Hummingbird Heartbeat

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Soft hands were picking her up and she moved slightly. The twitch set off a shockwave of pain that had Maranda screaming and shooting into the air. She spiraled madly and eventually fluttered back to the ground, shaking and whimpering. Her wings really did hurt. The sound of crunching footsteps came over to her, light and fast.

"Oh if you're going to kill me, just do it," she moaned and someone kneeled in front of her.

"My lady, if you will let me we can heal you at Lord Elrond's house," said a kind voice. Maranda looked up and started sobbing.

"Oh, Lindir, thank Valar, oh God. Thank you," she sobbed and he picked her up gently. The other Elves looked worried and reverent, not that Maranda noticed, she was a mess.

"Return to Rivendell!" Lindir called and they all climbed onto horses, Lindir holding Maranda in front of him as she struggled to not to scream from the shaking. Her adrenaline had run down and she was just in pain. She was vaguely aware Lindir wasn't actually speaking English, or Westron in that world, but she understood him just fine. The ride was only a quarter of an hour, but it felt like a hundred years to Maranda.

She was beginning to understand this wasn't a fantastical adventure with her favorite fairytale characters. This was all real, and dangerous, and she could die. Her and Thorin and Kili and Fili. But she wasn't about to let that happen. She and Kili were making a plan. They knew what to do. They were going to be ready. She hoped.

Finally the sound of hoof on grass changed to hoof on marble and the four riders galloped into Rivendell. The sun was going down and Maranda barely had time to register the huge marble arches and towers when Lindir handed her off to other Elves who carried her on a soft stretcher to a room filled with light. She was drifting in and out of consciousness now and would remember very little of the magic worked on her that day.

When she did wake up, it was dark. She was in a soft white bed by a window that had a thousand stars above her and the moonlight seeping in, onto her covers. She sighed as the lack of pain registered with her. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh cool air. It smelled of flowers and water, the sound of waterfalls soft in the still night air. Next she recognized the amount of bandages on her body. Not only was her ankle bound. All four of her wings, her chest and her hands were bound, along with a small patch on her nose.

She sat up and shifted her wings without pain and stepped out of bed. Her foot felt fine as long as she didn't stand on just the one foot and she tiptoed across the room in the clean white nightgown she was wearing. It had been cut recently, if the uneven hems were anything to go by, but it was soft and light and made her feel safe. She brushed her steadily growing hair out of her face and opened the door. A long hall was before her. She spotted an Elf at the end of the hall talking softly to a big man with a beard. Gandalf?

She stepped out into the hall and closed the door. She couldn't fly but she could glide if she opened her wings slightly. She drifted like a ghost down the hall towards the two big folk and stopped a few feet away.

"I know she is important, but she cannot be allowed to run wild over middle earth," the bearded man was saying. It was so soft Maranda could barely hear him. Gandalf must have a sore throat if he was talking in that timbre. "We should lock her away." Maranda's breath caught in her throat.

"Out of the question," snapped the Elf. Lindir? "If a Fairy has returned to Middle Earth, we need to teach her the ways before her magic fades. She should be taught how to use her powers."

"She is not a wizard and not a witch!" Gandalf snapped in a fierce tone and Maranda ducked behind a statue. "She is a mere Fay who has the Sight. That is all."