SHADOW IN THE TREES
By : mirkwood-elf-2931 & Thala
CHAPTER 19
A horse and rider now stood before the
narrow road leading to the black tower, where what was left of the trees outside
of the gates ended. Orthanc was in sight to the right and to the left the sun
was still rising over the peaks of the surrounding Misty Mountains.
The rider surveyed the land around her. Why had not a single one of Saruman's
forces come after them? She knew he must sense they were still there, or could
see it. Perhaps he's just toying with us again, thought Landailyn. But one
thing she was going to make sure of, that no one was going to get themselves
captured by him again. Especially not anyone she knew and cared for.
Too many had perished by his hand and some were maybe more than physically
damaged. Which the first reason brought her to why she was out there. To say
goodbye, to the men that had been loyal and had respected her to do her newly
appointed duty.
So many of her men had come to help and now not so many were going home to
their families. A matter she felt painfully responsible for.
"May your spirits tread paths where in their ends you will all find
peace." Her voice low, the wind almost
stealing its sound. She bit her bottom lip, as two lonely tears she tried to
fight back, dropped slowly down her cheeks. "I'm sorry..."
She sat there a moment longer, then brushed them away with her thumb and index
finger. The horse under her neighed softly and she reached up to pat his neck.
"Let us return, Athron. We've got a long road back home and we must start on it
today."
Her horse lazily back tracked to camp and she dismounted, carefully. Observing
the quiet campground, she noticed one of her scouts closing the distance
between them.
"Captain, it is good to see you up!" He exclaimed. "We were worried about you!
How do you fare this day?"
She smiled briefly. "Thanks to our healers, I am doing better. How are you?"
"They are all fine now, from what I've seen." Said Calatria, appearing
from the other side of Athron on her way to take some supplies to the men. "You
know you really should not be up just yet."
Landailyn made a bit of a face. "And the Lady Arwen agrees with you, but I wish
to return home as soon as possible." She began walking off, before the woman
could protest anymore, leading Athron back to their spot with Arwen and
Thalawen. The scout following casually.
"Is there anything I may be of help to you today? Are we leaving yet?" The
scout named Romendis asked right away.
"Yes," She stopped and he faced her. "We must move. Saruman will have known we
have not yet cleared his territory. Everyone needs to pack what they can. I
want scouts to leave within the next half hour. Spread out and sweep the area,
come back to me periodically and report. I want to know everything that goes on
around us on our journey to Lothlorien." She gave these orders in a strict
tone, though not really meaning how they came out. Normally she would be telling
Teredith this, but knew that was no longer possible.
"Yes, Captain. I will relay this to the others at once." Turning on his heel he
left her to inform his peers.
Landailyn followed his retreating back with her eyes narrowed, in thought.
Lately it had been very difficult to trust the ones closest to her.
Today was not turning out better, as it should be. Her shoulder and arm ached,
throbbing with each step she took or each slight move of her arm, making her
irritable. Perhaps she should not be up so soon, but at the moment she
tried not to care, she was only concerned with getting everyone to safety, far
away from where they were.
Dismissing all thoughts of betrayal, she went to get ready for their departure.
She reached their spot, to find Arwen eating a little breakfast with Thalawen,
who had awoken by herself. "Are you ready? We will leave in an hours time. Does
this suit the both of you?" Asked Landailyn, looking them both in the eye, one
and then the other. Neither rejected her plan. She half smiled. "Do you think
your grandparents will mind us staying with them again, with all my men?" She
asked the princess.
Arwen shook her head and added knowingly. "I do not believe they would turn
away their own kin."
Landailyn nodded, turning a look on Thalawen. Smiling a little more, she
stepped over to her and lowered her voice, so as only she could hear. Though
Arwen didn't have to try too hard to overhear everything said.
"I have something special for you, Thalawen. I know you'll love it. When I
first saw it, I thought of you." Landailyn turned her head and gave a small
whistle, which soon was returned with an answering neigh.
The next thing Thalawen saw was a brilliant white steed coming down a cleared
path towards them. His coat shimmering in the sunlight through the breaks in
the leaves. His mane and tail were white as well, he was almost glowing. Only
his muzzle was a deep gray, his eyes a thick brown.
Arwen came to stand beside Thalawen. She looked over at her and had to suppress
a giggle with one hand, while she stuck a finger under the Elf's jaw, pushing
it slightly upward with the other.
Thalawen didn't even know her mouth had been hanging open. "Thank you." She
murmured distractedly, barely even moving her mouth.
She took a tentative step forward, reaching out a hand towards the steed's
nostrils for him to get her smell. He stuck his nose forward, touching her hand
affectionately. It was the horse that took the last step to Thalawen, sniffing
her face and rubbing his head against her chest in a friendly manner. She
wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her face gently against his mane,
smelling him the way he'd smelled her.
"I love him, Landy." This was muffled by the horse's thick neck, but the blonde
Elf knew what she'd said.
Thalawen then turned right around and hugged her, though being wary of her
still healing wound. "Oh, I love him. Thank you, Landailyn. Thank you."
