Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 3 - A welcomed stranger

A man dressed in grey was riding a white steed along the plains that separated the mountain ranges from the city of Rohan. Avadis was watching him from behind a group of rocks on a small hill, one of her favourite spots to sit. She loved the ways humans had invented means of travel. But as her mother always said, why should she ride when she had been given such beautiful wings? 

She sighed, if it weren't for these wings I could be out there riding with him, she thought before shaking her head quickly, be grateful Avadis she reminded herself, these people are not all friendly and safe as she would like to imagine.

She brought out her notebook from the side pocket of her pants along with a pencil, planning to draw the man on his horse as they rode away across the plains. When she went back to focus on the riding man, she was startled to realise he had disappeared from her sight. How was that possible? The only way for him to do so would be if he had ridden closer to... she stopped and inhaled a sharp breath as she heard a twig snap to her left. Silently she brought her wings tight around her back, pressing them in to hide them as best she could. For several minutes she stayed there, listening for any signs of life from the man with the horse. Just as she had begun to convince herself of the better option that she was hearing things and therefore going insane, a strong voice called out over the rocks.

"Friend, you need not hide. I know that you are there". Avadis sucked in a quick breath to save herself from yelling in surprise. Shifting to look through a small crack in the rock, she froze with fear as she made direct eye contact with the man, a little ways down at the base of the hill she was on. Do not be seen her mother's voice echoed through her mind, along with the thousand other thoughts that rushed to her mind in that moment. But she had been seen.

"I have some fresh meat here I shall cook on a fire for lunch, do you care to join me?" the voice came again. Avadis watched as the man bent down and opened his pack, bringing out sticks and meat before settling in to make a fire. Say something Avadis her brain screamed at her, he might not know you are not like him. She shifted uncomfortably on the ground. Just try to sound... human.

"I um... I'm quite alright uh thank you very much. I'll be off now" she called out, her voice coming out a little higher than she intended it to, seriously Avadis, what was that she scorned herself. All she had to do was make it to the other side of this hill, away from him, so she could fly back to the mountain where her mother would be waiting.

"As you wish" the man said without even turning to look at her, "but be warned that the Rohirrim are patrolling this area, you should not stay here too long if you wish to remain hidden". Avadis frowned. She analysed his belongings carefully, a pack, some food, a long wooden staff (he did look old) and some books. No weapons.

Before giving herself the time to rethink her decisions, Avadis stook up from behind the rock and peered over the edge at the man, still keeping her wings tucked behind her so he could not see them. "How do you know I am in hiding" she asked him bluntly, her voice sounding more confident this time.

"I have heard the decrees placed about people of your kind" the man said, turning to see her, "though I must say you have been presumed extinct for a hundred years at least".

"I cannot trust you" Avadis said suddenly, backing up slowly as fear once again took over her mind. "Wait!" the man called out, "I do not wish to harm you!"

"They have said that before" Avadis replied from further behind the rocks, muttering to herself "you are no different".

"I wish to help you"

Avadis stopped in her tracks as she came face to face with the man. How he had reached this side of the hill this quickly had to be put down to one thing, magic. Her eyes must have betrayed her amazement because the man smiled slightly, "I am not like them" he said kindly, "please" he gestured to his small camp down on the other side of the hill. If he doesn't kill me then certainly mother will, Avadis thought to herself. And she would certainly favour a more interesting mannor of death.

"What would you have with me then" she asks the man, as a test more than anything.

"Nothing at all, other than perhaps to offer you some food and shelter while I can"

"You cannot be serious" Avadis basically scoffed at the man, "do you know how much I am worth to you if you kill me?"

The man leant against his staff, "Do not think of your life as merely a bounty waiting to be cashed in by others. Do you never consider that some may have good intentions towards you?". Avadis paused at that, it was true, she only ever thought of herself as the blood payment for her people's misdeeds. Because in this world that was all that she was.

"Let me bring my things up into these rocks so that we might sit a while" the man suggested. Avadis nodded slowly, a part of her still slightly reluctant while the rest leaping with the excitement of adventure.

The man left and returned quickly with some food and his horse. A horse! Avadis stared in disbelief at the beautiful animal. She had never been this close. "This is Shadowfax, chieftain of the Mearas, and I am his rider, Gandalf the Grey." Avadis only continued to stare in amazement at the beauty of the horse, "may I?" she asked quietly, reaching out slightly to the horse. In response, Shadowfax walked forwards and brayed softly, and Avadis reached up and ran her hands over his nose and side, beaming with joy. Gandalf sat down on a nearby rock and gestured for Avadis to be seated on another.

"Do you have a name?" Gandalf asked the mysterious girl. Avadis went to answer, before realising it probably was not the best move to reveal all of herself and simply said, "my name is my own". Surprisingly, Gandalf only nodded at this response and moved on to the next question. Avadis was amazed by how relaxed he was, given the fact that he almost certainly had not sat for lunch with anyone remotely like her before. After discussing certain topics at length, mainly her wings and her purposes in the region, the conversation came to a silent close. Avadis had warmed up to the man, realising he was, in the regards she had observed, a sincere and curious man who wanted nothing more than to learn about her. After taking a moment of thought, Avadis decided it would only be right to introduce this man to her mother. She would be the one to decide whether he was to be trusted with their story.

"I wish for you to meet someone" Avadis said, Gandalf immediately looking at her with great intent. "There are others of you?" he asked. "Only one other that I know of, who is my mother, she is much older and wiser than I. If you would like, you may meet her." Avadis' heart was beating out of her chest, but she hoped that her voice came across as confident and calm, two things she herself was most certainly not. "I would be honoured" Gandalf answered.

"Meet here again, tonight under the cover of darkness. Bring no source of light, we cannot risk being seen" Avadis said, standing up from the rock. Gandalf nodded and also stood, "until then" Avadis said, raising her hand as was the traditional farewell of her people. Flying up into the sky, she quickly rushed to the cover of the mountain, from where Gandalf could no longer track the girl.

Strange, he thought to himself. He had read about tales of the winged people from the days of the War of the Alliances. Surely though this girl could not be of the same people, for the tales were only full of evil and terror, describing them as devils from the skies. He resigned to himself to spend the rest of the day in deep thought until it was time for his meeting with her again.