By Elelome
Website: Arwen Evenstar
The small band of cavalry bounded through the pass. They had hoped to be over the Misty Mountains before stars lit up the night, but the sun was setting in the West, and they had not yet traversed the path completely.
Arwen, in the center of the group, urged her horse to further speed. Elladan, in the rear, kept an anxious watch behind them, as Elrohir looked ahead.
The enemies came without warning, rushing down from both sides, out from some hidden refuge in the caves of the mountains.
Orcs! Everywhere! To Arwen's horrified eyes, it was as if the mountain itself had burst forth upon them. She closed her eyes as the orcs drew near; her comrades gathered close around her, determined to protect their Evenstar to the last.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, power rushed over her. She reeled with the intensity of it, her eyes squeezed tight. She could sense the minds of the orcs, could feel their hate and rage, but somehow it did not touch her.
From out of the darkness behind her eyes, she spoke to them. "Begone! This is no weak elven-band that you may crush. I am the child of Luthien, descended from Maia, and you have no power against me!"
Quickly as the power had come, it deserted her, and she was left swaying. When she opened her eyes, her brothers stood beside her, supporting her.
"What did you do?" Elrohir said wonderingly. "They were advancing on us, and suddenly they faded like the dew after dawn."
"Powerful are the children of Luthien," one of their companions said, musing.
Weakness swept over Arwen suddenly. "Would that I had been here when our mother…" she could not go on.
Her brothers glanced at each other across Arwen's horse. "There were many more of them that day," Elladan said quietly.
"Come, let us leave this place," Elrohir said, remounting his horse. Arwen looked up at the fading sunset.
"If only I had been there," she whispered,
and tears came to her eyes.