Landailyn was thrown a little off balance. She'd never expected this from
Thalawen. Anyone almost, but never Thalawen. She smiled at Arwen, as the Elf
let go of her to stare at the horse again. Arwen had silent tears of joy
rolling down her cheeks.
"What will you name him?" Asked Landailyn.
Her eyes surprised, Thalawen looked back at her. "Doesn't he have a name?" She
asked.
"He is one of the Mearas, so no, he doesn't. Unless you consider 'horse' to be
his name, as that's what I've been calling him all this time." She waited a
beat. "I didn't think so."
This astounded Thalawen even more, for she knew of the history on the Mearas
and according to it, not one of these horses had ever been trained before. Of
course, none of them yet knew about Gandalf and Shadowfax.
Landailyn reached out her own hand to touch the soft nose of the horse. He drew
back slightly, but not in alarm. He was becoming selective of whom he wanted to
be touched by, even if she was the first one he'd come in contact with. So it
seemed he'd chosen Thalawen.
Perfect, thought Landailyn with a smile to grace her lips, absolutely
perfect.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
An hour later, the horses were saddled and almost everything packed.
Thalawen, who'd been wearing her garments from Saruman this whole time, which
was probably why people kept looking at her as though afeared, was now dressed
in extra clothes of Landailyn's, as her own had been slashed and torn.
The Wood-Elf's were much tighter on her than her own clothes would have been.
They gave little around the waist and arms, her shoulders being broader than
Landailyn's. Thalawen was not as dainty a maiden as either Landailyn or Arwen
and she was much larger than any of the women healers in Landailyn's group.
Being the tallest she-Elf in the camp, Landailyn's riding robes hung to
Thalawen's shins, instead of the ankles. But this would have to make do.
And she hoped against hope that she'd find her weapons on the way to
Lothlorien. She couldn't remember when the Orcs had taken them off. The only
item she had still left of her own were the black Elven boots she wore on her
feet.
Landailyn and Arwen were striding to Thalawen briskly. "I see you've found
something," Said Landailyn, looking her up and down, with a small laugh in her
voice. Thalawen ignored this, but kept packing her saddle bag.
"Have you named the horse?" Asked Arwen excitedly.
"Yes, I have. His name is Ezril." Hearing his name, the newly christened Ezril
came to stand by Thalawen's side. He was saddled and ready to go, borrowed from
another of the horses whose owner was no longer with them. His hooves stamping
the ground anxiously. Thalawen strapped her bag onto the side of his saddle and
turned to look at her friends. "Ready?"
Arwen stepped forward. "We've come to give you something, Thala." Arwen looked
at Landailyn and they both grinned up at her.
"Not another horse, is it?" Joked Thalawen.
"No, it's a few things that we believe you seemed to have lost." Landailyn said
this, pointing down on the ground to a blanket. But the blanket seemed to be
covering something.
Thalawen bent down and lifted the corner of the rough material to reveal, not a
horse, but a bow. The wood polished to a bright gleam, to where she could
almost see her reflection. Next to it, was a quiver full of arrows, equally
shiny. This was all hers. She couldn't believe it.
She pulled the bow and quiver out from under the blanket and held them at arms
length to examine them. "How did you ever find these?" She said breathlessly.
"I can't believe you found them. I missed them so much." She hugged them to her
body and closed her eyes. It was then she remembered something else, of much
greater value than her bow and quiver. She
bent down and threw the blanket back to find the rest, but it wasn't there.
"You didn't find Carafang, then?" Her face had lost its vibrancy. "It was my
grandmother's, you know," She said sadly. "My grandmother Thalawen, passed it
down to my father Thalthan. He then gave it to me before he and my mother left
for the Grey Havens. You even saw him, Arwen, as you were with me at the time.
I thought it was so lovely, so shiny when I first saw it. And it was mine, for
me, just for me. It even said so." Thalawen said this wistfully, as if dreaming
the sword right then.
She then heard the familiar sound of metal being pulled from leather. She
looked around at Landailyn and saw her sheathe in one hand and Carafang in the
other, with Landailyn grinning broadly.
"Carafang!" Shouted Thalawen excitedly. She had had so much to think about and
sort out that she never realized that Arwen had had her bow and quiver on her
back and that Landailyn had her sword lying with her own weapons after the
healers had taken them off, even when she gave her knives back.
Landailyn gave the hilt of the sword to Thalawen and watched as she ran her
fingers up the side of the blade and over the inscription curving its way
toward the tip. She turned it over and read the inscription. "Im Carafang." She
said grinning. "I am Thalawen." She repeated, translating the tongue.
"Right," Said Landailyn. "And now it is time to go. We must make it to
Lothlorien soon, for I am dreading this dark country." With that said she
walked off to her horse and mounted him.
Arwen and Thalawen rode Ezril, but not before he had to approve of Arwen, which
took many minutes of him sizing Arwen up, finally letting her climb behind
Thalawen. Asfaloth would walk between Athron and Ezril, chosen to be the pack
horse for this ride.
And with that, they set off with Landailyn and the rest of the guard toward
Lothlorien.
TBC ...
