I think I've succeeded in making everyone angry with me. If they're not angry, then they are most certainly avoiding me. I've hardly spoken with Pallando since my little outburst, Anna has shut herself in her room, Darovel is always off training, I don't care where Morwen is at the moment, and Legolas still hasn't come back from the forest.

The only person who bothers to talk to me anymore is Faervel, and it's mostly him teaching me about the amulet. I wish I could say I've been enlightened about its power and how to control it, but all Faervel has told me so far consists of him explaining things about it that I already know. One thing I found interesting though is how it not only looks into memories; but can reveal a person's thoughts and emotions as well.

Faervel is trying to teach me how to control that ability, which is not going well. I can hardly get close to anyone without the amulet acting up. I don't want another repeat of what happened with Legolas. The memories came because I had touched him and nothing good came from that episode. Now that I think about it, it's almost been a week since that elf ran off and there hasn't been a sign of him anywhere.

Am I worried? Of course not! When has anything bad ever happened to Legolas after he gets upset and runs into the forest by himself?

Do not answer that. 

If there's anyone I'm worried about it's Anna. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet about all of the madness regarding Legolas. I tried to reach her several times and she's always pushed me away. It hurts seeing her like this, she never hid things from me. Of course, that was before I had changed. While Anna seemed happy to see me at first, it didn't take long for me to notice that she wasn't herself around me.

She acts the way she did after I rescued her from Rhun.
Afraid, skittish, nervous. 
I tried so hard to push those days out of my mind to the point where I began to deny their existence completely. As if they were all just a bad dream. The memories I kept were those of Anna in our village; when she was happy and carefree, kind and loving.

Where has that girl gone? 

I sigh and look up at the door Faervel went through. I'm currently in his room waiting for him to come back. After several failed attempts to control the amulet he's excused himself to go retrieve something. I feel like I've been here for hours. I have to give Faervel credit, out of all the people I've met he's been the most patient with me. In fact, I don't think he's gotten mad at me once.

Usually when that happens I see just how long it takes for me to drive that said person crazy. With Faervel, I don't want to make him mad. 
Even though he is one of the most unsettling people I've ever encountered, there's just something about him that makes me want to avoid upsetting him. Even though he's already upset me multiple times...

"Sorry to keep you waiting Amarth." Faervel walks into the room and closes the door behind him. I immediately notice that he's holding something in his hands.
"What's that?" I ask standing up. 
"Since you've been having difficulty in controlling the amulet, I made something that will help prevent another incident from happening." 

I flinch when he says that. I know he's talking about what happened with me, Legolas, and Anna. I ended up telling him about the whole thing (save for some minor details) and asked him for advice. What did he tell me? Learn how to control the amulet.
Well, that plan has clearly gone under. I'm curious to see what Faervel has made to solve this little dilemma of ours. 

"Hold out your hands please," he orders. I do as he says and watches skeptically while Faervel slides a pair of gloves over my hands.
"These will prevent you from accessing other people's memories," he explains while adjusting the gloves, "emotions you will still be able to sense, but everything else will be blocked." After releasing my hands I inspect the gloves.

They're dark grey like the rest of my clothes and don't appear to be made of leather, or any other material that I'm aware of. 
"How exactly were you able to make all of this stuff so quickly?" I lower my hands. "The weapons, these gloves, it's all been rather convenient hasn't it?"
Faervel chuckles. "I had most of it made before any of you ever arrived. The weapons and gloves have been waiting to be used for awhile." 
Now I'm slightly concerned, did he know that we would be coming? 

"I know you have a lot of questions about me Amarth, and I would gladly answer them all for you, but we simply do not have the time." 
"You've hardly answered the questions that I have asked," I point out sharply. With Faervel he rarely gives a straight answer to anything regarding himself or his current actions. Granted, he did give us his backstory, but how much did he leave out? 

"Do they fit?" He asks.
"Huh?"
"The gloves, do they fit?"
I look down at my hands. Wearing gloves is nothing new to me, I've worn them plenty of times. These ones are probably the most comfortable. 
"They're alright," I say lowering my hands, "but how are they supposed to help me use the amulet?"

"They're not. As I said, they will only serve to prevent the amulet from bringing forth the memories of those you touch." 
I nod my head slowly before grabbing the amulet that hangs around my neck. 
"How am I ever supposed to control this thing? We have been at this for weeks and we've made no progress. In my opinion we're just wasting time."

