A/N: I have done a massive amount of research on battle strategies, Elvish-style fighting which in some ways resembles Asian martial arts (like Kendo/Kenjutsu, which is based off of Samurai swordsmanship), sword wielding techniques, how to use a bow and arrow correctly… With that said: there is no possible way for me to get everything correct. If I refer to something that you know is incorrect, my sincerest apologies. I have such a heap of information, often contradictory because they are from different schools of thought, that it is hard to piece together. However, if you do find a glaring mistake, please let me know and I will most certainly fix it.
Thank you to the reviewers thus far! As always, I enjoy any amount of criticism, whether it be good or toward my improvement, so don't forget to review!
Chapter 6- Crossing Swords (With An Elf)
She could not be too sure about this Laifennas, but she found herself extremely happy in the company of a female warden, whether or not the said warden was still a bit too feminine. Laifennas actually reminded Cauniel of her cousin Bainriel. This Laifennas, though, was completely different in the fact that she cared not for whispering and sidling like many ellyth (not just Bainriel) of Eregion liked to do. In the short time since Laifennas came to collect her and show her down to the practice field, she noticed that the warden was quite frank in the way she spoke to people as they passed without asking for it, but it was always in a humorous way. Loud and boisterous were two words not normally used when describing an Elf, but the words hardly did Laifennas' personality justice. It would seem, though, that Laifennas placed herself in the company of ellyn for long periods, judging from the ways the elleth spoke. Perhaps even her childhood leant to this nature. With any large amount of males around her, Laifennas would certainly have begged for attention, and knew that the only way to do that was by acting loud and brash.
It would also explain why she felt called to becoming a warden instead of practicing a more widely accepted female pursuit like weaving or healing.
Elbereth knew that Cauniel herself had lived in that state all her young life, and still did to some extent, grasping for some amount of attention in her world of ellyn. Even when her mother still walked Arda, Cauniel spent most of her time with her brothers, trying to do the things they were, or with her father while trying to live up to his expectations. There certainly was a time when she would speak loudly and merrily like Laifennas, but that time had long since passed into emptiness and bitterness like everything else in her life. She no longer could communicate in even the simplest manners with others without growing excessively incensed over something that they might say in even the largest amount of jest. Except perhaps with the warden Orophin, whom, on all accounts, seemed like a rather decent Elf to know. She just hoped her instincts were right on the matter.
But it was not worth trying to dissect now. She was well physically, had escaped almost sure death by the orcs… She was happy with her life, wasn't she?
Apparently Hérion did not think she was, and that she needed protection from something. But from what? This she did not know, apart from the fact that he may have meant when dealing with her grandfather. Even with that, she felt rather confident in herself. As long as her grandfather did not deign it necessary to try to break past her personal barrier and then take away her post. That would be torturous…
Though it was best not to think about it, especially now that they strolled comfortably along the walkways and down many levels of stairs to the practice fields. She needed to start preparing herself mentally for any sparring she may end up taking part in. And she needed to be polite to all of her hosts here in Lothlórien… even if that meant the March Warden. She was quite sure, though, that the March Warden would not change any time soon.
Laifennas turned to her then and smiled softly, "Orophin has told me you are captain of the military in Eregion?"
"Aye, that is true," Cauniel replied, glancing up at the considerably taller elleth beside her. She was amazed that the clothes Laifennas brought her actually fit, but the elleth had informed her that they were not hers. Lady Galadriel apparently sensed how uncomfortable she was in the dress during the short, albeit highly informative (at least Cauniel hoped), council and had stopped the warden on her way to the guest telain, giving her smaller clothing to then give to Cauniel.
"I would much like to visit Eregion then," Laifennas said. "A place where a female can command without worrying that someone might think it inherently wrong. I know that the Eldar rarely divide duties according to gender, but to have an elleth actually the high commander of any military is just not done in Middle-earth."
Cauniel sighed, "You will find no less prejudiced people in Eregion than you do here, Laifennas. They balked when I was chosen over an ellon to be commander."
"Is that the ellon with you?" she questioned. "I saw him ambling about earlier, and I figured he was with you, since the only other ellyn in the city with dark hair are Lord Elrond and his twin sons."
"Aye, he is with me," Cauniel replied, but stopped herself. "Well, he came after."
