The twins, the sons of the half - dead and suddenly incredibly pale lady Celebrian, Immediately began to look around, and one of them said seriously:
"We will find her and catch up with you."
"Do you know this forest and its inhabitants?" Amariel asked sharply. "I'll handle it."
"Go with her," Legolas turned to Sellian, after giving his sister an attentive look. "I'll take the others to the Palace. Oh, please, lady Celebrian, everything will be alright..."
Amariel and Sellian nodded curtly and hurried off into the silent, dark forest.
Finding the trail and following it would not have been so difficult if the forest had been a little more cooperative. But it actually prevented the elves from passing, especially where the trail became clearer; it was strange. All the more strange, that as a rule the forest was that uncontrollable usually only in areas close to Dol Guldur, and they were so far...
Amariel tensely frowned, hearing nothing from the trees, except hateful whispers. Just nothing.
"Mister scout," she muttered, then growled angrily as the branches blocked her path once more. "Why do I feel like we're in a trap?"
"Because we're in a trap, Marie," Sellian murmured.
Indeed, it was as clear as day to them.
Suddenly, the still air that had seemed ready to choke them a moment ago wavered in a shrill scream; Amariel and Sellian froze for a moment, looked at each other like people who don't need words to talk, and rushed forward, pushing through the jungle. The trees moved, whipping their faces with their branches, not letting them pass, not letting them know where the scream was coming from. The elleth quickly whispered words of ancient spells, trying to stop them. Without results.
Tears welled up in her eyes from a particularly hard blow, but she forced herself to think straight, searching for the right spells, searching for the right path.
When they finally saw Arwen, the forest began to rage as if in despair. Amariel's own fright was suddenly replaced by an outburst of uncontrollable rage that clearly didn't belong to her... Ah, her father was finally able to get to her!
"Stop!" her voice boomed through the forest.
All was quiet in less than ten seconds.
Panting, Amariel reached the shivering princess of Imladris and knelt beside her. She was curled up under a tree, her snow-white dress irrevocably ruined, all good spirits lost, of course. Her gaze didn't seem fully focused, which could only mean that she was under a light spell.
"Are you hurt?" Princess Mirkwood asked firmly, trying not to even think about how she had ended up here. Arwen cocked her head, but didn't answer, looking at her in disbelief. Amariel sighed softly and put a hand on her shoulder: "I am real. It's not an illusion, I'm here."
"Oh!" Arwen breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed Marie's hand, as if to reassure herself that she was real. "I'm sorry... Here... Nothing feels real to me. How was the battle? Everyone alive?
"Yes, everyone alive and almost all well. What about you? Can you walk?"
"Yes, I think."
Amariel verified the truth of her words, forcing her to walk a few steps before saying,
"I'm Afraid we're far behind the others. I'm sure Adar already knows about this and will send a patrol to help us if necessary, but we'll have to hurry. Sellian and I are ready to help you at any time."
Arwen nodded understandingly, but... Didn't have time to answer.
Without a sound, without the slightest warning, an arrow was fired at her.
"Behind you!" Sellian shouted, whirling around to where the steel whizzed through the air. But he wouldn't have had time to stop or redirect the arrow. He would never have time.
So, Amariel did what she did automatically, guided only by her reflexes, just as she had done so many times before with her warriors: she leaped, pushing Arwen away so that the arrow flew past the princess of Imladris and sank into her thigh. Before she could fall to the ground, snarling in pain, Sellian hurled the knife in the direction from which the attack had come.
It became quite calm. Only ragged breathing broke the silence of the forest.