Chapter 2

Alone they were out in the woods. It had only been a couple of hours, but it felt like it had taken days to get where they were.

Pretty soon, Sorator stopped. "We should camp out for the night. We didn't get much sleep and we will need all of our energy to press on. Here, you can use my cloak as a pillow. It should be a warm night. I'll keep watch while you are asleep."

"Thanks Sorator." From that moment, she dozed off into a deep sleep.

"Ill protect you, no matter what," he whispered into her ear. Armena was asleep, but she could feel a warm hand touch her arm. This made her smile.

By this time around, she had another dream of the same elf man who had been in all of her other dreams. This time, Sorator was in it. She dreamed that the elf had jumped off a cliff into a pool of lava in a heroic deed to save something of hers. But it wasn't her pendant. She had cried for days, until she had heard something come out of the clearing behind her. She tried to get a good look at it but it pounced on top of her….

She woke up again, this time crying. This dream seemed not like the dreams she had before, but a dream from the future.

What does this all mean??? Could this elf man have something to do with my past? She sat there lost in thought, and looked around her. She hadn't noticed that it was daybreak, or that Sorator was nowhere to be found.

"Sorator!!!" she called. Every bone began to shake in her body. What if he was captured? she thought.

"Sorator!! Where are you!!!" she started to panic.

"SORATO!!!!!!!!!!" Then she began to cry. "How could this happen to you??? Why did you get lost? You promised to protect me!

There she was, alone in the woods. She couldn't think straight, with the loss of her best friend. All she had left of his was the cloak he let her use when she went to sleep.

But then, out of nowhere, a barrage of boulders came down through the woods. Armena began to panic again. Traumatized, she couldn't move. She just sat there and watched the giant boulders coming her way. The largest one was barely 3 feet in front of her when….

Everything was dark. Armena saw her best friend Sorator in front of her while she was in the bed.

"Armena. Everything is okay now. You're safe at home."

"But what about the story??" My picture and my pendant…"

"All of that was just coincidence. Get back to bed."

"No! Everything was real! I'm sure of it! I know it's real! I'll prove it to you!"

"Armena, wait! Armena! Armena…"

"Hey! Hey, wake up!!"

"…Sorator…?"

"No. Not quite"

Armena opened her eyes, but she was not in a bed nor was Sorator in front of her. Instead, she was still in the woods with the elf boy that had been in her dreams. When she saw him, she got up on her hands and knees in astoundment.

"YOU!! You're the one who's been my dreams all this time!! The one who tried to kill me and the one who has been saving me all this time in my dreams! How can this be possible!?"

By this time, the elf was already at his feet. His tall stature made Armena look like a very tall hobbit. His long blonde hair reached the small of his back with half of it pulled back. He carried his wooden bow and arrow on his back along with a long package. His face was very much pronounced and his eyes seemed to glisten in the daylight. He stood up and stared down at her.

"Why are you here? What is your purpose?" yelled Armena.

"May I see your pendant?" was all the elf said. She was hesitant, but she agreed to let him see the pendant.

"I knew you looked familiar. I saved you from a tempest storm several years ago."

"Come again?" She was puzzled, but she began to calm down.

"You must have bumped your head on that tree after it happened."

"Wait! What tempest? What are you talking about?"

"The tempest of storms that your village fell under."

"My village is just fine. Who are you, and what do you know?" She began to panic again. She felt alone in the world because her best friend was not there with her.

"Just calm down. I'll explain everything in time. I can see you're need rest."

He reached out his hand to hers to help her up. She was hesitant because she was still confused about the whole situation. When he helped her up, her legs went limp and she fell into his arms. She stared into his eyes, and at that moment, everything was silent.

"Sorator!" was the name that broke the silence. "I gotta find Sorator!"

"Sorator?? (Where have I heard that name before?)" said the elf.

Armena snatched the pendant out of the elf's hand and ran. "Are you coming or what? You know I can't do this all by myself."

The elf left his train of thought and ran after Armena. He couldn't help to think that he had heard the name Sorator before.

"Someone help me!!" someone cried out, but Armena never seemed to notice.

"Armena, stop!" said the elf. He put his hand to his ear and everything went quite. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shhhh! Listen!" Armena began to notice the sound. "This way." The elf pointed in the direction and got out one of his arrows with his bow. They ran as quietly as they could until they came upon a bush.

"Someone is hanging by that tree over there." Armena looked over the bush and saw a man hanging upside down with a brown shirt and a dark set of pants that looked like they had worn out since he was there, and a familiar face…

"Sorat...!" The elf's hand reached her mouth before she could finish.

"You need to be quiet! There are many goblins surrounding this area." The elf shot an arrow at one of the bushes and they heard a squeal. Silence.

Out of nowhere, a crowd of goblins came from behind the brush and began to attack. The elf took out a sword that was concealed by the bag that he had on his back.

Sorator woke up and saw Armena behind the bush. "Armena! Look out!!" An arrow was aimed for her forehead. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the arrow to pierce her in her forehead.

"Armena!!" cried the elf. At that split second of distraction, he was knocked out by the handle of one of the Goblin's swords.

Everything stopped in its tracks. The arrow that was aimed for her forehead dropped to the ground and the goblins became suddenly horrified and fled the scene.

"Sorator!!" Armena gave him an upside down hug and used the sharp end of her pendant to cut him down. They both fell to the ground. After they got up, she squeezed him until his face turned red. Then she smacked him. "What happened to you?! You promised to protect me!"

"I said that and I meant it! I was captured by goblins when I fell asleep. I don't know what for, but I'm sure you didn't notice until you awoke." Armena nodded. "By the way, who's that elf guy?"

Armena turned her head around and saw the elf laying face down in the ground. "Wake up! WAKE UP!!!" She picked him up by his shirt and shook him violently until he awoke.

"Elf man! Are you okay??" she cried

"For one thing, the name is Legolas. And yes. I'm all right. How about you?"

"I'm okay. What? You said your name was Legolas?? You're the archer who was involved in the company of the ring, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. But now Frodo has moved on and I have you to take care of. We must hurry on and find a clearing to stay in." Legolas got to his feet and told the two to stay behind him. But just then, Armena fainted.

"Armena! Wake up! What's wrong with her, Legolas?" demanded Sorator.

"She's just fine. She is just exhausted. Her magic has been used up," he said, his eyes still on the road ahead.

"She has magic? I was not aware of this."

"Coincidentally, neither was she. She just needs to rest for the moment." Legolas looked around and pointed to a clearing. "A few more miles, and we will be free to rest."