Faervel lowers his head slightly. He's looking at me but not quite meeting my gaze either.
"You are right Amarth, we are wasting time."
What?
He sighs and motions for me to sit down.
"I did not think it would be this difficult," he pulls up a chair and sits down across from me, "I thought we would have more time." 

"More time? Faervel what are you talking about?" I'm starting to grow slightly worried. 
"You must forgive me Amarth, for not telling you the truth before." He looks into my eyes and for once I don't turn away. His eyes are clouded as if there's a thin layer of fog covering them. What's going on?
"I thought that I could teach you how to use it, so that you would be prepared for what is to come, but I was wrong Amarth. Deep down I knew that truth but I ignored it. My own ignorance has cost us much time." 

"I don't understand. What are you apologizing for?" I'm starting to grow impatient with all of this. 
Faervel rests his head against his hand. His shoulders slump like he's carrying a heavy burden on them. 
"Amarth, I cannot teach you how to use the amulet."
I blink once, twice.
"What do you mean? We have been working on this for weeks!" I throw my hands up in frustration before letting them slam down against my legs. He'd better have a good explanation for this.

"Yes Amarth, we have been working haven't we? However, can you say that you've learned anything about using the amulet? No, you haven't. Do you want to know why? Because one cannot be taught how to wield the amulet's power, it must come to them naturally. They must learn how to work with it until it becomes an extension of themselves. That, Amarth, is something not even I can teach."

"Then why have we wasted all this time?!" I shout leaping out my chair. "We could have been preparing for an attack! Or going after Daeris! But you wanted to waste time "teaching" me something that can't even be taught?! What on earth were you thinking?!"

"I thought that I could force you to learn how to use the amulet. Waiting for its power to become part of you would have taken too long." He turns away from me, his eyes going towards an open window. A humorless chuckle escapes him. "Yet here we are, drawing ever nearer to the end and none of us are ready." 

His words send a shiver down my spine. The amulet grows heavy around my neck. He says we're nearing the end, what does he mean by that? 
"I should have spent more time preparing you instead of wasting it trying to do something I knew was impossible," Faervel mutters.
"You know what might have helped?" I suggest. "You could have chosen someone else to take this thing."

"I told you before Amarth, I chose you to wield the amulet. I do not regret my decision."
"Even now? You said so yourself we're running out of time here! If you had just given this thing to one of them we wouldn't be having this conversation right now! To be honest I don't completely understand why you're so distressed right now."
Faervel continues to stare out the window and I follow his gaze. Outside the world is grey, the sun is covered by clouds that promise rain. The wind is tearing leaves from their branches and sending them swirling through the air, some are blown into the house and land on the floor.

"Why do you think I made a mistake in choosing you Amarth?" He asks quietly, still not looking at me.
"Should I go over my long list of all the terrible things I've done or should I have my acquaintances fill you in? I'm sure that they would just love to tell you about all the crimes I've committed. Let's go over a few shall we? Murder, thievery, betrayal, serving not one but two of the evilest beings to walk the earth besides Morgoth, abandoning my sister, getting my entire family slaughtered, torturing innocent people, need I go on?"

Faervel closes his eyes. Have I finally upset him? I fold my arms across my chest and wait for his response. Surely now he'll agree that he made a mistake. I would if I were him. Actually, if I was Faervel I would have disposed of me long ago.

Finally, he gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head before opening his eyes.
"Why do you still carry all of this with you Amarth? Can you not see what it is doing to you?" 
"I don't need another lecture about this Faervel," I growl turning away from him. 
"When will you stop shutting everyone out?" I hear him rise to his feet. Here we go again, does anyone have anything else to talk to me about besides everything I'm doing to "hurt" myself?

"You are surrounded by people who love you, friends who care about you. But every time they try to help, you push them away. Whenever they attempt to reach out to you, your walls go up. Instead of letting them in you've driven them out and in their place you've let in darkness. Why Amarth? Why do you continue to do this to yourself? Why won't you let them help?"

"They wouldn't understand," I argue continuing to face the window. My hands are itching to curl into fists but I fight the urge. I cannot afford to lash out now, there's no telling what could happen.
"Is that so? Take a closer look at the company you keep Amarth, it is no accident that you are drawn to your friends. Each one of them has felt the same darkness you have at one point in their lives. Whether they experienced it personally or watched someone they loved fall to it, they've lived through darkness Amarth. Some of them still are."

I say nothing in response. If I talk now I might say something that I don't want him to hear. A hand grasps my shoulder and I stiffen under Faervel's touch. He's wrong, I am not drawn to those people. The only ones I care about are Anna and Pallando. I don't care about the others.

