Day 4:

Challenge - Mithrim: "There would be no one to frighten you if you refused to be afraid." -Ghandi
Write a story or poem or create artwork where the character conquers his or her fears.

Lengthening Shadows

Only a thin slice remained from the sun now, bathing the sand of the desert in bloody red. His shadow was long, as long as if it would contain all his failures and unfulfilled hopes. Thorongil was still kneeling near the unmarked grave. His water skin was almost empty now, and he didn't eat anything during the day, but he couldn't force himself to stand up and go to the tavern where he left all his provisions. Maybe somebody is already waiting for him there, a sharp dagger in the darkness, or just a drop of poison in a drink. That he could face. But there will be quiet tonight, or even another dancer, and when he will look into her eyes, he will see the eyes of the girl that died because of him. And that he couldn't bear. Not yet.

He remained between the lengthening shadows of his own failures. She spared his life only to find her own death. Another who died because of him. The faces of many appeared in his mind. Rangers from the North. Soldier of Gondor. Good men who will never return to their families. They all fell under his command. Some even saved his life. He didn't even know some of their names, just like the name of this woman.

Was it worth it?, he asked himself. So many hopes were put into him. Will he fail them at the end? The world seemed to consist of shadows and doubts, and the last ray of light just disappeared behind the horizon. Somewhere in the desert, a jackal howled. The messenger of death, they called it here. Did it announce the death of his hopes, here, under the strange stars of a distant land? Or was it the death of all that will yet have to die for the uncertain path of his destiny?

He sighed heavily. The air was already getting cooler, although the rocks still emanated the heat of the day. The land was foreign to him. He missed the whisper of wind in the trees, the cool shade near a hidden pool, the soft and fresh grass under his feet. Here the sun was cruel, and the land shaped by it.

After the sun set and left the world in darkness, another light rose. A star appeared in the sky, a little point of clear light. The Evenstar… He smiled slightly, for as more and more stars blossomed on the sky, he could see the desert in a different light. There were no shadows in the starlight. The dunes stretched to the horizon, and there was a strange, harsh beauty in them. Merciless but just was the desert. It did not care for him or his destiny. The land was harsh to its people, but there was beauty in her, burning deep like the fire in the eyes of the dancer. A deadly beauty. Now he understood her…

And he could not stay here any longer. There was so much work to do, so many obstacles to overcome to give meaning to the sacrifices. He stood up, and headed to the tavern.