Purity
Chapter 2: Mirkwood
The pounding hooves of the racing steed shook the earth, as its rider seemed to fly in the wind. Her attire was snapping behind them from the whipping wind that slapped her face and chilled her like a thousand knives. Finally, they stopped near a small lake, Levicia jumped off Portal and sunk to her knees at the shoreline.
Breathing heavily, she dipped her glove-covered hands into the water and cupped them. She brought up a small pool of water and splashed her face, dipping her hands in once more, feeling the freezing temperature for the first time, and drank the crystalline water.
She shook her hands to dry them off and caught her breath; she'd been riding for hours now without a break. She could tell by the sudden decrease in speed that Portal was as well weary. Wiping her brow, she placed her hand on her chest to try and steady her racing heart, only to come to flatness. She patted around her collarbone in search for her chain, but to no avail.
Her fight with Aragorn suddenly came flooding back into her memory as the image of his sword ripping off her chain flashed in front of her eyes. She narrowed her eyes subconsciously and slammed her fist into the ground beside her, making a small indenture.
The Dark Lord had gifted her with a boost of strength and endurance. Something that she somewhat lacked before she came under his command. He'd also enhanced her voice so that it could be used as a weapon, just as she'd used against Aragorn when she let out a banshee's cry.
"Aragorn," she said the name as if it were venom. It was too late for her to return in search of the necklace for she was nearly back in Mordor. She'd have to wait until the next day and leave at sunrise for the Dark Lord would not allow her to ride alone in darkness. Over protective, she would call him secretly.
Just as she was to mount her horse once more, a glimmer caught her eye. She glanced down into the lake and once again saw the sparkling. She crouched down and reached her hand in to retrieve the brilliant object; lifting it from within the water she held it up to examine it and brushed away the sand covering it. It was a silver ring and for a brief moment she wondered how it came to be in the lake, but decided that someone had dropped it.
Being her nature, she kept the ring but did not put it on for her bulky gloves wouldn't allow it to pass. She simply hooked it on a small bracelet and mounted Portal once more.
"Let us ride, Portal, and ride swiftly," she spoke to him and turned around before erupting in a mad dash towards Mordor. Her cherry hair whipping behind her as her hood fell from atop her head. She held onto the reigns tightly as the gates of Mordor came into few and she pushed her steed further.
"Open the gates!" she cried, receiving a reply immediately.
"Who goes there?" someone yelled.
"If thou wishes to see the moon tonight I suggest you open the gates!" she hissed, the guard finally able to get a good look at her.
He shook with fear for disobeying her, "at once me lady!" He immediately gave the order and the gates flew open just in time for her to fly past them, a rush of wind followed after. She pulled the reigns forcibly, bringing Portal to an abrupt halt in front of the Dark Lord.
"My lord," Levicia dismounted the horse and bowed.
"Rise," he spoke.
"I have brought news for thee," she stood upright. He nodded to her from underneath the large cloak and she continued. "I have encountered one of the men that doomed your search some time ago."
"Who doth it be?" he asked.
"The one who goes by Aragorn," she snarled. The Dark Lord reared his head back and an ear-piercing cry emitted from his lips. All in Mordor had to cover their ears to block out the horrible sound, but Levicia merely winced and endured the pain until it ceased.
"The Fellowship may be gathering once more," she explained once he'd stopped.
"Find them and then kill them!" he ordered.
"Yes, my lord, I shall ride at dawn," she bowed once more.
"No!" he screeched causing Levicia to snap her head up in confusion. "At once!"
"But, sire," she furrowed her brows together in bewilderment. "The sun will set in a matter of minutes," she explained, not understanding why he would allow her to leave during the night.
"Go now," he ordered. "Take as many—"
"I shan't need any help," she interrupted him. He nodded slowly and waved a hand, dismissing her. She spun around, her cloak whipping behind her with momentum as she walked towards her horse and glanced back to the Dark Lord.
