A/N 1: For those who haven't read the first two stories in the series and therefore are not familiar with Anayah's sword, his name is Guruthos and he is an enchanted sword with an ebony blade and hilt and is the brother sword of Gurthang. Only Anayah can wield the sword in battle and when asked, Guruthos will first flame then will lengthen (if on horseback, to give Anayah a longer reach) and split into two swords. It blew me away when I saw the Witch King's sword flame in ROTK, the extended edition, although when Guruthos flames, the fire is contained within the blade. I had written this attribute of the sword into the story before ROTK was ever in the theaters so the fact that Guruthos flames as does the Witch King's sword, is just coincidence.

A/N2: Elias is the name of Anayah's stallion. He is full brother to Shadowfax but is younger by three years. Elias stands 17 hands tall and is true black except for four white boots (white to the knees) which Anayah wraps with black leg wraps when she rides at night. To those unfamiliar with the term "hand," it is 4", the average width of a person's hand and by this measurement, Elias is 5'8" tall at the withers (shoulders). He is patterned after a horse I had when I was younger who was actually taller than Elias by 3". Neither Anayah's falcon nor her horse have elvish names which was a faux pas on my part. I had been writing ficlets two years before I even heard of fanfiction and I kept the names.

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Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods.
-Aristotle-

Chapter 18

The Doo

The four Guards and the twins were all sitting around the fire laughing and telling stories when Anayah finally joined them. She walked up behind Rahan, put her arms around his neck, and rested her chin on top of his head and in turn, he reached up and patted her arms.

"Feeling better?"

She shrugged as she sat beside him and picked a twig up off the ground to play with.

"A little, I guess."

She threw her little twig into the fire with force.

"There is an ancient sadness in this place and now, new voices have been added to the chorus of tears - it is almost more than I can bear."

There was complete silence and when she looked up, saw everyone staring at her. She sighed.

"Ok. Enough of this morbid crap. Here is how we are going to do this. We know we are dealing with slavers and can safely assume that they are independents which means that they don't work for Mr. Tall Dark and Gruesome up there in the 'Dark Inn' also known as Barad-dûr. The life span of one of Sauron's flunkies isn't very long and since these guys are wealthy enough to afford new equipment and mounted guards, that means they've been around a long time."

Súrion got up to put more wood on the fire and while he was there, poured Anayah a cup of tea and after handing it to her, refilled everyone else's cup as well. After everyone had settled and she had taken a few sips of her tea, she continued.

"Anyway - we know we will be dealing with the Slaving community and, if I am correct, will also be dealing with a fairly large, stationary metropolis which will be the slaver's main market for their 'wares.' There's not enough wear on those wagon tracks to suggest they go all that far on their slaving runs and as many wagons as they have with them, they should be fairly easy to track. Since they have to camp or at least stop and rest their horses and since from what I have seen around here, they don't seem like the type that cleans up after themselves we should at least be able to track them by their campsites."

The gentle sounds of the nearby Ninglor River and the nearby forest's chorus was lulling everybody to sleep so Anayah decided to wrap up their meeting - it had been a long day for everyone.

"I guess that about wraps things up. We will head out at first light and will start tracking east. Does that sound like a plan to everyone?"

"We're with you, Boss Lady." Saeros said.

Anayah nodded her head then after assigning Súrion to take the first watch, waited until the big Silvan Guard disappeared up into the nearest tree before turning away towards her own bedroll. The others lay down as well then after pulling their light blankets over their shoulders, all six elves were soon asleep.

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The trip south, along the western borders of southern Mirkwood was unremarkable but when the group started their journey east, through the Narrows, there was not one among them who was not moved by the sadness of the trees who grieved for the lost beauty and serenity of what used to be Greenwood the Great. Anayah kept a careful watch on her Silvan Guard for as a wood elf, he could well be the most deeply affected of them all - and in truth, he was. But when Anayah started to see the sadness in his eyes and when the muscles in his jaw started to work - just suffice it to say that the pine cones she had saved up for just such an occasion came in handy.

Riding up next to Saeros, she handed a pinecone to him then swiftly threw another one at the silver-hair elf. When Súrion whirled on his attacker, Saeros saw not only the incriminating evidence in his own hands but the fire in Súrion's eyes, and fearing for his own health and safety, quickly pointed a finger in Anayah's direction. She shot Saeros a mock-hurt look then tried to look as innocent as she possibly could, but Súrion was not buying the act, and he pointed at her.

"Retribution promised, young lady!"

He winked at her, not only to show her he was teasing but also as a silent thank you for diverting him from his somber mood.

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By the time they had emerged from the Narrows, the small "neck" in Mirkwood that joined lands in the west to lands in the east, the mood had been dispelled altogether - at least until they saw the group of 25 orcs and wargs riding swiftly in their direction.

"Uh … guys? Are there any bushes available?"

"None, Anayah." Semoro answered. "It's too late to hide anyway - they've already seen us."

Her mind immediately went into military mode and after only a moment's hesitation, she began instructions.

"Go to bows - one volley - and stay in your lane."

Seeing the twins looking at her strangely, she explained.