Laifennas nodded, obviously not noticing the change in her mood with the mention of Hérion, because she continued, "Are you two husband and wife? He wears a ring, but you do not… I thought it might have been pilfered when you were captured by the orcs."
The other thing Cauniel disliked about ellyth- the constant need to carry on a conversation with annoy questions. She was perfectly indifferent to polite conversation as it was, but then to have Laifennas assault her with a barrage of these sorts of invasive questions… Sometimes she wished she could just snap her fingers and make them disappear. But for this, she gritted her teeth and lived with it.
"Cauniel?"
"Nay, we are not bound," Cauniel said. "He is my cousin's husband, and my second-in-command."
Laifennas sighed and looked forward, for the first time quiet since they left her talan. However, short lived the silence was. The warden turned to her again, "I am not yet bound. I hope everyday that a certain ellon will speak with me about it, but he seems about as dense as lembas."
To make civil conversation on the matter of love, Cauniel smiled as graciously as she could, and said, "Is his name, Rúmil? Orophin spoke briefly about Rúmil fancying you, and that was how I would be able to borrow a tunic and leggings."
"Aye, that would be his name," the elleth said as crimson rose in her pale face. "I should say that we have spoken about binding, but only once before. We got into quite an argument over both of us being wardens. He sees no problem with me being a warden, but he wishes that if we were to bind, that I would resign my position and stay in the city because he would worry too much."
"I suppose that is a decent argument, though does he not realized you will be worried with him away at the borders?" Cauniel said, for some reason suddenly interested in this topic. "But you would never give it up, would you?"
Laifennas shrugged her shoulders, "It is a choice I will eventually have to make. I love him dearly, though, and it is a small price to pay to share that in a marriage."
"Why do you not ask him to resign his post, or ask for a sentinel position here in the city?" Cauniel questioned. "I have seen many sentinels about since this morning."
"I would not ask that of him," Laifennas said. "He has worked too hard for his rank within the wardens."
She scowled, losing a bit of respect for the elleth now that she would so easily give up her post without seeing if Rúmil would do it for her. Cauniel sighed, "I suppose that is your decision…"
"It is hard to explain, Cauniel," the elleth said. "Being a warden to Rúmil is like… like… well, I cannot compare it to anything. It is extremely important to him that he remain a warden, because he feels much closer to his father, who was also a warden and passed into the Halls when he had only ten begetting days. It is like that with his brothers as well. Especially Haldir."
Cauniel paused, feeling the shock rush through her. If Haldir was Rúmil's brother, then that would mean… She grumbled at the realization that Orophin was indeed Haldir's brother. And he had said nothing about it earlier when they met. Was he purposefully trying to keep it secret from her? Maybe it was because of the way she was speaking of the March Warden that he had said nothing. But she would have not said so much against the March Warden had she known that Orophin was somehow related to him. She would definitely bring this up with Orophin the next time she saw him, except she had little intention of changing her mind about him. Anyone who would find suitable clothes for her would forever be her friend.
"Is everything well?" Laifennas questioned worriedly. "We may wait until the morrow to spar, if you are not feeling well."
"Nay, Laifennas, I am fine," she said, holding her hand out to silence the elleth. Cauniel began walking again, "I was just not prepared to learn that Haldir and Orophin were brothers. They seemed so different upon meeting them."
The female warden laughed, "Each has a similar personality, Cauniel. They only choose to express different parts of it. Haldir is the arrogant, but honorable to a fault, eldest brother. Orophin is the middle, and soft spoken- a nice contrast to Haldir's opinionated nature and Rúmil's, who is the youngest, loudness. But all three can be all of those at one point or another, you just have to get to know them better."
"I am sorry, but I cannot imagine your March Warden as soft spoken," Cauniel replied, only slightly under her breath.
Laifennas pretended not to hear that, and continued, "I often think they share one mind, but Haldir was given half, and Rúmil and Orophin only a quarter each. But you must not tell them I said that, I would pay dearly for it."
"Once again, I could not agree with you even in a small degree. Unless they shift their portions of mind around as they supposedly do with their mannerisms." Cauniel found this all far-fetched, but she was willing to play along for now. After all, it would be her own decision if she saw these things in the arrogant March Warden.
