Daughter of the Dark (War of the Rings: Books 1-3)

Crebain

Lyraelle's POV

I heard a crunching sound as my boot slammed down on top of stone - angrily turning it to dust.

Last nights events had gone just as well as I had expected. Just as I had anticipated, the fellowship did not take the news that I was the daughter of Sauron well. Accusations of being a spy and evil etc etc had been tossed around by each member other than Gandalf; who had just looked on shaking his head sadly.

Then of course, Boromir, Legolas, and Aragorn had let their testosterone filled emotions get the better of them and had tried to kill me; despite the fact that I had told them I couldn't be killed while my father still lived...Now I had one more cause of death to add to my list - pinned to a tree with two swords and an arrow - I hadn't had heart to fight them; not to mention having been through way more painful experiences at the hands of my father and his henchman. Not to say that recovery from being pinned to a tree had not been extremely painful as well; my flesh unable to close until Gandalf had torn their weapons out of my body.

The hobbits on the other hand, were wary of me, but weren't trying to kill me, so that was progress. I had strode up to Frodo first thing in the morning and bent down to him, pleading with him to understand that I would not do anything to hurt him and his friends. He had surprised me and nodded to me, telling me that I had proved myself to him that night on weathertop. I had made to hug him; but caught Aragorn and Legolas glaring at me and just smiled at the little hobbit in appreciation. In many ways, he reminded me of Bilbo.

The next few days march were miserable. I spent most of my time walking next to Gandalf or Gimli, who had just shrugged his shoulders and clapped me on the back, saying that if his father had trusted me, that it was good enough for him. Eru bless the dwarves!

A fortnight and a half from the day we first started out from Imladris, I found myself sitting once more, on a rock, watching as Boromir trained Merry and Pippin. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched them shouting and attacking Boromir, latching onto his limbs in order to bring him down to the ground. I hadn't laughed much since the fellowship had learned the truth about my father - though in fairness, I had never laughed much - not finding much in my life to laugh about...

In the background, I could hear Gimli arguing with Gandalf about how we should travel to Moria. I shook my head at this. He was fighting a lost cause. Gandalf wouldn't travel to Moria unless there was no other option. He had told me of his suspicions of what lurked there. I shivered.

I suddenly saw Aragorn standing up to help Boromir, only to go tumbling down to the ground. A giggle burst forth before I could stop it as I hopped up and went to go help the two men back up.

I was still laughing by the time I reached the pile of man and hobbit and my eyes twinkled briefly as I offered my hand down to Aragorn.

Before I could realize what was happening, Merry and Pippin had snaked their arms around my ankles and dragged me down with the rest of them.

I landed with a thud on top of Aragorn, unable to help the bubbles of mirth that burst forth as the two hobbits started tickling me.

"Enough! You rascals!" I managed to gasp out, trying to push myself off of the ground. As I did so, I came face to face with Aragorn. We were both smiling broadly, and for a moment, recent events were forgotten as a part of my brain could not help but notice how dangerously close our lips were from one another. The scars on my back itched like mad but barely registered to my mind.

I felt my body lean in further until I could feel his warm breath ghost across my lips as his smoldering gaze lingered on me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Legolas glaring at me in warning and the moment was ruined. I hastily staggered to my feet; pulling Aragorn up alongside me before he could argue against it.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but as I did so, one of the hobbits stood up and pointed towards the sky.

"What is that?" Sam said.

"Nothing...it's just a wisp of a cloud," answered Gimli. But as I stared at the sky, a sense of foreboding stole over me.

"It's moving fast...against the wind," Boromir pointed out.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas and I shouted at the same time.

"Hide!" Aragorn screamed.

"Merry..Pippin...Sam...take cover!" I told them.

I was about to find a hiding spot for myself as well, but suddenly pain laced throughout my body and I dropped to my knees. I screwed my eyes shut as my father's voice grated against my ears and in my mind.

The red-orange flaming eye that was perched atop the black tower of Mordor burst into existence in my mind's eye and I silently screamed as I was brought closer and closer to my father. The iris of the eye forming into the shape of his silhouette.

I was so focused on the vision of my father, that I did not feel the two pairs of arms that wrapped around me and pulled me into their embrace underneath a bundle of bushes right as a regiment of large crows flew low overhead at great speed, wheeling and circling above us.

I barely noticed as their dark shadows passed over, nor did I hear the single harsh croak before the crows suddenly wheeled away, back towards the south.

My eyes were still shut tight and my body trembled in Aragorn and Legolas's embrace as my father towered over me. Though he had no body in the physical realm, he had always been able to enter my mind and torture me in dreams. I turned my head to the side as the shadow of Sauron lifted a hand high and brought it crashing down on me. My body slumped unconscious in my two companion's arms as my father drew closer and closer, trying to extract what information he could from me.

Legolas's POV

I frowned at Aragorn as I felt Lyraelle's body trembling in our arms for several seconds before stilling as she fell unconscious. I could tell from looking at the glare on his face, that my soulmate was not happy with Lyraelle. He probably thought that she had stayed out in the open to try and give away our position to the enemy. I had to admit, I was a little suspicious myself, but my brain and body were at war with themselves when it came to her. Half of me despised the way she had wormed her way into our company with lies, and the other half couldn't fight the attraction I felt towards her. It was rare for soulmates to reject one another - and I didn't want that to happen. It was said to be a horrible and lonely existence.

Once the birds had finally swept away; leaving the blue sky clear once more, I gathered the still unconscious body of Lyraelle in my arms as we stood up.

"Spies of Saruman. The passage South is being watched," Gandalf said warily as he looked first towards Aragorn, turned towards the rest of us, and then gestured towards a high mountain pass. "We must take the pass of Caradhras!"

********************************************

In-Line Comments

- Let me know what you think! Still haven't gotten much feedback yet so would love to hear from my readers!