I thought Ill give you a glimpse of what is up to come. hehe.
the next chapter will be up next friday.
Happy Reading!
For disclaimers see chapter 1
Chapter 2: Fly like an eagle
A lonely shadow circled high above the forest, only sometimes it would make an occasional flap to reach another thermal, but most of the time it allowed the wind to carry him.
The eagle noticed movements under the canopies of the forest and changed his direction to take a closer look, maybe it was something worth hunting for. He stopped his decent short above the treetops and started to circle again.
His sharp eyes told him soon that this was not prey at all; it was a fairly large band of orcs and goblins, chopping trees and placing traps along their way.
He came to the conclusion that he would find nothing to hunt for in this part of the forest and left his observation point and caught another thermal that would bring him higher up to the north, away from the brawly bunch of dark creatures.
Some time later he could make out a group of riders in the distance, heading south, coming closer to them he noticed that it was a small party of elves, only five adults, one adolescent and to his surprise ... a little elfling.
He had never seen an elfling in his life, only heard about them, so his curiosity got the best of him and he draw closer to have a look at it.
The little one was placed in front of an elf, who was obviously its father, the resemblance was nothing to deny, and fiddled with the mane of the steed.
The girl, now that he had come nearer he could see that it was a girl uttered something that made the rest of the group laugh, before the adolescent urged his horse closer to her and whispered something to the girl that sent her into a fit of giggles.
Letting his gaze roam over the rest of the group he saw the three pack horses and their heavy load, it seems that they would travel down to the river like so many others before them and take the boats down the Anduin to Lorien.
Over the time he had witnessed a lot of companies taking this route to deliver goods from and to the Golden woods that he was sure that they would not enter the woods but bypass them on the eastern boundaries.
Nevertheless he felt the urge to warn them about the presence of the orcs and shrieked two times.
All of them raised their faces to have a look at him and the elfling pointed her finger up to the sky to show that she knew where he was, excitement written all over her features. Her father bent down, seemingly explaining something to her the way she bobbed her head up and down before she raised her tiny arm again and waved a greeting to the creature above them, the older elf followed her sample and waved too, to the eagle it looked like his warning has been understood so he left the little company with a last screech, to go his own way and find some food.
When he found a rabbit a little higher up in the mountains all thoughts of the elves and the orcs were gone and the only thing left was the primal urge of sating his hunger and he launched himself down to kill.
Glorfindel watched the eagle disappearing in the distance with a frown, something was odd about this bird but he could not put a finger on it.
A gentle tugging on the front of his tunic brought him out of his thoughts.
"Ada, I want to learn how to fly."
"No Tindómë, you can not fly, you are no bird."
"But Ada, you told me that I can learn how to swim like a fish, why can I not learn how to fly like a bird?"
"That is something different, little one."
"Why?"
"Look at your arms, do you have feathers or even wings?" Glorfindel had to suppress a grin, as he watched Tindómë examining her arms for any evidence of something that would go through as wings.
"No, there are no feathers or wings, but I do not have scales too and I learn how to swim like a fish. Ada, I want to fly, please."
Tindómë looked up into his face with big pleading eyes, her lower lip trembled and a single tear made its way down her smooth cheeks.
Glorfindel hugged her close and brushed over her hair to sooth his little girl.
"Hush, little one, we can talk about this, when we are back home, promise."
He was aware that the elves around him tried hard not to laugh out loud. He could hear their muffled giggles all around him.
To see the mighty warrior melt like ice in the sun, when his daughter had this look on her face was nothing new to them they had witnessed this countless times over the last years, but nevertheless it was always an amusing sight to have.
Glorfindel turned his head to face the others and shot them a look that meant they were in trouble the next time they would meet on the practicing field and addressed the warrior next to him.
"Rildûr, we should look for a place to make camp, I do not want to stay in the open fields over the night. There is a forest not far away from here and we could make camp at the edge. If I remember correct, there should be a place where other companies have spent the night on earlier journeys, maybe the place is still intact and we do not have to build flets of our own. Take one of the others with you and see if it is still there."
Rildûr nodded and motioned another warrior to follow him when he spurred his horse first into a fast trot and then into gallop to see that they would find the place and prepare it for their group before the others arrived.
Estel let his horse fall beside Glorfindel's in a slow trot.
"Why do you not want us to stay in the open fields? We have done this the nights before."