Finally, they made it to the main practice field, down from the lofty homes within the trees. It was a large, grassy area she imagined could also be used for tournaments and other ceremonies, as one side along the thick lining of trees sat elevated stands for spectators. There were two Elves at the far end, practicing their archery skills. More closely to them was a dueling pair of rather brawny and robust Elves, using live swords rather than wooden wasters to practice. As she watched them, she realized that they were extremely equally matched, and she wondered if that had to do with the fact that they were identical in every aspect besides the color of their tunics.
Laifennas leaned over, "Elladan and Elrohir, Lord Elrond's sons. We ellyth especially like to have them stay here, for they are nice to look at, even beyond the normal ellyn of this city."
Cauniel gazed up at some of the high balconies, seeing many ellyth gazing down at the practice field, and she could only imagine the ellyth swooning and speaking about them. They were no worse than the Edain women she had known in the Hills of Evendim, or young ellyth just coming of age and recognizing what a splendid form a male could be, but they were not shy about it. And she could not help but laugh out of spite for them. Really, they could be accomplishing much more than just standing about watching a pair of dueling peredhil, who as of this point seemed like they were locked in a never-ending, dull battle of sword skill.
She shook her head and glanced around again, her eyes stopping on two Elves now standing by the large bole of a tree, looking at her. Frowning, she turned to Laifennas, "How did he know we were going to be here?"
Laifennas followed her gaze and shrugged, "Orophin probably told Haldir… and that would be Rúmil sitting with him."
"Then were is Orophin?" Cauniel questioned.
"Now, that is a mystery, is it not?" Laifennas replied and smiled. "What would you care to fight with? Your long knives to my sword?"
Cauniel sighed, wanting to fight with the real weapons to show off to the March Warden, but she knew her body could not take that so soon from her ordeal. "Actually, I would be content with waster swords to go through slow exercises. My head is still slightly unbalanced, and I do not want to accidentally shift left, when I should have gone right and get horribly hurt."
Laifennas nodded, "Perfectly fine with me. Let me go quickly fetch them from the wardens' armory."
"No need, Laifennas," the March Warden started to saunter over to them then, and she noticed that he also carried with him two large wasters. They were certainly a larger prototype than she preferred to fight with, and more built for a male than anything else. "Rúmil and I planned to practice, but we have decided to watch both of you instead. You may use our wasters."
And she did not miss the look of challenge in his eyes as he glanced at her. Cauniel set her jaw, and took a breath before muttering, "Perfectly planned, I must say."
Laifennas turned and scoffed lightly, glancing back at the March Warden. She smiled, "I think I will use one of those, but I will go find a lighter one for Cauniel."
"Why would she need a lighter one? She cannot handle this simple Elven sword?" the March Warden questioned condescendingly.
Oh how she wished she could just slit his throat.
"Nay, that is not what I mea-," Laifennas began, but was promptly cut off by the arrogant commander continuing with his wonderments.
"Or perhaps she is worried she will not be able to fight well enough with any sword," the March Warden said. "So she is prolonging this…"
Cauniel felt her rage rising quickly, and gathered her hands behind her back, to hold them tightly together so as not to go off and deck the March Warden. What was he trying to do exactly? Make her feel inferior? Baiting her to see if she took the challenge he so obviously hung out there in front of her? Was he hoping that by somehow forcing her to take the larger sword, he would make her fail and then he could be justified in saying she was not capable of being Captain? Oh how this ellon asked for a good dose of reality.
Laifennas interjected though, and sighed, "Haldir, I cannot believe you would insult a guest of the Lady like that. It is Cauniel's choice."
Both of sets of grey eyes fixated on her. It would seem Laifennas tried to urge her to take the larger sword to make the March Warden eat his words, but the March Warden seemed as though he was still trying to bait her into something she would regret. Cauniel glanced at the wooden swords, and then up in his eyes. It was already growing tiresome that he would treat her like this, so she took the larger sword just to show him up. At least she hoped her injuries did not prevent her from doing that.
He bowed slightly and walked away after Laifennas took the other sword. No, he did not walk… he nearly pranced over to his spot beside his youngest brother. Why was he so gleeful about this? Did he wish to see her prove him wrong, or to prove him right? A confusing one, that March Warden. Cauniel shook her head and turned to Laifennas, "Can we go through slow exercise movements so that I may be able to get my footing again?"
Laifennas nodded, "Of course."
