"Come hear! There are footprints made this morning!" Alandriel cried.
Everyone rushed over to her and saw the freshly made footprints. Kendra and Alandriel bent down to study them more carefully. Then they realized that there were not only just two different footprints, but three!
"Three people have been here in the past four days. All going in the same directions," Kendra stood up, "In the most resent set there are traces of blood."
"Let's go, then!" Alandriel ordered.
She followed the footprints, making sure not to ruin them. Everyone trailed after her with the same carefulness. Alandriel stepped in a pile of leaves and suddenly felt something sharp latch on to her foot. She quickly grabbed her foot and keeled over in pain. She looked and saw that she had stepped in a hidden bear trap. It had gone pretty deep, too, but she was able to pull it apart and get her foot out. She looked for her medicine bag but then she realized that she forgot it!
"By the valar, why didn't I remember my medicine bag?!" Alandriel moaned, "Kendra, go off the path and find some buckleberry leaves for me. Be careful of hidden traps and dangers."
Kendra nodded and disappeared into the side of the path. Everyone stood around waiting in silence. Alandriel looked around and sighed to herself.
(I hate being injured! It makes you feel way too helpless and useless and I absolutely hate that feeling!)
"What are you all standing around for?! We came here to scout around and that's what we're going to do! Get moving, Kendra and I will be fine!" she ordered at last.
They hesitated but then Alandriel yelled at them to go on so they reluctantly went ahead. Malachei was leading in case anything happened. Alandriel rested her head and waited for Kendra to return. ************************************************************* (A/n: Kendra's thoughts are in --...--)
--Yes! I found it!--
Kendra sighed and turned around. She screamed at the top of her lungs. There was a giant spider right in front of her!
"HELP! GIANT SPIDER! HELP!" she screamed. ***********************************************************
(What's that? Did I hear someone screaming?!)
Alandriel shot, ignoring the pain from getting up too fast after she lost all that blood, and ran into the woods where Kendra had gone. All she could think of was Kendra injured or dying on the ground. It would be all her fault if Kendra was hurt because she was the one who left the medicine bag and got hurt and sent Kendra into the forest.
"I'm coming!" Alandriel called, "Where are you?"
Over here!" Kendra screamed in a very urgent and terrified voice, "HURRY!"
Alandriel raced to where the screaming was coming from, trying so hard to not let her injured foot slow her. She drew her sword and when she got there she saw a very terrified Kendra trying to fight off an enormous giant spider with a rotting stick! It was obvious that she wasn't doing so well, too.
"Kendra, catch!" Alandriel called, tossing her longest dagger in it's sheath to her.
Kendra caught it and quickly unsheathed it. Then she jabbed it into the spider as Alandriel came up from behind and sliced it in two. Kendra shrank back to the tree, shaking and starring at the spider in disbelief. Alandriel hobbled over to Kendra as best she could with her foot now throbbing from running and put her cloak around her. Then she took some of the herbs and put them on the wounds. She then ripped part of her tunic off and wrapped it around her ankle where she got hurt so the herbs would stay in place.
"Are you feeling better?" Alandriel asked.
Kendra nodded her head and Alandriel hopped up on her good leg and put one hand on a tree. With the other hand she slowly lifted Kendra up, almost toppling over in the process. They started to walk and by the time the reached the path, Kendra was fully recovered from shock and was helping Alandriel walk.
"We'll stop here for a bit," Alandriel decided.
Alandriel sat down slowly and took out her carving knife. She looked around then spotted a nice, small, sturdy tree and began chopping at it. Then she began carving and cutting the wood and when she was done she slipped the wood that was now shaped as a box like thing on her injured foot. Kendra looked at her questioningly.
"It's a splint to help support my foot," Alandriel explained.
Kendra nodded and helped her up. Alandriel then whistled a melodic song and after a while a gorgeous gray horse covered with lots of tiny white and black speckles. He was running like no other horse Kendra had ever seen or heard of. The stallion had no saddle nor bridle.
"Hey big fella! How are you, Faiadin? I see you escaped that stall in the king's stables!" Alandriel laughed, and then turned to Kendra, "I never ride him with a bridle or saddle and I never stable him. In return he always stays faithful to me and always comes back to me when I call."
