Chapter 11
Legolas woke before dawn, and found that the others were still asleep. Aragorn was awake, but Gimli was fast asleep. Surprising enough, Laphaela and Arlena had fallen asleep. The day had been tiring for them, and they were not used to so much walking in rocky surfaces, being more used to forest land and climbing trees, not rocks. He watched Aragorn walking around the area, and found Ethrin sitting on her usual rock, and now she was facing the mountain. He climbed up to her quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace that she finally seemed to have.
"Yes, may I help you?" Ethrin asked, still facing the rocky slope in front of her.
"No, just wanting to see what you thought was so interesting," Legolas replied, startled.
"Well, as you can see I'm jus staring at a rocky slope, nothing extraordinary."
"But you seem to like to stare at it."
"I would rather stare at that than think about my past."
"But you don't know your past."
"No, not my far past, just my past in the human village in the far east."
"What was it like there?"
"It was bearable enough."
"Only?"
"I do not want to talk about it."
Laphaela, Arlena, and Gimli could be seen just stirring, so Legolas decided to join them. He leaped down from rock to rock, and Ethrin watched him go. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk to a she-elf as difficult as she was. Leaping up and pulling out her sword, she did a few quick warm ups, and her muscles became looser. She put her sword away and ran down the rocky surface back down to where the rest of the company was.
After a quick breakfast, they rode off once again. After an hour or so, Aragorn began to lead them up the mountain on a barely visible path. The horses started struggling, all except Starlight. The other horses couldn't bear their riders anymore, so all but Ethrin and Gimli, who was light, walked. They went on like this for another hour, time seeming to pass slowly. Nothing out or the ordinary happened. Everybody's spirits were down.
"Faster!" Ethrin unexpectedly shouted to Starlight, and the horse began to run. Suddenly, Ethrin brought him back around and an arrow pointed straight at Gimli. She loosened the bowstring, the arrow flying in a straight path at him. He gasped as the arrow hit him hard, and fell off his horse.
"Is that what you want? To kill us one by one? Gimli has been with us this whole time, caring for you, helping all of us. Devil of an elf, if you are even one!" Aragorn shouted at her. Ethrin's face turned red with anger, and rode off up the mountain without another word,
Aragorn was about to ride his horse after her, when Legolas shouted, "wait! Come look at this!"
Aragorn turned and saw the place where the arrows had landed. The arrow was lying in a pile of ashes. Nobody was there, only the outer armor that Gimli had worn. The arrow was smoking from moving so fast, and the ashes were crumbling bit by bit, an aura of evil hanging around it. Finally, a gust of wind blew the ashes away into the air. Only a demon's body would be destroyed like this. Only a demon's corpse would turn to ash. So then this had not been Gimli at all. It had been a demon.
"What kind of evil behaves like this?" Laphaela asked.
"I remember reading in some of the oldest records of Mirkwood that there are evil creatures out there that can change shape. Some are weak, and can be sensed easily by anyone. Others are so strong that only one who has the gift can sense them. But no matter how strong they are mentally, once they are in a form of something else, they are very easy to kill," Arlena explained.
"The ashes…they weren't even pure black!"
"Yes, because if the creature changes itself into something that is not evil, like Gimli, they have a bit of good blood in them, and so they are not purely from darkness anymore. Their ashes proves them as a shape shifter, a Conwilen."
"Then where is the real Gimli?"
Legolas let out a short breath. "Maybe, that's where…where…" He didn't even finish, but immediately jumped on his horse, Whiteshadow, and rode it in the direction Ethrin was going. The wind blew against his face, as if trying to push him back, but he pressed on. He urged the horse on, the wind blowing even harder. It became harder and harder for his horse to progress forward, but he still pushed on. Ethrin was probably their only way to sense the things of darkness, and they couldn't lose her. Without her, they would surely be destroyed. His form was soon small in the distance.
When Legolas had made that sudden move, Arlena and Laphaela had wanted to follow, but Aragorn told them that the horses that were left could not handle being ridden in these mountains, nor match Starlight and Whiteshadow's speed. It was best to just stay there, rest, and then start walking. If there were a swarm of demons in front of them, then it was no use going to death any sooner. Arlena saw the good in his choice, but Laphaela was still stubborn. But Arlena finally convinced her to stop. But she still looked far into the distance where her brother had now disappeared.
Aragorn was lost in his own thoughts. "Ethrin had to be going to Mordor for another reason besides the fact that that was where the demons came from," he muttered. But what was it?
Legolas shouted, "faster," to his horse, urging it on. Whiteshadow ran faster still, but it couldn't match Starlight's speed. But when he had gotten to the top of the mountain, he looked down and saw Ethrin's figure down below. He urged Whiteshadow into the fastest run it could manage, and hollered to Ethrin, shouting her name over and over. Ethrin turned around to see whom it was, and saw Legolas riding after her. She slowed Starlight down, and waited for him.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Aragorn and the others, mourning over Gimli?" she asked mockingly when Legolas reached her.
"And why would I be mourning over a devil?" Legolas asked.
"If you were as short-tempered as Aragorn, then you would be."
"Short-tempered? I was about to say that about you."
"Then why are you here?"
"I was assuming that you'd know where Gimli is. So of course I'm going to come rescue my friend."
"Then come on."
Ethrin shouted a command to Starlight, and Starlight started riding with all his might. Legolas, caught by surprise, also commanded Whiteshadow to go. Soon, Ethrin was far ahead of them. Legolas lost sight of them, but still urged Whiteshadow on. He rode for a long time, and then caught sight of Ethirn in the distance, Starlight and her standing there waiting for them. By now Whiteshadow was exhausted. It had never run so far, so fast, and up such steep hills before. Seeing Starlight, he slowed down to a walk, and refused to go faster.
When Legolas reached Ethrin, he saw that she had sat down on a boulder and was drinking water from a small vial. Legolas jumped off of Whiteshadow, and sat down on a rock opposite of Ethrin.
"You know that Whiteshadow can't run that fast," he said to her.
"If you want to go your own speed, then go ahead. I'm just wondering if the demons have decided to slay Gimli yet," she replied.
"So you were riding that fast just so I would urge Whiteshadow on faster?"
"Whiteshadow can probably run faster than that. But if we can little by little get Whiteshadow in better shape, then we can go faster."
"Then if you're in such a hurry, why did you stop here?"
"As you can see, you've pushed Whiteshadow to his limit, or at least his limit for now. And also, there is fresh water here."
Legolas sighed. "Then I guess Gimli will just have to wait."
They rested there for a while. Legolas watched Ethrin. She looked so alone, so sad, but she didn't ask anybody for help. She didn't tell anybody her secrets, her thoughts. She kept to herself, and didn't talk to the group unless she was talked to or she needed to suggest something. Legolas thought about his own life. He had always been able to talk to Laphaela about everything, and he has, or had, a father and mother that he could count on. He knew who he was and who he was destined to be. What was it like to be Ethrin?
"Let's go," Ethrin said, getting up. She called Starlight, mounted him, and started riding off. Legolas followed.
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