SHADOW IN THE TREES
By : mirkwood-elf-20931 & Thala


CHAPTER 13


"I think perhaps we should stop and make camp soon, do you not?" Arwen spoke wisely, noting that the land would be covered in darkness in the near future, for now every days' length had become shorter with the season.

Landailyn agreed. "Next clearing we come to."

Her companion nodded and continued on.

Soon, it had almost grown completely dark. A full moon hung high in the clear sky, casting eerie shadows among the trees, but brightly shining as they came into a sizeable open space in the same little wood the Uruk-hai had come from to attack them.

Settling her horse in, Arwen set out to find twigs and sticks to build a fire.

"Do not go far, Arwen. Stay close by."

"Yes, Landy." She had grown a little tired of Landailyn's over-protectiveness of her. Arwen knew she didn't want to lose another friend, it was just frustrating sometimes.


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Far away, floating above the tree tops was a black winged beast. The moonlight illuminated its ragged fur and scabbed flesh. Blood nearly poured from its frothing mouth and down its sharp shod hooves. Riding upon this horse from Mordor, was none other than Saruman's latest creation herself, who scanned the breaks in the foliage below.

A safe distance away, she chose a place among the bushes to hide him. "Stay, Nathril." She ordered, turning to set out on her journey toward the two's camp site.

Her black riding robes swayed from side to side as she walked on without a sound, her raven locks draping down her back, the little curls were gone now, the wind not daring to lift a single strand. Her sheathed sword was belted about her waist, the scabbard laying against her left thigh. When she was nearly upon them, she leapt high into the trees for better cover.

Creeping from branch to branch, she could eventually see someone lying close to a low flamed fire. It appeared to be the Noldor Elf, but where was the Silvan? She leaned over, moving thin leafy limbs to get a clearer look.

And soon, she spotted her prey.


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Landailyn stood on watch, her arms folded before her chest, once in awhile glancing over at the sleeping princess, whom tonight she would awake in a matter of hours to take her place. She had not been getting much rest as of late and it was finally catching up with her and briefly wondered if she would even last out her turn this night.

She looked up to the scattered stars, glittering like jewels in a Dwarven mining cave and her mind averted to someone whom she greatly missed, Legolas. She also wondered what was happening to the Fellowship, it had been nearly a month since they'd set out now.

But those thoughts were halted, when a great feeling flared which she had at first dismissed, seeming to plead with her now to pay it heed. Though now she knew better than to dismiss such things. An evil was nearing, getting closer and more powerful, dominating her mind. She could think of nothing else, but to protect Arwen and destroy whatever might be hunting them.

In an instant, her long-knives were slid from their places on her back, as she listened intently to every little thing around them. Hearing thunder in the far distance she had not noticed before. And not long after, a rustling noise. It sounded small, disturbing a bush on the ground a few feet away. Shortly, a squirrel scampered out into the open, then darted back into another part of the forest, leaving Landailyn breathing a short breath of relief.

Turning back to stand in her previous place, she felt eyes upon her, as though someone was watching them, a strange presence she could neither see nor hear. In mid step, her head jerked toward the eastern edge of the timber. The horses had been spooked by something and neighed softly, backing up and stepping uneasily.

Whipping back around, she was fast enough to catch sight of a few dead leaves falling to the already littered ground, so she readied her weapons for a fight. Looking all around and finally upward, she made out the dark shape of a person, slowly rising on a large branch a few feet above her head. How could they have gotten this close without me knowing it, she thought in short.

In the next second, the person silently dropped to the ground. Knees bent in a crouch, one hand touching the forest floor, the other on the hilt of its sword. Its face and half its body was hidden by long hair, black as the night itself. Slowly, it raised its head.

"Thala!" She cried in total surprise.

But this Elf was not Thalawen. Landailyn saw this when she rose to her full height. This being was no longer an Elf even.

Her once dark, soulful green eyes were now bright and lime-green in color, but still dull and unseeing, lifeless as a doll's, as if she weren't acting under her own freewill. Her skin was bruised and not healing like it normally would and the color had turned a dark shade of bluish green, like rotting flesh covered in moss.

The tall robed form then began sidestepping around her game in a circle. Landailyn turned with her, understanding now what had happened. "Why? How could you have turned against your friends? Your own people!"

But Thalawen wasn't answering, staying perfectly silent and cold, as Landailyn could feel no warmth from her so called 'new friend'.

Then, Thalawen stopped entirely. Drawing her sword and turning her body to the right, she looked at Landailyn with her empty eyes, a sinister grin spread across her once such fair face. Without warning and quick as a flash, the dark Elf ran full speed at her. She swung her sword high and prepared to cut off her opponent's head with one swipe of the slender blade.

Landailyn blocked the blow with her left knife, then quickly brought up the right to knock Thalawen's single weapon upward and away.

In turn, she whipped the sword over her head and brought it to Landailyn's middle, but she had crossed both knives and caught Thalawen's between them, inches from her stomach. As hard as she could, she then pushed the sword and Thalawen away from her.