The silver-haired elleth stepped back a few paces, and straightened the scabbard belt and live sword she wore. Cauniel took this time to glance back quickly at the watching wardens. Snapping her head forward, when Haldir turned his eyes to hers, she took a few cleansing breaths to center herself with the sword. Usually, she did not like to fight with a sword and it certainly was not her weapon of expertise, but on this occasion, she found herself with no other choice. The March Warden needed a swift kick in the rear.
Cauniel closed her eyes, reaching a somewhat placid state, and opened them again as Laifennas set herself into ready position. The elleth warden, gave a few arbitrary swings of her sword to loosen her joints, and then brought it down without warning over Cauniel's head to see if she would deflect it. Luckily, Cauniel had read the signs of her friendly adversary well enough to understand what she was about to do. She brought her own wooden sword up, parrying the downward slashing of the sword over her head, her own sword horizontal to the ground.
With their blades still resting against each other, Laifennas gave another indication that she was about to strike, and Cauniel again parried that successfully. Their practice continued like this, stopping every so often if she were to grow faint from her still healing body. She only hoped the March Warden was watching closely.
Haldir sighed to himself, watching the two ellyth go through slow fighting exercises, Laifennas and Cauniel both taking equal opportunities to strike at each other and parry. And as much as it annoyed him to no end to admit it, Cauniel did seem above other Elves' games when it came to the technique and footwork of executing these moves. She moved fluidly and succinctly, never straying to do any fancy footwork on her part. Each time she lifted her sword to strike, she did exactly that, not taking a moment to add some difficult combination footwork in. When she parried, she quickly saw opportunities for her own strike. Her fighting was certainly not that of a newly indoctrinated swordsperson, like many of the young hopefuls he trained for the warden program. But that meant nothing. Perhaps she had just spent much of her time practicing all her life and had learned these things.
Yet, there were a few things about her fighting that he could not quite place. Her style was different than his and the way he taught. It would seem that she almost lost all touch of the reality around her, concentrating so much on her opponent. She suppressed all conscious thought and moved with her instincts more than with trained, physical movements like the ones he had learned long ago. She counted her technical skill less important than the ability to be in the moment with a full spirit and with complete participation. There were certainly no moments he saw her give a poor, lazy strike because she did not need to put full force behind it. Every single movement of every muscle was at the greatest amount of intensity she could muster.
But he still had not seen her in an actual duel. The ellyth were going through the motions slowly, not engaging in an all out competition of wills. Technique could be taught, but adept skill combining necessary timing and distance in a battle was another. While vaguely impressed that Cauniel showed this to a slight degree in her exercise, it only made him wonder if she could do it in a heated battle, surrounded by many adversaries… with the heaviest waster they had in Lothlórien.
He knew that his choice to challenge Cauniel with the sword would get her to take it and use it, if she was supposedly so much like himself. He had hoped, though, that it would only show a lack of skill. And naturally, it showed the exact opposite of what he wanted. It was certainly not her favorite weapon, but she still mastered its grand scale easily. Except now he was determined to find a way to show any possibility of inadequate training. She could not possibly be Captain of any military regime, and he was sticking to that idea. He would discover the way to prove that to himself and to others.
"The elleth is very good, Haldir," Rúmil remarked.
"Eh," Haldir shrugged, "I have seen better."
"I doubt that," the younger sibling replied.
Haldir glared at Rúmil, "I am better than she."
Rúmil raised a curious brow and chuckled lowly, "Do you really believe that?"
He wanted to lean over and strangle Rúmil after that comment, but he successfully kept his anger in check. "She is only practicing movements. How is she in battle? Obviously not very good if she is so easily overcome by orcs and taken off to the mountains."
"Have you ever seen true battle Haldir?" Rúmil questioned. Haldir glanced at him, and scowled openly, not attempting to hide that he was displeased with Rúmil's stance on the issue. The younger brother smiled and turned back to watch the ellyth, "The only time even remotely that you have commanded combat, or took part in it yourself, is hearing Ada's stories of the last war. All we do on the borders is follow orcs secretly- those few that do roam into Lothlórien, and promptly kill them with arrows."
Haldir sighed heavily, nodding his head in concession for Rúmil's words. It was true. The only time he ever really used his sword was at practice and when he was teaching others how to use it. "But my technique is still better than hers is."
"You sound like a whiny Elfling, Haldir," Rúmil said. "Do you feel threatened?"
