Footsteps.
So many.
Too many.
They shook the damp forest ground like distant thunder, making the branches and leaves tremble.
Coming closer.
Too fast.
The wind was gone. Every trace of the soft cool breeze that had occasionally stirred the ever green leaves of the dense canopy above them suddenly complete gone, leaving behind a complete, unsettling, silence. It penetrated to her bones, making her shiver even in the comfortable temperatures of the night, making her hold her battered cloak closer to her body.
Her eyes drifted up, glancing at the hundreds and hundreds of elves silently standing on the thick intertwining branches above, their eyes fixed on the King, ready, alert. She could barely see their figures, their bodies almost blending naturally with the night-lit canopy, as if they themselves were part of the forest.
"Move to the back." A hand fell gently over her right shoulder, her eyes immediately lifting to meet Tadion's wary face, his voice a whisper so low she barely even heard it. Her brother's clear blue eyes scanned the forest through the veil of thick roots around them, all of his senses seeming to be alert to every single movement, every single sway of a leaf, snap of a twig. Suddenly, he looked so tall, strong, like the trained warrior she knew he was, a Prince with every inch of his perfectly muscled body, a leader. She had never seen him like this, and for a split second he resembled the King so very much.
She moved backwards, towards the farthest end of the low cavern of roots, where Legolas sat next to Arahaelon, away from the openings. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Lossenel doing the same, her snowy figure like a bright star in the overwhelming darkness. Both of the twins remained at Tadion's side, by the small opening through which they had crawled, their silver eyes looking slowly through the small openings in the wall of laced roots.
The footsteps were closer now, sounding heavy, echoing almost too loudly in the dead silence. The number was at least large enough to be a small army. Her skin froze in anticipation, her heart drumming like a wild caged animal inside her ribcage. The footsteps would be upon them in mere minutes, perhaps even less.
"Tadion!" Her face instantly turned at the fear in Legolas' whisper, Tadion's eyes snapping in his direction, not wasting a single second before rushing to the back of the cave.
"Ar, wake up." Tadion dropped to his knees next to her, making her have to move aside in the last second in order to avoid being accidentally crushed. The rushed movement of his hands matched the urgency in his whispered voice, patting repeatedly on the Crown Prince's alarmingly white cheeks. "Wake up."
Fear clawed at her throat, and for a second she could not move. She had not noticed it happening, but suddenly Legolas seemed to be the only thing preventing Arahaelon's sitting figure from falling sideways, his head lolling seemingly limp to one side. Her eldest brother had turned so pale that he looked more like a corpse than an actual living being, as if there was not any more blood remaining inside of him, the cloak in Legolas' hand now entirely soaked in the crimson thick liquid over his right shoulder. The invisible claw ripping through her insides viciously hardened its grip. He looked barely conscious.
"You need to stay awake." Tadion whispered quickly just as a pair of emerald eyes blinked open with difficulty, seeming to be having a hard time focusing on anything around him. The Crown Prince closed his eyes for a second, taking in a shaky breath, and when he opened them again, that sudden momentary lapse of weakness had vanished from those impenetrable powerful green irises, once again looking focused, alert, seeming to be holding on by pure stubborn determination.
Through her peripheral vision she noticed Elrohir walking over, handing Tadion a half-full water skin, the later quickly opening it and lifting it to Arahaelon's blue-tinted lips. The Crown Prince drank only a small sip before pulling away, but Tadion did not insist, handing the skin back to the younger twin in complete silence.
"You have to stay awake." Tadion repeated gently, one of his hands still resting over Arahaelon's cheek, and for a split second he looked like a frightened elfling, staring in fear at his eldest brother. "Hold on for a little longer."
The Crown Prince nodded his head in silence, his perfectly serene face once again unreadable, composed, and she once again felt that had not been for his previous display of weakness, he would have fooled everyone into believing that he was not even injured at all. He shifted slightly in his place, sitting up a little straighter with Legolas' help.
A loud yelp broke through the forest, her head snapping in its direction, looking through the veil of roots up towards the populated branches high above. Elves moved in a flash some distance from them, a dark haired lady nearly throwing herself from one of the highest branches, pale arms reaching down wildly. Something was falling, but she could barely see through the darkness.