I don't.

Yet even now, I'm pushing Pallando away. I haven't tried hard enough to reach Anna. 

Am I shutting them out too?

"Talk to them Amarth," Faervel says releasing me, "talk to them before it's too late."
I turn to look at him but he's already moved passed me towards the window. He places his hands on the window sill and stares solemnly outside, the wind blowing his dark hair behind him. 
"You may go now Amarth. I have said all that I needed to say."

I hesitate. Part of me wants to leave, but the other part of me wants to stay. I have more questions, I need advice, yet I don't want it from Faervel. Normally I would go to Pallando, but I don't feel right in doing that after what happened. Legolas is currently not an option and Morwen is out of the question. I don't know Darovel well enough to go to him with this sort of thing. 

And Anna, I don't want to weigh her down with my problems. 

Then again, Faervel told me to go to them. 

Slowly I begin to make my way towards the door. I place my hand on the handle and stop. Glancing over my shoulder I ask Faervel one more question, "The amulet, it brings memories back, right?"

"Yes, but it is not wise to force its use onto others." He replies without turning away from the window.
"They have to accept the memories willingly?" I venture.
"If you are going to do it Amarth then go now. The amulet is yours to do with as you wish." There's an edge of coldness to his voice. Not an angry cold, but a coldness that comes from grief. What is he upset about? 

I want to ask but I can sense that he is no longer in a talking mood. Sighing I open the door and leave the room, closing it behind me. I make my way down the hall. I know where I'm going, I just don't know what's going to happen when I get there. 

/\\//\\/

Anna's POV

She sat on her bed hugging her knees to her chest. The windows were shut and no light entered the small room. This had been her world for the last few weeks. Dark and silent. She didn't want anyone to see her, the shame she carried threatened to crush her. 

"The night we confessed our love, we bonded and our hearts became one."

Anna shuddered and drew her knees even closer. She didn't know what laws and customs the Wood Elves had regarding marriage, but she knew those of the Avari. 

And I broke them, I broke them and I didn't even know! I married an elf that I don't even remember!

She moaned and let herself fall onto her bed. Why did she have to think about him?! Every time she did the longings came back to torment her. Her feä was constantly being pulled towards him, to Legolas.

And it hurt, oh how it hurt! Tears fell from green eyes as she tried to quell the increasing pain. She whimpered softly and wrapped her arms around herself. The only way to be rid of the pain was for her to be with Legolas, but she could not do that.

She would not go to him.

Is he feeling the same pain that I am? She wondered. Was he out there now? Writhing in pain like she was? 

Our souls are intertwined, they have been apart for too long.

Was this what love did to a person? How could something she had fantasized about all of her life be so terrible? Whenever anyone had spoken to her about love they described it as the most beautiful thing. 

Did those people ever feel this pain? Did they ever experience this horrible, tearing apart of the soul? 

A knock on her door jolted Anna from her thoughts. She tried to push herself into a sitting position but the pain was too much.
"Anna? Can I come in?" 
She didn't reply and instead buried her face into her blanket. Why did it have to be her brother? She couldn't let him see her like this! She couldn't let him see her guilt and shame.
"Anna?" His voice called to her from the other side of the door. 

"Go away Caran." She mumbled into her bed.
"Anna?"
"I said go away!" She screamed raising her head. Silence followed her words. Anna held her breath, waiting for him to try again. 

There was nothing.

/\\//\\/

I walk away from Anna's room with my head down. She's never screamed at me like that. I thought I'd be hurt, instead there is nothing. It's as if I've gone numb. And I don't know whether it's because of Anna's rejection of me, or Faervel's words from before. Or maybe, it's because I feel so helpless. There's nothing I can do to help Anna. There is not a thing I can say or do that will comfort her. 

She's ashamed of what she did, I know she is. Anna, my sweet little sister, is slipping away from me. I thought I'd gotten her back, but I was wrong. I lost her the day I abandoned her in Mirkwood. 

"Are you alright Amarth?" 
I jump and whirl around to see Darovel standing behind me. How did I not hear him? I must have been more distracted than I thought. 
"Why do you care?" I snap. "You're never around anymore. I've hardly seen you since we arrived at this place."
"You haven't exactly been open to talking with anyone either." He replies shifting his weight onto his uninjured leg.

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. It just occurred to me that I've been wearing it down much more than usual. I used to pull it back all the time. I really have been distracted lately.
"Amarth, I wanted to apologize," Darovel says suddenly.
"For what?"
"You're right. I haven't been around, and I know that I should have been here to help you. But at the same time, you're not an easy person to help you know."

