Two hobbits stared up into, what seemed to them as, a pair of black holes imbedded in an elven frame where eyes were supposed to be found. Matching black hair graced the beings shoulders and fell down her back. She stared at the two Halflings with a hurried curiosity as she had just taken the lives of a few orcs and finding this pair in the wood was a strange thing indeed. A flash of dark colors just behind the hobbits, Hilei raised her bow in response and Milo stumbled back in surprise and knocked Violet to the ground, where the pair laid in fear of the tall being. Hilei retrieved an arrow from her quiver that soon found its way to her bow, and with a swift movement of her arms it flew into the throat of the assailant. The dark creature fell to his leafy grave, just before the horrified hobbits feet.
They looked again into those lightless orbs and found a questioning stare answering them. "What business do you have in this perilous coppice?" she inquired of the child sized beings.
"I beg your pardon, but we should be the ones asking the questions around here." Milo said with a slight indignation.
"Milo!" squeaked Violet from her position on the forest floor.
"What?" he retorted. "She was the one who came into our nice, peaceful, thicket and decided to stir things up."
"I know but…" she whispered. A worried face now stole her features.
"I had nothing to do with the orcs if that is your implication." Hilei said felling rather foolish for she was arguing with a child. (Though she knew of Hobbits, she had never actually seen one.) A skeletal bird disturbed the air and Hilei moved her head just an inch to avoid the projectile as it embedded itself in an adjacent tree. She placed another arrow to her bowstring and let it sever the wind as it pierced yet another orc in its heart.
"Come." She commanded of the hobbits. She turned and walked at a hasty pace through the forest. The two Halflings exchanged glances and quickly decided to follow. Hilei swerved around the trees rather gracefully leaving the Hobbits to trail in her wake. She whispered something in her native tongue into the air and it passed round the hobbits and the wood like a soft but determined breeze. Milo and Violet could both hear a rustling of the fallen leaves to their left, and out of the earth and bark colored air sprang forth a startling white mare that advanced towards Hilei. She took hold of the horse's reigns and looked back to the hobbits.
"What are your names?" Hilei said in soft voice as if she were speaking to a pair of children.
"I'm Milo Brandybuck." He said proudly, pointing his thumb to his chest. "And she's…" Milo motioned his hand in the other hobbit's direction.
"…Violet Took." she finished. "And what might your name be, o lady of the wood?" Violet inquired of the stranger.
"Hilei, adopted child of Víressë…she was a caretaker of the lake king of Mirkwood." she replied in lamentation. The hobbits did not quite comprehend her troubled expression, for beneath it laid the root of Hilei's troubled soul; near everyone that she knew and cared for from the old age had passed to the Grey Havens.
Hilei mounted the mare and glanced down at the hobbits, seeming to argue with herself on whether or not to take them along.
"Te nar er híni." "They are only children." She said to herself, and with that she extended her hand to the hobbits and they both sent a worried glance in response. "Worry not; for I will be sure to return you to your homes, this is no place for children your age."
Milo gave her an annoyed stare for he was always a bit subconscious about his age. "I am not a child! I am just about to be in my tweens for your information, and not to mention the fact that hobbit children are far shorter than…well …near adult ones." He finished, crossing his arms. Hilei bore a slightly surprised look on her face as he said this.
"I must apologize on my friend's behalf; he's always been this way when it came to his age." Violet said, trying to make them not seem nearly as ungrateful as Milo had just acted.
"So, you are both Halflings?" she questioned.
"Yep, we're definitely not children." snapped Milo, still clinging to his annoyance. Violet shook her head and continued.
"If you'd still have us, we would be honored to ride among such noble company." said Violet from the horse's side. For it was obvious to her that she was an elf, now that she had had a chance to view her for more than the brevity of a moment. Hilei hoisted up the hobbitess up onto the mare, sitting Violet just behind herself.
Hilei again extended her hand to the hobbit and said this: "Will you be accompanying your friend on our little journey?" His look of irritation wavered and he grabbed hold of the elven limb. Milo was then placed just behind Violet.
"Child indeed." He said under his breath once he was situated.
