I Heraid - The Beginning

Calina had been wandering across land for many days; so long she had lost count. When Mirkwood had been attacked at the end of the War of the Ring she had become separated from her family and friends in the panic. In all the confusion she had lost her way. Calina knew the general direction she should be walking in just from looking at the Sun, but she had become so disorientated during days of being chased by orcs and the like that she had absolutely no idea where her journey westwards would take her. Many things had happened to her which she never wished to think about again and they had sapped her strength. She was on the point of complete and utter exhaustion. Calina was alone wandering the wilderness.

It was about four months after she had fled when she finally saw signs of life. The Lonely Mountain was just peeking into eyesight and between her and there someone was camped. A fire had been lit and there were two figures standing by it looking out towards her. She could tell by stature that one was a dwarf and the other an elf or man. What strange travelling companions, she thought, but she was glad to finally see people though. It was beginning to get dark so Calina struck out towards them, trying to quicken her pace, but she needn't have bothered as after about an hour she was met by an elf on horseback. "What is a she-elf doing walking the barren lands?" He asked,

"I fled from the attack on Mirkwood and got separated and disorientated. I was chased and lost my way. I have been slowly making my way back westwards in the hope of finding people to direct me back."

"It sounds like you have been through much. Here, we will take you with us."

"I do not take up with strangers who I do not know, especially ones which travel with a dwarf." she replied simply,

"My companion and I are battle comrades. We return to our lands together from Gondor." She relaxed slightly at this, there was something in his manner that seemed to calm her. She would probably have gone with him even if he had been an agent of the Dark Lord,

"I still do not know your name master elf."

"I am Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood." Calina was shocked to say the least. A prince of the realm wandering about unescorted, going to war and returning with a dwarf. Even she realised this would not be quite how Thranduil would like his only son to behave. Dwarfs are not liked by the elves. All they think about is how to take from the land, rather than care for it. However, from Calina's very limited meetings with them, they seem slightly eccentric, but then she felt sure they would say the same about elves. She shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to behave around the heir to the throne. Legolas watched her, a small smile of amusement on his face, "It is a long time since I have rendered anyone speechless." The small smile turned to a teasing grin,

"Please forgive me, highness," she curtseyed the best she could, "It is not everyday I meet royalty. I live in a very small settlement on the outskirts of your father's kingdom, it is rare I ever meet anyone."

"Ah I see. Well we will do something about that. It is not everyday I meet someone who does not know who I am, so you see this could be profitable for both of us." Even in her weakened and panicked state, Legolas' voice lulled and quietened her. He could have spoken to her about the most mundane thing but his lilting palace accent had her absolutely hooked. Calina was roused by a snort from his horse,

"If you could just direct me your highness, I will be on my way. Which way is Dale? My home is not far from there."

"I think we can do better than that. Gimli and I have been riding hard as he is anxious to return to Erebor, and I too am eager to reach my father and tell him of the stories from my travels. We are about a day's ride away from Dale however with three of us I fear we shall have to walk and it may take us longer."

"Please do not delay yourselves on account of me. I am quite happy to walk."

"My lady, you look absolutely exhausted. I insist on your coming with us. You shall sit on the horse while we walk. You look like you have wounds that need tending as well." His tone now changed to an insistent commanding one, the King's son indeed, she thought. Calina looked at her ragged torn clothes, barely covering her enough to make her fit to be seen and at the poor attempts to bind her wounds, "I could not leave you here. There are still orcs around. We met a band only yesterday."

"I can deal with orcs," she murmured softly, he still heard though,

"That I can see, but you may not be so lucky next time. Do I have to command you by royal decree?"

"I thought your father only had the power to do that." She had begun to think about things more and getting onto the horse of a stranger, even one claiming to be the Heir to the throne, did not sound like an option safer than ones she'd already considered. Legolas took her stubbornness for humour and laughed,

"That is true, but you would not want to anger a member of the royal household now would you my lady?"

True, she thought. "You will not let me go, will you?"

"No, my lady."

"It's Calina. Calina Birch. You don't have to call me your lady."

