CHAPTER 1 All her life, She had been Rían Strongbow. 2, 951 years spent deep inside the forest of Mirkwood. She had been found and raised by Findecáno Strongbow one day while he was out hunting. His four sons and she were all the old elf had, so they did much of the hunting and helping out about the small hut. She was raised around men therefore learned very early to ride, fight, and shoot just as well as her brothers. She was not raised to believe she was Findecáno's own child, however, ever since we can both remember, She called him father. Just because he was all she ever knew. The troubles of Middle-Earth were of small concern to them for they were so deep inside the Great Wood that even some rays of light could not find their way to them. They learned of the defeat of Sauron but they were so hidden from the rest of the world, it meant little to them. That is until one day when strangers entered her wood. Rían was out, much like she was everyday, scouting the woods for whatever she could find. Today she was tracking something else. A group, no more than 5 or 6, of royal-looking elves had entered her home area. She sat stealthily up high in the trees, moving gracefully from one branch to the other. Normally she would have ignored the exploration, but riding regally upon a white horse sat an elderly looking elf. He was dressed in royal clothing and carried himself with poise. This intrigued her and she followed them through the forest. If they were aware of her presence, they made no move towards her; so on they both went, getting closer to Rían's home. Eventually, they walked right up to her door but before they were able to announce their presence, Rían whistled sharply. Most of the elves spun around to see where the noise came from, but they saw nothing. Suddenly a tall, black-haired, ivory-skinned beauty swept down from the leaves. She was dressed in a boy's forest green tunic with a heavy cloak draped over her head and shoulders with high boots clad her legs. Strapped across her back was a quiver full of skillfully made arrows. She had smudges of dirt on her face and her clothes looked soiled. Still, she smiled politely and even through the hood came very close to her brow, her misty gray-blue eyes shown bright. The elven men calmly looked at the young woman as she glared back at them. Immediately, 3 young, strong-looking elves stepped out of the small house. "We have commands from Lord Thranduil of Mirkwood and Lord Celeborn of Lorien to take the lady Eámanë with us." The three young elves in the doorway looked curiously at one another, then at the young-looking elven maiden "Please you must come with us, my lady." The captain of the group, turning around and heading towards Rían. "I will not go anywhere." She snapped. "Rían, what seems to be the trouble?" Findecáno said approaching the doorway. Suddenly his face went pale and he took a step back inside the shadow of the house. She looked back at him. "Father, who are these men and why do they call me by a strange name?" Rían asked. All of a sudden, an unfamiliar tall man stepped forward and bowed slightly to her. He was dressed in fine elven material and he had an intricate crown resting on his head. She stared intently at him until Findecáno spoke. "Rían, my dear, there is something you must know about who you really are." He said in a daze as he held his hand out towards her to come in. Then he led her to the small table at the center of the room. He sat down and nervously drummed his fingers on the wooden table. "Yes?" Rían urged. "Rían was the name of my first daughter who was killed along with her mother many years ago. When I found you, you reminded me so of my own that I named you after her. As you got older, you seemed to be so happy with this life that I never told you much of what your life before you remember." "What do you mean?" "There was a not found with you. It was written in old elvish and it said, Please watch over this elven child And may the grace of the Valar protect you. Inside your bundle also was a medallion of some sort. It had a design on it that I did not recognize; however my son, Amras, did. He found the same symbol on the cloak of a Silvan elf." Then pausing momentarily, he said. "You are the daughter of the Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel of Lorien." She was speechless. "That..." Findecáno said, nodding towards the entryway. "Is your father, my dear Eámanë." He said to the elf shrouded in white. She stared up in awe as he entered the small home. The only father she had known stood up and bowed respectively. "My lord Celeborn." He said, then extending his hand towards her, and she stood up and did the same. Celeborn walked towards her and lifted her chin. He looked thoughtful and almost sad, but he smiled warmly. "Eámanë." He said, barely above a whisper. "Eámanë." "My lord." she said forcing myself to look down. That night Eámanë did not sleep. She did not know who or what to believe or what to do. She realized that she did not have a choice, but she did not want to leave at all. This was the only home she had ever known and she would be leaving it forever tomorrow and probably never to return.