The cliff overlooked the vast expanse of the once Greenwood. Below, the trees stood lifeless as the spider venom festered them, even the ones which had survived millennia. The Elves tried to revive them using their powers, but to no avail. She sighed and turned away, back to her friend. The stag was nowhere to be seen, as if he had disappeared into thin mist. She called out to him, but nobody came. An exasperated sigh fell from her lips. This was the worst time for stupidity. What were you thinking?
The return journey was silent, upon realizing that her friend (can't say that now, though) was not coming back. She carefully descended the mountain path. The forest around her was eerily silent, except for the sound of her boots scrunching the leaves. All around her, the trees loomed, tall and imposing, letting in only sparse amount of sunlight. She swallowed the growing uneasiness and looked up at the sky, eager to catch if only a glimpse of the blue. Just to her right, something small and furry, dashed away frantically. Her eyes darted down and she let out a sigh of relief upon spotting the rabbit. Don't worry. I mean no harm.
The journey continued, with her trying to be as silent as she could, and mostly failing. She cursed loudly as her ankle caught on a root, and stumbled. Frustrated, she turned her eyes upwards to the branches. Climbing trees wasn't easy for her during the initial days of her training. She remembered the day when her adventurous brother came up with a rather ridiculous idea and all her friends agreed, which involved running through the branches. She, the most clumsy member of the entire team, had also agreed despite the screams of her inner self. She had badly wanted to prove herself then. Everything had gone smoothly until she tripped over a rather tiny- in human eyes- branch, and fell. Luckily, the tree had caught her before she hit the ground. That was the day Erenien had determined not to run through trees.
She hopped through the entwining branches after making sure there were none sticking out in her way. Being up in the trees helped in navigating. After a while, one of the streams which was yet to succumb to the plague, cut off the tree path. She carefully got down and eyed the waters. Finding it satisfactory, she stooped to drink.
Something flew over her head. A sudden thud. An arrow stuck out from the tree in front. A rather thick and crude-looking one as opposed to the thin and elegant ones made by elves. Perceived danger quickened her pulse. A low growl sounded behind. She turned to face the filthiest creature she had ever encountered. How fortunate! Just put a foot out of the palace and here we are!
A low gasp escaped her lips as she stared at the creature. It took a few moments before the realization hit. She ran, hopped over the many rocks scattered across the stream at surprising speed. Adrenaline rushed through her veins like the vigorous stream below. Neither the roots nor the stones bothered anymore. All that was to be heard was the thrumming of her heart and the sound of wind assaulting her ears as the uneven ground rushed backwards under her feet. Running through the branches was now impossible as the trees were much taller. More growls joined the previous one in the hunt.
She once again cursed the moment she decided to climb over the stag- forest spirit or not. A steep drop was in front of her and almost a dozen Orcs were on her heels. How ironic that I will have to handle the filth this very same week, alone. Soon, trembling hands found the bow, and an arrow was nocked and fired. One fell with an arrow upon its torso. Another followed afterwards. Everything felt... good. And... she missed. One of them managed to dodge the arrow. It came too close. Soon bow and arrow gave way to long knives, which threatened to slip off as the palms of her hands became wet by every passing moment. One fell, the other got a gash across the body. Where is the other one? She had killed two with arrows, one with knives, and she had wounded one. But there were three more surrounding her, with the rest of them watching.... The third one is not in front of me... Oh! Something slammed her head from behind. Darkness crept up in the corners of her vision and the ground rushed up to meet her.
YOU ARE READING
The Eternal Starlight
Fanfiction"I cannot raise a child!" Thranduil said aghast. "What she needs is a mother and a father- a proper family," he sighed. "Maybe she has found them in you..." It was said that after the death of his Queen, the Elven king became bitter and cold. Everyo...
