Amära's Challenge

Amära's Sword

Amara walked Runwyn along the familiar path. It had been thirteen years since she'd visited the cliffs of her home. The sun light beamed down on her, the summer grass swaying in the warm breeze. 

Runwyn's snort brought her back and she surveyed the area. She saw a green-cloaked man sitting under a spindly tree near the edge. 

She paused for a moment debating with herself before leading Runwyn closer to him. 

"Is the other side of the tree not safer?" She said as she stopped beside him. The man didn't look up, instead kept weaving his rope. 

"Perhaps, but the light is over here." He answered. Gesturing towards the sun making it's slow decent. He sounded wise with age, but his hands looked that of a man in his forties. There was something comforting about his presence she couldn't place. 

"There is light further near a rock yonder." 

"Are these cliffs dangerous?" 

"They're cliffs." She answered shortly. 

The hood of the cloak lifted to where she could see the bottom half of his face. "You are from Gondor?" 

She sat stiffly in her saddle. "Rohan." 

"Truly? Does Rohan have rangers?" 

"A small unit." 

"With women?" 

"With a woman." Runwyn, shifted her weight underneath the saddle. 

"You must be impressive." He said, returning to his weaving. 

She scoffed. "Yes, sewing and cooking for idealistic boys." 

"You're a maiden then." 

"I'm a Ranger. I can fight as well as any man and many times better than one from Gondor." 

He chuckled. "Not fond of Gondor are we." 

"Gondor is better with Aragorn reining, but Rohan still mourns the death of Theoden King." 

"As does all of Middle Earth." He answered. 

She paused. "Where are you from?" 

"The stables back along the road. I needed rope." 

"For what?" She asked, aware he avoided the question. 

He held up the three pronged rope, and threw it over the cliff, holding onto the end."There's a sword at the bottom." 

Amara's stomach roiled. "A sword." 

"Yes, it'd be a shame to leave it." He answered, he sat on the cliffs ridge and focused below. 

Amara stared at the cliff's edge. "That sword has been there for years. Nothing can retrieve it. The face is too steep and there's no way to the bottom." 

"A creative situation calls for a creative solution." 

She looked at him with a furrowed brow. What do you plan on doing with it...? If you even retrieve it." 

"A traveler is always in need of coin." 

Amara was speechless before erupting to life. "You can't do that! That sword has a long and noble history, the family still lives!" 

The man ignored her, slowly bringing the rope up, there was a clatter and he muttered something under his breath. 

Amara swung her leg around and hopped off Runwyn's back, slip-knotting her reins to a branch before walking over and sitting down on the edge, watching as the hooks danced around the sword, she looked away. 

"Do you know the family...?" The man asked, an air of serenity about him. 

"It belonged to Gunthor, son of Hameth. He had a wife and three children." 

"Is his wife a widow?" 

"Re-married, to a smith." 

"And his children...?" He asked, there was another clatter making her heart flutter in her chest. 

"The son is a farmer and his eldest daughter is married." 

"The third...?" 

Amara bit her lip, her eyes misting. "I am she." She answered quietly. 

"Your father would be proud." The man replied easily. "How did the sword fall." 

She didn't answer, her hands held onto the grass as she avoided looking at the sword. "I-- It was my fault." She said stiffly. "It fell from my hand." 

"Mistakes happen, often without our meaning to." 

"It was all we had left of him." She heard him about to speak and added. "He and his men went to a skirmish on the borders. Some families had their husband or son returned to them, some only had their horse and we...we had his sword." 

"You still have it." Came the reply. 

"Yes, as a reminder of my carelessness." 

She felt a scratchy material against her skin and looked over to see the man holding the rope to her. "You still have it." He said again. 

She gingerly took the rope as the man rose to his feet, putting a hand into his bag and pulled out a potato, tossing it at her. 

She caught it and gave him a curious look. "What's this for?" She asked as he walked away. 

"You'll be there for a while." He replied over his shoulder. 

She looked between the man and the items he had given her. Her eyes fell onto the sword, dusty but still glinting in the rays of light. She smiled to herself.

     'I still have him...'

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Yeee!
That's the end folks, I hope you enjoyed :D

I want to take a moment to thank NoctusFury and OnThePotatoeFarm   for helping me with my three scenes. Not just with outlining but with editing and motivation. You two are amazing and I love you both ;v;

Silverhand19  I had a lot of fun with this and I wanted to let you know that I REALLY loved the prompts and it helped me with writing quickly and well so I dont need as much editing :)
I hope you enjoyed the read and good luck choosing a character for your story! You've got a tough decision on your hands ;D