In a fragment of a second, the King had jumped down, his feet lading deafly on the dark green grass below, just in time to catch the dropping figure. An elfling. The lady above seemed to slump in momentary relief, her arms still stretched down as if trying to reach for her child, even though the distance was too great. The Elvenking's index finger traveled to his lips in a single fluid move, the elfling held safely in his arms not uttering a sound, even though her thin small arms snaked around the King's neck fiercely in fear. She could see her father's ice blue eyes traveling to the robust tree trunk from where he had dropped, as if measuring the distance to it in complete silence. But there was no time. The footsteps were upon them. she could hear them, coming from nearly every direction.
Not a soul stirred, the elfling in her father's arms holding tighter to him, but did not utter a sound. The pale light of the Half-Moon above filtered through the sheer veil of clouds, washing in silver reflections over the King's hair, the rich fabric of his robes looking all too still in the absence of wind. The King took a cautious step backwards, in the direction of the tree, but suddenly stopped, remaining as still as stone.
She stifled a gasp, nails digging into the damp red dirt. Disfigured silhouettes had appeared in the darkness, moving closer from nearly every side, like a ring of black shadows. The drumming of metal boots shook the ground with its force, snarls and screeches bouncing off the dense canopy above.
Orcs. She could tell by their misshapen figures and fowl pungent smell, by the clumsy heaviness of their steps and wild skin-crawling snarls. But there was something wrong, something that did not seem to make sense. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it. These were no ordinary orc. They were larger…almost the height of a fully grown elf.
The front line of creatures stopped abruptly in their tracks, the ones behind them crashing to their backs in a momentary chaos, some even falling backwards, momentarily retreating. She could not understand what was happening, why the orcs were suddenly stopping in a single wide arc, only meters away from the King, who was still standing completely unmoving in the middle of the forest ground. But the orcs were not looking at him. It was as if their eyes could not find him.
They had stopped moving, their yellow eyes looking down at the grass instead as if it was not there, none of them daring to take a single step forward. A chorus of snarls and screeches filled the air. Sa many. Too many.
"'S not 'ere!" A creature suddenly snarled above the chaos in its fowl army. "Took a wrong turn."
"No wrong turn." Another one, taller, answered, its blade suddenly snapping in a single harsh move, the head of the previous orc rolling through the orcs feet. The creates closest move backwards with a collection of growls and bared teeth, away from the Orc that seemed to be obviously in charge.
"They have a leader." Elladan's voice echoed inside her head, his silver eyes looking at her momentarily underneath furrowed brows, seeming to be picking up the same thing she was. "This is no common group….These are bred…an organized army."
"We go 'round the cliff?" A different creature ventured, baring its teeth as it spoke.
Cliff? What cliff? She could not understand what was happening, what they were talking about. And yet one thing was certain. Even though the King was standing entirely in the open, mere meter in front of the line of unmoving orcs, the creatures could not see him….Of course. It suddenly downed on her, so obvious that she mentally kicked herself for not noticing a second sooner. Her eyes drifted through the wide arc of orcs, to the way in which their eyes kept gazing at the grass in front of their feet, not daring to take step forwards, as though they could see and endless abyss stretching right before them.
"'S no cliff." The large orc who seemed to be in charge replied, yellow eyes looking from left to right in front of him et seeming to find nothing. "Is elven sorcery this."
Slowly, the Elvenking moved. A step backward. Every single move so calculated, so slow, not causing the faintest of sounds, the lightest of stirrings in the grass. Her beat with every painfully slow step, nails digging so deeply in the dirt that she feared her fingers would bleed.
Her father moved. Something cracked. A twig. The sound smacked through the deadly silence with the thunder of a falling tower. A hand gripped hers, crushing her fingers tightly, her head flying to catch a glimpse of her sister's pale thin fingers laced with hers: Lossenel.
'' E's 'ere." The orc growled to the still night air, yellow eyes suddenly fixing on the stop where the Elvenking now stood unmoving, but not really seeing him. The creature drew a twisted bow, the string whimpering to the night as it was pulled slowly, the tip of a blackened arrow pointing forward, aiming blindly.
It knew. Her blood ran cold inside her veins, shivers travelling downs her spine and making her dress and cloak stick to the back of her neck. The orc knew it was an illusion. It was only a matter of time, of mere seconds until one of the them ventured forward. And then it would be over. As soon as any of the creatures realized that there was nothing but grass in front of them, all of Mordor would break loose in this night-lit forest.