"Milo." Violet turned in her seat and shot him a look of pure shame. Milo immediately stopped as her look of embarrassment burned into his conscience, and he drew away with a worried look on his face. He never liked to upset or embarrass Violet, for he cared for her so.
"Now, you will do well to either hold on to the back of the saddle or hold on to my waist. Which ever way keeps you steadiest." she said unto Violet. "And you would do well to hold on to her best you can, it may be a rugged ride though the wood." she instructed Milo. "Na tyelca, Lintálwi." "Be swift, Lintálwi." she whispered unto the mare's ear as they began their journey through the forest.
Violet politely held onto the knob that was the rear of the saddle and Milo clung fast to her waist as they began to trot in the wooded area outside of Bree. Trees whirled past them as Lintálwi began her canter though the forest. They soon came to a path, and the horse broke into gallop, its hooves gracing the soft earth of the path, leaving their signature upon the ground in fours.
After a time, they came to a small clearing, where the trees made a vain attempt to cover the canopy that led unto an ever blushing sky and all about them were the darkening tones of autumn. The earth seemed to come to a small peak in the center of the clearing, and soon Lintálwi came to a stop by an order from her elven masters reigns. The entire world round them seemed to hush as Hilei sifted the air for orc-like disturbances, and not a moment had passed when a cacophony of horse and orc screams entered the three being's ears. A worried glance came over both the hobbits faces as they advanced towards the epicenter of the disturbance.
They had barely made it off the hill when a horse came cantering into the small field. It bore across its brown shoulders an elven figure, glad in green, with a bounty of blond hair streaming from her head in the wind. "Isilmë!" gasped Hilei at the crest of her utterance.
The elf turned her head in response and said this: "Inyë nyérë telwanya ëala, anat inyë né telwa mas nossë a urqui mi i númenyanor." "I apologize for not coming sooner, but I was delayed by a party of orc's in the western lands." She said with rapidity and a flare of the nostrils, for her breathing was rightly labored for her current situation.
"Maurëngwë netana Bree." "We must get to Bree." Hilei replied hurriedly. Milo and Violet were perplexed beyond the faintest tread of comprehension; the only thing they recognized within the elven exchange of speech was the aforementioned town.
"Nauva en neri farëa nuhta te epë osto ná mantë ilya mas i raumo?" "Will there be men enough to stop them before the town is swallowed whole by the impending storm?" Isilmë asked from atop her steed.
"Inyë ista lá, anat maurëngwë tyárin te." "I know not, but we must warn them." Hilei said with an apprehensive air.
"Ana Bree san." "To Bree then." Isilmë said in conclusion, her hands quivering about the reigns.
"Tápë! Níra collyë minë a i titta gwaith ana Bree?" "Wait! Could you bear one of these Halflings to Bree?" Hilei asked of the fellow elf. Isilmë nodded her head for she understood their need for haste. Hilei then turned round to face the hobbits and scooped up Violet as if she were a doll, and tossed her swiftly unto the awaiting elf; Violet's dress fluttering behind her like the flag of a sea faring vessel, waving to those it left ashore.
Milo mouth hung low as Violet was received by the elf and was then placed behind her. "Violet!" he squealed. She answered with a worried glance; one which he only saw for a moment, for a dissonance could be heard coming from the woods behind them, the woods which Isilmë had just exited.
A barrage of elongated splinters sliced the air about them, many burrowing safely into the earth, while others came dangerously close to embedding themselves in the horses' flanks. "Linna!" "Go!" Isilmë commanded. She gave her horses reigns a tremendous pull, so that it would continue away from the woods. Milo and Violet exchanged a fleeting look as they entered the wood, a look filled with worry and fear.
Only a moment was spent traveling around the trees for soon the four found themselves on a path, but they knew not weather it would lead them from or to the town of Bree. The elves looked to each other and seemed to decide that right was the better of choices. Isilmë's horse went ahead of Hilei's and Milo could see Violets long locks seem to wave at him from the distance, as if giving one last farewell.
