Valar Rising

Chapter 4: Arien

After tossing and turning in her bed for a few hours, Arien got up, wrapped her dressing gown around herself and went to sit down on the chaise lounge by the window overlooking the valley. The sky sparkled, devoid of clouds that might block the starlight. But, despite the clear sky, her mind was clouded.

Meeting Rian felt unsettling, the opposite of the joy and excitement she had anticipated. Arien didn't like to admit it, but she expected someone with an aura similar to Elrond or Glorfindel, or at least the twins. Rian was polite but closed off. She didn't radiate the power Arien had hoped, nor did she seem to realize who Arien was. She didn't recognize her kin.

Arien admitted that if she hadn't seen Rian with Gandalf - and had it confirmed by Elrond that she was a Valar - she would not have pegged her as anything other than a Ranger. Her hair was crudely cut above her shoulders, and she had a hardened look in her eyes that Arien couldn't stop thinking about. Why was she so withdrawn? Moreover, why did she not acknowledge who Airen is?

A crash in the trees to the south caught Arien's attention, followed by some shouting. She recognized the voice of Dareth, one of the captains of Elrond's guard, who she knew was coming back from monitoring the patrol of the Southern entrance to the valley. He broke through the trees on horseback, riding hard for the central courtyard.

Without missing a beat Arien was up and out the door, rushing down to meet Dareth as he rode in. Elrond, Elrohir, Elladan, and Gandalf were already there.

"My Lord," Dareth pulled his horse to a halt but did not dismount, "A dark terror is threatening our border, it has followed two travelers from Lothlorien here."

Elrohir and Elladan took off for the stables without another word, but Elrond stayed put.

"Where are these two travelers?" He asked.

"One is wounded, and the other, a woman named Hanna - she claims she has bested it before, in Mirkwood."

Elrond and Gandalf exchanged a look before Gandalf headed back inside. Arien turned on her heel as well, running back to her room and changing into a thick tunic and pair of leggings. She grabbed her riding boots along with a loaded saddle bag and dashed off to the stables. Once there Arien looked for Elrohir and Elladan and saw them exiting the south side, rushing off into the darkness.

"They told me to prepare Berithul for you, Lady Arien," A stablehand approached her, the reins of Arien's horse in her hands.

Arien smiled and thanked her, mounted Berithul, and took off in the same direction as the twins. She caught up to them, and together they rode fast toward the Southern entrance. Elrohir and Elladan had not allowed her to ride out with them before, always insisting that they could handle whatever was happening, that her time to ride out would come. Arien knew that this creature, a 'dark terror,' was the start of her time. It felt fitting that it happened on the night Rian shows up in Imladris.

Shouts rose from the clearing they were approaching, and soon Airen could see the flickers of flames through the trees. She realized as they got closer that the flames were fires the patrolling elves had built in the center of the circle of trees. Next to the fire stood a tall woman with nearly white hair, her arms outstretched. To Arien's surprise, Rian stepped forward to stand by this woman, a long bow drawn with a black arrow in its notch.

"It's retreating into the trees. I'm going to pursue it," The woman with the pale hair, whom Arien assumed was Hanna called out as she made to move out of the circle of trees.

Arien urged her horse forward, stopping the woman in her tracks. "Can you please explain what is going on-"

"There is no time to explain," Rian spoke up, following the movements of the unknown creature with her arrow, "It's getting away."