*Tolkien's stuff is his own, not mine!*
Lómpalan had felt her cousin shove her, and had heard her cry out as she fell, but beyond that, she had no knowledge of what happened. They both had seen orcs before, alive and dead, but the thought of close combat was dreadful. Lómpalan shivered with distaste as she bounded over snags in the ground. The breath flowed easily from her lungs, and she felt as free as a bird with the wind whistling past her ears and stinging her open eyes.
"Erndil!" she cried, waving a free hand in the air, the other was clutching her skirts. Erndil was a close friend of both Lómpalan and Rilarien, and he smiled openly as she came to an abrupt halt before him. "Orcs…" she panted, "Orcs near the stream…"
Erndil's face clouded over and the smile disappeared. He clutched her shoulders and leaned his face closer to hers, "How many?"
Running her hands over her face, Lómpalan shook her head, "I don't know…there were enough to cover the hillside…Rien's still out there Erndil." She watched as his face twisted into a grimace. The alarm was raised, and Lómpalan scampered out of the way as numerous silent feet ran towards the stream.
Erndil grasped Lómpalan's forearm to catch her attention, "Why isn't Rilarien with you? Why'd you two go out to the edge of the forest in the first place? You know you're forbidden!" His light blue eyes sparked with anger, and his mouth was set in a firm thin line. The blonde elf seemed to tower of Palan, his presence menacing and overpowering to the younger elf. Lómpalan didn't realize how frightening Erndil appeared when he was upset.
The girl shrunk away from the Erndil, tears flooded her beautiful eyes, "We were having fun, Erndil. That's all. We didn't mean any harm. We were talking at the stream when we noticed an abandoned horse wandering towards us. Rien was curious, and we hid in the tall grass. A stranger crept out of the bush, and we confronted him. That's when I noticed the orcs running towards Lorien. Honest Erndil, we didn't mean any harm. We forgot about not wandering too close to the edge of the woods. I'm sorry…we forgot…" The tears spilled openly onto her cheek, and her thin shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.
Realizing how troubled the girl was Erndil released his grip and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Lómpalan found comfort in his embrace. "Amin hiraetha *I'm sorry*…" he spoke just loud enough for her to hear, "We'll find her." With that he pivoted on his heel and ran after the group of elves. Lómpalan hugged herself and hurried home.
______________
never thought I'd beg for someone to review, but please do, flame if you want to! Feedback is greatly appreciated, even if you hate the story line…