[Amanaduial the archer]

OCC: Thanks Cimm, good to have you back!
Elanor froze as the light came on. She heard footsteps, large heavy ones thundering around behind her, obviously through the door. A voice yelled in orcish. The witch saw Bulvard and Ransom put their hands on the swords and it yelled again. Another voice, a guttural human one spoke.

"Keep your hands off your swords. Keep your hands by your sides."

Ransom looked rebellious but stopped. Again a voice yelled in orcish and they heard the footsteps coming closer. They had rough strips off cloth and started to wrap them around the eyes of the men and elves. Elanor saw Elwyn start to struggle as she was beside her and flinched as a wild man struck her across the face. Her turn came but still she did not move as the ragged looking man started to tie it around her head.

"Where are you taking us?" She said quietly to him. She could not see his reaction but he paused. "To the valley of death methinks." He leered. He paused again. "As good as anyway. Youre going to see the Master of the Sword."

Aravelenon. She shivered but then the voice yelled again and they were dragged along, blindly.

She didnt know how long they were dragged along but eventually she was thrown on her knees on the floor. The blindfolds were not removed. By the sounds of panting and struggling beside her, she guessed that at least the two men of their group had had their hands bound. Eventually they stopped and there was silence. The silence of waiting.

Clack...clack...clack... The sound of slow controlled footsteps sounded behind them. Elanor forced herself not to turn around; she refused to make a spectacle of herself in case she fell. Besides, her limbs seemed to be frozen.

The footsteps came to a halt behing Elanor and she heard him-Aravelenon-laugh and started to clap slowly.

"Well done my friends, well done. My my, you have done well, havent you?" His voice was patronising and Elanor gritted her teeth, wanting so badly to slap him.

...The floor beneath her was richly carpetted...proabably the thick white carpet of the room she and Elwyn had been in before...

"I didnt expect you to do so well." She heard a thud from nearby as Aravelenon kicked one of the group.

...but a different carpet under her other knee, thinner, a different texture...the red one he had arrogantly laid down the middle of the room. That meant they must be spread fairly evenly across the middle...

"Position one of your soldiers beside each of them and take off the blindfolds; bind their hands. No, no, not her, I told you about her. Oh, and you can leave her as well, she was quite spirited." His voice was irritable. Who was he talking about as the exceptions? Quite spirited...so Elwyn was one.

...he was standing beside her, the wall was, say, 5 metres away from her on either side...right. She knew where she was.

Around her she knew the others were being untied. Yet she was not.Aravelenon stopped his pacing beside her, kneeling down. She could feel his breath on the side of her face he was so close, but did not look.

"And so we meet again witch. And Ive been doing my research on this sword of yours- Ive found exactly what it is that can release its power- the blood of one of strong magic." She heard a knife flicked open beside her face. "And now we must ask ourselves...is your magic strong enough?"

[ November 24, 2002: Message edited by: Amanaduial the archer ]