Twirling around gracefully, as if in a dance, Thalawen once again resumed her original stance, this time facing the left.

The two warriors backed away a few paces, as if measuring each others' strengths and weaknesses, but only finding they had the same. Though what Landailyn didn't know, is that a certain someone was beginning to awaken from the commotion.

Running at one another and meeting in the middle, Thalawen raised her sword to block both of Landailyn's silver blades as they came downward simultaneously. Forcing Thalawen to grip the rugged edge and the hilt, while the blood running down her left hand and the pain from it meant nothing to her.

Of course, Landailyn was not attacking to kill the Elf, but if she could get her into some sort of vulnerable position and with Arwen's help, they could capture her and together they could try and bring her back to her old self.

She pressed harder, forcing Thalawen onto one knee, when her ears picked up the sound of someone rushing toward them, an approach that was meant to be heard. She had turned her head a mere fraction of an inch, but that was all it took to break her concentration, she'd seen Arwen out of the corner of her eye, Hadhafang in her hand.

Seizing the opportunity to catch her off guard, Thalawen pushed against Landailyn's knives making her stumble backwards, but with quick reflexes she regained her composure and did not fall.

Before she could so much as lower her sword, Arwen's came crashing down upon it. Though Thalawen had anticipated this, counteracting it, at the same time reaching into her left boot for the Morgul dagger she kept there. Rising swiftly, in one fluid motion she swiped it across Arwen's upper right arm. The princess was so startled by the blow, it caused her to fall and roll back to where Landailyn was still standing. All of this happening in a matter of seconds.

Thalawen threw down the long pointed dagger, just as the double-edged shaft of it disappeared, backing away and looking on, as Landailyn quickly knelt at Arwen's side, making sure she was alright. She turned her attention back up to Thalawen, her lightly colored eyes narrowing with hatred for what the Elf had become.

Thalawen smiled in return, most pleased with the damage she'd caused.

Landailyn rose, she was prepared to do anything and everything within her power to stop this twisted form of life, that once had a pure soul. So she ran toward her, bringing her right weapon upon the enemy. Thalawen easily deflected the blow and turned her own blade about Landailyn's, making it fly from her hand, becoming lost within the foliage.

Only two blades remaining, quickly they clanked together three more times above, then Thalawen went down low, only to be blocked again. Lifting it back up to strike higher, Landailyn proficiently blocked it as well.

The blonde Elf then pushed off the sword, spinning to her right and crouching, bringing her knife back to run it across the shin, digging deep, clear down to the bone.

Thalawen staggered backward. She touched a finger to her leg, bringing the tip up to examine it, then taking it into her mouth, tasting her own blood.

The battling would have continued, had Saruman, seeing that neither were apparently going to hold victory, not called Nathril to fly to the scene and retrieve her. Thalawen noticed the winged horse swoop down and without a word, jumped upon his back, leaving Landailyn staring up through the trees after them.

She sighed heavily and shook her head, taking her gaze back to the land below her feet.

"Did you see her eyes?" She heard a clear voice come from behind and half turned to see Arwen sitting in the same spot, clutching her arm to staunch the blood flow. "They…they were bright in an ill color and yet…they held nothing. Neither spark of life, nor inner light. And her skin..." She trailed off, not even knowing how she could describe it.

Landailyn looked down again, her features etched with sympathy toward the Half-she-Elf. "Are you alright, my lady?" She came to kneel beside her, taking her arm to inspect the gash.

"Please Landy, no need for the formalities. It would be good to know I still have one loyal friend left."

Landailyn stopped to look up at her, but nodded. Of course she was her friend, serious situations just tended to make her act this way. "Well, this appears only minor, you should heal from it without problem. You should not have interfered, but I do thank you for it. Here, let me get supplies to clean it up." With that, she rose, turning in the direction of their horses.

Arwen smiled after her and began to take off her riding coat. She lifted the short sleeve of her jerkin to get a better look and found the cut was not as deep as she had first thought, but still stung as when it had first happened.

Both creatures had backed further into the woods with the scare of the intruder into their camp. But Landailyn easily coaxed them out and at last after some good digging around in the packs, the Wood-Elf returned with the needed items, a cloth, a water flask, a bandage and some athelas. Taking the cap off the flask, she put the cloth over its mouth and dumped it upside down, then gently cleansed the blood from her skin. "Now if you would just hold your arm out more, please?"

Arwen obeyed, as Landailyn put the small leaves of the athelas plant in her mouth, chewing them to bring out its sweet smelling potency, then packing it into the wound and bandaging it tightly. "There, that should take care of it."

Arwen smiled up at her, letting her arm go limp. "Hannad lle." [Thank you.]

She nodded again, standing with the cloth still in hand, cleansing her only knife of their attacker's blood. And with the light from both fire and moon, Landailyn noticed that it was not red blood she was clearing away, but black, like Orcs. "I go to find my blade." She announced, saying nothing of the matter to the princess. What good would it do to worry her more than she already was? And Landailyn would not do that to a friend.

