Chapter 2
"Are you okay?" Erinqua tried rolling over to see who was speaking to her. Whoever it was came over and pushed the cold horse off of her. She raised herself up off the ground, wincing at the pain it brought her back; it must've been caused by the fall. She eventually blocked out the pain, and got to her feet. She looked down at her dead steed; he had served her well, but she needed to run away from the Orcs.
"I'm fine, but there are still two Orcs behind me." With this she turned and headed west, out of the forest of Mirkwood. "And that means behind you as well, sir! Run while you can, for they care not whether you are friend or foe, which I believe you to be, for you saved me, they will slay you upon finding you!"
"Wait!" The man called out to her while she was running; she had not bothered to look at his face, for she had only turned and ran, and she had not heard his footfalls behind her. "They are already slain themselves, for I pierced them both with arrows! I hardly miss!" She stopped, and turned round to face him, although there was a great distance between them.
"Do not dare to be so presumptuous, sir!"
"I know that they are no more, for they would have already overtaken you as well as me. Come over here, and at least gather your belongings from your saddlebag, Lady!"
Rinq knew not if she should trust the rider, for he might have saved her from the Orcs, but what if he was some perverted mind?; for she knew not whether he was Elf or Man. He could not be Hobbit nor Dwarf because of his stature; he stood almost six feet tall from what she could tell. She started walking towards him, although, as she did this, she reached to her back, pretending only to be soothing a wound, and grabbed a small knife from the sling that she kept her weapons in. She did not remember where she had received the blade, only that she had it now, and that it might prove useful.
"What brought you after the Orcs, if I may ask, sir?"
"I heard someone yelling for help, so I only followed the sound, and rode swiftly towards it, and found two Orcs chasing after a rider. I slew the Orcs with arrows and then found you, your horse dead on top of you. I think that should bring us up to date. And why were Orcs following you? And why was so young a lady as yourself traveling alone?"
"Orcs are dirty beings, and they plunder and kill only for joy. It seemed that I must've been a worthy target for them to have fun with. I cannot say why I was traveling alone, for this I do not remember. And why were you in the woods, sir?" It was more of an interrogation session than anything else. She had begun going through the bags on one side of the saddle of the dead being, for she could not very well roll over the beast for she was lacking the strength.
He laughed slightly to himself. "I was only riding in the night, for it is my favorite thing to do. I look upon the stars while I ride. Lady, if I may ask, what is your name?"
"Enriqua. In the Sindarin tongue it means-" He cut her off; he knew the language well, it seemed, and it was the first thing that told her he was an Elf, for her head was spinning from the fall.
"Alone." He shook his head. "Why would someone name their daughter that? For any matter, since your parentage is not my business as it may seem, I would like to escort you out of the forest, where there is more light. Perhaps to Mirkwood? You get boarding there."
I think that's where I was running from, she thought. "I suppose that would be the smartest thing to do right now." From the bags she had managed to get about forty gold coins, more than enough to pay for a room and food. "And your name, sir?"
"My name?" He laughed to himself.
"Why is my asking your name so funny?"
"Nearly all Elfmaidens from Mirkwood, which I suppose you're from, know my name. And you're the first I've met that has not."
"Should I know your name, sir?" She did not like the way that the man was so head sure of himself, for he seemed as though he thought he was much higher than others.
He chuckled again; it was making Rinq mad. "My name is Legolas."
"And that name I have never heard before."
"I thought you were from Mirkwood?"
So did I…so did I, she thought.