Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 2 - The hunting

Taken from an account of the Great War:

"To protect the freed lands of Middle Earth, rangers were dispatched to hunt down and destroy all remnants of the Dark Lord's servants, banishing them from this world with the harsh dealings of pain. And so it was decreed that any free man, elf, dwarf or otherwise to successfully hunt down and destroy any of the so-called 'winged devils' will be rewarded with a great sum and a blessing from the King of Gondor. This race of evil and deceit will never have a place in the free lands of Middle Earth"

Fayedira and her daughter travelled swiftly and silently throughout the land, sometimes resting in the quiet canopies of great trees, other times in the crevices of stony outcrops, huddled inside their wings as howling winds taunted them with its freedom. During this time, Avadis' wings grew in both size and strength, as she herself grew to be both strong and beautiful. Her dark brown hair and fiery auburn eyes match the deep brown and red feathers that sprung out of her back like flames.

Fayedira taught her daughter to fly as best she could, in the quiet places of the world where they would not be noticed by the greedy eyes of men, elves and dwarves. Avadis took this time to observe the strange beings that roamed the earth, learning much about their mannerisms, the ways they spoke or the things they ate. She wondered at them and their ways of life. And yet she knew not to let them see her, for if they did they would surely bring others with bows and fire to shoot them down from the sky.

Since the Great War she and her mother had seen very little of their own kind, two others at most. They had stayed together for a short while and tell them stories of darkness and evil, but eventually, they would grow restless and seek out the King of Gondor or the old Elvish Kings to beg for forgiveness. They never were seen again.

While you might expect them to feel anger towards these hunters and rulers, Fayedira was surprisingly understanding of their violence, and made sure that her daughter was the same. "They do not understand us to be friendly, we must bare the burden our people's decisions have brought on us" she would remind Avadis while they hid in caves away from search parties below them, "give them time, it will pass. That is the way of these people. Time is different for them, nothing last forever."

Different indeed, Avadis agreed, observing the ways the young grew and elderly died in what felt to be a passing moment for her.

Avadis found that time was one of her greatest enemies. When the lands around her seemed to be moving so quickly, she became jealous of the freedom to explore and learn that others had. Fayedira watched her daughter, now a woman herself, keenly aware of how restless and tired she was becoming, with a heavy heart.

"We must move on tonight Avadis, we cannot stay here longer than a month before the elves return to guard this forest" Fayedira reminded Avadis one night as they sat in the high canopies of Mirkwood. Avadis slumped next to her mother, eating the last of their dinner.

"These elves all have homes. A safe place where they are not being hunted, somewhere where they can laugh and feel peace" Avadis sighed, "do you think there will ever be such a place for us again?"

"You never know when a doorway will open for us" Fayedira replied, looking across at her daughter. "There is nothing that I wish for more than to give you such freedom Avadis."

"I know, I'm sorry mother I never meant to..." Fayedira hushed her daughter by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I can only lie awake at night hoping that you will see a day when you can roam freely amongst these trees and learn their song, or stroll through a bustling marketplace of workers selling their wares. Perhaps you will make new friends with these people, and they will learn to love you as I have." Fayedira smiled at her daughter, "or perhaps you will scare them away with your fiery eyes" she joked, nudging her daughter's side.

Avadis laughed. Fayedira continued, "I have something for you, a small package I found had fallen from the back of a traveller's cart. It may help you." Avadis watched her mother disappear around the tree branch and reappear with a small brown parcel. Taking it from her hands, Avadis unwrapped it to find a small pocket notebook and a collection of coloured pencils. "It's beautiful!" Avadis said, probably too loudly but she didn't care at all. Taking the book out, she flipped through the pages quite excited to find all of them bare. "Draw what you see" Fayedire said, "so that your stories can be remembered in the pages of your books."

Over what must have been hundreds of years, Fayedira and Avadis travelled much of Middle Earth, aside from the places of evil. Avadis collected many books of drawings, some of plants, others with maps, and many of elves (which Avadis particularly enjoyed drawing thanks to their beautiful clothing and weapons). But her favourite thing to draw were horses, who roamed the plains of Rohan with so much grace and power that Avadis fell in love with them at first sight. Whenever they journeyed to Rohan to stay a while, Avadis would spend days crafting beautifully detailed images of the horses, wishing that she could ride one just as the men and women of Rohan do.

But one day, Avadis' love of horses would lead her to encounter a person she had never seen or heard of before...