A\N. Guest replies~
Grey Day-Wow, thank you for all your kind words! I do struggle to get the proper archaic sense, and I'm so glad you like it.
You're welcome. :)
LovethisStory~I feel odd typing out this name, but I am extremely flattered. Here's more, and I hope you like it.
Celloth smiled weakly. She was not skilled in the laws of hand-to-hand combat, and her face was drawn with apprehension. Elrond's voice cut like a knife. "Put the horses in a ring and do not dismount." He nodded towards Celloth. "You have a bow."
She nodded in assent. "Yes, my Lord."
"Get on my horse. Your only task is to shoot, and heed that my wife does not fall."
Celloth quickly dismounted and Elrond took her place. "Let us go."
Keeping their steeds in a close formation, they went forward. As of yet they had seen no enemy, only heard the rumors of yrch. But a mounting terror was upon them, and a chill, for they knew that Thuringwethil lurked in the clouds, and Pen-eil was watching them with an eagerness for blood.
They reached the hilltop where the vampires had once stood, and found it desolate of all life, only the murky darkness that wrapped itself around all like a shroud, stifling the breath, quailing the heart's courage.
"Ride on." said Glorfindel, his voice calm.
Elrohir looked back and saw through the night figures even darker, and their cries soon became visible to all. "The yrch are upon us." he said.
The clouds split asunder as Thuringwethil landed before them, her white robe tattered in the rising wind. For a wind had come, no wind of ill fortune, but it was a wind from the West. But still all was dark. Yet it seemed to the Eldar that the wind gave them life and light beyond that which they could see. The horses reared in terror, whichever way they turned with frantic eyes there seemed no escape, and though the riders did their best to calm them. "Where is my daughter?" asked Elrond, his voice soft with death.
Thuringwethil laughed, a shrill sound that mocked them. "Did not this Elf tell you? She is my daughter now, Peredhel, and that she shall remain."
"If you are dead, your soul and your curse will flee from her." was Elrond's swift reply.
It was then they saw the first flicker of fear in the cat-green eyes, but it was swiftly masked. "You cannot kill me. I am one of the Maiar."
Elrond laughed and scorned her in return. "Ah, even they can be slain, though they be like to the Ainur. And I have much to repay you."
"Others of my kind have been slain, but not I. They were weak in the light. I have been strong in the dark."
"Melian was of the light, and she wove enchantments round her daughter not even you could break." said Elrond, his fair face hard and cold.
Thuringwethil's eyes flashed, her mask shattered, and for a moment they saw a creature they had never dreamed of, deformed by cruelty, wracked with gnawing guilt and bitterness, leaf-green eyes gazing sadly out at them. And then it was gone. The mask was healed, the mocking tone of the vampire resumed its cruel ring, but there was still a hint of uncertainty. "Is there any testimony that I tried to break them?" she asked.
"You yourself are the testimony." replied the Elf-Lord.
Thuringwethil stiffened, her wings that before had draped behind her like a cloak were now spread out, ready to fly. "And then why did I not try to kill Elwing? Why did I not try to kill you? No spells were woven around you, not even the love of a mother."
Elrond's jaw tensed. "Because your vengeance would not be complete until you had the very likeness of Lúthien. You did not want to slay her, you wanted to torment her into your own image."
Thuringwethil smiled. "Indeed I did. And I have, son of Lúthien. She is wholly given over to the darkness now. Look to the left, and see if it is not so."
They did, involuntarily. Thuringwethil's words were uttered with a command that must be obeyed, and Elrond gave a groan that was torn from his heart. His daughter was no longer his daughter. The Evenstar was Starless, and she was Thuringwethil's child.