She jumped up on Faiadin with a renewed strength and motioned for Kendra to do the same saying, "They're probably really far ahead, and we will catch up to them faster if we ride."
Alandriel clicked her tongue and they went forward. After a while the brush got thick and the horse slow. Then all of a sudden Faiadin reared and sent the two of them flying in the air. Kendra fell unconscious as soon as she hit but Alandriel stayed conscious just long enough to see Faiadin run off the path. *************************************************************
One of the elves lifted his head and breathed, "Yrchs! A lot, along with......goblins!"
Everyone raised there heads in alarm and one of the men asked, "Don't goblins only live in the mountains?"
"Most of the time, the rarely come out. That's why it's so alarming," the elf answered.
"They are getting closer," another elf observed, "We should go back to find Alandriel and Kendra before it's too late."
So they agreed to go back and then return later when it was safer. As they turned to go arrows started to fly at them. They quickly jolted forward to escape them while they took out there bows and started to shoot. All of a sudden they fell into a large pit. The pit was very deep and not even the elves could get out.
"Is everyone here?" Malachei asked.
"No, Corayach isn't, but he didn't get shot down before we fell in here. He must have avoided falling in the pit somehow," an elf spoke after looking around at everyone.
"Let's hope he's alright and that he can warn the other two," Malachei sighed. *************************************************************
Alandriel opened her eyes and stared up at the sky. She had a pounding headache and couldn't remember what happened. She sat up and looked around. She spotted Kendra and it all suddenly flooded back to her.
"Kendra, wake up!" Alandriel nudged Kendra.
Kendra groaned and opened her eyes and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, how about you?" Alandriel asked.
"Just a bit achy," she sighed.
Just then they heard someone running. Alandriel drew her sword and got up. An elf burst into sight, panting.
"Get up, now!" Corayach panted.
Alandriel asked in alarm, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Yrchs and goblins attacked. No one's dead or injured but they fell in a really deep pit. We must go and get help!" he cried.
"Then let's go!" Alandriel ordered, pulling Kendra up. So they started to run back down the path to the castle.
Everyone rushed over to her and saw the freshly made footprints. Kendra and Alandriel bent down to study them more carefully. Then they realized that there were not only just two different footprints, but three!
"Three people have been here in the past four days. All going in the same directions," Kendra stood up, "In the most resent set there are traces of blood."
"Let's go, then!" Alandriel ordered.
She followed the footprints, making sure not to ruin them. Everyone trailed after her with the same carefulness. Alandriel stepped in a pile of leaves and suddenly felt something sharp latch on to her foot. She quickly grabbed her foot and keeled over in pain. She looked and saw that she had stepped in a hidden bear trap. It had gone pretty deep, too, but she was able to pull it apart and get her foot out. She looked for her medicine bag but then she realized that she forgot it!
"By the valar, why didn't I remember my medicine bag?!" Alandriel moaned, "Kendra, go off the path and find some buckleberry leaves for me. Be careful of hidden traps and dangers."
Kendra nodded and disappeared into the side of the path. Everyone stood around waiting in silence. Alandriel looked around and sighed to herself.
(I hate being injured! It makes you feel way too helpless and useless and I absolutely hate that feeling!)
"What are you all standing around for?! We came here to scout around and that's what we're going to do! Get moving, Kendra and I will be fine!" she ordered at last.
They hesitated but then Alandriel yelled at them to go on so they reluctantly went ahead. Malachei was leading in case anything happened. Alandriel rested her head and waited for Kendra to return. ************************************************************* (A/n: Kendra's thoughts are in --...--)
--Yes! I found it!--
Kendra sighed and turned around. She screamed at the top of her lungs. There was a giant spider right in front of her!
"HELP! GIANT SPIDER! HELP!" she screamed. ***********************************************************
(What's that? Did I hear someone screaming?!)
Alandriel shot, ignoring the pain from getting up too fast after she lost all that blood, and ran into the woods where Kendra had gone. All she could think of was Kendra injured or dying on the ground. It would be all her fault if Kendra was hurt because she was the one who left the medicine bag and got hurt and sent Kendra into the forest.
