Where I Cannot Follow by cuarthol

Where I Cannot Follow

The wind was unseasonably cold, biting at her cheeks where tears ran in silence.  She had not moved from her vigil since her nephew had marched away with all who could wield sword or spear or bow, save herself only.

In the days that followed, no news came, no messenger, no lone survivor to bring tidings.  As the days turned to weeks, messages became unnecessary.  Now dawn brought not hope but a final release of it, the pale light offering no hint of what had passed to the east but a whisper in her heart: run, flee, nothing remains.

Without turning she addressed the lady who waited upon her.  “We will leave at twilight.  Do not laden carts, nor burden animals but with the most crucial of needs.  Ring no bells, sound no trumpets.  We will pass like the thrush.”

The lady curtsied and rushed away to spread the word.  All of Hithlum in a single day would empty, leaving home and hearth behind.  But also leaving the Edain to face the coming storm alone.

Lalwen found no pity left in her heart.  It would not be the first time she had left all behind.  Once she had followed her brothers, headstrong and full of fire - a fire that had consumed them all one by one.  Now she alone was left, a shell of grief, cracked and brittle.

She turned and made her way down the narrow stone stairway, the dull tap of her crutch the only sound.