Up the dirt rode a ways Milo could see a small company of dark figures in the distance, about twenty orcs heading towards them. After a few moments of the foreboding drumming of horses' hooves upon the earth, Isilmë and Violet came within shooting distance of the orcs. The orcs shot at them and Milo gave an audible gasp. None seemed to have hit them for they went on towards the company.
Just before reaching the orcs Isilmë pulled from the sac upon her back two long blades, not quite swords, but by no means were they knives. With a fluttering motion of her arms she decapitated two orcs at the same time in passing. She rode on, slashing at various orcs as she passed until her way was cleared. They shot many an arrow in her direction but none hindered her, her horse, or her passenger. As she rode on Isilmë turned, brandished her bow, and shot down a few orcs before riding on into the distance. Milo was in awe during this whole exhibition of elven talent, but he had most certainly not seen anything as of yet.
Hilei unhitched her bow as she approached the company, sending many an orc to their grave with well placed shots. They came within thirty feet of them as Hilei drew arrow after arrow into the assailing orcs. As she came to them Hilei placed the bow in a sort of holster tied to the horse's left side to ensure it would not move while she continued her fight. Milo saw none of this, only noticing that she had stopped shooting for a moment. Hilei unsheathed a blade similar to the ones Isilmë had used on the orcs. Milo did not see this either, for he was trying to center himself on the horse, noticing that he was leaning far to much to the right, so that he would not fall in case the horse tried to kick at the passing enemies. Milo looked in front again to see Hilei fall from her mare. He called out in fear and marveled at her bravery as she took down a passing orc just as she was falling with her newly drawn blade. Hilei had tightened her hold of the horse's side with her legs and brought her arm within the strap that held the saddle to the horse in that very instant. As she took down the aforementioned orc she ducked under her mare and came up on the other side, slashing at another orc as they passed. She gathered herself back atop her horse and sheathed her blade in time to undo her bow and continue shooting to clear her path. All of this was done with typical elven accuracy and finesse.
Milo's mouth widened to a gasp of mixed pleasure and shock, which soon turned to an immense respect for the elven stranger. That was absolutely amazing! thought Milo to himself.
They turned left and as they rounded the bend, they could see down the road at a considerable distance Isilmë's horse rearing up to prevent itself from being swallowed by the darkening sea. Over a hundred orcs pressed themselves around the horse and Isilmë could be seen holding her long knives in the air as warning to any who dared accost her. Milo also noted Violet for she was holding on for dear life, her arms wrapped round the elf's waist.
Hilei commanded that her horse make haste as they closed the gap between them and the mass of orc flesh. She drew from her quiver the last of her arrows. Placing one between each of her right hand digits (including her thumb and index), strung each of them to the bowstring, and pulled her arm back while simultaneously leveling the bow to the horizon. She let fly the archer's quintet and they sung a silent tune straight into the hearts of four unfortunate orcs; each fell quietly to the forest floor upon bearing the most morbid of melodies.
Hilei brandished her blade and raised her voice to meet the deafening drone of the hellish sea. Lintálwi and her riders broke the line, but their pace was slackened by the viscosity of the assailing tide. Hilei and her blade were a blur upon horseback, and all around the mare collected piles of orc carcasses. Isilmë wielded her twin blades with the accuracy of her people, similarly casting orc bodies to and fro in the fray. The horses soon met one another within the sea and they both reared up beside one another, so as to make the scene look as if taken from a family's coat of arms.
Violet, however, did not agree with the artistic angle used by the horses erect bodies and she therefore fell off into the dark sea. Milo called her name and reached for his fallen love, but in his effort he, to, fell into the churning, darkening mass of orc flesh. "Violet!" he screamed once again as he was trampled by a particularly portly orc. Not wasting a moment's time for recuperation, Milo began crawling on all fours to free himself from the cage composed of orc limbs.
Milo soon found a tunnel amongst the legs and crawled outward. Upon reaching the shore of this black tide he ran, then without a seconds delay tripped on a hidden branch and tumbled down a leaf covered hill. "Ohhh!" he cried as he rolled into a large oak. Milo got to his feet a looked round. He recognized the fact that he was at a considerable distance from the battle, and, acting accordingly, began his march up the wooded mound.