"I shan't fail," she said before riding towards her tent and retrieving a few belongings. Once she'd packed everything, which wasn't much, into several pouches around her waist, she emerged from within the tent and mounted Portal before riding out of Mordor once again. The sun had already begun to set as she rode over the horizon and tried to think of the nearest location of a member of the Fellowship.
Her horse rode swiftly and she was a long way from Mordor in a matter of hours. The nearest place to her was Mirkwood, and that was her new destination. The Prince of Mirkwood would be her first victim.
Levicia licked her lips as she imagined all the different ways she would torture the Prince before she killed him. Just the sheer thought of it caused her to shiver with excitement. She'd heard several maidens speak of him when she was hidden. Several of them swooned over him and could not seem to decide which part of his handsome body deserved the most admiration. Levicia herself had never seen him hence she had no opinion of him, but if he was as handsome as he was spoken of, then she would just have to make him more beautiful than he already was.
The most frequent thing that she'd heard was that he rarely smiled, but when he did it was a dazzling one. Levicia smirked evilly; she'd just have to make that smile bigger for all his admirer's to share evenly.
As she entered the forest that surrounded the Elven kingdom, a feeling of dizziness swept over her. She shook her head as to relieve it thinking that it was just from fatigue and lack of food. But the closer she rode to Mirkwood, the more nauseous she became. Finally, she slowed her speed to a small gallop and forced her stinging eyes shut. Once she'd opened them, she had to blink several times before she became accustomed to the sudden increase in sharpness.
Portal had halted to a stop as Levicia maintained still for a moment to alleviate her nausea. The tip of her ear itched and she slapped away whatever insect had flown near her, only to have to do the same thing on her other ear.
As her dizziness began to clear, she spotted the gates of Mirkwood and veered her steed to tie him to a nearby tree. She noted that the gates were heavily guarded and she would have to sneak in if she planned to come anywhere near the Prince without a large commotion.
Levicia managed to find a portion of the walls around the kingdom that was not guarded and was easily able to climb over the wall. Luckily, she wasn't far from the palace and there were plenty of shadows to hide in thanks to the darkness.
"Where is everyone?" she thought to herself as she rarely saw any elves about. She finally reached the palace and looked about for a means of entrance. She hugged the wall as she crept along it hearing voices near. Luckily, they were indoors and did not spot her. She had to be extremely quiet, as she knew that elves had excellent hearing.
She stepped away from the rough wall of the Palace and looked up to see an open window. Behind her was, conveniently, a large tree that she could use to enter the window, which was several feet above the ground. She stealthily jumped into the tree and climbed the many branches until she was as close to the window as she could be and jumped through it, landing on the floor of the room.
"Perfect," she snickered to herself and walked towards the door. She heard a few female voices on the other side, but did not worry, as they were most likely maids. Opening the rather large door with ease, she began to walk silently down the corridor.
"Excuse me, lady," a feminine voice spoke to Levicia from behind her.
"What is it?" she turned around and tried not to call attention to herself.
"If you'll come with me?" she motioned to another room, silently asking Levicia to follow her.
"What on earth for?" she questioned the chambermaid.
"Why, to prepare you of course," she blinked.
"Prepare me?" Levicia began to grow suspicious. Not only was she not afraid of her, apparently she seemed to not recognize her either and now she wanted to prepare her?
"For the banquet; everyone, with the exception of the servants, within the palace is to attend," she explained.
Levicia chuckled evilly to herself and followed the girl into the room. "Of course, how silly of me. Thank you," she said to her and allowed the elf to remove her cloak. She'd never received such treatment before, she rather enjoyed it.
"You have beautiful hair," the elf spoke.
"Why thank you," she smiled, but quickly stopped herself. She was to act on a low profile, not become soft and amiable with the elves. "Will the Prince be attending?"
"Of course," she replied while tightening the silken dress around her waist. Levicia looked down at the black and blue gown. The elf slipped a pair of black slippers on her and stepped back. Levicia suddenly stopped and remember the ring she had found.