"I'm coming!" Alandriel called, "Where are you?"
Over here!" Kendra screamed in a very urgent and terrified voice, "HURRY!"
Alandriel raced to where the screaming was coming from, trying so hard to not let her injured foot slow her. She drew her sword and when she got there she saw a very terrified Kendra trying to fight off an enormous giant spider with a rotting stick! It was obvious that she wasn't doing so well, too.
"Kendra, catch!" Alandriel called, tossing her longest dagger in it's sheath to her.
Kendra caught it and quickly unsheathed it. Then she jabbed it into the spider as Alandriel came up from behind and sliced it in two. Kendra shrank back to the tree, shaking and starring at the spider in disbelief. Alandriel hobbled over to Kendra as best she could with her foot now throbbing from running and put her cloak around her. Then she took some of the herbs and put them on the wounds. She then ripped part of her tunic off and wrapped it around her ankle where she got hurt so the herbs would stay in place.
"Are you feeling better?" Alandriel asked.
Kendra nodded her head and Alandriel hopped up on her good leg and put one hand on a tree. With the other hand she slowly lifted Kendra up, almost toppling over in the process. They started to walk and by the time the reached the path, Kendra was fully recovered from shock and was helping Alandriel walk.
"We'll stop here for a bit," Alandriel decided.
Alandriel sat down slowly and took out her carving knife. She looked around then spotted a nice, small, sturdy tree and began chopping at it. Then she began carving and cutting the wood and when she was done she slipped the wood that was now shaped as a box like thing on her injured foot. Kendra looked at her questioningly.
"It's a splint to help support my foot," Alandriel explained.
Kendra nodded and helped her up. Alandriel then whistled a melodic song and after a while a gorgeous gray horse covered with lots of tiny white and black speckles. He was running like no other horse Kendra had ever seen or heard of. The stallion had no saddle nor bridle.
"Hey big fella! How are you, Faiadin? I see you escaped that stall in the king's stables!" Alandriel laughed, and then turned to Kendra, "I never ride him with a bridle or saddle and I never stable him. In return he always stays faithful to me and always comes back to me when I call."
She jumped up on Faiadin with a renewed strength and motioned for Kendra to do the same saying, "They're probably really far ahead, and we will catch up to them faster if we ride."
Alandriel clicked her tongue and they went forward. After a while the brush got thick and the horse slow. Then all of a sudden Faiadin reared and sent the two of them flying in the air. Kendra fell unconscious as soon as she hit but Alandriel stayed conscious just long enough to see Faiadin run off the path. *************************************************************
One of the elves lifted his head and breathed, "Yrchs! A lot, along with......goblins!"
Everyone raised there heads in alarm and one of the men asked, "Don't goblins only live in the mountains?"
"Most of the time, the rarely come out. That's why it's so alarming," the elf answered.
"They are getting closer," another elf observed, "We should go back to find Alandriel and Kendra before it's too late."
So they agreed to go back and then return later when it was safer. As they turned to go arrows started to fly at them. They quickly jolted forward to escape them while they took out there bows and started to shoot. All of a sudden they fell into a large pit. The pit was very deep and not even the elves could get out.
"Is everyone here?" Malachei asked.
"No, Corayach isn't, but he didn't get shot down before we fell in here. He must have avoided falling in the pit somehow," an elf spoke after looking around at everyone.
"Let's hope he's alright and that he can warn the other two," Malachei sighed. *************************************************************
Alandriel opened her eyes and stared up at the sky. She had a pounding headache and couldn't remember what happened. She sat up and looked around. She spotted Kendra and it all suddenly flooded back to her.
"Kendra, wake up!" Alandriel nudged Kendra.
Kendra groaned and opened her eyes and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, how about you?" Alandriel asked.
"Just a bit achy," she sighed.
Just then they heard someone running. Alandriel drew her sword and got up. An elf burst into sight, panting.
"Get up, now!" Corayach panted.
Alandriel asked in alarm, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Yrchs and goblins attacked. No one's dead or injured but they fell in a really deep pit. We must go and get help!" he cried.
"Then let's go!" Alandriel ordered, pulling Kendra up. So they started to run back down the path to the castle.