Chapter 4: Spiderwebs
A/N: LoL, now anonymous users can review! Sorry! Poor anonymice...hehe. Ack, I've forgotten about the disclaimer all the way up until now!!! u_u" Oh well, here it is:
I am not part of the Tolkien family, nor do I pretend to be. I do not pretend to own any of Prof. Tolkien's characters, elements, or locations, because I obviously don't. I do not own Middle-Earth, Rivendell, Mirkwood, Esgaroth, King Thranduil, Legolas, Elrond, Ellesar, Arwen, Glorfindel, Asfaloth, or ANYBODY or ANYTHING in this story that is obviously Tolkien's. I DO, however, own Eruialiwen, Enednilwen, Lothatal, Ainacalion, Talawen, Merian, Alanoth, and anybody and anything else that are obviously not Tolkien's. Yay.
The entrance to the clear elven-path was overhung with long strands of black ivy and the leaning boughs it strangled from. The horses entered nervously, their hoofs silent on the path, as the light from outside the forest gate quickly disappeared and all noise from the storm became a pale, muffled sound. The quietness in Mirkwood was deafening to the party of elves, and the darkness was almost complete except for a green shimmer in the shadows on either side of them.
The animals in Mirkwood, despite not worrying about being harmed by the storm outside, were not about. Only a few scufflings and scamperings were heard in the damp, thick underbrush, fleeing from the approach of the horses. As the elven-steeds trotted surely along the winding path, dense spiderwebs appeared more and more frequently, seemingly thrown carelessly in dark tangles in the tree boughs. None stretched across the path, for the ancient power of Mirkwood's people kept it clear.
"We will have to kill a couple of the spiders before this journey is over," said Enednilwen, her voice seeming like a shout in the green-black quiet. "They will come after the horses."
"They won't get the horses," said Lothatal darkly. "The spiders will be dead before they can even sense us coming."
They continued on very swiftly, for even at a trot an elven-steed moved like it was at a gallop. Night began to close in, and the thunder was louder overhead. Eruialiwen could remember her last trip through the wood; at night all kinds of unseen beasts would stare at her with glowing eyes from the trees, and she had gotten away from the spiders before they could even touch her or Merian. She had been so eager to get to Legolas that she didn't care what she had to go through to reach him, and she got through without one scrape. Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, had met her halfway through to his father's forest palace, and had shot down the spiders that tried to come after her. Afterwards he had led her through safely to the palace and treated her to one of the elves' merry nighttide feasts. Three days later, after much courtship and feasting and singing, he had sent her out to retreive the lost iolite of Long Lake, where Smaug the dragon fell from grace thirty years prior. The iolite had been part of the dragon's great jewel-encrusted underside and lay in the bottom of the singing lake, held fast between two of his skeleton's ribs. Legolas had seen the rare blue-violet jewel on one of his trips to rebuild the ruined town of Esgaroth, but his father forebade him from taking it.
"Yet Legolas trusted me enough to go and get it and bring it back to him without taking it for myself," she thought. "He didn't even know me very well at the time."
Prince Legolas and Eruialiwen had initially met a century before, when she and Enednilwen encountered he and his father riding over the Misty Mountains and had accompanied them to Rivendell to have a visit with Lord Elrond. Eruialiwen could not take her eyes off Legolas, his brilliant blue eyes and luxurious silver-blonde hair. The way he carried himself, the way he spoke and moved and gazed at her, touched her spirit. She greatly liked him, but privately, holding her excitement within herself until that day when he called upon her to feast with him and ride to Esgaroth. That day, she had discovered--with much exhilaration--that he liked her as much as she did him. It was a wonderful feeling, but not as wonderful as this. She felt her mind wandering as to what the reason was that King Thranduil wanted her at the wood-palace. Maybe Legolas desired to take her for his wife. Then she would be Princess Eruialiwen...maybe even Queen...
"We will soon near the area of the spiders," Lothatal said suddenly, breaking Eruialiwen's chain of thought. "Be on your guard."
The green-eyed elleth looked about her, realizing it was the depths of night and the storm was brewing and gnashing over the thick canopy of the forest. Even in the enormous darkness, she could see excellently. Bats and moths flew about beyond the path, disturbing the large, glimmering white and black deer that dwelt there. The undergrowth had already disappated and most of the trees were beeches, and there was fresher air. The shadows were less deep and brilliant flashes of lightning scored through the darkness. A loud wind came rushing down from the canopy of yellow leaves, but it was neither refreshing or cheerful. It was angry and cold. Merian was several lengths ahead of the other elves, eager to get to Thranduil's stables, which he and Eruialiwen both knew by memory weren't far off. It would soon be dawn, and they were tireless, but they felt that they needed some respite from the agonized storm overhead and the stuffiness of the grey forest.
Suddenly, as though falling down from the storm itself, a great grey mass collapsed on Eruialiwen and her steed. The stuff was sticky, and suffocating, and it brought Merian down, throwing his rider several yards away. His neigh of absolute terror was the last thing that Eruialiwen heard before she saw and felt no more.
