Chapter Three - Meldir
The previous night, just as Hally came home, she had immediately fallen asleep on her bed. She was exhausted from walking so far, from the woods nearby her home to the Lord of Rivendell's home, and then of course walking back. She woke up very late that morning, despite the harsh ringing of her hectic alarm clock. Finally, after hours, she woke up, since she finally heard the alarm clock. She smashed the off button once again and grumbled. "You're always waking me up! Always, at the same time of day, 6:30 in the morning, but you never leave me alone. Why!?" she said. She was so tired, that she actually expected an answer from the alarm clock. But she then opened her eyes wider and stared at the alarm clock. It wasn't 6:30, it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon! "Oh." said Hally, "I guess I wasn't really listening." she then pulled out her clothes, the same ones as the day before, only clean, and washed. She then did once again the same thing as she had the day before. She took the same gold-chained necklace with the same strange symbol dangling from it. Doing this had become a habit to her. She did it every morning when she woke up. She then slipped on her clothes, and went to the kitchen. She headed for the door and began to open it, "Dad, I'm going outside!" she said. She waited for an answer, but still none. "Urgh." She complained. 'I was hoping he'd be back by today! But I guess when he says, "I'll be back in a few days", he means it.' She thought.
She was just about to escape the house when the phone rang. She raised an eyebrow. The phone rarely ever rang! She walked over to it, and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked the person on the other end of it. "Hello, Halleiyra. This is Elrond." Said that person. "O-oh!" Halleiyra replied, "It's a pleasure to be talking to you, Lord Elrond. But what do you ask of me?" "I only ask one thing of you, Halleiyra Mendren. I am asking you to come to my home. There is something important a certain elf should mention to you. If you have already gone outside, you would've noticed a pony on your porch. I had been calling you all morning to get you to come here. I will ask you to ride the pony as fast as you can. This is very important." Said Elrond. "Yes, Lord Elrond, I will be there in about a 20 minutes!" she said and she then hung the phone up. 'I wonder what is so important? Which elf is it that needs to talk to me? I guess I should hurry, if I want to find out.' Hally was saying to herself. She got outside - but before that, she had of course put her big Navy blue jacket on - and hopped on the small brown-coloured pony.
Finally, after 20 long minutes of riding the pony, she had finally arrived at Elrond's home. She climbed off the pony, who left out of site just as soon, and climbed, as she did the evening before, up the stairs to the door. She knocked. Elrond came to the door "Hello, Lord El- " began Hally, but Elrond quickly pulled her in. "This must be done fast, because I have already given invitations, and you need to get some sleep." "Invitations to what?" asked Hally, "A celebration?" "No. Nothing close." Replied Elrond quickly, "I will lead you to my Living room, please sit down with Meldir - he's you're father's friend. He will explain to you what is happening." Hally obeyed the Lord. She followed him to the Living room and sat on the couch. Sitting beside her was the elf she had saved yesterday. "Are you Meldir?" she asked him. The elf looked at her. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday. "Yes I am. And who are you?" he replied. "I'm Halleiyra Mendren. It's a pleasure to meet you. Lord Elrond says that you're a friend of my father's! Would you happen to have seen him, back at your home? He mentioned he would be visiting one of his friends and -- " she watched as the elf shivered. "Yes." He said staring at the ground, "I am Gryndro's friend." He then looked up at her, "He told me he would be coming to visit me. He left that night, and started his journey to my home, a home that is placed only a few miles away from the Misty Mountains. The road was not supposed to be dangerous. In fact, we had carefully planned it not to be. He came on a horse. He said that he owned it." Hally did remember that they owned a horse. It was in the backyard of their home, but when she had realized it was gone, she knew that it must've been her father who took it. Meldir continued his story, "He was in sight, that same night. I could see him, from far away. I started to yell to him, giving him a simple warm 'hello'. He rode awfully fast, to get to my house on the same night as he left! I was more than happy to see him. We were only so far away from each other, I was running at him and his horse to greet him." Meldir started to tremble as tears ran down his face, "But we did not get one single hug! Not one! For the orcs came, some bigger than others. They took him. They grabbed him off his horse and ran away with him! I could not go after him! They sent one of their big orcs to follow me. 'Kill him!' I heard them say, 'KILL HIM!'" The elf was now trembling and sobbing like Hally had never seen anyone do. Him and Gryndro must have been very good friends. But Hally had never met him, and neither has Meldir met her. "I ran away from it, into my home, but it followed me. It aimed at me with its bow and arrow, but failed to hit me. I wished it would've given up then and there, but it was dumb of me to even imagine that happening!" he said.