The arrow cut through the air with a deaf cry, missing her father's right ear by mere inches.
"Hit anything?" One of the orcs questioned, its yellow slanted eyes searching from left to right almost in complete blindness, a curved blade held high in its clawed hand.
"No idiot! Ya would'ave 'eard it!" The orc that had drawn the arrow snarled, the other creature retreating back as if in fear that its head would also be chopped off.
The Elvenking had reached the tree, his arms quickly lifting the visibly shaking elfling to the waiting hands of the elves in the lower branches, who lifted the tiny figure from arms to arms until the child was high enough to disappear from view.
"Ya go forward!" The taller orc cried out, its claw brutally pushing a fellow smaller creature ahead, the latter snarling in fear, flailing its arms as though expecting to fall.
Nothing happened. The orc stopped its snarl dead in its track, suddenly standing up straighter, letting out a skin curling laugh that penetrated deeply to her bones. It had not fallen. And the others seemed to pick up, slowly venturing forward. A louder collection of cries and snarls hissed through the forest like threatening drums, advancing at a steady yet slow pace. Their repulsive eyes kept darting from side to side, still not seeming to be able to see beyond the illusion. and yet they were so close to the King, too close by now. Any movement, any step, any ruffle of the darkened grass, would be heard. The elves standing on the lower branches closer to the Elvenking held their arms down, as if reaching for their King, ready to pull him up to safety. But moving would most certainly give her father away now.
"They're 'ere. They'll be waiting." The orc at the front hissed in its sickening voice, almost to the Elvenkings right side by now, unbeknownst to it. "Where 're ya little elves?"
the wind suddenly howled, her eyes closing as the whispers sang inside her ears in a tempting melody, wanting to be called, wanting to be used, as if could feel the arriving threat and wanted to release its full power and vanquish them all. But she ignored it. She would not call on the blue stoned ring, would not give the orcs what they were so desperately looking for. They could not find out that it was here, in the forest….even though they already seemed to know.
A sword danced. A flash of faded silver, the move so fast that it was gone in the blink of an eye. Something hit the ground with a silent thud….an orc's head, yellow eyes staring unseen at the blackened sky, caught off guard, its mouth still halfway open showing a set of sharp rotten teeth.
There was a second of momentary confusion, both elves and orcs taking a moment to register that anything had happened. The Elveking's arm was still stretched from the forceful swing of the sward, the curved twisted blade of an orc now held securely in his right hand.
The illusion was broken.
Then everything moved. She could barely keep up, her back pressing farther to the wall of roots behind her, watching the backs of the twins and Tadion in front of her, all of them still huddled in their poorly concealed hiding place.
Elves dropped from the branches, so fast that she merely blinked and they were on the ground, landing on the back of the unsuspecting orcs and taking their weapons, slaying them in fierce fast moves before they could even register what was happening. Loud noises suddenly filled the previously silent forest, there were cries and snarls and growls, the orcs finally seeming to catch up that the elves had suddenly appeared. Metal met metal, the lines of fowl creatures that had still stayed behind suddenly advancing in a thunderous roar, rushing through them, swinging their curves blades in killing strikes, releasing arrows up towards the branches.
Chaos reigned outside, bodies falling dead to the ground nearly every second, both elves and orcs alike. She could barely make out the figures, they moved so fast…and the orcs were too many, They were outnumbered. The orcs kept coming from nearly every side, looking around to find any victim to battle.
Metal boots stormed past their hiding place, the canopy of roots above their heads shaking. The twins and Tadion crouched low in front of her, their heads only barely concealed by the maze of protruding roots that distracted any attention. Elladan's eyes turned in her direction, a wave of silver looking over her for a split second, as if only to make sure she was still there, before focusing once again on the front.
Fingers curled around her arm, her eyes flying up to meet an impenetrable emerald pair looking at her intently.
"They will get in." Arahaelon mouthed, his eyes flashing momentarily to the small openings through the roots through which they had crawled before returning to fix on hers. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Legolas' infinite blue eyes listening along, his body seemingly frozen, ready. "When they do, you run, Almarëa."
