The Odyssey of the daughter of the forest

Prologue

The trees shadows on her side seemed to protect her, as they always did for six hundreds years. She had grown up in these woods all her life, now, it was her duty to do it. The forest was more dangerous day after day. So, the name of Greenwood had been forgotten, and we now called it Mirkwood, a name much more true, unfortunately.

The forest had darkened slowly, and seemed sick now, like it had been poisoned by an evil spell. Big spiders had come from Dol Guldur, and were haunting these woods, every single moment of the day and of the night. Animals disappeared. She had seen one time, just one time, a white deer, but that was all. Orcs were more numerous too, and more aggressive, years after years. And even if time went slowly for elves, they knew their homeland was in danger.

Lord Elrond himself feared what was happening. The elves of Mirkwood went to Rivendell to know his thoughts, but he did not answer precisely. He just told them that evil had perhaps come back to Middle Earth. But nothing was certain, and it was better to wait. The lord of Imladris had been very kind with them, like his sons and his daughter. She was courageous, and had the same personality than the red-hair elf. Maybe that is why they became very close. Her brothers were always happy and the prince of Mirkwood seemed to be their old friend. And even if he had beaten them many times, they had kept smiling. She had beaten Arwen too, by using a secret fencing move that the prince had taught her. But all the elves were not happy to live in Middle Earth.

A lot of them were leaving those lands. They were taking the boat at the Grey Heavens to the land of their ancestors, to never return. She remembered perfectly the day when Feriel had told her she was leaving Middle Earth. The brown-hair elf, who had been like like a mother for her after her parents’ death in an orcs attack, and for three hundred years, had heard the call of the sea, and did not resist to it. She let Tauriel in Mirkwood, and giving her her father’s daggers, she left for Valinor, a fine spring morning. She had turned her head to her a last time, to smile to her as a mother, her brown hair flying in the wind, her eyes shining. She had wanted to go with her, but she knew she had to stay in Middle Earth for many centuries before she would hear the call of the sea.

As captain of the guard, she had to protect her homeland. She had become lieutenant after Aramil, and captain after Eridan had left. She did not appreciate every orders of Thranduil, but she did not show it. She wanted to kill the spiders in the nest, but he did not. He did not want to lose lives for that. He had already shown it in the past.

When a dragon had come from the north and had attacked the dwarves at the lonely mountain, the king had cowley turned back on the hill above the lake. Dwarves had come out of the mountain, in front of them, but Thranduil did not do anything. Many persons died that day. Men and dwarves, but no elves. Everybody knew that the king hated the dwarves.

Following her heart, as soon as they came back to Mirkwood, she had begun to go out the night to attack spiders nests that the king did not allow her to destroy the day. She had done it for weeks, and months, until the moment Legolas stopped her, on a particularly dark day of autumn. Maybe was it better, before the king noticed it. Even if she had done it for her homeland, he would have punished her. And she could not continue, because she knew the blond prince would have stopped her again. She knew he was still looking after her.

He had taught her to fight better than before, and she thanked him silently every day. It was impossible for her to betray him.

She came back into the real world. Her feet were silently touching the leafy ground in the direction of the forest’s enter. As soon as she had come back at the palace with her friend Merilin and some other guards, an elf had come to told her that strangers had entered the the forest in the west. Nodding in silence, thoughtful, she had begun to run under the trees, her daggers at her hips, and her bow with her quiver in her back. Most of the strangers did not enter the forest of Mirkwood anymore, knowing what was happening there. Who were these fools who dared to enter these woods ?