Chapter Two
Silently Candria slipped from branch to branch in the great tree, until she lay upon a bough that leaned outward toward the paths of Lorien. The light of the moon was shining brilliantly behind her, hiding her shadow and pouring light onto the road ahead. The footsteps stopped suddenly and Candria could hear the light breathing of an elf, for no man nor dwarf could move so stealthily amongst the trees as this being. She strung her bow and pulled it taut, waiting for the smallest sound to betray the presence of the intruder. There was one lithe footstep and her bow silently dealt an arrow, cutting the warm air with an icy silver tip that never missed its mark.
Had her intent been to kill, the recipient of the arrow would now have been permanently silenced; instead, Candria heard the all-too familiar sound of a bow being strung with an arrow.
"Don't be so foolish." Her low commanding voice echoed in the silence of the forest. The elf she had frightened was now silent, failing to conceal their quick breathing from Candria's ears. "If I had wanted to kill you elf, I would have already done so. I know you cannot see me, for my sight pierces more than this night. I can see you standing next to that tree, your hair caught by my arrow." At that Candria dropped from her perch, slowly advancing on the elf-man she could see now standing defiantly next to the tree she had pinned him to.
As she approached he called out in the clear language of her people:
"I am a messenger for the Sindarian elves of Greenwood. I have come to hold counsel with the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn, my coming brings no harm into your wood." He let his bow fall from his hand onto the earthen floor and his arms rested unthreateningly at his side.
"You are far wiser then the yrch living near this wood, for they know not the peril they assign themselves wandering into the realm of Lady Galadriel. Because you bring no danger into Lorien, we welcome you, my kinsman." She stepped out of the shadow and pulled her arrow out from the flesh of the tree and out of the fair elf's hair. He bowed low to her and declared himself to be Haluin, son of Valui of the court of King Thranduil, the only ruler of Sindarian elves in Greenwood the Great.
"Welcome Haluin, son of Valui, I am Candria of the Lorien elves. Come, my Lady is anxiously waiting to see you." Candria had heard her Queen's summons inside her mind, asking Candria to bring the messenger of Thranduil to her halls. Haluin picked up his bow and followed as Candria wound her way through the labyrinth of the mellyrn trees to Caras Galadhon, wherein dwelled the Lord and Lady of Lorien.
"What counsel do you seek with my Lady? What troubles Greenwood that they should desire to travel so great a distance to our realm?" Haluin remained silent as they passed through a close-knit patch of trees that edged the base of the last hill until Caras Galadhon would come into sight. He sighed in the darkness; even Candria could sense that his heart was deeply troubled.
"How I wish I could tell you of all the troubles of the world, of the shadows that are crawling like vermin into the happiness of Middle Earth. My lord, King Thranduil has bidden me only to speak with the Lady Galadriel; I can say however, that a host of Sindarian elves is following behind me not a days journey from Lorien." Haluin stopped suddenly as they reached the crest of the hill, Caras Galadhon spread out like a sea of lights in a blanket of darkness before him. His breath caught in his throat and Candria noticed for the first time how beautiful the city looked from above, how perfect the boughs of each tree were as silver spires in a flawless lace of absolute beauty.
"That I had seen the glories of this earth was a lie, for never shall I gaze on so fair a place until the passing of all time." Haluin breathed out as if afraid to shatter the absolute silence and grace that seemed to live in the air surrounding the fair city. Candria simply smiled and began the descent into the trees where Galadriel held her courts.