"Very well Calina. Would you please be so kind as to get on this horse so we can go back to the warm fire and have something to eat?" She sighed and went to get on the horse in front of him. She suddenly realised how weak she'd become as she could not jump up on her own. He got down off the horse and as Legolas lifted her up he made a puzzled sound, "How long have you been on your own? Months?" She nodded, "You are sapped of all your strength. I'm taking you to the Healers at the palace as soon as we can."

"No, please, just take me home. I do not want any bother," but it was no use protesting. She was on the horse of the Prince of Mirkwood and he was taking her to his palace. Fodder of dreams? Calina certainly didn't think so.

It took about twenty minutes to reach camp, during which Calina nodded in and out of sleep. She had not slept during her travels because of the orcs chasing her and because she found no rest while she slept. Her mind would not let go of the things she had seen and replayed the events as she dreamt, but now it was over and she could sleep without fear, the nightmares seemed to have stopped for a while. Calina awoke as the smell of roasted meat filled her nose. The dwarf, Gimli, had been roasting it whilst Legolas had been away. Legolas lifted her down from the horse without her even trying to do it herself and placed her near the fire. He wrapped a cloak around her, his own she suspected, to compensate for the meagre attire and to spare any embarrassment at the tear around the neck that was slowly fraying lower and lower. Calina smiled her thanks at him.

"Well, there is a strange thing to find wandering in the fields Legolas. Pray tell me, what is she doing here?" Gimli was teasing his friend, "Do you often pluck elves from thin air? You rode off after nothing I could see.."

"Hush Gimli, Calina needs her rest. We will have some food and then she may rest." Legolas interrupted,

"Calina, is then?" Gimli leaned in to look at her, "Gimli, son of Glóin at your service." And he bowed,

"Calina Birch at yours master Gimli." Calina tried to get up to bow in return, but a firm hand was placed on her shoulder,

"Do not get up. You must rest. Gimli knows you would bow," Legolas looked at Gimli with a stern expression, and the dwarf nodded and stripped meat off the bird they had killed and put it on a plate for Calina. She set about eating as Legolas explained in a whisper to Gimli how she had come to be alone when she heard the dwarf say,

"It has been four months since the attack on Mirkwood, Legolas. What has she been doing in that time?"

"Hush she will hear. I do not know, but she was chased by orcs and she has the marks left from being bound like Merry and Pippin. I fear she has been through far worse things that us my friend. She will tell us in her own time, I am sure."

Calina fell asleep in the warmth of the fire and slept a dreamless sleep. The first real rest she had had for months. She did not know it, but she was watched over the whole night by an elf and a dwarf, both intrigued by the situation.

The next morning she awoke as they packed up the camp. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning, "Morning," she said and they both stopped and smiled at her before returning to their jobs, "What can I do to help?"

"You can eat mistress elf," said Gimli, "We leave soon." And she ate some lembas they had prepared for her and a cup of water. Legolas came and sat beside her as Gimli collected some more firewood,

"Calina, we are taking you straight back to my father's halls. You need to be seen by the Healers. I do not expect you to agree to it, but seeing as you will be riding my horse, I shall take you where I please."

"I can walk, and I intend to walk myself home." Calina could be grumpy and stubborn in the morning.

"That I will not hear of. You are ill. I doubt you can even stand this morning."

"I do not want your help. I can manage myself."

"You may not want it, but you will soon need it if you are not careful. I will hear no more of it. You are to ride and we shall go beside you. Gimli will leave us to go to Erebor soon and then we will both ride."

"But." she went to protest but he got up and went to fetch his horse. Legolas scooped her up and settled her on the horse's back.

"His name is Arod, a horse of the Rohirrim. He will not let you fall. Try and rest while we travel."

"I will find no rest while I am being taken against my will." Legolas simply laughed,

"Then we shall tell of you the changes in the world since you left Mirkwood."

