Annsuel was sitting in the Pony alone, the night calm and peaceful. Though her silence was interrupted by a young lady who was the sister of a friend of Annsuel's. After her, a handsome Harad man joined the two. Annsuel noted his friendliness, and welcomed him to their table with a warm smile. After him, another woman with a hood came. She seemed odd to Annsuel, but Annsuel was not one to turn someone away. Instead she welcomed her with a warm smile and offered her a wine. After the lady sat down, Goldgel came to check on his sister, and a young boy with a dead cat in his hands came along as well. It was an odd mix, but Annsuel just smiled and welcomed everyone.
After a short while, Goldgel, his sister, and the boy with the dead cat left as quickly as they came. They left Annsuel with the lady and the Harad. The woman went to stand and seemed shaky, so alongside the Harad, Annsuel assisted the lady out of the Pony, she had offered the lady a drink and food, but she rejected it. They went behind the Pony, and before Annsuel could blink, the lady had her arm wrapped around Annsuel's neck and a dagger to her back. When Annsuel attempted to fight back, the Harad man pointed his sword to her throat. Then it went black. Everything black.
When Annsuel opened her eyes from her blackened abyss, she found herself in an even blacker room. It seemed as if all light had been drained from her surroundings. She could feel chains around her wrists, and when she leaned her head forward, she found a wall was in front of her. The stones of the wall felt cool, which soothed Annsuel's headache. Annsuel's mouth was tied shut. She was unable to speak, or scream for help. So she stood there, resting her head against the cool stone.
Then a ray of light landed upon Annsuel which was followed by the light of a torch. Footsteps approached her from behind, and she could hear the cracking of a whip. Annsuel attempted to remove the cloth tied over her mouth, but she was delayed with the feeling of sharp cutting across her back. Like nails scrapped deeply across her. She could feel the warmth of her own blood until the pain was repeated again. And then again.
Finally she freed her mouth of the cloth, crying out questions of what was going on. She was confused and scared. And thanks to the whip, she felt pain deep in her back. The man just laughed at her. His voice deep with a Harad accent, though it was different from the man that attacked her the night before. She asked again, and the response was him grabbing her head and craning her neck back to look at his face. Her vision was blurred, Annsuel was never good at recognising faces so close to her own.
He the spoke of a man named Aadan, a man Annsuel had tried to save a long time before but failed to do so. This was the man who had killed Aadan. Both men were strangers to Annsuel, and she still could not understand why he was attacking her. But the man preceded to remove two of Annsuel's fingers. Pain oozed like the blood that covered Annsuel's hands. After that, the man bashed Annsuel's head into the wall, giving her a concussion and broke her leg.
While Annsuel was dazed, she suddenly felt warmth hit her cheek. She moved her eyes to see a metal pole next to her face, red from sitting in the flames. Fear edged her heart, but she did her best to try and hide it. Though the pain she felt was not so,etching she could hide. The man the moved behind Annsuel, pressing the pole to the back of her neck. The stinging pain was almost unbearable as Annsuel cried out in pain. Her flesh being burned with a symble she did not know.
Annsuel pressed her face to the wall, finding comfort once more as her face was stained with blood and tears. Another man walked in holding a dagger in his hand. He was weak himself, and seemed to struggle even walking. Annsuel didn't try to look at him, though his presence itself seemed to send a feeling of pain. His own pain. He then stabbed his dagger into Annsuel's leg. She remained silent. He dug it deeper, yet Annsuel did not react. She thought the man would try to do more damage to her leg, but instead he dropped to the ground, trying to drink the blood as if it was the first sight of liquid he had seen in months.
Then once more everything grew dark, blackness surrounding Annsuel. Though at that point, blackness seemed to be more peaceful than waking. Though when she opened her eyes, she found herself in a soft purple dress, surrounded by warm faces of Elves. Their words calming and comforting as they told her to rest. She was to tired and defeated to fight back, just closing her eyes and slipping into a more peaceful sleep. She'd have to return to Bree soon. But till then, rest was to come as she found safety at the presence of Elves.
Annsuel resting at the home of elves.
Artwork by me
