Chapter 10
Many dark creatures were sighted in the borders of Rivendell. Many had been killed, but some still seeked to get past the main gates. Elrond's forces held them back, and fewer and fewer seemed to keep on attacking, and many were seen following the way that Ethrin and the others went. Elrond called his daughter, Arwen, to him because she was very smart, and might have been able to figure out the mystery of the one word from the Mithwinrell.
Arwen found her father on a balcony, staring at one word written on a piece of paper. She quietly watched him ponder over the word. Did the word have something to do with anything? Finally, Elrond noticed that his daughter had arrived. He sent the servant away, and beckoned Arwen to come forth.
"Do you remember the legend of the Mithwinrell?" he asked.
"Of course. I remember it well," Arwen replied.
"The book of answers has come to me. I believe it is the second time in all my ages that it has appeared."
"Yes, and what does that have to do with me?"
"Well, it showed me this one word. But I don't know how this one word can help us all."
"Father, you are the wisest of all the elves. If you can't figure it out, then who could?"
"That's why I asked you to come. Maybe you can help."
"I'll try my best."
Arwen looked at the word, and bafflement just took over. No matter what she thought, she couldn't figure it out. She thought, "the last time the Mithwinrell had come, it had a whole page of writing. And now it only brought forth a word. How could one word solve the problem of Middle-Earth? Is this some riddle? No, it isn't long enough to be a riddle. Then what could it mean?" Elrond gazed at the word. He had written it down a few hours before, and he still couldn't understand its meaning.
Just then, Glorfindel walked in. "Why are you both staring at a blank piece of paper?" Elrond pointed to the word. "There is nothing there," Glorfindel said.
"There, it says a word," Elrond said.
"What word? Maybe it is invisible to all but those of royal blood. Maybe you should just speak it to me."
Just as Elrond was about to say it, the word slipped from his mind. And he looked down, but then it turned invisible and was lost to his memory when he was about to tell Glorfindel. The same thing happened to Arwen.
"I don't believe the Mithwinrell wants you to know," Elrond replied. Glorfindel nodded, and then left.
A messenger ran in and said, "all but few of the demons are walking towards the Misty Mountains, and the few remaining are attacking us little by little. I think that the evil wants to keep us from following the others that are going to and along the Misty Mountains."
Elrond gasped, and thought, "that must be the direction Lortil and the others are going." He ordered, "send some scouts to follow them. And if they attack anyone besides other evil, defend those that are getting attacked." The messenger nodded and ran to find Glorfindel.
Elrond knew that Aragorn was probably leading them to Lothlórien. There, maybe the Lady Galadriel would help them. Knowing that he could trust Aragorn, Elrond decided to try to figure out what Rivendell was going to do. Surely there were more devils going to Rivendell, and so he wanted to get together a full army just in case.
Glorfindel wondered about the legendary Mithwinrell. He, too, noticed that it hadn't been opened for hundreds of years. How come it didn't want him to know what it had told Elrond? And why could Arwen read it, and he could not? His face was full of puzzlement when the messenger came up quickly. The messenger told him the news quickly, and then left. Glorfindel forgot about the Mithwinrell as he planned out what they were going to do when following the demons.
Glorfindel brought along three other elves with him as he set out into the wilderness. They rode their horses and followed orc tracks. They were heading south, and along with orc tracks, there were paw prints and tracks of things that just slithered through the grasses. The horses ran with all their might, but they weren't as fast as the horses that the Aragorn and company had. The horses were soon tired, and needed rest. Glorfindel didn't want to rest, but wanted to continue. He wanted to run ahead and have the others catch up, but he was needed to help watch the horses.
The sun shone so welcome, and the day was warm. There was no sign that there was any evil lurking. It just seemed like any other carefree day that the elf children could enjoy, and the older elves could relax on. But now Rivendell knew of the danger, and nothing could seem much at peace anymore. And soon Gondor would know, and also the dwarves, and soon even the hobbits. Wizards would probably be called together in a council; the eagles would take to the air in search of goblins, and much more. It was going to be a time of death again.