He finally finished his story. He ran away from the orc without any sleep, but even the orc stopped to rest once. That was his chance to get away. But the orcs' noses are too clever, therefore the orc found him again. That was when Hally found him. Hally knew the story from there. She tried to keep herself from crying. She imagined her father being taken away by the orcs. But she suddenly had a question, " Did - did they kill him?" she asked Meldir. She knew that it would be painful for him to answer her if the answer was yes, but she needed to know. Meldir wiped his tears and took a deep breath. "No," he said, "They simply took him away. They must've found he had some use, in the lands of Mordor, for that is where I am certain they are taking him to!" Hally sighed in relief. She was happy to know her father wasn't dead. "Lord Elrond, I must -- " "I've found 2 of the best available warriors, and sent them here. I will send them on a mission, to find your kidnapped father." "But Lord - um, can I just call you Elrond? (Elrond nodded) OK, thank you. Elrond, I can't let two complete strangers rescue my father alone! I mean, I don't know if they'll get scared and back out of it, or give up because their legs are tired, or even get killed because they're too weak! Not only would that be unfortunate for them and their friends and family, but my father would still be out there! And I would rather continue to walk in their path when they fail than retrace their path all over again, if I was to leave when I hear they have failed. I want to come with them. I want to help!" Elrond raised an eyebrow "But you have never had any experience. erm. fighting." He reminded Hally, "I don't care about that! I have weapons, and I know what they do. I only have to practice my speed, aim and agility. I will learn such things during the journey, but while I don't know how exactly to fight, I'll have the warriors to protect me. And I'll trust them to. If they are so good, then they should. I am going, and I'm not changing my mind!" Elrond smiled, "Very well! You shall keep young archers and great warriors, Legolas and Liyana company, and you shall help them in times of despair. Not only that, but your healing powers shall do them good. It may be the first time you ever use them, but I am sure you have been told how to." "I have!" replied Hally. "Then I will see you again, tomorrow morning, when Legolas and Liyana arrive. You sleep here, at my home," said Elrond, escorting her to her room, "I believe you have your weapons with you!" He pointed at her jacket. Indeed, her weapons were inside it. Her small balls were her weapons. They were tiny, but powerful.
Hally fell asleep that night both excited and frightened.
The previous night, just as Hally came home, she had immediately fallen asleep on her bed. She was exhausted from walking so far, from the woods nearby her home to the Lord of Rivendell's home, and then of course walking back. She woke up very late that morning, despite the harsh ringing of her hectic alarm clock. Finally, after hours, she woke up, since she finally heard the alarm clock. She smashed the off button once again and grumbled. "You're always waking me up! Always, at the same time of day, 6:30 in the morning, but you never leave me alone. Why!?" she said. She was so tired, that she actually expected an answer from the alarm clock. But she then opened her eyes wider and stared at the alarm clock. It wasn't 6:30, it was 1 o'clock in the afternoon! "Oh." said Hally, "I guess I wasn't really listening." she then pulled out her clothes, the same ones as the day before, only clean, and washed. She then did once again the same thing as she had the day before. She took the same gold-chained necklace with the same strange symbol dangling from it. Doing this had become a habit to her. She did it every morning when she woke up. She then slipped on her clothes, and went to the kitchen. She headed for the door and began to open it, "Dad, I'm going outside!" she said. She waited for an answer, but still none. "Urgh." She complained. 'I was hoping he'd be back by today! But I guess when he says, "I'll be back in a few days", he means it.' She thought.
She was just about to escape the house when the phone rang. She raised an eyebrow. The phone rarely ever rang! She walked over to it, and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked the person on the other end of it. "Hello, Halleiyra. This is Elrond." Said that person. "O-oh!" Halleiyra replied, "It's a pleasure to be talking to you, Lord Elrond. But what do you ask of me?" "I only ask one thing of you, Halleiyra Mendren. I am asking you to come to my home. There is something important a certain elf should mention to you. If you have already gone outside, you would've noticed a pony on your porch. I had been calling you all morning to get you to come here. I will ask you to ride the pony as fast as you can. This is very important." Said Elrond. "Yes, Lord Elrond, I will be there in about a 20 minutes!" she said and she then hung the phone up. 'I wonder what is so important? Which elf is it that needs to talk to me? I guess I should hurry, if I want to find out.' Hally was saying to herself. She got outside - but before that, she had of course put her big Navy blue jacket on - and hopped on the small brown-coloured pony.
