Note 1: I couldn't find anything about the ages of young elves, so the ages of Thariel are just my own creation. Hopefully they're not too badly done.

Elf 20 = Human 5

Elf 35 = Human 10

Elf 50 = Human 12

Note 2: I know that Drow Elves do not belong to or in Tolkien, but I put them into my story as natural enemies of regular elves.

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Chapter 2

He laughed at their expressions.

"You know Elrond?"

"Yes. I know Elrond, and I also know Thranduil. I've known that someone would be sent, but I did not know that Elrond and Thranduil would send their own sons."

"How do you know them," Legolas asked him.

"They journeyed here many years ago. This was long before either of you had been born. It was shortly after Elrond's twins had been born."

"How can that be," Aragorn asked him. "Are you not human?"

"I am only half human Aragorn, and as such I was allowed a choice. I chose an elven life. So, now that that's settled, what message did Elrond send you here with?" Aragorn rose and went to his pack. He rummaged around in it and pulled out an envelope. He brought it back and handed it to Beriel. He read it

Beriel,

Greetings. It has been long since your last message. How do you and Thariel? Preparations on this end are complete. We await the arrival of your daughter.

She will be properly trained in the use of her gifts. Legolas and Aragorn will be

excellent guides for her. You'll need to explain about Numendale and the

prophecy.

Elrond

Beriel finished reading and looked at his daughter. He shook his head slightly and said, "Thariel, Jilien is sick, and her husband asked if you would sit with her. You know how much she adores you. Would you go see her?"

"Yes father, of course." She stood up and grabbed her cloak. She opened the door but stopped when her father said, "Stay out of the town square. Use the alleys." She nodded and left.

"What I am about to say, I do not want my daughter to hear. It concerns her mother's death, and she already suffers over it. I would not make it worse. She is yet so young."

"How old is she," Legolas asked.

"She has only reached her fiftieth year." He poured more wine for them.

"Did either of you notice the city at the top of the valley?"

"I did," Legolas admitted. "Thariel called it Numendale."

"Yes Numendale. Once a beautiful city of the elves. Now nothing more than a deserted ruin. The story begins years ago. A group of elves and a group of humans arrived in the valley at the same time and a pact was struck. The humans agreed to set up their city in the valley while the elves set up theirs in the forest above. The elves had come here to escape from their most hated of enemies, the drow. The elven king made an alliance with the elders of the men. If Men would keep the elven city a secret, the Elves would provide for them. For hundreds of years the bargain stood. Men never revealed the existence of Numendale to anyone, and the Elves kept the grounds fertile and drought free. The races continued to coexist, but still remained separate. I was the only half-elf born, and I was unique in that I came and went in both cities as I pleased. I was accepted by both races, and as such when I was a child I learned the secret of Numendale. Upon the building of their city, the elves had enchanted it. To one who did not know the city was there, it would be invisible, but if you knew it was there you could enter freely. They thought to remain safe in this way. The only ones who knew of the city were the humans and the elves themselves. I also learned the exact wording of the pact. The promise the elven king had made was that so long as even a single elf lived in the valley, men's land would remain fertile."

"Life went on. I married my wife Thalen, and soon found out that she was pregnant. When Thariel was born, it was the happiest day of my life. Life was perfect, or so I thought. I had a beautiful wife and a baby daughter, and I didn't believe that life would change. How wrong I was. One morning, when Thariel was twenty, I went into the village. I was in the town square, talking to some friends, when a man named Jocen rode into town yelling that Numendale was on fire. I, along with a group of men, made our way up to Numendale. Even before leaving Conath, I could see the smoke and I feared for my wife and daughter. We got closer and I could not hear anything. I knew then that what we would find would be bad, but the reality was much much worse. When we entered the city we found only the males' bodies strewn about everywhere. Books and furniture had been piled together and set on fire. While some of the men doused the fires and gathered the bodies, I and several of my friends went in search of my wife and daughter. In one room we found the ladies. The had been forced, then killed. Thalen was not among them, so we kept looking. In another room we found the children. They had been beaten then had their throats slashed. I didn't find Thariel so I kept looking. I finally found them in a courtyard. Thariel was sitting on the ground next to Thalen's body. Thalen had had enough time to hide our daughter. Physically Thariel was not harmed at all. Mentally.." he sighed.

"Right after I had found them, she told me that she had seen her mother raped and killed. She did not speak for two years. The only times I heard her voice was when she was screaming for her mother after one of her nightmares. The only other words she would say would be evil elf. From that, along with other clues I had found in Numendale, it wasn't hard to figure out that after hundreds of years, the Drow had finally found them." He stopped speaking and looked at Legolas and Aragorn. They just sat there with identical horrified looks.

"I always thought that Drow elves were made up. Stories that children told to spook each other. No wonder Thariel shuddered when she spoke the name Numendale," Legolas said. "How did the Drow fine Numendale though."

"I thought about it long and hard. The first conclusion I reached was that someone in the village had betrayed us, but I could not fathom that anyone would do that. Their survival is linked to ours. I finally decided that the Drow had been watching the area. On several occasions I had brought Thariel to the village to visit friends. They must have seen us and figured out the city was there."

"What did you do after you found them," Aragorn asked.

"My primary concern was for my daughter. I could not bring myself to raise her in Numendale, not with all the horror she had experienced there, and I knew I could not leave. If I left, the village would suffer. So in the end, I brought Thariel to live in the village. At first the villagers did not know how to react to Thariel's presence, for although they had lived below Numendale, for most of them this was the first time they had ever seen an elf. At least, the first time they had seen and elf who actually looked like an elf," he said ruefully.

"I kept her secluded for the years she did not talk, but when she same back to herself, she quickly became a favorite of the townspeople. As time went on though, I noticed something strange. Thariel would go out of her way to avoid certain people. When I asked her about it, all she would say is that she knew those people did not really like her. She also started to practice with a bow. When I asked her why the sudden interest in archery she told me that she knew she'd need it someday. I started thinking. I decided to write a letter to my old friend Elrond. I needed to find some answers. However, before I got a response from him something else happened. One night, about 15 years after the events at Numendale, one of the town elders died. The night after his funeral I was asked to attend a meeting of the remaining elders. When I was ushered into their chamber, I found the four elders and two men I knew by name only. One was Tamec, who had been related to the dead elder. The other one was the man named Jocen." He saw Legolas and Aragorn exchange looks, then continued with his story.

"As soon I entered the room, one of the elders informed me that a prophecy had been found among the dead mans' papers. I was given this." He handed them a piece of paper. They read what was on it.

When strangers come

And by elf are met

When greed one man's heart hardens

And around it builds a wall

When the tears of the last elf

In sorrow to the ground fall

Then the pact is broken

And the alliance is forfeit

So shall the soil fail

And draught reclaim the land