"Of course not!" he exclaimed and shook his head in annoyance. "I cannot believe you would suggest such a thing when I have only spoken to the elleth for a short few moments, riddled with argument. She is bitter and cold."
Rúmil chuckled, "Fine… fine. I just think you are overreacting to finding out she is Captain of her army."
Haldir grunted and turned back to watching the moving ellyth. Cauniel missed a block, however, and the wooden waster connected with her shoulder, sending a loud crack through the field. She doubled to the ground, dropping her sword, and grabbing for her shoulder. Laifennas was quick to bend down as well, worrying that she had seriously hurt Cauniel. The Noldorin elleth made a movement with her hand for Laifennas to step out of her space. She took a few deep breaths, massaged her shoulder slightly and stood back up, grabbing for her sword.
Laifennas questioned her again, to make sure she was all right and Cauniel nodded her head, saying, "I am quite fine… and that was the reason why we are not practicing with live swords."
Laifennas laughed, "Care to continue, or would you care for a rest? I will introduce you to Rúmil."
Cauniel glanced toward them, and Haldir saw the annoyance in her brown eyes when they fell on him. She looked back at Laifennas, "As long as the March Warden is not there."
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, "Why does she hate me so?"
"I would hate you with the way you have acted toward her," Rúmil replied under his breath, gliding across the field to meet up with the ellyth. He smiled brightly and immediately took up Cauniel's hand, kissing the back of it reverently. Cauniel did not seem very impressed with this though, and Haldir chuckled to himself. Perhaps she acted that way around all males, and he was not a special case. At least that gave him some amount of comfort.
Rúmil, always the most suave when speaking with ellyth, seemed to again weave his magic about the Noldo. It almost appeared as though it was working to win her over to his side, but Rúmil said something rather hysterical and Haldir noticed the flash of exasperation spread through her features. Did she not even see the humor in things? Was she so dead inside that she could not even smile? Did she ever have enjoyment in her life? Was there even a fëa within that body?
As of the moment, the answer to those questions was no. Once again, he found something else he would have to figure out about her. He was going to start now, even if she did not want him around her. He pushed away from the tree with a sigh, but noticed a flying dagger just as it embedded itself in the tree… between his legs. Surprise washed over him, and it took a good while for him to come back to reality and understand what had happened. Haldir glanced down, breathing quickly, noting that he did not feel pain, so he was not hurt. Then his eyes moved to the jeweled end of the dagger, and he recalled seeing Hérion hand this weapon over to Cauniel earlier that afternoon.
After the relief, though, came unstoppable fury. Rage circulated through his body, and then it made his blood begin to simmer into a fast boil. How dare she! What had he done? Shifted away from the tree? Haldir raised his eyes to the on looking Elves, finding Cauniel on her trip over to him. She stood before him, easily a head shorter than himself, and looked challengingly up at him.
So great was his shock, that had still not subsided her could barely speak, "I cannot believe you did that."
She sighed, reaching down between his legs. For a moment, he thought she was going to cup him, but she did not and pulled her dagger from the tree with a good yank. Cauniel let out a disgruntled sigh, "You are lucky I missed, March Warden."
He truly wanted to throttle her; if he could only put his hands about her neck and squeeze. Haldir breathed deeply, reminding himself that was only his pride talking and that it was a particularly horrible thing to wish for, even with an elleth like Cauniel. Nay, he would never do that to any elleth, or other female for that matter. Instead he would do something that he could make her look up and feel the shame of defeat.
Cauniel sauntered back over to the other Elves, but Haldir did not stay back and followed quickly behind her. She turned away from him, and he bent down to pick up a discarded waster she had passed. Gripping the smooth wood in his hands, Haldir moved closer to her as silently as he could manage, lifting the sword up to check her with it. However, she quickly dipped down and rolled away from him, grabbing the waster Laifennas had set down. He could not decide what surprised him more- the fact that she sensed that he was coming up behind her, or that she had so easily dropped, rolled to the side, and flipped herself back up on her feet. Maneuvers like that one were hard to complete for even the most accomplished warrior.
