Raging Fire

Chapter 9 'Gellon ned i galar i chent gîn ned i gladhog'

Beorn had provided them with ponies. But Enelya and Altáriël had their own horses. They whistled once and then again. Knowing the animals were somehow always around. And there they came, Floyd arrived first. And Enelya's horse arrived only minutes later, a large scratch on its right front leg. "Athea! What happened to you girl?" She panicked, her horse could barely walk now, there was no way she could carry Enelya! "I will take care of your horse, girl. Go now, while you have the light. The hunters are not far behind." Beorn said. Enelya knew what their former host meant. The cut was even deeper than Altá's former wound, the horse would never recover. Fíli rode up next to the heartbroken girl and outstretched his hand, pulling her in front of him on the pony. And they were good to go. Enelya didn't dare to look back. She heard her horse neigh one last time before Beorn put her to rest. Fíli had given her the reins. His both hands were feeling numb now, he hated flowers now, especially the orange ones. Enelya had tears streaming down her face. But there was no time to grieve, the orc pack was hot on their heels it seemed. They rode rapidly across the land. Altáriël looked at the blonde girl. Riding next to her to calm her down, she put a hand on her shoulder. They rode in silence. Fíli was kind of hugging her from behind, not able to stay on the pony with just holding on with his numbed hands. Enelya felt awkward once again, why did they always end up so close? It did feel kind of nice though. But what would she and Altáriël do once they got to Mirkwood? It was after all, her home. They would have to avoid the elves to not get in trouble, or they would have to abandon the company for a while, maybe even for good. She knew that Altáriël would give up everything she built up in the realm of the Wood elves for the dwarves in a heartbeat. She, on the other hand, she would not. She had worked hard to earn a place next to Altáriël. Another thing she didn't want to lose was her friendship with Legolas. This would have been the only thing that would change Altá's mind, but with her friend's new found interest in one particular dwarf, all hope of that option was lost.
On the back of her black stallion Altáriël had come to the same conclusion. She had already made her choice, but she didn't want the younger girl to make her decision based on hers. The only one that could help her was Gandalf. "Mithrandir." She said, letting Floyd ride faster so she could talk to the wizard privately. "What should I do? We are about to enter the Realm of Tranduil, the king that Enelya and I have answered to for a long time. If the elves find out we are on this quest, we will have to spend forever down in his dungeons. But I cannot abandon my family again. " She declared. Her helper thought for a moment before giving one of his wise answers; "Whatever decision you make, Enelya will choose too. If anyone is wise enough to make their own decision, it's her." "She would still follow me, unless you make her see the effects of her choice." She answered. "I am sure that Enelya will make the choice that seems right for her. Don't talk to her, she will figure it out on her own Altáriël." She sighed at the wizard's answer. But she let the topic rest. Trusting on Gandalf's words that Lya would make the decision that was best for her.
Before the girls knew it, they had reached the point where they had to choose. Altáriël got off of her stallion. Walking over to Enelya, she helped the girl unmount the pony. "What decision have you made?" Altáriël was a skilled general because she could read people so well, she had long known what Enelya would ask her, and answered immediately. "I have chosen for the decision you didn't, I choose to stay with the company, but if you ask it of me. I will join you in your choice." This wasn't the answer Enelya expected to hear. This was also not what she wanted. She had found out long ago that the only reason Altáriël came to Mirkwood, was Enelya. If she would do this again, Enelya would never forgive herself. "I will go back to the halls of Tranduil alone. You have to stay with the dwarves, they might get lost without you." The blonde spoke her decision. She also wanted to be alone for a while, she had just lost her horse, and the conversations and cuddles with Fíli were still things she thought about a lot. "You're not leaving us?" The girls heard Bilbo say, it interrupted Altáriël, who was about to speak again. But instead it was the wizard that spoke; "I would not do this unless I have to. You have changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same hobbit as the one who left the Shire." Altáriël and Enelya walked over to Thorin, explaining their decision to him. Enelya left immediately after saying her farewells to everyone, and walked into the forest. She had been here so many times, she could walk over the path with her eyes closed. Altáriël looked one last time at Enelya, before turning to Gandalf. "I cannot assure you that the elves won't find them. I can't even assure that we will be able to follow the path. I am still half a dwarf, the forest does funny things to me too if I don't have my other guards with me. If Enelya would be here it would all go smoothly. I am sorry Gandalf." The wizard smiled knowingly. "I am sure everything will play out in the end. I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me. This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray." The wizard got on his horse and spoke again; "No matter what may come, stay on the path!" And away the wizard went. The remaining company turned towards the forest. "Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day."