A/N: LoL, now anonymous users can review! Sorry! Poor anonymice...hehe. Ack, I've forgotten about the disclaimer all the way up until now!!! u_u" Oh well, here it is:
I am not part of the Tolkien family, nor do I pretend to be. I do not pretend to own any of Prof. Tolkien's characters, elements, or locations, because I obviously don't. I do not own Middle-Earth, Rivendell, Mirkwood, Esgaroth, King Thranduil, Legolas, Elrond, Ellesar, Arwen, Glorfindel, Asfaloth, or ANYBODY or ANYTHING in this story that is obviously Tolkien's. I DO, however, own Eruialiwen, Enednilwen, Lothatal, Ainacalion, Talawen, Merian, Alanoth, and anybody and anything else that are obviously not Tolkien's. Yay.
The entrance to the clear elven-path was overhung with long strands of black ivy and the leaning boughs it strangled from. The horses entered nervously, their hoofs silent on the path, as the light from outside the forest gate quickly disappeared and all noise from the storm became a pale, muffled sound. The quietness in Mirkwood was deafening to the party of elves, and the darkness was almost complete except for a green shimmer in the shadows on either side of them.
The animals in Mirkwood, despite not worrying about being harmed by the storm outside, were not about. Only a few scufflings and scamperings were heard in the damp, thick underbrush, fleeing from the approach of the horses. As the elven-steeds trotted surely along the winding path, dense spiderwebs appeared more and more frequently, seemingly thrown carelessly in dark tangles in the tree boughs. None stretched across the path, for the ancient power of Mirkwood's people kept it clear.
"We will have to kill a couple of the spiders before this journey is over," said Enednilwen, her voice seeming like a shout in the green-black quiet. "They will come after the horses."
"They won't get the horses," said Lothatal darkly. "The spiders will be dead before they can even sense us coming."
They continued on very swiftly, for even at a trot an elven-steed moved like it was at a gallop. Night began to close in, and the thunder was louder overhead. Eruialiwen could remember her last trip through the wood; at night all kinds of unseen beasts would stare at her with glowing eyes from the trees, and she had gotten away from the spiders before they could even touch her or Merian. She had been so eager to get to Legolas that she didn't care what she had to go through to reach him, and she got through without one scrape. Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, had met her halfway through to his father's forest palace, and had shot down the spiders that tried to come after her. Afterwards he had led her through safely to the palace and treated her to one of the elves' merry nighttide feasts. Three days later, after much courtship and feasting and singing, he had sent her out to retreive the lost iolite of Long Lake, where Smaug the dragon fell from grace thirty years prior. The iolite had been part of the dragon's great jewel-encrusted underside and lay in the bottom of the singing lake, held fast between two of his skeleton's ribs. Legolas had seen the rare blue-violet jewel on one of his trips to rebuild the ruined town of Esgaroth, but his father forebade him from taking it.
"Yet Legolas trusted me enough to go and get it and bring it back to him without taking it for myself," she thought. "He didn't even know me very well at the time."
Prince Legolas and Eruialiwen had initially met a century before, when she and Enednilwen encountered he and his father riding over the Misty Mountains and had accompanied them to Rivendell to have a visit with Lord Elrond. Eruialiwen could not take her eyes off Legolas, his brilliant blue eyes and luxurious silver-blonde hair. The way he carried himself, the way he spoke and moved and gazed at her, touched her spirit. She greatly liked him, but privately, holding her excitement within herself until that day when he called upon her to feast with him and ride to Esgaroth. That day, she had discovered--with much exhilaration--that he liked her as much as she did him. It was a wonderful feeling, but not as wonderful as this. She felt her mind wandering as to what the reason was that King Thranduil wanted her at the wood-palace. Maybe Legolas desired to take her for his wife. Then she would be Princess Eruialiwen...maybe even Queen...
"We will soon near the area of the spiders," Lothatal said suddenly, breaking Eruialiwen's chain of thought. "Be on your guard."
The green-eyed elleth looked about her, realizing it was the depths of night and the storm was brewing and gnashing over the thick canopy of the forest. Even in the enormous darkness, she could see excellently. Bats and moths flew about beyond the path, disturbing the large, glimmering white and black deer that dwelt there. The undergrowth had already disappated and most of the trees were beeches, and there was fresher air. The shadows were less deep and brilliant flashes of lightning scored through the darkness. A loud wind came rushing down from the canopy of yellow leaves, but it was neither refreshing or cheerful. It was angry and cold. Merian was several lengths ahead of the other elves, eager to get to Thranduil's stables, which he and Eruialiwen both knew by memory weren't far off. It would soon be dawn, and they were tireless, but they felt that they needed some respite from the agonized storm overhead and the stuffiness of the grey forest.
Suddenly, as though falling down from the storm itself, a great grey mass collapsed on Eruialiwen and her steed. The stuff was sticky, and suffocating, and it brought Merian down, throwing his rider several yards away. His neigh of absolute terror was the last thing that Eruialiwen heard before she saw and felt no more.