The Blood of Sin by flame_of_the_noldor  

Chapter 1

Mist fell over the mountains of the Andram, blanketing the cold forests of the Talath Dirnen in a deep mist that muffled the sound of the quiet hoof beats of Celegorm and Curufin’s horses. They trod carefully through the wood, ears open for the sounds of their prey.

A branch snapped in the distance. Celegorm quickly darted his head toward the direction of the noise and dismounted, quickly crouching to inspect the ground beneath him.

He placed a slender finger near a set of tracks and traced their path in the air through the underbrush, climbing over fallen log and branch as the sound of their prey became ever louder.

His mind was solely focused on this moment, nothing mattered in his mind save for the pursuit and eventual capture of his quarry.

Curufin followed closely behind him on foot as the pair stalked through the brush until they came upon a small rocky outcropping near the banks of a shallow forest stream. They crouched low to the ground, as they listened for the sounds of any other creatures nearby that would rob them of their eventual prize. Their patience was rewarded, when, in the distance, the outline of a great elk buck emerged from the forest and sauntered up to the banks of the stream for a drink.

Celegorm waited until the beast had its fill of water, and, when the buck lifted his head to turn around, he silently rose out of the dense underbrush and drew his bow.

The creature, unaware of his presence, began to walk eastward, following the river upstream. Celegorm nocked his arrow and drew the string back in preparation, when the loud calling of a bird of prey drew Celegorm’s attention away for a brief moment. He released his arrow prematurely and the swift whistle of an arrow sounded in the air before striking the beast in its side. With a startled bleat, the elk began to gallop swiftly away from the stream banks as the brothers both began to chase after it.

The elk swiftly ran over rock and log as the pair of brothers were in close pursuit. Their hearts pounded with elation as they ran faster and faster, as the elk began to slow its pace as Celegorm excitedly fired another arrow at the elk’s flank.

They followed the elk until they reached the edges of a small cliff with a steep drop. The elk sharply turned to avoid the sudden drop in elevation, and Celegorm quickly turned in response.

Curufin followed eagerly in pursuit, his legs carrying him over rock and stone. Faster, faster, his mind cried as he drew tantalizingly close to the elk before his legs gave way underneath him , slipping on the smooth rocks and falling into a pool of dark water at the bottom of the cliff he did not realize was there.

The cool water shocked him back into reality as he felt himself slowly sinking deeper into the pool. He quickly kicked his legs behind him to resurface in the water and as he emerged, he found himself inside a pit where many other unfortunate creatures met their end. He crawled back onto the rocky shore and laid back to recover as he shivered from the sudden cold. His entire body ached, and a sharp pain raced through his left arm.

There was something strange about the pool he had come from. It was dark, much darker than any water that Curufin had seen, and there was an unease that crept from the pool. He glanced around at the piles of bones and decaying carcasses of unfortunate creatures that fell in before him. He turned his head to come face to face with the half worm-eaten corpse of a deer, that, to his concern, appeared to have pointed fangs. He looked around again, and, to his horror, every creature that he could see had been mutated or changed in some way. Some had fangs that replaced their normal incisors, and others, from what he could tell from their bloated corpses, had begun to enlarge and take on predatory forms that Curufin dreaded to consider the implications of.

This was work not of nature or the Valar’s doing, he was sure of it.

Shapes of elves began to dance in the water, and Curufin became ever sure that he had somehow died, and these spirits were to take him to the Halls of Mandos. But they did not move toward him in the way that Curufin expected, they swirled around him, whispering in a language that was alien to Curufin’s ears, although he reasoned that it sounded most like the Sindar’s language.

Then, the mists coalesced together and a bloated, rotted, elf-like corpse rose from the water. Its greyish skin, or what remained of it, hung off the emaciated corpse like a cloak and its eyes were milky white. The creature shambled toward Curufin, who was sprawled across the rocks like a sacrifice, and opened its vile, many-fanged mouth in a horrible scream.

Curufin scrambled to draw his sword or dagger from their sheaths but his limp arm failed to move and his other arm refused to cooperate.

The creature suddenly leaped on top of him, its fetid breath wrapping around his body like a shroud of poison. Its long, talon like nails began to sink themselves into Curufin’s flesh, drawing blood that trickled onto the slippery stones below.

Curufin wrestled with the creature, their bodies entangled in a battle of strength. The creature’s surprising strength kept Curufin pinned to the earth as the creature vainly attempted to snap like a dog at the elf’s exposed neck. Curufin launched his fist into the creature’s mouth, hoping to dissuade it from biting at him like a rabid animal, but the creature continued to persist, no matter how caved in its face became or how many teeth Curufin loosened.

Curufin attempted to free his knife from its sheath, but it fell uselessly against the ground with a soft clink, as the creature sank its teeth into Curufin’s left arm.

He kicked at the creature’s legs and managed to loosen it from his arm, but not without taking a chunk of his own flesh in return. He shrieked in pain as dark, brackish fluid began to seep out of the gaping wound.

The creature, in Curufin’s distracted state, leaped back onto him and sank its sharpened fangs into the soft, pliant flesh of Curufin’s neck.

Curufin cried out in agony as the teeth sank deep into his flesh and blood began to drip down his neck to stain his clothes and hair. He kicked and thrashed against the creature but the creature continued to persist, attached to his neck like a leech. His flesh started to become colder, clammier, as his hands began to lose their grip on the creature.

His other hand desperately scrambled for purchase on the ground in hopes of finding his discarded knife or a particularly sharp rock to bash the creature’s head in with. He felt a momentary sense of relief as he felt the familiar cold elvish steel of his knife, and he quickly plunged it into the throat of the wretched creature.

His right hand limply dropped from the handle of his knife, still buried in the creature’s throat, as his body began to stiffen as if death had claimed him. The creature gurgled unnaturally as it slowly collapsed onto the ground next to Curufin.

Curufin laid there for what felt like hours to him, as his body became wracked with agony. His muscles burned and ached, and he felt the wounds on his arm and neck pulse angrily as they continued to seep dark, viscous fluid. He panted in exhaustion as he felt his body temperature swiftly fall until he was shivering on top of the rocks, unable to warm himself.

“Curufin!, Curufin! Where are you!?”, he heard his brother shout urgently above and around him.

Curufin opened his mouth to answer, but only a strangled cry escaped his mouth.

“Curufin!”, Celegorm cried as he spotted his brother and quickly began to scale down the steep, slippery rocks toward him.

Curufin groaned in response as he felt his brother pick him up while his arms and legs hung limply below his body. His eyes were unfocused as he felt his skin become colder and he involuntarily shivered.

“Curufin… what happened?!”, his brother sobbed.

Curufin glanced up at him and opened his mouth to explain, but no words came out except a muffled groan as blood and saliva began to drip down his chin.

“Oh Valar… Curvo...Curvo…”, Celegorm wept as he tightly hugged Curufin to his body and wrapped his cloak around his shivering brother.

Curufin felt his brother’s tears against his rapidly cooling skin as tears began to fall from his wide open grey eyes.