The Silverleaf (LOTR Fanfiction)

Seeing Death

The 26th of Sulime,
608 TA

A shrill whistle cut through the air, followed by riotous calls from among the treetops overhead. Rîniel peeked out from under her hood and gasped. A whole bunch of ellyn were swinging swiftly in the boughs above them, or standing guard against tree trunks. Tatharwen pulled Rîniel into a bush, partially concealing them from view. They had not been spotted yet, and Tatharwen had no notion of letting the elves see them. She wanted to arrive safely back in Galadriel's camp by themselves, not accompanied or captured by the wild and merry ellyn of the elvenking's realm. What would Celeborn think? And for the sake of her timid friend, Tatharwen was not about to let her be embarrassed. "Stay still," she hissed at Rîniel. She trained her ears towards the conversation that was going on above them. It sounded as if they were on their way back to the elvenking, having fought a skirmish with some orcs who had dared enter the forest edge. King Thranduil cared deeply that his woods would not be tainted by foul hands and uncouth feet that tread and pawed whatever came in the way. It sounded as if the elves were counting those who were left, and sending runners ahead of them to give the word of victory. They were happy, it seemed, though two names never answered their calls. Tatharwen strained to catch them. Hm, seemed to be a Nirben and Ramdir. How horrible. Every loss of an elven life was one less light in this world.

They waited until the elves had moved out of sight and hearing to come from their hiding place. Rîniel sighed while shaking off her cloak. "That was close. Let's hurry. I do not want any stray orcs catching up to us." She glanced around nervously. She had yet to see yrch of any kind, because life in Lothlorien was never interrupted by their presence. Celeborn and Galadriel always travelled to an outpost to interrogate the foul things, and Galadriel never subjected her maidens to such sights. Especially Rîniel.

The two elves travelled on. The sun was slowly shifting the shadows from the trees, and the birds seemed to wake up out of the afternoon slumber and the air was again brimming with energy. Now that the two elleth were used to the constant thrum, they could control themselves and not go running off into oblivion. And now they had food and sleep on their minds, as well as a small chance of wandering orcs about. That's always comforting.

Rîniel was busy in her happy little thoughts, free from any troubling memories for the moment when she heard a guttural groan coming from behind them on the path they were on. She whirled around and tugged Tatharwen's arm. "Did you hear that?"

Tatharwen eyed her warily. She hoped Rîniel wasn't acting strange again. She needed two pairs of eyes to find the Lothlorien party, since Galadriel's Concealment made it more difficult to see, even if they were apart of the party themselves. But then she heard the groan again, more painful and more like a sob this time. She hissed softly and pushed Rîniel ahead of her, brandishing the lady's dagger that each girl carried under her dress when traveling. Rîniel did the same, setting the pouch of berries down on the ground before her. They slowly pressed together, each breath coming hard and fast.

A horrible sight met their eyes. An elf staggered out of the bushes lining the clearing they were in, and collapsed on the forest floor. His chest heaved violently up and down and the ellith could see the blood oozing out of his gut and the arrow sticking out of his leg. He was a red haired elf, with the insignia of the Forest Guard upon his leaf-like armor. Rîniel squeaked and before Tatharwen could stop her, swiftly knelt beside the injured ellon. His eyes were shut tightly and his legs writhed, an obvious sign of poison in his veins. Then, he shot up and saw Rîniel there beside him. "What vision is this that I see? My lady...oh...my lady..." His voice cracked and he muttered incoherently for a few moments.