She opened her mouth to speak but the Crown Prince shook his head, emerald eyes still piercing through hers, the fingers around her arm squeezing just a little bit tighter, stressing the seriousness of his words. She shivered involuntarily at how cold his hand felt, his skin still alarmingly pale and for a second she feared he would pass out again, but his eyes…there was nothing but strength in his eyes.
"You run." He mouthed again, and she immediately nodded her head in complete silence, fear gripping her stomach at his silent words. "Climb a tree and go as high as you can. Do not wait for any of us."
Metal clashed against metal outside, the loud banging sound bouncing off the leaves and shaking the branches. Boots kept storming past their hiding place, leaving heavy indents on the soft muddied ground.
A roaring thunder crashed on the sky and the forest trembled, everything illuminated by a harsh bright light for a split second.
There it was. Something else was forming, starting, she could feel it growing in the air with the strength of maelstrom. It was like a thousand of electric shocks coming into light, reaching for each other in a massive chain, their power accumulating, brewing. A connection had started. She could feel the power growing, the whole forest starting a collective cry that almost called for her to join them, her spirit tingling along with the pull of such a strong force so close nearby.
Another thunder hit the ground, a group of nearby orcs crying out in fright while other flew away from the force. The cold fingers around her arms squeezed gently again, although firmly, emerald eyes staring into hers intently.
"No." Her eldest brother mouthed again, and never before had she seen such warning in his eyes, such strong command in a single silent word. And then she knew. He had felt it too, even before she had. He had felt the overwhelming power, the strength of the connection forming, how the presence of the King seemed to float in the turbulent air. This fight would not only be of metal against metal. The King would defend his forest with every mean he could. "Don't. You run and stay safe."
Pairs of metal boots suddenly stopped outside the veil of roots. A snarl echoed close by, just by the side of the opening in the ground. Too close.
"Smell that?" A growling voice spoke over the distant sound of the chaotic battle. Her heart skipped a beat inside her chest, knees pressed to her stomach. She counted the pairs of metal boots, moving closer, each step sinking deeply in the muddied red ground. There were three.
"What?" Another voice snarled, the boots shifting around momentarily. In front of her Elrohir moved, ducking lower behind the roots in the deceptive safety of the shadows.
"Fresh blood." The creatures were moving, slowly stepping around the maze of roots, coming closer and closer, rounding the massive tree trunk that grew above them.
The hairs behind her neck rose, her chest suddenly feeling hollow. They could smell it. But of course they could. Even she could detect the unmistakable coppery smell that kept oozing out of Arahaelon's shoulder and thigh, soaking through Legolas' now ruined cloak.
Tadion turned his head, piercing blue eyes sweeping through all of them, one finger rising to his lips in complete silence. She swallowed, following with her eyes every single step of the heavy metal boots, which were now at the edge of the opening, still not having seen it through the roots. Adrenaline was running through her veins, the feeling not entirely new yet still strange to her, fueling her every instinct, every single one of her senses suddenly over alert, every second stretching as if it was and endless hour.
Slowly, Tadion and the twins moved backwards, each of their movements so silent, so graceful that she barely even saw it, moving like shadows in the night. But the orcs had not left. She could still see their feet, three pairs, inspecting the surrounding roots so carefully that she almost wondered whether they had figures out there was a hollow inside. Her eyes met Legolas' watchful ones for a second, her brother glancing only once at Arahaelon before returning to look at her, and her stomach dropped. She did not need words to know what was plaguing his mind, what filled those infinite blue eyes with such fearful worry.
Suddenly claws gripped her shoulders from behind, digging fiercely into her skin. She screamed in both fear and surprise, thrashing around madly, trying to free herself from them, the grip crushing, painful. But it would not let go, fighting her to get a stronger grip.
"I have one 'ere!" And orc snarled close to her ear, tis claws still pulling at her, not letting her go. Its arms had reached through small cracks and openings in the wall of roots, trying to pulled her to him, ripping the collar of her dress as she kicked and screamed and thrashed.
"Rina!" She heard Elladan's voice, her eyes flying wildly to find him rushing to her side, twisted faces suddenly hissing through more openings in the roots, clawed hands reaching in. They were in, clawing their way through the roots, a couple having figured out the small opening in the ground.
The creature's elbow knocked her temple hard in the struggle, her ears ringing loudly. Something smacked and she fell to the ground, the claws suddenly letting go. The orc cried out, so loudly that her hands immediately covered her ears to escape the agonizing sound. The pair of arms that had been holding her fell limply to the ground by her sides, separated from their body, black blood pooling over the ground.
