Watching
(130 Words)

"Do you think they are coming back, Atto?" Salmar asked.

Olwë stared north along the shoreline, his vision curtailed by the thick clouds that blocked out the starlight, trying to make out the details of the darker mass that was slowly growing in the distance. "If so, the next question is 'why'," he said.

Behind him, their shadows cast long across the sand by the flickering lamps of Alqualonde, the majority of the remaining seamen held tightly to their makeshift weapons. They had few seaworthy ships left, and they could not allow them to be taken from them.

The approaching leader brought the column to a halt and came forward a few more hesitant steps. Olwë stood frozen as his gaze met the remorseful eyes of his son-in-law, Arafinwe.

"Olwë, please, can you forgive me?"