"The area directly in front of you is your lane and anything in it is your responsibility. This prevents redundant shots and also keeps us from shooting each other."

The twins nodded.

"Ok. I repeat - go to bows - one volley - stay in your lane, and then go to swords. The object here is, under no circumstances whatsoever, are you to let yourself get eaten! Good luck - now let's do it!"

Every elf reached behind them and grabbed their flight bows, notched an arrow, then waited for the command to fire. When the wargs were finally within shooting range, Anayah gave the command.

"Fire!"

As one, seven arrows left seven elvish bows then buried themselves in vital areas of the charging wargs. Seven wargs went down and those wargs directly behind them soon discovered they were following too closely and either stumbled over the dead creatures lying on the ground directly in front of them or had to jump over or maneuver around the animals. Whatever organization the orc riders had been hoping to present, disappeared in the ensuing chaos with the end result being just what the elves wanted - time. They had more than ample time to draw their swords then turn their minds to the business-at-hand and so, after picking their first targets they all began the mucking out.

Anayah had been worried about how the new horses would react to the wargs but soon found her worries to be groundless for she could see that bonds were already forming between the horses and their elven partners and each pair was already starting to fight as a team. Though the long loping strides of the wargs usually worked well in open field battles, they now worked against them as the horses darted between, then ran around the beasts, forcing them into awkward and often disorienting movements.

Anayah's sword flamed before it lengthened and split, then with a sword in each hand, she rode between two wargs and their riders, inverted the blades and let the natural momentum of her pass enable the swords to brutally slice deep into the arms of the orc riders. Wheeling Elias smartly in a tight circle, she joined her swords and after riding up next to one of the wounded orcs, she decapitated him then immediately turned right before the warg could swing his head around and bite.

During a lull in the fighting, Anayah looked around to see how everyone was doing. Elladan and Elrohir, as was their habit, were fighting close to each another and as she took a moment to watch, saw the elder twin cut loose the riding harness of a warg then, as he moved ahead to slash at the warg's head, Elrohir took out the rider.

Anayah saw a warg knock Rahan off his horse, but no sooner had the Captain landed than he rolled once then leaped to his feet. She immediately turned Elias in the elf's direction and galloped towards him, for to be on foot during an orc and warg battle was not exactly conducive towards the longevity of one's life. The warg turned and came back at the big elf who stood facing him, knees loose and sword tightly gripped in both hands. Rahan may have been an extremely large elf, but he had not lived as long as he had without learning that even the very large could die if they did not take care and fight intelligently. At the last moment, just before the warg would have barreled into him, he pivoted out of the creatures path then with a backhanded stroke, slashed at the rider - killing him instantly.

Rahan had hardly stepped away from the dead orc before he heard three short whistles and turning, saw Anayah riding toward with an arm extended. When she was finally within reach and the Captain grabbed her arm, she threw her weight to the opposite side of the big stallion and pulled the elf onto the saddle behind her.

"I'm going to pull you right out of the saddle one of these days doing that."

Anayah turned her head and gave her Captain her best "imp" smile.

"But today is not that day!"

After taking Rahan back to where Semoro had just caught the Captain's stallion, Loki, Anayah waited long enough for him to dismount then turned back to once more join the battle.

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By the time the last orc and warg had been killed, everyone was both exhausted and relieved that the battle was finally over. After riding the field to make sure that all the wargs and their orc riders were truly dead, the seven elves gathered a short distance away to make sure that none among them had been wounded.

After everybody had determined that no one was wounded, they all began to clean their weapons. Anayah dismounted to get some clean grass to wipe the orc and warg blood off her sword and when she dismounted, because she was so short and her horse was so tall, the other elves momentarily lost sight of her - they could not see her … but they could hear her. There was a high pitched squeal followed by some very unladylike dwarvish curses. The other Guards and the twins looked to Súrion who was sitting on his mare, Gaya, watching over her and when they saw the Silvan Guard put his hand over his mouth to stifle his own laughter, the others waited to find out what he thought was so funny.

"Eeeeeew!"

Everyone knew it couldn't be too serious if Súrion was laughing.

Rahan decided to find out what was happening on the other side of the horse that was so funny.

"Anayah, are you all right?"

There was a momentary silence before she answered.

"Oh my gosh."

"What?" Everybody asked in unison.

In the most deadpan voice imaginable, Anayah answered.

"I have just slipped in the doo!"

Súrion watched as Anayah hopped around on one foot while trying to clean her boot off on the grass.

"Ew! This is just plain nasty!"

Her stallion looked at her, gave a mighty snort, shook his head and moved sideways two steps. Anayah walked up to the horse so she could talk to him eye to eye and shook her finger at him.

"Don't you even start with me Elias - like you've never gotten all stinky before!"

Súrion was trying so hard not to laugh out loud that he was almost hurting himself and the others found themselves starting to get caught up in the moment as well. While muttering to herself, Anayah walked to a fresh patch of grass, and once more tried to get the warg manure off her boot and when she was again unsuccessful, turned and glared at her stallion one more time.

"Before you even start passing judgement on me you overgrown hay burner, just remember why Haldir nicknamed you Gwaihir, oh mighty Wind Lord - so don't move away from me just because I'm all stinky."