"My ring," she said and was to look for it when the maid held up a chain with the ring strung it.
"Here you go," she clasped it around her neck. "You're very beautiful; have you a husband?" she asked and received a laugh from Levicia.
"No, I have no one to attach myself to," she joked.
"Well, after tonight I'm sure you will. Well, the banquet is downstairs, I'm sure you can find it. I've never met an elf whose hair matched her lips," she smiled and left.
Levicia raised an eyebrow in confusion and tried to make sense of what she'd said. Elf? She wasn't an elf, but the comment gave her an uneasy feeling and she rushed to the mirror. As she examined herself she found that her hair, eyes and skin complexion were still the same as they had always been, but when she turned her head she saw something that both frightened and surprised her. Her ears were now pointed which explained why they had itched earlier. But it still hadn't explained why they had changed, as did her eyesight and hearing. It had to have been an elven spell for when she'd neared Mirkwood it had all begun.
She would have time to ponder about this dilemma later. For the time being she had a mission to accomplish which was to kill all members of the fellowship; her first being Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood.
Levicia exited the room and began to walk down another corridor. She overheard a few maids say that there was a special surprise for the Prince during the banquet. A harem elf was to dance for him and entice him if she was successful. This gave Levicia an excellent idea of how to sneak the Prince away without any suspicion.
She made her way down to the banquet with her plan beginning to take motion. First, she'd have to find out who the Prince was and decided to ask a female lest she would accidentally speak with Legolas herself. Everyone, save the king and a few others, were on the dance floor so she approached an elf woman who happened to be sitting down.
"Excuse me, lady," she said politely, "but where is Prince Legolas?" I can't seem to spot him."
"He is on the dance floor," she pointed at him discreetly. Levicia saw him and nodded though she didn't get a good look because of the crowd, but she could easily decipher him from the others.
"Thank you," she whispered and moved to the dance floor herself, keeping track of the Prince out of the corner of her eye.
She decided that it was time to place her plan into action and headed towards the harem elf's room.
Chapter 2: Mirkwood
The pounding hooves of the racing steed shook the earth, as its rider seemed to fly in the wind. Her attire was snapping behind them from the whipping wind that slapped her face and chilled her like a thousand knives. Finally, they stopped near a small lake, Levicia jumped off Portal and sunk to her knees at the shoreline.
Breathing heavily, she dipped her glove-covered hands into the water and cupped them. She brought up a small pool of water and splashed her face, dipping her hands in once more, feeling the freezing temperature for the first time, and drank the crystalline water.
She shook her hands to dry them off and caught her breath; she'd been riding for hours now without a break. She could tell by the sudden decrease in speed that Portal was as well weary. Wiping her brow, she placed her hand on her chest to try and steady her racing heart, only to come to flatness. She patted around her collarbone in search for her chain, but to no avail.
Her fight with Aragorn suddenly came flooding back into her memory as the image of his sword ripping off her chain flashed in front of her eyes. She narrowed her eyes subconsciously and slammed her fist into the ground beside her, making a small indenture.
The Dark Lord had gifted her with a boost of strength and endurance. Something that she somewhat lacked before she came under his command. He'd also enhanced her voice so that it could be used as a weapon, just as she'd used against Aragorn when she let out a banshee's cry.
"Aragorn," she said the name as if it were venom. It was too late for her to return in search of the necklace for she was nearly back in Mordor. She'd have to wait until the next day and leave at sunrise for the Dark Lord would not allow her to ride alone in darkness. Over protective, she would call him secretly.
Just as she was to mount her horse once more, a glimmer caught her eye. She glanced down into the lake and once again saw the sparkling. She crouched down and reached her hand in to retrieve the brilliant object; lifting it from within the water she held it up to examine it and brushed away the sand covering it. It was a silver ring and for a brief moment she wondered how it came to be in the lake, but decided that someone had dropped it.
Being her nature, she kept the ring but did not put it on for her bulky gloves wouldn't allow it to pass. She simply hooked it on a small bracelet and mounted Portal once more.