Enelya reached her destination after two days of walking. She walked through the Eastern Gate. Greeting the guards that stood watch. On her way to the throne, she bumped into Tauriel. The redhead had always liked Enelya, but had never taken a liking to her friend, Altáriël had taken over her work as captain of the guard after all. "Lya! Hello, how are you. I was worried for you. I was going to see Tranduil, will you come with me?" Tauriel spoke fluently in Elvish. Together they walked towards the King's hall. They made small talk on the way, Enelya was vague about what she had done on her trip. Tauriel gave her a wicked smile, asking if she knew what Altáriël was up to. After the brunette had gone on her 'mission' Tauriel had been her replacement until Altáriël would return. Enelya thought Tauriel was out on getting some dirty information on her best friend, perhaps to tell to the Elven King, to ensure Tauriel would stay captain of the guard. But Enelya shook her head, she was probably hallucinating and had interpreted Tauriel's question the wrong way. She asked the redhead quickly how things had been since she was gone, and tried to forgot about the question. So she was happy when they reached their destination. "My King, Enelya has returned." Tranduil turned his head to look at them. "Wonderful. The elves have missed you as their healer. You shall return to your post at once. Tomorrow I will speak to you in private." And the king had already dismissed her. Enelya sighed, happy that she would have until tomorrow to think about where she had been the last months or so.
The first day in Mirkwood was better than Altáriël had ever hoped. She walked next to Kíli, the two had found each other once again. They were walking in the back of the company when they stopped near a stream, Ori went to drink from it. But Altáriël stopped him. The waters in Mirkwood were even heavier with illusion than the air they breathed. Bofur had followed her, and saw a deer drink from the water. "Look, over there, the animals are drinking the water, so why can't we?" He went to fill his canteen, but Altáriël stopped him, she grabbed his chin and turned his face towards the deer again. the poor animal was shocking and fell. Dying slowly from the effects of the liquid. "That's why." The girl answered with a face of stone. The dwarves realised they were in more trouble than they thought, might they lose their path or run out of provisions. When the company started walking again, they also started hallucinating. They stopped for the night. Huddling close together out of fear. "Altáriël, you know those woods better than any of us, you get the first watch. The dwarves and hobbit fell asleep quickly despite their uneasiness of the place.
Fíli had second watch, and Altáriël woke him up. After an hour the girl was still not able to sleep, so she sat next to Fíli. "You like my brother, don't you?" was the first thing the dwarf said. Altáriël knew that it was obvious to anyone, except Kíli, who somehow hadn't shown any sign of knowing it. "Yes I do, why'd you ask?" She answered, curious of Fíli's intentions. "I think he likes you too, Altáriël, it's just that my brother is too blind to see it. And once he will realize he has feelings for you, he might get frightened. You should let him know before it's too late." Altáriël felt pressured, she didn't even know if what she felt was true. She walked back to her sleeping bag, excusing herself from Fíli, and went to sleep. She had always loved Greenwood, but now it had become Mirkwood, she had started to regret her past choices of coming here. She was no person to walk in forests like this, every time she had to lead the guards somewhere, she had nightmares. Every time she would sleep close to the trees, even if it was inside of the woodelves realm, she had nightmares. And this time was no exception.
She found herself in her old house. Why was she here. She was drawing something, a dragon. How ironically. This was no nightmare, this was a memory. "Altáriël, can you stop drawing for a moment and give me a hug? I am going to work." Her mother questioned, making her way gracefully down the stairs. She was a beautiful elf, blonde hair and green eyes. The second to last time she would see her. A beautiful red dress, her hair perfectly braided as always. Her mother made no exception to look gorgeous every time. The younger Altáriël stood up and ran over to her mother; "When will Ada be home mommy? I want to show him my drawings! I have drawn a dragon, and I've even drawn us!" She rambled on, her mother bend down to kiss her forehead. "He will be home tonight, dear. I'm off to work, if you get hungry, I have baked some cookies yesterday. Gi melin Altáriël."[I love you] The girl repeated her mother's last sentence and hugged her one last time. "I'll see you tonight mommy!" A sad smile on her daughter's face made Arátë turn around. "Dear, Gellon ned i galar i chent gîn ned i gladhog. So smile a happy smile. Novaer" [farewell/be good] And then she was gone, walking down the street, her red dress disappearing around the corner.
Her mother, her father. Why did they have to die? She was lost in thoughts when she bumped against Bifur. "Keep moving. Nori, Why have we stopped?" Thorin said. They had been in Mirkwood for two days. Altáriël found it a miracle they hadn't gotten lost up until now, they hadn't seen any elves or spiders either. "The path... It's disappeared!" Nori said. And all of Altáriël's hope was gone, they would never find the path again. When the others started to look for a path, she remained on her place. Thinking when she had last seen it, but the forest had now started to affect her brain. All she saw were spiders, spiders everywhere. The confused girl grabbed her axe and began slashing it around, unaware that the spiders she saw were in fact the dwarves. "Knock her out!" Thorin ordered, while almost being hit by her axe. Dwalin knocked her out and caught her. He slung her over his shoulder and the dwarves continued walking. Altáriël fell into some sort of coma, the blow on her head and the air of the forest was enough to make the girl sleep deeper than ever before. She dreamed about Kíli. In her dream she was wearing her mother's red dress while laying on top of thousands, no millions, of golden coins. The brown haired prince tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Whispering the words 'Gellon ned i galar i chent gîn ned i gladhog'.[I love to see your eyes shine when you laugh.] The beautiful dream suddenly twisted when she saw her father, burns all over his body. Her mother lay behind him, she could only recognize her, the flames had ruined her face. The dream got even worse, when her father transformed into the Pale Orc she feared. She faced away from the white horror, straight into Kíli's eyes. They suddenly widened when a blade pierced through his chest. Altáriël screamed in horror, tears falling from her eyes. She forgot she was in a dream and succumbed to her panic attack. Dwalin noticed her bad dream as well. Bilbo had disappeared into the leaves of the tree. Searching for daylight and the right direction. The dwarf laid the girl on the ground where she continued to convulse. The tears streaking her face. The company turned themselves towards her. They began to try to wake their hallucinating friend. The company was taken by surprise when spiders attacked. They hadn't noticed them sneaking towards them, and were defeated easily.

I do not own the hobbit. I only own my own two characters Altáriël and Enelya.