We journeyed all day with only one brief stop for lunch and all the while, they told her the story of Frodo and the Ring and they journey they had. They would not talk, however, about their journey through the Mines of Moria and Gimli would not mention the Paths of the Dead. They both spoke with awe and wonder of the Lady Galadriel and the woods of Lothlorien. Calina had not seen the woods as the bonds between the two kingdoms had broken down long before she was born. To say she was amazed about what they had been through was an understatement. And the task appointed to the halfing Frodo, what he must have been through she could never imagine,

"You have both been through so much. It is a wonder you were not injured or killed."

"Yes my lady," said Gimli, "There are many things I would rather forget, but many memories and friendships I treasure. Tell us of your travels."

"I would rather not Gimli. It is a time I wish not to have to remember more than I must. How far is it to go?"

"Another day's travel I suspect," Legolas said. He had been silent for long periods during the day, she noticed. He appeared to be thinking hard about something, "Gimli, a company of dwarfs approaches from the west. Would you like us to wait for them?"

"Nay, Legolas. Calina needs to get to Mirkwood. I shall light a fire so they shall see me in the dark and you may ride on. You should reach the woods in a few hours."

"As you wish. I am sad to leave you Gimli son of Glóin. You must come to Mirkwood as soon as you may."

"Or you could visit the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain. There as still some that remember their time in your father's halls and I do not wish to be sent home packed in a barrel," Gimli said with a glint in his eye. The two friends embraced as brothers would and Gimli took a load of firewood from the back of the horse to attract the attention of his kin. Calina turned to him and thanked him for his kindness towards her and his walking a whole day while she rode. He simply bowed and busied himself. Calina felt Legolas get on the horse behind her and calling his final farewell to his great friend they rode off.

Arod galloped hard and fast over the plains and she noticed them passing Erebor and the lights of Dale as the darkness grew about us. Legolas slowed the horse down as they trotted under the eaves of Mirkwood, "Where are we going?"

"There is a border guard camp not far from here. We can rest there tonight and travel to the Halls tomorrow."

"We are not that far from my home. We could rest there," she suggested,

"I do not know how safe these lands are now. The destruction of Dol Guldur may have begun, but there are many strange creatures in Mirkwood." Even as he spoke two elves leapt out in front of them,

"Who are you and what is your business in Eryn Lasgalen?"

"I go away for a few months and my father changes the name of the place I have lived for thousands of years. That is so typical of him."

"Your highness! We were not expecting you. Your father received word from Lord Elrond that you were travelling with a dwarf and he did not know when you intended to return, but you do not share a horse with a dwarf."

"This is Calina Birch. She was walking in the wilderness. She must be taken to a Healer. Tomorrow at first light we travel to the halls to see one. She has been lost since the attack on Mirkwood."

"But your highness that was." But the guard was cut off,

"Is there room in your camp for us?"

"Yes your highness. It is not far through the trees. I will lead you myself."

"Wait," she said, "What has happened to Beechgrove? It is not far from here. My family was there when." she trailed off,

"My lady, Beechgrove was destroyed, burnt to the ground by the orcs. We found no survivors. Only bodies. I am sorry to give you such bad news, my lady." She sunk down on the horse and began to weep. Her family was all dead and so were all her friends. The blackness hit her like a wave and she felt sick, ill deep in her stomach as if she had eaten rotten food.

"Help me off the horse," she whispered and Legolas jumped off and lifted her down. Calina stumbled over to a tree and vomited next to it, crying like an infant and then she just collapsed on the ground in a heap. Calina could not stand back up. All the energy she had was pouring out of her with the tears. Again, she was scooped up into Legolas' arms and carried through the trees to a flet high above the ground where the guards stayed. Legolas took her easily up the rope ladder inside and ordered out all the guards in the main room so she could sit down in the quiet. Calina was still sobbing, silently now, into his tunic. He handed her some water to drink and then put his arms round her as she shook and wept for all the people she knew.

After some time, she found she could cry no more and she pulled away from him, "Legolas, they killed everyone I know. My family and all my friends. They are gone and I never got to say goodbye. I have nowhere to go, no home. You should have left me in the wilderness. Anything is better than this." He wiped her eyes with a scrap of material and said soothingly,

"Rest now Calina. Try and get some sleep. You've been through much. Tomorrow we will travel to my home. You may stay there as long as you will."

