Wayfarer of dawn

XVII. In which Eleniel goes cold

Eleniel never feared death. Perhaps that was why her body had stopped moving, accepting it. But her mind had not. Eleniel feared the blade of the Orc in a way she had never done before. And perhaps it was the quest that she was on that caused it. It gave her a reason to live, promises to fulfill.

It was in that moment that Eleniel's destiny changed. For many years she had asked for death, foolishly throwing herself into dangerous situations, but now death had come she didn't want to die.

Twisting to the right she felt the blade pierce through cloth and skin, impaling itself in her shoulder. A shocked noise left her lips at the flaring pain that followed. And then she yanked herself free. Stumbling back Eleniel rose her sword into the sky, and then she rushed it down into the neck of her attacker. The Orc fell sideways, sword still lodged into it's neck, and into the rapids of the river. A call came from the distance, and Eleniel came out of her dream like state.

"Eleniel!" a voice called from behind. And she turned in answer. Legolas rushed down the hilly landscape and to her side. "You are wounded," he observed softly. "It appears I am," Eleniel confirmed. "Let me take care of it, let our healers tend to it." "I cannot Legolas, you know I cannot." "Please, mellon," his words were gentle. He meant them. And Eleniel knew he did.
It made turning away hard. But she did.

With her back to him she grabbed onto her shoulder, eyes narrowing. "I cannot return to Mirkwood, my friends await. They need me," Eleniel muttered. "I understand," Legolas said, "but you lost my blade." "Sorry mellon," she said guiltily. "It matters not Eleniel, I was having a new one made already. It was getting rusty beyond repair."
A small giggle left her lips and she started running.
"Goodbye, mellon," Legolas whispered into the wind.

Eleniel found the company on the rocks beside the riverbed, an orc corpse down in the shallows together with the barrels. All Dwarves, and the Hobbit, were staring up at the arrow of a man. "You are from Laketown," Eleniel observed, causing the man to swivel around. "I - you....you're a lady," he observed - shocked. Eleniel laughed softly. "It appears I am, bowman." "Bard, the name is Bard m'lady." "It is pleasant to meet you Bard, I am Eleniel. And we...could do with some help."

The Sun was low on the lake when Eleniel pushed Bard's boat off the shore. "How do you plan on sneaking us in?" she asked as she climbed up the small stairs, stopping next to Bard. "I plan to stuff 'ya in the barrels." Eleniel feigned a look of shock, and then Bard and her broke out into laughter. "You're not the usual lady, are you now?" "Not really," Eleniel answered with a grin as she looked down at the torn fabric of her tunic. The wound had long since healed, leaving a nasty-looking torn tunic as only evidence of ever being there. "Well, then you won't need to be stuffed in a barrel, I think you'll take the lot of 'em better than the Hobbit." "I was wondering if you had noticed our shortage, but yes, I take things better than the Hobbit. How close are we?" She muttered as the voices on the lower deck were starting to rise. Immediately she walked off, towards the angry Dwarves.

"What are you all grumbling about?" she asked with a sigh. "We've seen no mountain and this journey is just costin' me more and more!" "Yeah, maybe you want to turn around then," she told them. A collective gasp ran across the deck as tall pillars doomed up in the mist. "Is he tryin' to drown us?" Dori exclaimed loudly. "No, Dori, if he wanted to Bard would not do it here," Eleniel commented.

And then a tall figure towered over them all. "The lonely mountain," Eleniel heard somewhere behind her, followed by the sound of money hitting the deck. "Pay him, Thorin Oakenshield, or he will drown us," Eleniel muttered to her right before walking back to join Bard.

"To answer your question, we are close now. Very much so. I'd like my payment," Bard told her. "Go collect it then," she said with a small smile. "Do you think it's wise for me to leave the helm?" "It'll be fine, I can manage to not crash us for just a bit," she answered with a teasing smile. "Be careful with her," Bard answered before stalking off towards the Dwarves.
Eleniel softly placed her hand on the helm, turning the boat slightly more left to avoid a rather big piece of ice. And then she straightened her out again, relaxing against the back bow.
"You're not too bad with a ship," Bard commented as he took over again. "I spent my time on the road, sometimes it consisted of water rather than sand or dirt," Eleniel retorted. "You are certainly not a normal lady," Bard laughed softly. "What do you want me to do when we get there?" she asked suddenly. Bard turned to her with a serious look, "well..."

The water was ice cold. Which wasn't odd, considering the floating pieces of ice in it. But Eleniel expected it to be more of a gradual freeze, this was the opposite. And she was quite sure that if Bard didn't help her back on the ship soon, because her limbs were too stiff to help herself up now, she'd haunt him all the way through her afterlife. She'd come back from him. The moment Bard had explained her the plan she got some ridiculous shouts from the Dwarves, but she knew it would be the only way. However, it was a little less pleasant than expected. And what was even more odd, quite peculiar actually, was that Elves weren't supposed to feel the cold the way she was feeling it now. And that meant only one thing, the darkness in the world was growing. She'd always been very sensitive to the dark. That was why when the Greenwood went ill, Eleniel went ill at first too, confusing the world around her. Because Elves weren't supposed to go ill. She did. And then she went better. No one understood why.

And then there was a hand latching around her wrist, hauling her onto the deck with a loud smack.

Thorin's eyes widened when he saw the state Eleniel was in, and immediately he pulled off his cloak to wrap it around her. "I'll live Thorin, Bard might not though, when I'm through with him," Eleniel denied his cloak. "Don't be a fool Eleniel, you need the warmth. After that you can kill him," Thorin insisted and threw the cloak around her shoulders. Now, Eleniel wasn't short but she certainly wasn't very tall either, and Thorin's cloak was big enough to make her feel like a small child again. A sigh left her lips, and she smiled at him, "thank you Thorin."
And then they were moving again, fast and hidden. It really was a matter of high importance that they wouldn't be seen. Bard's house was being watched. And they did get smuggled into Laketown after all.

It was Eleniel who Bard apparently felt pity for as she, the Dwarves and the Hobbit crawled up into Bard's house through the toilet. And he calmly pointed her to one of his daughter's rooms, a shower and a bed.