She scrambled to her feet faster than she thought was possible, her eyes flying wildly in every direction, taking in everything, adrenaline pumping into her veins. It was as if she was moving on pure instinct rather than though, acting before realizing she had even moved.
Tadion moved to her right, battling two orcs at the same time, moving too fast for them to be able to keep up. A hand pushed her back, away from the center of the action, where her eyes could look at the twins' agile bodies trying to make way through the crowd of creature that kept crawling through the openings, ripping roots apart.
"Run!" Arahaelon suddenly yelled at her, his hand still pushing her away from the fighting, towards one of the openings. A curved black blade was held in his left hand, still dripping black drops of blood from where he had cut off the arms from around her.
She started to run, her eyes only barely catching sight of Lossenel's platinum hair disappearing through another crack in the roots, following Tadion's yells. But then she stopped, her body turning around on her heels, eyes scanning through the waves of orcs that had somehow managed to make their way inside their hiding place. Legolas kept jumping from left to right, somehow having managed to steal a bow and par of daggers, his moves so perfectly calculated, lethal. She needed to find Elladan, needed to make sure he was fine. She could not run and leave him here. And Elrohir? And her brothers?
"Dan!" She called out as long as her lugs could allow it, ducking down with a speed she did not know she possessed as an orc suddenly launched in her direction. It smacked against a thick protruding root, and her hands unsheathed the twisted blade at its belt, the metal too heavy, barely able to lift it properly.
"Dan!" She cried out again, managing to barely dodge another blow from the orc, running away from it at a speed that it could not follow. She could barely see through the creatures now. There were too many.
"Rina, Run!" She heard Elladans' voice, but could not spot him, the orcs moving too fast, coming from every side, making her have to keep moving backwards in order to not be reached by their blades and arrows and blows.
And then she saw him, some distance away from her, his long ebony hair dancing like a curtain of shadows as he moved, battling nearly three orcs at the same time, and trying to move away from the others that kept coming. She took an instinctive step forward, but had to duck quickly with a surprised cry as an arrow danced inches from her head.
"RUN!" She could not reach him. There were too many orcs in the way, and the space was too narrow. It was suicide. A blade swung past her right eye and she rolled over the ground, her limbs moving before she could stop and think. She swung the sword she had stolen, the muscles in her arm protesting at the weight and strain but she ignored them, her body fueled by too much adrenaline to care. She could not even tell whether or not she had hit anything, but she did not care, all of her of her focused fixed on finding a way out.
But she could not go. She stopped again, her head turning violently to look behind her, her golden hair obscuring her view and sticking inside her mouth. She spotted the Crown Prince, standing behind Legolas and surrounded by a crown of orcs, pretending to fight, but it was useless. And Legolas could not keep up…not with so many of them, not while at the same time trying to prevent any of them from reaching Arahaelon, who looked as though he could barely manage to stand on his own feet. Tadion was not far away, trying desperately and failing to get closer to his brothers, the creatures continuing to jump at him and preventing him from moving.
She could reach Ar. That she could do. She was close enough. She did not even think it twice, ignoring how Elladan screamed her name as she raced through the wall of closer orcs, ducking and jumping just in time to every blow. Legolas' eyes met hers, and it was a though he could read her mind, one of his hands suddenly pushing Arahaelon away from him, towards where she had managed to free a space for him to go through. They needed to get out of this cave. Running to some kind of safety was their only option.
"This way." The Crown Prince breathed out just as she tried to pull him to the left, guiding her back through ah path in the roots her eyes had failed to see.
It was barely a passage, the roots so tight together that she had to squeeze through with difficulty. She could feel the raw bark scratching her skin, drawing blood in many places, her eyes darting back every two seconds just to make sure that Arahaelon was still following. And surprisingly he was, somehow keeping up with her speed, even though his steps were shakier than they should be, his breath heavy.
She could barely see anything, the tight passage blocking almost every light in a black maze of twisting roots, she oved hands first, her fingers ripping through the bark in order to find a space large enough to squeeze through, slinters digging painfully under her nails. And then, her hand went through, bright silver light coming from the other side of the tight knit of roots. They had made it out. It only they could squeeze through one last time. But the ground was a little too high up, the opening at the level of her eyes. She eyed the roots around her, climbing through them with an agility and strength that she had not known she possessed, squeezing through the tight opening above her head.