He soon came to a fallen tree limb, which he put in his hand and gave a quick look over to determine whether or not it could be used in combat. The large stick came to a bulb at the end, one which came to a point at its side. Given this, he decided it fit for the operation and continued his climb. I hope I'm not to late! Milo worriedly thought to himself.
They looked again into those lightless orbs and found a questioning stare answering them. "What business do you have in this perilous coppice?" she inquired of the child sized beings.
"I beg your pardon, but we should be the ones asking the questions around here." Milo said with a slight indignation.
"Milo!" squeaked Violet from her position on the forest floor.
"What?" he retorted. "She was the one who came into our nice, peaceful, thicket and decided to stir things up."
"I know but…" she whispered. A worried face now stole her features.
"I had nothing to do with the orcs if that is your implication." Hilei said felling rather foolish for she was arguing with a child. (Though she knew of Hobbits, she had never actually seen one.) A skeletal bird disturbed the air and Hilei moved her head just an inch to avoid the projectile as it embedded itself in an adjacent tree. She placed another arrow to her bowstring and let it sever the wind as it pierced yet another orc in its heart.
"Come." She commanded of the hobbits. She turned and walked at a hasty pace through the forest. The two Halflings exchanged glances and quickly decided to follow. Hilei swerved around the trees rather gracefully leaving the Hobbits to trail in her wake. She whispered something in her native tongue into the air and it passed round the hobbits and the wood like a soft but determined breeze. Milo and Violet could both hear a rustling of the fallen leaves to their left, and out of the earth and bark colored air sprang forth a startling white mare that advanced towards Hilei. She took hold of the horse's reigns and looked back to the hobbits.
"What are your names?" Hilei said in soft voice as if she were speaking to a pair of children.
"I'm Milo Brandybuck." He said proudly, pointing his thumb to his chest. "And she's…" Milo motioned his hand in the other hobbit's direction.
"…Violet Took." she finished. "And what might your name be, o lady of the wood?" Violet inquired of the stranger.
"Hilei, adopted child of Víressë…she was a caretaker of the lake king of Mirkwood." she replied in lamentation. The hobbits did not quite comprehend her troubled expression, for beneath it laid the root of Hilei's troubled soul; near everyone that she knew and cared for from the old age had passed to the Grey Havens.
Hilei mounted the mare and glanced down at the hobbits, seeming to argue with herself on whether or not to take them along.
"Te nar er híni." "They are only children." She said to herself, and with that she extended her hand to the hobbits and they both sent a worried glance in response. "Worry not; for I will be sure to return you to your homes, this is no place for children your age."
Milo gave her an annoyed stare for he was always a bit subconscious about his age. "I am not a child! I am just about to be in my tweens for your information, and not to mention the fact that hobbit children are far shorter than…well …near adult ones." He finished, crossing his arms. Hilei bore a slightly surprised look on her face as he said this.
"I must apologize on my friend's behalf; he's always been this way when it came to his age." Violet said, trying to make them not seem nearly as ungrateful as Milo had just acted.
"So, you are both Halflings?" she questioned.
"Yep, we're definitely not children." snapped Milo, still clinging to his annoyance. Violet shook her head and continued.
"If you'd still have us, we would be honored to ride among such noble company." said Violet from the horse's side. For it was obvious to her that she was an elf, now that she had had a chance to view her for more than the brevity of a moment. Hilei hoisted up the hobbitess up onto the mare, sitting Violet just behind herself.
Hilei again extended her hand to the hobbit and said this: "Will you be accompanying your friend on our little journey?" His look of irritation wavered and he grabbed hold of the elven limb. Milo was then placed just behind Violet.
"Child indeed." He said under his breath once he was situated.
"Milo." Violet turned in her seat and shot him a look of pure shame. Milo immediately stopped as her look of embarrassment burned into his conscience, and he drew away with a worried look on his face. He never liked to upset or embarrass Violet, for he cared for her so.
