The heralding storm
It was a cold night in Imladris. Colder than usual as winds blew from East and west, both heralding great storms. A thunder battle would soon commence. It was a thrilling thought that sent a shiver up my spine (of course I would never tell the other elves). Though some of the young elves took to mischief, those who were trained and held higher position in the last homely house were expected to maintain at least some sense of decorum. It was in the middle of my revelry of senses that I heard the faint call of Elrond, the whispered Daenal was almost drowned on the wind, but the Elven senses were far keener than that of mortals. Gently, i rose from my seat upon the carved marble balustrade and walked towards Elrond's study. To walk amongst elves is to feel every minute movement scrutinised for slight imperfections, with this in mind, every time I walked very near 90% of my brain was focused on gliding in which ever direction. Obviously I had some grace about me when I moved through the mortal world, but being sired by a most contemptuous creature meant that I could only reach the comparative elegance of a budding adult in my gestures. As I reached the ornately carved doors of Elrond's study I paused with bated breath waiting for his summons once more.
"Come in, Daenal" breathing out simultaneously I attempted to gracefully breeze into his room as the other elves may have. I tripped on a perfectly polished floor. Recovering I stood in front of the lectern at which Elrond studied a book on dwarven runes. In this place Elrond kept his rarer texts and those which the younger elves had seen fit to consider irrelevant. Cool eyes peered over his book and crinkled with recognition.
"Daenal please, you can relax there is no one else here" he knew me too well, and my muscles readily relaxed as I rolled out my shoulders. The pale blue gown I wore was considered the required elderich vestments of the elves, and yes they were nice for reclining in, but the flowing tendrils of material made for awkward movements in the field. Without the instinctive seamless movements of the elder elves the clothes of a lady simply got in the way. The same went for the way in which we wore our hair, where other elves seems to have very obedient straight hair that knew to stay out of the way mine could be described as silver blonde waves of mischievousness in its constant barrage and sly infiltrations into my mouth. The only way to tame it was to bind it; unseemly my nursemaid had said. It was that show myself to be rather unkempt as I ran through forests and valleys, the one way my hair and the rest of my body seemed to be coordinated was when I ran and ran and ran free and boundless in the wild. Unfortunately those opportunities rarely came about.
I had once seen a party that came from Mirkwood, though it was merely glimpses through gaps in stone carvings as they rode past, but I was in awe of their strong and commanding presence as even their female warriors wore leather wrapped around their bodies; a second skin that rippled as the first, from each twitch of trained muscle as they rode.
"Daenal" I looked up from my gown to see that Elrond had moved in silence to stand in front of me. His worn yet soft hands took mine and cuddled them in their warmth.
"Now Daenal, there is an important matter which we must discuss" this was worrying. The last time Elrond had 'discussed' something with me the result had been, shall we say unexpected. And volatile. And just not good. So this time I internally braced myself for what was to come.
"We shall be having visitors" I- that was it?
He squeezed my hands once then let them easily slip away as falling wings quite stunned by the anticlimax that seemed to have come after all of my anxiety. He moved to stand next to the large windows which overlooked the courtyard were his young kin now played.
"Lord Elrond, excuse my confusion but am I really the person to tell this. Though Arwin is away isn't more appropriate to tell the twins of this?''
I now know that I should have seen his gentle smile as a sign of trouble that would come from his next words.
''No Lord, my dear Daenal''
''Yes my l- Elrond''
''And to answer your question; Elladan and Elrohir are already in the forest waiting to greet our guests. But the reason that I need you to be prepared for their arrival is that as you no doubt know there is a thunder battle on the wind and the pass at this time can be treacherous''
It was true though Elladan, Elrohir and myself often scouted the mountain pass and sort to kill those goblin groups which we came across , they were becoming harder to track as they kept to their tunnels. I knew all this yet kept quiet as I waited for the conclusion of Elrond's point.
''And so this group who will soon arrive shall need an expert guide who can see them safely through the terrible night which is coming'' and there it was. I was being sent on an escort mission, a first actually: it would be my first time being allowed out of the valley alone (well without the twins close by to watch over the clumsy child). Involuntarily my mouth spread into an excited smile and I quickly turned on my heel to prepare all of my necessities for the journey; it would be about two or three days to navigate the valley paths safely. So that meant sufficient supplies. Maybe clothes - oh and scouti... I stopped my brains whirring as I touched the handle to the door and realised that I hadn't asked quite an important question.
''Who will I be escorting Elrond? ''
The smile turned wry '' some dwarves, on a quest I believe.''
''Oh well, what trouble could some dwarves cause'' and I flitted out of the study without care to what I moved like as I finally felt some freedom in my step.