Finally, after 20 long minutes of riding the pony, she had finally arrived at Elrond's home. She climbed off the pony, who left out of site just as soon, and climbed, as she did the evening before, up the stairs to the door. She knocked. Elrond came to the door "Hello, Lord El- " began Hally, but Elrond quickly pulled her in. "This must be done fast, because I have already given invitations, and you need to get some sleep." "Invitations to what?" asked Hally, "A celebration?" "No. Nothing close." Replied Elrond quickly, "I will lead you to my Living room, please sit down with Meldir - he's you're father's friend. He will explain to you what is happening." Hally obeyed the Lord. She followed him to the Living room and sat on the couch. Sitting beside her was the elf she had saved yesterday. "Are you Meldir?" she asked him. The elf looked at her. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday. "Yes I am. And who are you?" he replied. "I'm Halleiyra Mendren. It's a pleasure to meet you. Lord Elrond says that you're a friend of my father's! Would you happen to have seen him, back at your home? He mentioned he would be visiting one of his friends and -- " she watched as the elf shivered. "Yes." He said staring at the ground, "I am Gryndro's friend." He then looked up at her, "He told me he would be coming to visit me. He left that night, and started his journey to my home, a home that is placed only a few miles away from the Misty Mountains. The road was not supposed to be dangerous. In fact, we had carefully planned it not to be. He came on a horse. He said that he owned it." Hally did remember that they owned a horse. It was in the backyard of their home, but when she had realized it was gone, she knew that it must've been her father who took it. Meldir continued his story, "He was in sight, that same night. I could see him, from far away. I started to yell to him, giving him a simple warm 'hello'. He rode awfully fast, to get to my house on the same night as he left! I was more than happy to see him. We were only so far away from each other, I was running at him and his horse to greet him." Meldir started to tremble as tears ran down his face, "But we did not get one single hug! Not one! For the orcs came, some bigger than others. They took him. They grabbed him off his horse and ran away with him! I could not go after him! They sent one of their big orcs to follow me. 'Kill him!' I heard them say, 'KILL HIM!'" The elf was now trembling and sobbing like Hally had never seen anyone do. Him and Gryndro must have been very good friends. But Hally had never met him, and neither has Meldir met her. "I ran away from it, into my home, but it followed me. It aimed at me with its bow and arrow, but failed to hit me. I wished it would've given up then and there, but it was dumb of me to even imagine that happening!" he said.
He finally finished his story. He ran away from the orc without any sleep, but even the orc stopped to rest once. That was his chance to get away. But the orcs' noses are too clever, therefore the orc found him again. That was when Hally found him. Hally knew the story from there. She tried to keep herself from crying. She imagined her father being taken away by the orcs. But she suddenly had a question, " Did - did they kill him?" she asked Meldir. She knew that it would be painful for him to answer her if the answer was yes, but she needed to know. Meldir wiped his tears and took a deep breath. "No," he said, "They simply took him away. They must've found he had some use, in the lands of Mordor, for that is where I am certain they are taking him to!" Hally sighed in relief. She was happy to know her father wasn't dead. "Lord Elrond, I must -- " "I've found 2 of the best available warriors, and sent them here. I will send them on a mission, to find your kidnapped father." "But Lord - um, can I just call you Elrond? (Elrond nodded) OK, thank you. Elrond, I can't let two complete strangers rescue my father alone! I mean, I don't know if they'll get scared and back out of it, or give up because their legs are tired, or even get killed because they're too weak! Not only would that be unfortunate for them and their friends and family, but my father would still be out there! And I would rather continue to walk in their path when they fail than retrace their path all over again, if I was to leave when I hear they have failed. I want to come with them. I want to help!" Elrond raised an eyebrow "But you have never had any experience. erm. fighting." He reminded Hally, "I don't care about that! I have weapons, and I know what they do. I only have to practice my speed, aim and agility. I will learn such things during the journey, but while I don't know how exactly to fight, I'll have the warriors to protect me. And I'll trust them to. If they are so good, then they should. I am going, and I'm not changing my mind!" Elrond smiled, "Very well! You shall keep young archers and great warriors, Legolas and Liyana company, and you shall help them in times of despair. Not only that, but your healing powers shall do them good. It may be the first time you ever use them, but I am sure you have been told how to." "I have!" replied Hally. "Then I will see you again, tomorrow morning, when Legolas and Liyana arrive. You sleep here, at my home," said Elrond, escorting her to her room, "I believe you have your weapons with you!" He pointed at her jacket. Indeed, her weapons were inside it. Her small balls were her weapons. They were tiny, but powerful.
Hally fell asleep that night both excited and frightened.