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Old 05-17-2008, 08:58 AM   #101
Dimturiel
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
 
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Erling had had enough. He had had as much as he could bear of walking in the dark with those creatures howling from every direction. He could no longer stand the howls, the darkness, the tension, the fear of his companions that seemed to intensify his own terror. He could not really tell later how he had restrained himself from not simply abandoning all of them there and then and getting himself as fast as he could. But he knew he should not praise himself for that. Perhaps the only reason why he had stayed put was the fact that he still had enough wit to realise that by running blindly in the dark he might very well end up in a Warg’s mouth.

And all the while there was that great feeling of helplessness, of not really being in control of things that irritated Erling. He felt he was being born towards his end against his will-although, he was telling himself, he should have expected such an end when he had landed himself in this “defending” business. Well, he had not. He had thought things would go differently from the way they had turned up.

Suddenly, Erling knew what bothered him, when he heard the two Dwarves speaking in their own incomprehensible language. What were they about? Why could they not speak words the others could understand as well? Did they not trust them? Did they consider them mere helpless peasants, not to be trusted with grave matters? But this was their own grave matter. They had to know what was going on. For a while, Erling said nothing about this, but when he heard Orin’s terrified “They’re close”, he could stand it no longer. He turned to Gorin and Kuric.

“Look at this,” he began in one of his rare, but still great outbursts. “You two should stop your mutterings in your own tongue and tell us all what to expect. I know quite well what you think. You think we are not capable to face what’s coming, that we are only a foolish folk, useless in a fight, unable to cope in tight spots. You despise us, you deem us unworthy of your great plans. I do not deny that I know absolutely nothing about battle. I do not deny that I am scared. But I am ready to fight whatever is to come, yes, with my frightened wits and rusted weapon I am ready to withstand it and try my best to defeat it. We all are. So show us some trust and tell us what we should do…”

Erling paused, breathing deeply. The howls around them seemed to be getting near. He looked around him, his expression uneasy.
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