When Elias extended his head toward Anayah and laid his ears back, Súrion just couldn't contain himself any longer and burst out laughing and since he had been sitting cross-legged on his horse, he overbalanced and before anyone could catch him, slipped off the other side. There was a high pitched girlie scream and Anayah, who the other five elves could now plainly see, pointed to where Súrion had fallen and started laughing.

"Oh my gosh … he landed … in a pile … of … the doo!" She said while trying to gasp for air.

Rahan just shook his head while the twins stood, looking first at Anayah then to where Súrion was probably sitting, and back to Rahan.

"The two of you just knock it off and let's move out so we can go find some water for the two of you to clean that stuff off yourselves."

Both odorous elves had to ride next to each other for neither the other five elves nor their horses wanted to be anywhere near the two of them. As they finally left the field of battle to continue their eastward journey, Súrion turned to Anayah who was holding her nose as she rode next to him.

"Hey Anayah, how's your boot?"

She mock glared the elf.

"Hey Súrion, how's your butt?"

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The group was fortunate for they found a nice pond of water about a mile from where they had engaged the orcs. Anayah quickly dismounted and walked a short distance away then sat at the edge of the pond with her back to the others and pulled off her boot so she could started cleaning it. Súrion took his clothes off and waded into the water so that he could clean himself as well as his clothing.

The others kept urging Súrion to hurry up so they could continue their journey and, in truth, he may have been able to finish what he was doing a little quicker - except for one thing.

"I would hurry up," he said, looking pointedly at Semoro and Saeros, "but Anayah keeps peeking!"

Both elves turned and walked away for if they had stayed longer, they would have disgraced themselves by laughing in their friend's face. Anayah didn't help the matter any either.

"As if … Súrion!" She shook her head while she tried to hide her own smile. "I would never try to sneak a peek because I have no desire to go blind. So just hush and finish what you are doing - we want to get going again as soon as we can."

Again, both twins caught themselves watching the strange interactions between the four Guards and their sister. Saeros was on his back, on the ground, with both hands over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud, Semoro was standing a ways off with his back to everyone, his shaking shoulders giving away the fact that he was silently laughing. Even the Captain was not immune as he watched the antics with a smile and eyes that threatened to tear up from the effort of holding his own laughter in. Elladan looked at his brother.

"Brother, I think they have all lost their minds."

"Aye, Elladan, in that you may be correct. Now don't you ever tell Legolas or Estel this, but I think that when it comes to sarcastic humor, those two may have some able competition."

"I believe you are correct Elrohir. For being such a lethal combat unit, the lot of them can sure act like a bunch of elflings."

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When the group continued their journey the next morning, they were all feeling a little more positive about their mission, for they had found two different areas where a large traveling group had stopped to camp and rest. In both of these sites, they had found a set of elvish footprints.

That afternoon, they encountered a small group of slavers with wagons full of slaves. Though the elves were outnumbered, the slavers who had refused to give up their cargo had been easily dispatched and the humans who had been held as slaves had been given the wagons and the remaining supplies and had been bidden a safe journey to wherever they wished to go. With many thanks to their rescuers, the group rolled away and was soon lost to sight.

As the last of the wagons disappeared from view, Anayah finally turned to her Captain.

"You know, Rahan, I would much rather fight a stinky warg than a slaver - more brains in a warg."

She made imaginary moves against an imaginary enemy with an imaginary sword.

"Parry, riposte, block … parry, riposte, block!"

"Respect your enemy, young one." Rahan admonished her gently.

"I know … and I do Rahan. But why do they have to be so boring?"

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Anayah had decided to continue on as far as they could get before dark, for they were approaching the Sea of Rhûn and they all wanted to be at their best when they started their search for any settlements. As they rode along, Anayah, who quickly got bored with traveling, got a thought and decided to share it with the others and using over-dramatic hand movements, she began to expound on her idea.

"Have any of you ever wondered if we are doing something bad when we kill an enemy in battle? What makes us," she included all of them with a grand sweep of her arms, "any different from the orcs or the Uruk Hai that we kill?"

Holding both hands over her heart then looking down and shaking her head solemnly, she continued.

"They have causes also, even if those causes are their own and even at that, those we kill are still Ilúvatar's creations."

She gracefully gestured toward the heavens with her hands.

"Are we trying to say that we are equal to Ilúvatar in that we have the power to take life and dispense justice?"

Elladan, who had been riding next to Rahan said, "I think the warg droppings have affected her mind."

The Captain chuckled quietly.

"Lord Elladan, I think you may be right."

Then, all playfulness was pushed aside and everyone suddenly got deadly serious as Saeros, who had been riding point said one word.

"Incoming."

Immediately all seven elves looked off into the distance to where the elf was pointing and saw a dust cloud moving quickly in their direction and soon the distinct forms of the those who were approaching could be easily seen. Anayah looked, then blinked her eyes and looked again, not sure if she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. She turned to her Captain who was frowning as he watched those who were approaching them.

"Rahan, what in Ilúvatar's name are those?"

TBC