"Now, you will do well to either hold on to the back of the saddle or hold on to my waist. Which ever way keeps you steadiest." she said unto Violet. "And you would do well to hold on to her best you can, it may be a rugged ride though the wood." she instructed Milo. "Na tyelca, Lintálwi." "Be swift, Lintálwi." she whispered unto the mare's ear as they began their journey through the forest.
Violet politely held onto the knob that was the rear of the saddle and Milo clung fast to her waist as they began to trot in the wooded area outside of Bree. Trees whirled past them as Lintálwi began her canter though the forest. They soon came to a path, and the horse broke into gallop, its hooves gracing the soft earth of the path, leaving their signature upon the ground in fours.
After a time, they came to a small clearing, where the trees made a vain attempt to cover the canopy that led unto an ever blushing sky and all about them were the darkening tones of autumn. The earth seemed to come to a small peak in the center of the clearing, and soon Lintálwi came to a stop by an order from her elven masters reigns. The entire world round them seemed to hush as Hilei sifted the air for orc-like disturbances, and not a moment had passed when a cacophony of horse and orc screams entered the three being's ears. A worried glance came over both the hobbits faces as they advanced towards the epicenter of the disturbance.
They had barely made it off the hill when a horse came cantering into the small field. It bore across its brown shoulders an elven figure, glad in green, with a bounty of blond hair streaming from her head in the wind. "Isilmë!" gasped Hilei at the crest of her utterance.
The elf turned her head in response and said this: "Inyë nyérë telwanya ëala, anat inyë né telwa mas nossë a urqui mi i númenyanor." "I apologize for not coming sooner, but I was delayed by a party of orc's in the western lands." She said with rapidity and a flare of the nostrils, for her breathing was rightly labored for her current situation.
"Maurëngwë netana Bree." "We must get to Bree." Hilei replied hurriedly. Milo and Violet were perplexed beyond the faintest tread of comprehension; the only thing they recognized within the elven exchange of speech was the aforementioned town.
"Nauva en neri farëa nuhta te epë osto ná mantë ilya mas i raumo?" "Will there be men enough to stop them before the town is swallowed whole by the impending storm?" Isilmë asked from atop her steed.
"Inyë ista lá, anat maurëngwë tyárin te." "I know not, but we must warn them." Hilei said with an apprehensive air.
"Ana Bree san." "To Bree then." Isilmë said in conclusion, her hands quivering about the reigns.
"Tápë! Níra collyë minë a i titta gwaith ana Bree?" "Wait! Could you bear one of these Halflings to Bree?" Hilei asked of the fellow elf. Isilmë nodded her head for she understood their need for haste. Hilei then turned round to face the hobbits and scooped up Violet as if she were a doll, and tossed her swiftly unto the awaiting elf; Violet's dress fluttering behind her like the flag of a sea faring vessel, waving to those it left ashore.
Milo mouth hung low as Violet was received by the elf and was then placed behind her. "Violet!" he squealed. She answered with a worried glance; one which he only saw for a moment, for a dissonance could be heard coming from the woods behind them, the woods which Isilmë had just exited.
A barrage of elongated splinters sliced the air about them, many burrowing safely into the earth, while others came dangerously close to embedding themselves in the horses' flanks. "Linna!" "Go!" Isilmë commanded. She gave her horses reigns a tremendous pull, so that it would continue away from the woods. Milo and Violet exchanged a fleeting look as they entered the wood, a look filled with worry and fear.
Only a moment was spent traveling around the trees for soon the four found themselves on a path, but they knew not weather it would lead them from or to the town of Bree. The elves looked to each other and seemed to decide that right was the better of choices. Isilmë's horse went ahead of Hilei's and Milo could see Violets long locks seem to wave at him from the distance, as if giving one last farewell.
Up the dirt rode a ways Milo could see a small company of dark figures in the distance, about twenty orcs heading towards them. After a few moments of the foreboding drumming of horses' hooves upon the earth, Isilmë and Violet came within shooting distance of the orcs. The orcs shot at them and Milo gave an audible gasp. None seemed to have hit them for they went on towards the company.