The shock worked as it should have, throwing him off guard just long enough for her to take an easy strike at him. Luckily, he was still able to block it. Laifennas and Rúmil moved quickly out of the way, and he noticed that in the distant, Elrond's sons ended their match and were now watching closely. He also was vaguely aware of the ellyth and ellyn looking down on them from high above. She lashed out again, bringing the sword to make a cut down the center of his body. Haldir was paying much too much attention to everything around him, and not on her, but again he was able to deflect her blow at the last possible moment.
Haldir stepped back into a disengaged range away from her sword, adjusting his grasp on the hilt of the curved waster. She did not waste any time, as one might in a real battle, and plunged forward, slashing and cutting at him as quickly and as fluidly as she could manage. To say that he was overwhelmed by this would have been a rather large understatement. He nearly lost the practice sword two times, and tripped almost once. And that was all because he had underestimated her and thought he incapable of such movements.
It rapidly was becoming clear to him that this was no underestimation to be laid out in simple terms. It was a supremely idiotic, massive underestimation of her size and talent. Now that he was fighting her, and parrying her, he realized that she was exerting just as much force, or even more, than many of the ellyn he routinely sparred with. She showed no signs of unsteadiness, despite those wobbles she had earlier while practicing with Laifennas. And her talent, as much as it chagrinned him to admit it, was equal to, if not surpassing his own. It was all he could do to keep up with her movements, even with the blood of the Eldar within him. Her small stature leant to her agility, and it was that same agility that was too much for him to counter. For another moment, he thought he was gaining on her, but she would only employ some other move and diversion he had never thought of, catching him following too closely to what her body was doing and not what her sword was doing.
Other wardens, who were passing by when the duel began, had stopped to watch their March Warden take on the strange elleth that none of them knew. That spurred him on, trying to get an edge over her so that he did not look bad in front of his underlings. But he learned that in this fight, he would not find an upper edge. He was going to lose eventually, even if he could hold her off for quite a long while. And it was he, nor Cauniel, who would have to live with the shame of defeat.
There was an opportunity, though, that he could have only wished for. In one swift movement to sidestep her, they moved in the same direction, placing her just in arms length. Reaching out for her, he grabbed her harshly about the waist with one arm. She struggled and kicked against him, and he thought he finally had her, perhaps much like what had happened with the orcs when she was taken away from Eregion. Then a blinding pain registered in his head along with a loud crunching sound, and he saw bright white lights before his eyes, causing him to drop her to the ground. She moved quickly away from him, and repositioned herself as his now free hand held onto his nose. Had she used her sword hilt? Her head? He did not know why she paused to watch him, granting him a moment of reprieve, but she did. Except that was of little use as she finally let out a loud groan, bringing the sword down in one swooping angle, taking his legs out from under him.
He landed with a resounding thud on the ground, the breath completely knocked from his body. She stepped over him, kicking his waster away with her feet while never taking her eyes off of him. Cauniel held her wooden sword to his neck then, and gazed down at him. The look upon her face was one of great pleasure for having accomplished this.
"Do you concede, March Warden?" she questioned.
Haldir moved his hand from his nose, gazing at the blood now on his hand. She broke it. The damned elleth broke it! He looked up at her, meeting her wild brown eyes as she was slowly coming down from the excitement of the fight. "Aye, I concede."
She did not remove the waster, and only placed it closer to his chin, "And what you said earlier about me being the Captain of a seamstress' circle?"
"I am truly sorry," he replied, though not without a little bit of displeasure. "You have my respect now, Cauniel, Captain of Eregion."
"Good," Cauniel said and took her waster, throwing it beside his.
He began to sit up, but he had not expected her to kneel down to him. She reached her hand out for his face, but he recoiled violently, trying to keep any further injury to his person from him. "What are you doing?"
"I broke your nose," she pointed at him. "Let me at least make sure it is aligned properly."
Haldir removed his hand from his nose, somewhat suspicious of her intentions. She still did not smile at his foolish wariness, and only reached over him, placing both hands on either side of his nose. Her fingers moved experimentally, and then he heard another crunch and felt more blinding pain as she shifted the soft bone back into place. With a triumphant smile, she stood up, "Now I feel I have caused you enough pain for doubting me. Farewell, March Warden."
And she left him sitting there, watching after her. He shook his head, thinking how quickly intolerance turned into respect. And now how respect was slowly turning into something else… dare he say fondness? Haldir grumbled. Just what he needed, deeper feelings for an ellyth with a bitter and fiery temperament.
