Elves Of Autumn

Prologue # 1

Nestled into a valley lies a house that most would never see it but when the do see it and they're in complete awe of the place. The place was called Rivendell as Elrond had written a letter to his adoptive daughter as she was based in Charvaley Stronghold. The stronghold was in the western parts of the Ered Nimrais. She already had a past with him and he could rely on her to watch the surrounding area. The letter would take days depending on the travel there. It was a dangerous journey to Rivendell to Charvaley Stronghold. The messenger would have to be careful on the way there because of goblins, mountain trolls or even orcs prowl the land. He gave the message to the runner as he got onto his horse. He gripped the reins and he was ready with a few elves.

"Make haste and do not delay the message to my daughter in Charvaley Stronghold."

"Of course, my lord."

He nudged his horse to go ahead of the others then they followed. Soon, the small company left Rivendell and heads to Charvaley Stronghold. They have to be there before nightfall or early morning.

___

Far enough away from Rivendell in Charvaley Stronghold, a company of elves that was led by Zarneleane. They had come from one of the towns with supplies to have. The supplies had come by one wagon with the lord's blessing. The elves had done something for the lord about the bandits on his lands. They had done the service well enough with the weapons that they had and in return was granted with a wagon full of food. The food was going to be split up in rations then made into something else like food and other things. The company were still on their horses when a call was sounded.

Most of Zarneleane's company got off their horses and ran to the gates when they see a settlers were running to the stronghold in search for sanctuary. They got their just in time as the gates closed behind Zarneleane and a fraction of the company. The other fraction of the company took the wall over them. They were situated on the wall as they drawn out their bows and arrows. The fraction were aiming at the bandits as they were running up to the ground forces with swords in their hands. The forces on the battlements were waiting until the for the first sword strike against another. They didn't have to wait long as the ground forces started to engage them. Arrows kept thinning out the bandits as they reached the front gate.

The skirmish lasted only an hour at most. Most of the bandits had already been killed off as the comrades had surrendered when they dropped the weapons at the stronghold's front gate. Zarneleane had the bandit leader at the end of her sword. The gates of the stronghold opened up and her second in command came from inside the battlements overhead. The bandits were at the mercy of the elves that were standing in front of them They knew that they would fail to take on the elves because they were trained to be good fighters beyond measure. It was a fool's folly to take the stronghold as it was in the hands of the elves.

Zarneleane's second in command stood behind her as she stood there thinking of what to do. She breathed out and made a decision at the moment. Her sword was not far from the bandit's leader chest. If he stood up and she heaved her sword deep into his chest and she didn't want that to happen. He knelt there as the others did the same. The settlers were guided inside to be healed and away from the scene as a few gryphons came down from the mountains. Most of the gryphons for a while as they began to walk around. As they walked around, the settlers were amazed to see such creatures in the land. Some of them were friendly enough to allow them to touch them. They came in different colors but one of them stood out among the rest. The one that stood up was a deep blue and black with red along the head feathers with the end of the tail.

"What shall we do, Captain?" She asked her.

"Search them and strip them of their weapons. Then take them to the cells." She responded back.