[maikafanawen]

Ani Dao pressed herself up against the wall her eyes closed, burying her face protectively from the ice and snow that fell from above in Burzdol’s back. She had grabbed him from behind just as the ledge fell and pulled up beside her against the wall. The snow rained over them like a herd of horses, fleeing from a pack of wargs. It fell for the better part of ten minutes before it cleared. After the dense powder had settled, she looked over Burzdol’s shoulder to the mess. Everything was buried in four to five feet of the whiteness. Snow had found its way down Ani Dao’s cloak and was melting against the warmth of her neck.

“Burzdol,” she said, speaking into his ear so he could hear her. He adjusted his body and looked towards her. “Burzdol, we have to dig ourselves out and find the others.” Working together, it was a good ten minutes still until they could move their feet. Once she got loose she stepped forward, her foot slipping off the edge into nothingness. She yelled out, catching herself quickly, so as not to cause another avalanche. Grabbing onto the rocks, she stopped her fall, and Burzdol pulled her up quickly. A little shaky, she looked into the wind to see the company.

The elves, Dain, and a couple of other dwarves had surfaced as well as the Gondorian soldiers. Everyone seemed to be considerably fine. Dain was yelling for a fire and the elves were checking the condition of the people around them. Finding nothing really amiss, except for a bunch of frost bitten soldiers, they called out for Ani Dao and Burzdol to join them. No reply came. Bali looked to where the two elves stood stranded on the damaged ledge. But things had gotten even worse. The avalanche had widened the gap between them and Ani Dao and Burzdol were stranded on the other side, just out of reach.

[ March 25, 2003: Message edited by: maikafanawen ]