Glorfindel's thoughts roamed to Aragorn and his group. Aragorn was much older than before, though still a noble king. He and Arwen had come to Rivendell to visit Elrond and the elven land. Now he had to leave the place again, and leaving Arwen behind. What else did that noble man have to go through? Hadn't he given enough for the Rings of Power? Or was that not good enough for fate? And Arwen had given up her immortality for him, and now he had to leave. Would fate ever be satisfied?
The other elves were sitting around, waiting until the horses seemed rested. After awhile, the horses started becoming restless. The elves called Glorfindel, and they started on their way again. The horses, now rested, ran faster than before, and they were quickly drawing nearer and nearer to the herd of demons.
A dart flew from out some bushes that they had just passed by, and one of the elves was hit. Glorfindel drew out his bow, as did the remaining two elves, and they shot at the bushes. Their arrows struck something, and then a growl sounded. The horse bearing the shot rider panicked and galloped forward with all its might. Glorfindel and the other elves ran after the horse, catching up to it. The elven rider was slumped over the horse, and his body was sliding down. The dart had hit him square in the chest, and now blood was pouring out. Glorfindel tried to stop the blood, but the wound just grew bigger and bigger, expanding itself and the skin around it was dissolving. The dart sunk into the elf's flesh. Soon, Glorfindel couldn't stop the blood as it poured out of the wound like a river flowing over a cliff, a fountain of death. The dart had now submerged under the flowing blood, and pierced the heart.
Glorfindel and the two elves left couldn't do anything to save the bloodless elf, but cover him with a cloak, and then buried him. The dart was pulled out, and they saw it had been covered with a mysterious poison. The dart itself was black, thin, and long. There where raven feathers for the tail, and it bear a red tip. The dart then became dust.
There was a puddle of blood where the elf used to be, and, mysteriously, none of the blood had seeped into the ground yet. The redness reflected the sunlight, and it rippled as if still alive. Glorfindel heard a sound a motioned for the other two elves to hide behind a rock with him. They saw as three creatures crept to the puddle. The figures were crouched, their black forms nearly blending with the shadow. Arms and legs could be made out. At first, Glorfindel thought that they were humans, but then saw that a wicked tail wound from each of them, and red slits were in the place where eyes should dwell.
The creatures crawled up to the puddle, put their heads down, and then started to drink the elf blood. Glorfindel and the two other elves took aim, and then shot at the shadowy creatures. The arrows had instantly killed them. He sighed. These must have been one of the weaker creatures. The puddle of blood finally started to seep into the ground, and was lost in the soil. The ashes of the fallen demons blew into the soil and crumbled away. Not even a cry had been heard when the evil had been struck.
The dead elf's horse neighed with fright. It screamed and ran back towards Rivendell. Glorfindel was about to go after it when several black blurs attacked it, biting open its throat. These creatures were shapeless blobs and the same two-legged ones seen drinking the elf blood. Fangs glittered from their mouths as they slashed at the horse. The horse fell down, eyes wide, legs kicking. One of the blobs nipped at it, letting in poison that slowed its movement. The creatures started drinking the blood and tearing at the horse's white skin and flesh. The horse was still moving when the demons had already eaten half of it, and the innocent eyes shown in pain. Then the eyes closed, and never opened again. Glorfindel called to the other elves and rode on with all their might. Their horses didn't need much urging now, after seeing their companion fall to the monsters.
Shadowy blurs followed them while they were riding. But after awhile, the evil beings sped up and finally passed them. The horses, sensing that danger was now past, slowed down. Glorfindel and the two elves stopped the horses to rest them. Shadow creatures came to their camp, but were either killed or ran away. They just seemed to observe the camp, and, not finding what they wanted, they would leave.
But one creature wouldn't leave. It just stayed there growling and howling. Then some of its followers, or so they seemed to be, circled around them. They were scrunched up in the middle of a circle of shadow things and couldn't get away. The things looked like wolves, circling closer and closer until Glorfindel could feel their foul breath. They were so close together that they looked like one mighty dark shape whirling around and around the three figures. The elves drew their bows and were about to shoot, when the leader led out a long wail that sounded over the trees and grasses…
*Blood-sucking demons made by me. If there is anything else related to or are the blood-sucking demons, then it is all a coincidence.*PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I'm begging you!