The young woman was sure that the Elf who had placed his arrow in her flesh was exceedingly proud of himself. And in all honesty, she could not find it in her heart to blame him if he did indeed feel so. After all, hitting a moving target is difficult. Though she was mildly impressed by his skills with a bow, she was not at all impressed by the fact that he had hit her... In the side of her stomach... With an arrow lodged deeply into her flesh.
She grimaced as she ran through the forest, never once slowing her very fast pace. The Elf had obviously seen her and he knew that she was the one to kill the old man. There was no hiding that from him now. But on the other side, she did not hear any footsteps pursuing after her quite yet. As she held the old mans head beneath her arm, she did not worry about the blood.
Blood nor violence nor death affected her at all. A man or woman's passing on was simply a part of the cycle of life. She just helped that said person to come to their deaths a little sooner. And she was quite well paid as well. Besides, she liked to look at her job as a form of overdue justice. Those jobs she accepted were only the jobs to kill those who had committed a crime against another. She did not just run about accepting any job. First she had to see if the person that she was hired to kill was really worth killing. If that was in fact the case, she would accept.
Now before she could give in to the pain of the arrow, she had to finish her job. The husband of Miss Molly was to meet her not to far from the Rivendell borders. She would transfer the head to him and the she would take her leave. She was just a little ways from their designated meeting spot, and with that happy thought she picked up her pace, running as fast as she could.
Within a moment she saw the man, sitting upon his horse and expectantly awaiting her arrival. She ran into the clearing, making sure that her hood was pulled down tight about her figure so that he would be unable to see what she looked like or that she was in fact a woman. Without getting to close to the horse, she moved the head in her hand so that she could toss it to the man.
As the head came soaring toward him, he startled slightly, just barely managing to catch it. He held it awkwardly away from his body, making a face of disgust. "Thank you..." He muttered out, reaching one of his hands into his pocket to pull out a pouch filled with coins. He tossed them to her and she caught them with graceful ease. With a nod of her head, she turned and vanished from his sight without uttering a single word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in Rivendell, Legolas stood stock still like a statue, his piercing blue eyes starring off into the trees from where the cloaked rider had vanished from. All he could think was that he was almost... He was almost positive that the cloaked figure... Was a woman. How he had that thought in his head he did not know... There was nothing he could see of the rider but it's piercing silver eyes.
Yet at the same time, as the figure ran, he heard the footsteps hitting the ground... And the steps were light. Too light to be a mans feet... Well at lest he thought. But he could not be sure. He wished he would have thought faster, being able to pull off the cloak... But he was not fast enough this time.
Legolas let out another long sigh for what felt like the hundredth time that day as he turned his attention to the body that remained of Potan. And unfortunate fate... But Legolas silently admitted he was glad he would not have to deal with the unending whining of the old loon. Besides, the more Legolas thought of the words on the letter Potan had received, the more he questioned what the man had done.
If the Phantom Rider was an assassin and he/she was paid to kill people... Maybe the rider only killed those who deserved death? Maybe? What had Potan done to seal his fate in such a way...? Legolas moved to the body and slipped the letter from the old man's jacket, thus slipping the letter into his own shirt in turn. Legolas muttered a half hearted goodbye before standing and turning to walk back inside.
Once inside the halls of Rivendell he informed Lord Elrond of the events that had just unfolded. Elrond listened in silence, only speaking to give a command to the guards to take care of Potan's body. Then the Lord himself let out a sigh, one of his hands moving to rub his temples. Legolas watched him in a respectful silence as he awaited any instruction. Slowly, Lord Elrond spoke.
"It seems as though this Rider is very skilled in what they do. I trust that you are able to do this job and I have no doubt in you. Do as you think it best. I want you to find this Rider and I want you to figure out why he is killing people. What have they done to deserve this death? That is all for now Legolas. You may go." Elrond said this all calmly, putting much thought into his words before he spoke them.
As Legolas was dismissed he sighed yet again, one of his hands moving to brush through his long hair as he thought. He had to learn more of this Phantom Rider. But who knew anything about the thing claiming to be well... A phantom? He thought hard, leaning against the rail of the balcony as he wracked his brains for an answer. Then it hit him! Who knew just about anything and everything about Middle Earth? Gandalf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moment Gandalf received the letter from Legolas, he was curious as to what the Elven Prince may need from him. But he opened the letter and read through it quickly, not even thinking about it when Legolas requested his assistance down in Rivendell. Gandalf was riding on his way there in a matter of moments. And luckily for the Prince, Gandalf had been in one of the nearby villages of Rivendell. It would still take an hour or so to reach Rivendell, but Gandalf felt that his presence in Rivendell was not an overly urgent matter...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas had been patient in waiting for a reply from the White Wizard. But so far, no news had yet to come. He took a deep breath as he paced back and forth along the bridge that led into Rivendell, his mind working as he thought about what to do.
He could go track down the Rider... After all, he had shot the cloaked figure. And no matter where the person had been shot, it was sure to make riding away or escaping somewhat difficult... Should he pack some things and run off to find the Phantom? Or should he wait just a little bit longer?
He had been mulling this over in his head when the sound of horse hooves reached his ears. Legolas looked up, startling slightly with surprise as he saw non other than Gandalf himself riding down the path to Rivendell. Legolas straitened up, his eyes filling with curiosity.
"Mithrander!" He called out, waving a hand to Gandalf happily, a smile spreading over his fair face. "Legolas my friend!" Gandalf called back to him, his voice old and jolly, a smile on his face that made the corners of his eyes wrinkle slightly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey there lovely people! How did you like the chapter? Sorry it's not quite as long as I wanted to be but I have school tomorrow so I gotta cut it a bit short-
I'll try and update again as soon as I can. Hope it was fantastic!
With Unconditional love,
Alaska.
