of people, rabbits, birds, coyotes, and even great mountain goats, which were common around the lands of Khazad-dum. You could also tell since there were a lot of giant animal droppings around the trail. However, you did not find any tracks of wolves or indicators there might be a pack around somewhere.

You looked around for more tracks, starting to have an odd feeling as you continued deeper into the trail and wilderness around you.

You started hearing the buzzing of flies and smelled something foul in the air.

When you climbed up a couple of rocks to investigate, you found a severed head of a great mountain goat lying on the ground, cut clean and covered in flies. The rest of the body was nowhere to be seen.

You felt a bit concerned. The great mountain coats are big and powerful creatures. The dwarves domesticated them for a good reason. It would take a lot for a single wolf to take one of them down— even with a pack the beast would give them a hard time. However, it would take something much bigger than a wolf to rip its head off that clean.

You noticed dried blood on the ground and tracks, showing whatever killed the poor goat had dragged the rest of its body away. You decided to follow the bloody trail.

There was a lot of blood, so the tracks did not end, and soon they led you to the rest of the body that had been left alone. It was an ugly sight. The body had been ripped open to the bone, and the innards were all around the ground. You had seen ugly things in the past, but that was just brutal.

Some flies and ravens were eating the carcass, which felt strange since there was a lot of flesh left uneaten. If a pack of wolves was at play, there shouldn’t be any left. Something weird was going on.

You then notice other bones of half-eaten animals. There was a whole graveyard of them. The smell was awful, and there was a cave behind them all. It was big and looked deep. It definitely looked like it could house a giant animal. You had a feeling you were not hunting wolves here but something else. Something big and much meaner.

You decided to approach the cave with caution.

Celebrimbor and Narvi climbed up the mountains. Celebrimbor looked up, feeling sweat falling across his skin from the sun's heat, mining and climbing the mountains with a basket on his back.

“Slow down, pointy ears!” Narvi’s voice called out.

“What’s the matter? Exhausted already?” Celebrimbor asked with a teasing tone.

“My body gets older each year so I might get tired more than usual,” Narvi sat down on a rock to take a breather, carrying a similar basket filled with found rocks.

“Well, maybe we should stop and let you rest,” Celebrimbor said. “I think I should probably go back and empty this heavy basket on my back. The bones in my back are already stiffing,” Narvi rubbed his shoulders.

“You can go ahead and look more for the mineral veins,” he said. “Are you certain? You don’t need any help to get back down?” Celebrimbor asked. “I’m not that tired, you oaf!” Narvi said, making his elf friend grin a little. “Besides, it's not too far of a trip. I will be fine,” he got up.

“If you say so,” Celebrimbor said. “Do be careful. I heard some mean creatures have been roaming around these areas,” Narvi said as he slowly made back. “I will be fine,” Celebrimbor smiled. “Good because I was not planning on dragging your arse back to the city if you got hurt,” Narvi called out, making Celebrimbor chuckle. Celebrimbor glanced at his friend before making his way further to the top of the mountain.

The cave was dark. You had nothing to light up your way, so you remained at the entrance, trying to use the light from the sun to see what you could. You almost gagged from the scent that lingered in the air. It was a horrid mix of all the rotten bodies and bones scattered all around the cave. It was beyond awful — A true scent of death.

You carefully looked through all the corners of the cave, and all the light allowed you to see from the entrance. Despite all the rotten bodies of the animals. There was nothing. The cave was empty, which could mean its current resident was out for a hunt or hiding somewhere else. You preferred the first.

The ravens and all the other birds at the carcass outside suddenly cawed and flew away in panic. Your heart jumped out of fright, and you saw a large shadow approaching.

You quickly hid in a corner and watched as an enormous bear appeared from the corner of the cave, dragging what seemed to be the body of another great mountain goat. Your eyes were wide as saucers as you marveled at the mere size of the beast. It had to be the biggest bear you had ever seen.

It had scars on its hide, indicating some people had tried to kill it and were unsuccessful. You couldn't imagine why. Its face was slightly deformed, and you couldn't see its eyes, so there was a chance it was blind. It was beyond abnormal to be an overgrown bear, so you guessed it was an animal born out of whatever wicked thing could breed such a monstrosity.