Glorfindel pointed at the sky. "Do you see the clouds down south?"
The boy nodded.
"They are moving fast and if you take a deep breath you can smell the rain in the air too. If I'm right it will be raining latest in the afternoon, maybe even earlier and I want to spend the night in a relatively dry place. See I'm an old elf and I like it comfortable not like you young rascals who can sleep in each place they lay their heads."
With a grin Glorfindel ruffled through the boy's dark locks, before he too urged his horse to a faster pace to follow the two warriors.
The orcs were frustrated and angry ... no ... they were furious. All of their traps were empty, not a single creature was caught in them no rabbit, no deer, nothing.
Soon it would be dark enough for them to leave the forest and head back to their dwelling deep in the mountains.
But first they needed something to bring back home, their leader knew that they would not survive the night, should they return empty-handed. They would serve as meal for the rest of the pack that was for sure. And he at least wanted to survive.
There was till time left so they would search another part of the forest. The pack had never ventured that far north-east before, but the hunger drove them and maybe they would find some prey there. The rain that had started earlier made it not easier for them, the forest ground was by now a muddy mass and it seemed that every creature has left the woods and hide in their nests and holes until the downpour has subsided.
He growled in frustration and ordered his trop to leave, he had to beat a few of them up but finally they obeyed, he did not know if it was the fear of his wrath or the fear of becoming the meal to the other that brought them to follow his orders, he did not know and he did not care, as long as they obeyed him at all.
He led them trough the never explored thickets along overgrown paths until they reached the eastern edges by nightfall. The rain has ended some time ago but still they had not caught a single animal and by now his stomach grumbled so loud, that he thought it must be heard before someone could see them.
He signalled his troop to stop when he caught a distinct smell in the wind. He sniffed ones more to find out where it came from and what it was exactly. His mouth start to water when he identified the odour, he had not smelled this for a long time, but he would recognize it everywhere ... the sweet smell of elves ... elves ... they would feast on elf flesh.
The thought of fresh elven meat in his mouth drove him nearly insane, but he had to be careful, they could not allow the elves to escape, so their approach must be slow and unnoticed.
He was sure that there were guards around the elven camp and he did not want them to notice his pack before it was too late.
So he sent out a couple of orcs to spy on the camp, but not before he has beaten into them that they were not allowed to attack without his permission.
The rest of the group was doomed to wait. All had the promising smell in their nostrils and not few of them shifted on their feet eager to attack and to feast. Their leader had had to use his whip more then once to keep them at bay.
When the scouts returned, they reported that it was only a small band of elves that has made camp near the border of the woods.
Only five of the cursed creatures were to be seen, three of them sitting near a small campfire, roasting some meat, while the two others stood guard. It seemed that they had found one of the frequent companies that would deliver goods to Lorien from one of the other realms in the north. Their horses roamed around and grazed, their loads piled near one of the trees.
The orc leader hesitated no longer, they were enough to outnumber the elves more then fifteen to one and they ran short of time to return safe to their dwelling before they had to stay one more day under the dark canopies of this forest and so he chose twenty of them to catch the horses and kill them, the rest would attack the elves.
The moment his troops were in position, he gave the sign and the orcs rushed forward, leaving the cover of the trees, nearly mad from hunger and bloodlust.
Having nothing to lose and fresh meat in sight, they stormed out of the forest and attacked the elves ferociously.
The elves had been aware of their presence and were prepared to fight, a hail of arrow hit the first rows of the orcs and killed many of them instantly, but the following only jumped over the corpses of their fallen comrades and launched themselves at the enemy.
The clashing of swords and the screams and grunts of the wounded filled the air as well as the smell of blood which overwhelmed the senses of the orcs and drove them into a more furious fighting.
The battle was over sooner than expected. The orc leader gathered the remaining members of his troop, there were less than a third of them left and barked orders to slaughter the horses and carry the meet to their dwelling. They would leave the corpses of the dead elves in this place for their own. The pack in their dwelling must not know about this little stack of fresh elven meat that would be for him and his pack alone. They would return later and feast on the sweet meat that would wait for them in this place.
With a last glance over the destroyed camp and a last kick into the lifeless body of the golden haired elf at his feet, he left the camp as well, leaving the corpses of dead orcs and elves behind.
None of them had noticed the flet in the crown of one of the trees or the two children huddled together on top of it.
TBC
See you next week. eg