"Thank you. I am sorry to cause you so much bother."

"You are no bother," he said carrying her to a bedroom, "I would rather you were not on your own to go through this on by yourself."

She lay in bed for many hours, but she could not sleep. Her mind was playing over the last memories she had of her family; their happy peaceful existence, working away at their jobs, taking care of each other. Calina was beyond tears now, she was numb. She left the bedroom and went to the main room of the flet. The guards were changing over shifts so they didn't notice her for some while. Legolas was standing by a small window staring out into the dark. Calina shifted to lean her weight on the wall and he must have heard her because he turned round,

"You shouldn't be up. You need your rest Calina."

"I cannot sleep. I keep seeing my family or thinking I can hear one of them when something in the flet creaks or someone speaks and all I can think of is them."

"I am sorry Calina. Would you tell me about them?" Calina nodded and they sat down on the couch.

She wanted to tell him about her family, keep the memory alive, and she spoke till the sun began to rise. It all came pouring out of her mouth, she did not have to think. Most of the time it seemed like she was not telling Legolas, but telling herself, reminding herself of how it used to be so she would not forget anything, not even the little things. Eventually her thoughts reached the last time she had seen them and she could say no more. Legolas got up to make breakfast before they set off and she shivered, realising that they had been sitting close together and had been keeping each other warm for hours. He soon came back with a hot drink and something to eat, "I am sorry, it is not much. It is not fair to eat their rations. I will get us something better when we reach my father's halls. Are you ready to leave?"

"I cannot go dressed like this. I am not fit to set foot in the Royal Halls."

"Let me be the judge of that," was all he replied before carrying her down the rope ladder, again against her wishes.

Legolas set her on the horse and then sat behind her. Calina leant back on him and he shuffled round her so he could hold her on. The warmth spread from his body into hers and she began to stop shivering. Legolas urged Arod on and they sped through the trees. Legolas had to do very few corrections to the horse's movements even though it had never been to this part of the world before. Calina kept her eyes open for branched and more than once she nearly had her eye taken out by something she had missed. Gradually they began to see elves and then villages with clusters of flets and finally the Halls of Thranduil, King of Eryn Lasgalen.

Legolas rode through the main gate and into the courtyard. He lifted her down from the horse and gave instructions for it to be stabled as he walked inside. A crowd soon began to gather round him as he walked in, Calina still in his arms, too weak now to even protest. Legolas kicked the door into the Healers' wing with his foot to open it and deposited her on the nearest bed. He smiled weakly at her and ordered everyone out except the actual healers. They soon gathered round her and prescribed all sorts of medicines. The door opened behind Legolas and without turning he said, "The Healers are busy. Unless it is an emergency, I strongly suggest you leave."

"I will not be ordered around in my own Halls by my son." Thranduil had arrived. Calina closed her eyes and prepared for a scene. It was said that Thranduil was stern and quick to anger. Legolas spun round,

"Father!" and rushed to embrace his father who laughed and said,

"I am glad you're come back my son. It has not been the same without you here. What is this commotion you are causing? You have not even been back five minutes and already the entire place is in an uproar."

"This is Calina, father. We found her wandering on the plains. She got lost fleeing from orcs during the attack on Mirkwood, I mean Eryn Lasgalen, at the end of the war."

"Hmmm," said Thranduil thoughtfully, "By we, I suppose you mean that dwarf friend of yours. Is he here as well?"

"No father. Gimli has gone back to the Lonely Mountain."

"Very well, we can save that commotion for another time." Thranduil beckoned to his son and they had a whispered conversation on the other side of the room. Calina suspect it was about what on Middle-Earth she was doing in the wild because there were a lot of glances in her direction and she felt sure she heard her name. Calina was straining to hear them when a healer said to me,

"You must sleep. We will give you our strongest draught. Your body has much to repair and I judge a lot of sleep to catch up on." Legolas walked over and put his hand on her shoulder and said,

"I will come back and see you when you are next awake." Calina nodded and did as she was told. It was disgusting stuff but soon enough sleep hit her and her eyes fell closed. Calina was asleep for six days.