The monstrous bear grunted and dropped the great mountain goat's body. It whined and roughly dropped down against the ground. Your ears picked up munching and slurping, so you guessed the beast was eating its prey.

You listened to the gross sounds. The way the bear was eating sounded sloppy, and the way it swallowed sounded deep and like it was struggling. It sounded like the beast had some digestion problems, which would explain all the half-eaten carcasses, but it did not give you any comfort since you were in the cave and the bear was lying right in front of the entrance. You were trapped.

You silently cursed under your breath. A bear like that was more than you could handle.

You contemplated your options while keeping your eyes on the bear. The best and possibly the safest option would either wait and hope it will go away or wait till it gets tired and falls asleep. The least safe option would be trying to sneak past it while it was distracted. None of the options sounded promising because there was a chance the bear might just walk back inside the cave after its meal and spot you or spot you anyway if you tried anything else. You would end up getting mauled and eaten alive either way.

None of the choices sounded great because there could be unwanted outcomes either way. You were in a real bad place here. The first option would most likely only prolong your demise and you have never been the patient type, so — sneaking around it is.

You quietly took a deep breath and began moving as quietly as possible. Your heart was beating between your ears as you kept your eyes on the giant bear while silently walking around it. It was ripping the flesh off the goat, biting and swallowing the bits of flesh in its mouth. It made your imagination wonder what it would feel like to get mauled by those teeth. You really did not want to imagine it, but you couldn't help it.

You managed to keep quiet and get out of the cave. You almost sighed in relief since now you only needed to leave without gaining its attention. You kept your eyes on the bear while carefully walking away. Your foot then suddenly stepped on a bone.

You froze since the bone was loud. The monster snapped its eyes on you and growled, struggling to get up.

"Shit!" you cursed and ran for it. The bear roared, picking itself off the ground.

Celebrimbor was looking through the stones. Glittering veins dressed the rough surface of the stone. He first thought it was either silver or mithril, but it did not bear any similar qualities to either of those metals. He couldn't tell what it was.

The mystery made him trek further to the path, wanting to find more. He looked around in glee, unaware of what was happening not too far from him.

You yelped as you avoided the bear's claws. You tried to use the rocks and speed, but the beast was fast and determined to kill you. You don't think you have ever faced a beast this violent before.

You noticed some cracks coming closer and quickly conducted a plan since you remembered there was a path beneath the cracks. The cracks were small, so if you managed to jump into the cracks and trip the bear– you could make it get stuck. You could escape and get some distance.

You put the plan into action and ran toward the cracks with the bear still following you.

You yelled and jumped into the cracks, escaping the death's claws by a second and falling a couple of feet before colliding against the ground. You groaned painfully before getting up and watching the beast get stuck between the cracks. It was roaring and struggling to get free. You grinned, sticking your tongue at it before running away.

You continued running. Your ears picked up the roars and screams of the beast in the distance. You turned to look back, but then your foot got stuck on something and you fell forward.

Celebrimbor was looking around till you suddenly appeared and slammed right into him.

You both yelled as you fell to the ground and began rolling down the hill. Celebrimbor held on to you as you both rolled down, losing his basket on the progress. You two then came to an abrupt stop when you reached the bottom.

Hissing painfully, you picked yourself up. Your body ached from all the bruises that were definitely going to form after rolling down the hill like that.

You heard a groan and looked down to see you were lying on top of an elf. His hair was dark and dirt covered his face. He was beautiful like many other elves you have seen, and when he opened his eyes and looked back at you — you were in a trance. They were lovely, and now that you could look at him. There was something oddly familiar about him.

It took you a moment to realize you were still lying on top of him, awkwardly staring. You quickly got up and helped him up.

"I'm sorry about that. Are you hurt?" You asked after you got up.

"I... don't think so," He answered while brushing off some dirt from his clothes.

"Great. Good, good. Again I'm sorry and —" You trailed off, hearing something in the distance. "Run," you said.

"What?" he tilted his head in confusion.

The bear suddenly appeared, roaring and running at you like a mad bull.

You grasped the elf's hand.

"Run!" You shrieked as you dragged him away from the murderous bear

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