"Let us ride, Portal, and ride swiftly," she spoke to him and turned around before erupting in a mad dash towards Mordor. Her cherry hair whipping behind her as her hood fell from atop her head. She held onto the reigns tightly as the gates of Mordor came into few and she pushed her steed further.
"Open the gates!" she cried, receiving a reply immediately.
"Who goes there?" someone yelled.
"If thou wishes to see the moon tonight I suggest you open the gates!" she hissed, the guard finally able to get a good look at her.
He shook with fear for disobeying her, "at once me lady!" He immediately gave the order and the gates flew open just in time for her to fly past them, a rush of wind followed after. She pulled the reigns forcibly, bringing Portal to an abrupt halt in front of the Dark Lord.
"My lord," Levicia dismounted the horse and bowed.
"Rise," he spoke.
"I have brought news for thee," she stood upright. He nodded to her from underneath the large cloak and she continued. "I have encountered one of the men that doomed your search some time ago."
"Who doth it be?" he asked.
"The one who goes by Aragorn," she snarled. The Dark Lord reared his head back and an ear-piercing cry emitted from his lips. All in Mordor had to cover their ears to block out the horrible sound, but Levicia merely winced and endured the pain until it ceased.
"The Fellowship may be gathering once more," she explained once he'd stopped.
"Find them and then kill them!" he ordered.
"Yes, my lord, I shall ride at dawn," she bowed once more.
"No!" he screeched causing Levicia to snap her head up in confusion. "At once!"
"But, sire," she furrowed her brows together in bewilderment. "The sun will set in a matter of minutes," she explained, not understanding why he would allow her to leave during the night.
"Go now," he ordered. "Take as many—"
"I shan't need any help," she interrupted him. He nodded slowly and waved a hand, dismissing her. She spun around, her cloak whipping behind her with momentum as she walked towards her horse and glanced back to the Dark Lord.
"I shan't fail," she said before riding towards her tent and retrieving a few belongings. Once she'd packed everything, which wasn't much, into several pouches around her waist, she emerged from within the tent and mounted Portal before riding out of Mordor once again. The sun had already begun to set as she rode over the horizon and tried to think of the nearest location of a member of the Fellowship.
Her horse rode swiftly and she was a long way from Mordor in a matter of hours. The nearest place to her was Mirkwood, and that was her new destination. The Prince of Mirkwood would be her first victim.
Levicia licked her lips as she imagined all the different ways she would torture the Prince before she killed him. Just the sheer thought of it caused her to shiver with excitement. She'd heard several maidens speak of him when she was hidden. Several of them swooned over him and could not seem to decide which part of his handsome body deserved the most admiration. Levicia herself had never seen him hence she had no opinion of him, but if he was as handsome as he was spoken of, then she would just have to make him more beautiful than he already was.
The most frequent thing that she'd heard was that he rarely smiled, but when he did it was a dazzling one. Levicia smirked evilly; she'd just have to make that smile bigger for all his admirer's to share evenly.
As she entered the forest that surrounded the Elven kingdom, a feeling of dizziness swept over her. She shook her head as to relieve it thinking that it was just from fatigue and lack of food. But the closer she rode to Mirkwood, the more nauseous she became. Finally, she slowed her speed to a small gallop and forced her stinging eyes shut. Once she'd opened them, she had to blink several times before she became accustomed to the sudden increase in sharpness.
Portal had halted to a stop as Levicia maintained still for a moment to alleviate her nausea. The tip of her ear itched and she slapped away whatever insect had flown near her, only to have to do the same thing on her other ear.
As her dizziness began to clear, she spotted the gates of Mirkwood and veered her steed to tie him to a nearby tree. She noted that the gates were heavily guarded and she would have to sneak in if she planned to come anywhere near the Prince without a large commotion.
Levicia managed to find a portion of the walls around the kingdom that was not guarded and was easily able to climb over the wall. Luckily, she wasn't far from the palace and there were plenty of shadows to hide in thanks to the darkness.