Just before reaching the orcs Isilmë pulled from the sac upon her back two long blades, not quite swords, but by no means were they knives. With a fluttering motion of her arms she decapitated two orcs at the same time in passing. She rode on, slashing at various orcs as she passed until her way was cleared. They shot many an arrow in her direction but none hindered her, her horse, or her passenger. As she rode on Isilmë turned, brandished her bow, and shot down a few orcs before riding on into the distance. Milo was in awe during this whole exhibition of elven talent, but he had most certainly not seen anything as of yet.
Hilei unhitched her bow as she approached the company, sending many an orc to their grave with well placed shots. They came within thirty feet of them as Hilei drew arrow after arrow into the assailing orcs. As she came to them Hilei placed the bow in a sort of holster tied to the horse's left side to ensure it would not move while she continued her fight. Milo saw none of this, only noticing that she had stopped shooting for a moment. Hilei unsheathed a blade similar to the ones Isilmë had used on the orcs. Milo did not see this either, for he was trying to center himself on the horse, noticing that he was leaning far to much to the right, so that he would not fall in case the horse tried to kick at the passing enemies. Milo looked in front again to see Hilei fall from her mare. He called out in fear and marveled at her bravery as she took down a passing orc just as she was falling with her newly drawn blade. Hilei had tightened her hold of the horse's side with her legs and brought her arm within the strap that held the saddle to the horse in that very instant. As she took down the aforementioned orc she ducked under her mare and came up on the other side, slashing at another orc as they passed. She gathered herself back atop her horse and sheathed her blade in time to undo her bow and continue shooting to clear her path. All of this was done with typical elven accuracy and finesse.
Milo's mouth widened to a gasp of mixed pleasure and shock, which soon turned to an immense respect for the elven stranger. That was absolutely amazing! thought Milo to himself.
They turned left and as they rounded the bend, they could see down the road at a considerable distance Isilmë's horse rearing up to prevent itself from being swallowed by the darkening sea. Over a hundred orcs pressed themselves around the horse and Isilmë could be seen holding her long knives in the air as warning to any who dared accost her. Milo also noted Violet for she was holding on for dear life, her arms wrapped round the elf's waist.
Hilei commanded that her horse make haste as they closed the gap between them and the mass of orc flesh. She drew from her quiver the last of her arrows. Placing one between each of her right hand digits (including her thumb and index), strung each of them to the bowstring, and pulled her arm back while simultaneously leveling the bow to the horizon. She let fly the archer's quintet and they sung a silent tune straight into the hearts of four unfortunate orcs; each fell quietly to the forest floor upon bearing the most morbid of melodies.
Hilei brandished her blade and raised her voice to meet the deafening drone of the hellish sea. Lintálwi and her riders broke the line, but their pace was slackened by the viscosity of the assailing tide. Hilei and her blade were a blur upon horseback, and all around the mare collected piles of orc carcasses. Isilmë wielded her twin blades with the accuracy of her people, similarly casting orc bodies to and fro in the fray. The horses soon met one another within the sea and they both reared up beside one another, so as to make the scene look as if taken from a family's coat of arms.
Violet, however, did not agree with the artistic angle used by the horses erect bodies and she therefore fell off into the dark sea. Milo called her name and reached for his fallen love, but in his effort he, to, fell into the churning, darkening mass of orc flesh. "Violet!" he screamed once again as he was trampled by a particularly portly orc. Not wasting a moment's time for recuperation, Milo began crawling on all fours to free himself from the cage composed of orc limbs.
Milo soon found a tunnel amongst the legs and crawled outward. Upon reaching the shore of this black tide he ran, then without a seconds delay tripped on a hidden branch and tumbled down a leaf covered hill. "Ohhh!" he cried as he rolled into a large oak. Milo got to his feet a looked round. He recognized the fact that he was at a considerable distance from the battle, and, acting accordingly, began his march up the wooded mound.
He soon came to a fallen tree limb, which he put in his hand and gave a quick look over to determine whether or not it could be used in combat. The large stick came to a bulb at the end, one which came to a point at its side. Given this, he decided it fit for the operation and continued his climb. I hope I'm not to late! Milo worriedly thought to himself.