I narrow my eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You get angry when anyone shows the tiniest bit of concern towards you. Every time someone tries to help you they get hurt one way or another." His eyes are throwing daggers at me but I don't care. Since when have I cared about Darovel? We were brought together completely by chance. We were supposed to part ways and never see each other again and yet here we are.

I open my mouth to say something when I freeze. My blood turns cold and skin has gone pale. The wind has grown in strength, whipping my hair around me and causing the trees to groan under its strain. 

Something is wrong.

"Amarth?" Darovel reaches for the sword at his waist. He feels it too. I shove Darovel onto the floor when a roar sounds in my ears, but it isn't the wind that's roaring. Something hard collides into me carrying me over the edge of the railing. I have no time to brace myself as my body strikes the ground. 

I lay there dazed. Everything hurts. None of that compares to the sounds I hear.

Growling, screeching, clawing. 

The shadows have come.

"Amarth!" Darovel's frantic shouts snap me out of my daze. Come on Amarth, you've hurt worse than this! I hear growling behind me. I'm running out of time.
Get up! 

I roll to the side and spring to my feet just as the shadow pounces, its claws digging into the place where I was just lying moments before. The shadow whirls around to glare at me with pale eyes. It has no shape in my eyes. It's simply a black mass with two glowing orbs for eyes, claws, and teeth. 

I can sense more coming towards me. Too many for me to fight on my own. I look up in horror when I see both shadows and creatures coming down from the trees. The crash onto the roof of Faervel's house and begin tearing into it. Darovel has noticed them too, why hasn't the stupid human started running?!

"Go Darovel!" I shout. The shadow leaps at me again and I'm just barely able to dodge it. 
I look up and sigh in relief when I see that Darovel obeyed. We both take off running in the same direction, me on the ground and him in the trees. The shadows have nearly broken through the roof, the smarter ones have climbed around and are now running after Darovel. 

I'm still being chased by the shadow that attacked me. It doesn't take long for me to realize that more are closing in. It does, however, take me a bit longer to realize that I am unarmed. I stumble as a shadow leaps onto my back, its claws dig into my shoulder as it tries to bring me down. I grab it and throw it off. It screeches as it collides with the ground but it is quickly replaced by another.

I duck this time and the shadow flies over me. I veer left as three more shadows emerge from the trees, how many are there?!  I'm being forced away from the house, I can no longer see Darovel. He can't kill the shadows, and he's alone, what will happen to him if he gets caught? I don't have time to dwell on the matter as another shadow takes a swipe at my legs. It nearly succeeds in tripping me but I keep running. 

More and more shadows join the chase. The largest ones are no bigger than a wolf, but that doesn't make them any less deadly. With the amulet, I can kill the shadows, but I don't see how that's going to happen without a weapon. Another shadow drops from the trees and lands on top of me. This time I can't stop myself from falling. I roll over and manage to dislodge the shadow. I scramble to my feet but not before another shadow can jump on me. I fall to my knees as I throw it off.

Another one takes it place, then another.

Every time I throw one off two more come to take its place. I stagger forward blindly. Throwing off shadows as they claw at me, yet I don't feel any blood. Have they not pierced my skin yet? I know that my clothes have been torn and I feel several scratches, but no blood.

By some miracle, I manage to free myself from the shadows. I barely take two steps before something slams into my side. I go flying and crash into a tree. I hear a sickening crack and pain explodes in my side. I hiss and bite my tongue hold back a scream. I grab my aching side with my hand. 

A dark, menacing laugh shakes the air. My skin turns to ice as a figure emerges from the trees. 
"Hello Amarth," Oroth sneers, "I've come to bring you home, your queen misses you."

/\\//\\/

Oh how I love my cliffies.

They bring me such joy.

Short chapter I know, but trust me, the next one is going to be INTENSE

And guess what? I plan to have it out tomorrow so you won't have to wait forever for an update.

Wait...

It's midnight now, so technically it is tomorrow...

So that means the next update will be coming later on today.

Unless I end up finishing the next chapter by midnight tomorrow, which then the next chapter will come tomorrow.

Why am I wasting time talking about this? I could have published the chapter by now instead here I am typing whatever the heck come to TOAST

And this my friends is why you shouldn't write late.

Alright, I'm Out

I just remembered that I once wrote a song when I was like five about how fish could dream even though they can't close their eyes while sleeping.

Okay I seriously need to go to bed now.

GOODNIGHT