"Where is everyone?" she thought to herself as she rarely saw any elves about. She finally reached the palace and looked about for a means of entrance. She hugged the wall as she crept along it hearing voices near. Luckily, they were indoors and did not spot her. She had to be extremely quiet, as she knew that elves had excellent hearing.
She stepped away from the rough wall of the Palace and looked up to see an open window. Behind her was, conveniently, a large tree that she could use to enter the window, which was several feet above the ground. She stealthily jumped into the tree and climbed the many branches until she was as close to the window as she could be and jumped through it, landing on the floor of the room.
"Perfect," she snickered to herself and walked towards the door. She heard a few female voices on the other side, but did not worry, as they were most likely maids. Opening the rather large door with ease, she began to walk silently down the corridor.
"Excuse me, lady," a feminine voice spoke to Levicia from behind her.
"What is it?" she turned around and tried not to call attention to herself.
"If you'll come with me?" she motioned to another room, silently asking Levicia to follow her.
"What on earth for?" she questioned the chambermaid.
"Why, to prepare you of course," she blinked.
"Prepare me?" Levicia began to grow suspicious. Not only was she not afraid of her, apparently she seemed to not recognize her either and now she wanted to prepare her?
"For the banquet; everyone, with the exception of the servants, within the palace is to attend," she explained.
Levicia chuckled evilly to herself and followed the girl into the room. "Of course, how silly of me. Thank you," she said to her and allowed the elf to remove her cloak. She'd never received such treatment before, she rather enjoyed it.
"You have beautiful hair," the elf spoke.
"Why thank you," she smiled, but quickly stopped herself. She was to act on a low profile, not become soft and amiable with the elves. "Will the Prince be attending?"
"Of course," she replied while tightening the silken dress around her waist. Levicia looked down at the black and blue gown. The elf slipped a pair of black slippers on her and stepped back. Levicia suddenly stopped and remember the ring she had found.
"My ring," she said and was to look for it when the maid held up a chain with the ring strung it.
"Here you go," she clasped it around her neck. "You're very beautiful; have you a husband?" she asked and received a laugh from Levicia.
"No, I have no one to attach myself to," she joked.
"Well, after tonight I'm sure you will. Well, the banquet is downstairs, I'm sure you can find it. I've never met an elf whose hair matched her lips," she smiled and left.
Levicia raised an eyebrow in confusion and tried to make sense of what she'd said. Elf? She wasn't an elf, but the comment gave her an uneasy feeling and she rushed to the mirror. As she examined herself she found that her hair, eyes and skin complexion were still the same as they had always been, but when she turned her head she saw something that both frightened and surprised her. Her ears were now pointed which explained why they had itched earlier. But it still hadn't explained why they had changed, as did her eyesight and hearing. It had to have been an elven spell for when she'd neared Mirkwood it had all begun.
She would have time to ponder about this dilemma later. For the time being she had a mission to accomplish which was to kill all members of the fellowship; her first being Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood.
Levicia exited the room and began to walk down another corridor. She overheard a few maids say that there was a special surprise for the Prince during the banquet. A harem elf was to dance for him and entice him if she was successful. This gave Levicia an excellent idea of how to sneak the Prince away without any suspicion.
She made her way down to the banquet with her plan beginning to take motion. First, she'd have to find out who the Prince was and decided to ask a female lest she would accidentally speak with Legolas herself. Everyone, save the king and a few others, were on the dance floor so she approached an elf woman who happened to be sitting down.
"Excuse me, lady," she said politely, "but where is Prince Legolas?" I can't seem to spot him."
"He is on the dance floor," she pointed at him discreetly. Levicia saw him and nodded though she didn't get a good look because of the crowd, but she could easily decipher him from the others.
"Thank you," she whispered and moved to the dance floor herself, keeping track of the Prince out of the corner of her eye.
She decided that it was time to place her plan into action and headed towards the harem elf's room.