Her bare feet pound against the earth as she run, hastened by both the ending of the cover of night and the holy weapon they carry as they chase her. Nothing could cause the witch to run faster than that of the light of the blessed. She make way to the crowd of trees that lie before her, hoping to take refuge in their shadows and hide within their leaves from the riders that grow closer to her heels every moment.

Without thought she flee into the opening of the forest and quickly disappear within its shelter. The sound of the horse's protest hitting her ears moments later and she turn to see them come to a halt just outside the rim of the forest. Her thin brows quirked as they stand in refusal to obey their master's orders to continue the hunt. "Leave her! She is beyond our reach."

"And what of the Orcs? They swore to make waste of us should we fail," one of the men replies as he glares her direction. She quickly swings about the tree and hides though she keeps her ear on them.

"The forest will have her. She will see a worse fate there than anything they could wish to her or to us should we enter." The man that seems to lead the chase pulls the reins to his steed and begins to turn back. "We gather our party and ride south. Let us hope they see to finish her before they see to finishing us."

The witch watches them go, there will be no turning back lest she wish to face them or the orcs that hired them, for they will surely be a short ways behind. She turns back to face the forest around her. Her soul can fill the ill will of the life the forest seems to have. It is as if the trees themselves wish her dead. She fears not though, she knows her own power and regardless, even the darkest shadow is more comforting than the light.

The path before her leads deeper into the woods and so she follow it, her golden eyes wondering about the dark branches that hang around her. The canopy is so thick that it seems to be night even though she had arrived just as the sun was to rise, this to comforts her.

Cold and hard is the stone of the path beneath her feet, having constantly been cut off from the sunlight. Yet without so much as a wince the elegant witch steps on. Her strides are full of grace and every motion swift. She, after all, was no ordinary witch. As the daughter of Melkor himself she knows no such thing as to fear or falter.

It is not long until she would stray from the path, out of curiously more so then accident. The trees calling for her to wonder. They begin to sing to her mind and cause it to swim. The feeling brings a gentle smile across her soft lips. Is this what it was like when her victims fell under her spell? She wonders this as her body began to sway. She stepped onto a fallen tree and sets one foot in front of the other, using her arms for balance. The childish motions amusing her and she begins to giggle a sound of pure pleasure into the air. She allows her relaxed aura to spread and magic began to fill the area around her.

The woods only grow denser as she wander and soon what was one strand of white here or there became thicker until she is surrounded by thickened webs along the entire length of the trees. She knows to whom these webs belong but still, no fear came to her. She thought to turn around only because her path is now blocked with a wall of web. As she turn she is confronted by that of which called this forest home.

The spider is large, as tall as she if not taller and with the temper to match. It lets out a roar towards her before rearing up on its hind legs then stomps to the ground. She chuckles, "Well hello there." She smiles to the beast and it charges towards her without warning.

Unconcerned she meets its charge and when they met she leaps into the air, landing her hand to the top of its head and cartwheels over it. She lands on its backside then hopped to the ground. "How rude." She turns back to it and shook her finger side to side before watching it turn back to her.

It begins babbling the language of its people. Being blessed with the power of Ainur she understands them clearly. "Such delicious looking flesh," it mutters before inching for her once more.

She replied in its tongue, "Yes, but your mother would be very disappointed if you ate me. She is rather fond of me."

The large arachnid shuffles back and forth baffled, "it speaks!"

Another giggle chimes from behind her lips, "Yes, I do. I also know your mother, Ungoliant. She and I go back longer then this earth. Now-" Her words are then cut off as she leans her head to the side letting an arrow fly past her and into the skull of the spider. She watches its body fall to the ground with a loud thud and gives the site a pout of her lower lip. "That was rude." She says in her ever soft, yet chastising voice "we were in the middle of a conversation."

"The next will not miss." The male voice assures her as she turns to see him. There is now an elf standing before her, arrow at the ready.

"I have no doubt." A smile lifts on her lips as she looks over the young elf. The moment her eyes connect with his she begins to lay her spell. She gently grabbed hold of his aura and ever so slightly released it of its tension. "Tell me, woodland elf, where am I?"

"You are in the forest or Mirkwood." He fights to keep his aim at the woman before him, as it seems less and less fit to hold any hate to her as her magic takes hold. He does not know why his concentration is begging to blur nor does he understand why he feels less and less need to protect against her. The thought itself, though small, was enough to triple suspicion of her.

"Ah, so that is where I have found myself. Tell me," She steps towards him, one foot elegantly placed in front of the other and her hold on him becoming stronger as she did so. "To whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

His jaw tightens in efforts to fight his growing ease towards her, "I am Legolas. Son of Thrandruil elvenking of Mirkwood." A wicked smile finds its way to the copper skinned woman's lips and it pulls him back to his defenses. His bow straightens and he pulls pressure back on its string causing her to stop abruptly, yet smoothly. "You are no ordinary mortal. Who are you, I will show no mercy to lies." His brow is pressed and his tone is solid.

Her smile calms and she breaths more ease into the air as she held her hands somewhat into the air showing she means no harm to the elf prince. "You may call me Cartel. I was chased here by a group of men during the night. If you take me to your father he will assure you of my identity." They exchange a long stare. The subtle suggestion would normally be caught by the wise young elf as manipulation, but her magic causes it to seem as such a reasonable request. Her golden irises nearly begin to glow as they watch him stare through her devious nature.

He relaxes his bow, "I will take you to him, though I warn you, he will show less mercy then I should you be false."

Her long curling hair flies gently in the wind as she lowers her hands and steps past him, "I would expect no less from the king of the woods."

"Step with haste, the spiders will return." He motions for her to head back from where he came and he follows close behind. Legolas never lowers his guard as they make their way through the wilderness. His elven eyes can see that she is more than a mortal and some power lie around her. He does not trust the woman nor does he believe that leading her to his home is the best decision, but what are his choices? To kill her seems impossible, her spell had taken hold of him if only slightly. He also wishes to know more about this mysterious woman dressed in rags with the golden eyes.