"Alright," Said Arwen, reaching for the water flask to wash the blood from her coat.

Landailyn sheathed her other and traversed to the brink of the woodland. It didn't take her long, before she located it among the greenery.


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The shock of the staff crashing against her cheek, did nothing to her, she'd felt it many times. Her brain was now numb with pain.

"I told you not to fail! You are as worthless as all Elves," Saruman all but screamed it in her face. His tirade had begun as soon as she reached Orthance over an hour before. The rain had stopped and she was back within the large dark room.

"I apologize, my lord," she said weakly, in a daze, "it will never happen again." She lay sprawled on the floor, trying to prop herself up on her elbows.

Saruman pointed his staff at her and she flew to the nearest wall. Her head hitting the black stone with a crack. She was now eye-level with him. "If you are lying, I will surely kill you, for you will be no use to me." With that, he let her drop to the floor, where she passed out from severe exhaustion.


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Arwen sighed, putting down her coat, it was no use, the stain could not be removed. She gazed to her left and noticed that their fire had gone out completely and moved to begin throwing extra wood into red sparking embers, watching as Landailyn headed back toward her. "Find it?" She asked the question casually, at the same time light blazed brightly beside her, as tall flames danced wildly once again.

"Yes. And you should go back to sleep."

She looked up from her current task to stare at the older Elf. "Landy, you are the one that looks as though she needs to sleep." Arwen replied, eyeing her. "You have not been getting much lately, have you? Do not think I have not noticed. At first it was not like this, but now you always bid me to bed first while you stay up to keep watch and you never wake me. I do not think you've slept at all since Lorien." She had not truly taken notice to this until now, how long it had been that the Elf stayed up every night and took both turns, or she would have put a stop to it sooner.

Landailyn stayed silent, arms folded, her expression unreadable.

"Please let me take over, so that you may rest."

"I will not."

"Landailyn!"

"I promised your father I wouldn't let anything happen to you!" She snapped back quiet loudly. "And it is one I intend to keep!"

Arwen almost glared at her. "You may have, but ere this I took well care of myself." Her voice holding the same testy intonation, but much lower in volume.

It was not like Landailyn to lash out, now that she was much older, especially at a friend, or royalty. She knew that Arwen could fight, she was a great swordsman. But immortal lives were so precious to the Elves and somehow she felt she had failed, twice now. Failed not to have reached one of her own kind in time to save them from a doom of an eternal life of darkness. But perhaps it was not too late, just yet.

"On the morrow we reach Isengard. We will be facing the most powerful Istar in Middle-earth. I cannot fight this alone, nor can I lose you." She stood and came to rest a reassuring hand on Landailyn's thin shoulder.

There was a silence between them for a moment, then came a soft answer. "I know. I am sorry, my friend."

Arwen shook her head slightly. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Just please, rest. And that is an order."

Landailyn couldn't help but smile. "Yes, my lady." She replied playfully.

Arwen sighed, the corners of her mouth turning up briefly. "Do not worry, she will most likely not return tonight. If anything should happen, you have my word that I will wake you immediately, Captain Windsong." She also kidded.

Landailyn chuckled, then set to unbuckling her bow and quiver from her back, keeping them close and bedding down on the left side of the rekindled fire, where Arwen had been before.

"Idh eithel." [Rest well.] She heard the princess mumble, while trying to find herself a suitable post.

Landailyn lay there, unable to keep her mind off what ill occurrences the night had brought them. How long did Thalawen resist before giving in? What could he have done to change her so quickly and so much that she was made hardly recognizable from when they had last seen her?

Again, thoughts like this began to build up in the back of her mind. No, she had to stop worrying, had to shut them all out and clear her mind for some needed rest, or she would be finding herself even too tired for travel. And she knew what reaching Orthanc would bring, more battlement.

Wearily, she glanced up at the night sky and prayed that their 'friend' would not make an unwanted appearance, trusting Arwen to wake her if anything went wrong. Eventually, she drifted into a deep silent oblivion, slowly renewing her strength for the next day's events, whatever they may be.

It was late, the moon had since vanished behind large murky clouds and a cool whistling breeze had picked up. Arwen sat atop a large boulder near Athron and Asfaloth. Two of her senses staying constantly wary to their surroundings, while tightly gripping her sword. It had been six hours now and the black clad Elf had yet to show herself.

Her dark eyes flickered over to Landailyn's unmoving form on the ground. Good, she was truly asleep and obviously she hadn't received any rest in sometime, for her eyes were closed, as they often do when an Elf is simply worn out.

After awhile, she too let her eyes gaze upward. Though it was cloudy, they tended to thin out in places here and there, locating Earendil, it immediately reminded her of who else, but Thalawen. Many occasions had they looked to the stars together and tonight she missed those times more than ever.

Hope. That was all she could do now. And perhaps relying somewhat on fate not to betray them for a result of following day's accounts.

No, Thalawen would not return to their camp, there was no purpose for it now, she would be patiently awaiting their arrival inside the grim walls of Orthanc.


TBC ...