Thunder wracked the outside air once more, roaring drops of water hitting her face as she took a long breath of outside air. It was hard to make out anything in the chaos that reigned over the forest. Creatures and elves ran past her, the sound of metal against metal once again ringing loudly in her ears, drowning out the pouring rain and the screams from the wounded and dying. The wind howled wildly, her hair slapping her like fierce hands. She could hear it, screaming to her through the wind, the power hard to ignore, calling to her louder than the King's own powers were, begging her to summon it, to wield it, to unleash it against the danger that coursed through the grounds. It took nearly all of her concentration to ignore the blue stoned ring, to not call on it, to pretend its voice was not taunting her to her very soul.
She crawled through the tight gap, freeing her arms and legs before turning around, leaning forward to help Arahaelon climb through. It was a harder task than she thought, the muscles in her entire body complaining in pain as she pulled him up, weighing more than she could carry, but he could not do it by himself. He tried using both arms, gripping to the roots for leverage, and yet the second he moved his right hand he hissed sharply and nearly dropped to the ground, her own arm being the only thing preventing him from letting go.
She never knew how, every inch of her body protesting, but she helped him through, the massive drops of water drumming over both of them as they lay panting for breath by the wall of roots, still too close to the rest of the fighting. The forest roared, branches groaning, and she felt it again, that power, so overwhelming floating over the air, creating this massive storm in its wake, the trees, the wind the thunder moving along with it in perfect synchronization. It was too much power. It must require too much energy, too much concentration to keep it up. The Elevenking would be exhausted in no time. But it did manage to slow the orcs, the elves moving better in the bad weather than the creature did.
"We need to move." She panted, struggling with her drenched dress in order to scramble to her feet. What a useless thing this dress was! Orcs and elves moved past them, hitting each other, arrows flying pas too close to her head.
And yet, the Crown Prince did not move, still half-way sitting half-way lying down where he had climbed out of the maze of roots. Her heart dropped in fright, adrenaline pumping harder than ever inside her veins. She moved closer to him, shaking his shoulder gently, desperately nudging for him to move before an arrow or sword landed on any of them.
"Ar, we need to move." She whispered again, fear gripping her stomach like a cold claw. Her eldest brother had turned even paler than before, his usually perfectly serene face scrunched up in a mask of agonizing pain, eyes tightly shut. She did not know what to do, trying to urge him to move, to get up, but he looked as though he would not be able to get up again, his skin alarmingly cold to the touch, clammy. Panic started to get a hold on her, and she tried as desperately as she could to get his attention back, for him to pen his eyes and look at her. Why was he not getting up? He always did. Even when injured, there had always been that sense of endless strength that seemed to surround him. He always managed to hide it, fooled everyone into pretending he was perfectly fine, could do anything.
"Ar, you need to move." She begged desperately, her hand falling on his freezing cheek, his emerald eyes opening up to meet hers, but they were hazy, barely focused at all. "We will die here if we do not move fast."
There was opening ahead, the crowd of fighting elves and orcs had moved for a split second. If she could just run through, she could reach one of the trees farther back, with a trunk large enough to easily climb. This was her gap. It was now or the Valar knew when. But she could not do it. No matter how much logic and her instinct kept telling her to run in that direction, to take this small chance that had been given to her, she could not go. She could not leave her eldest brother here.
Her thoughts drifted back to Tadion, to the twins, to Legolas, her heart praying to see them coming through this same to opening, fighting her urge to run back and get them herself. She neede to now they were safe, that they were not hurt. At least Elladan was safe. She could feel him through their bond, feeling even from the smallest of scratches on him, but he was fine, no harm had reached him. She did not think she could bear it if it did.
She could feel Arahaelon trying to get up, to rise to his feet, summoning strength he longer had. Another thunder wracked the earth, the lighting brightening the rainy forest for a split second before the roar filled her ears. The storm was getting stronger, the power in the air multiplying, even the trees crying out louder than before. It was too much power. Now was it even under control any longer?
She pulled at his left arm, with difficulty helping him rise unsteadily to his feet, carrying more of his weight than she knew he would ever let her carry unnecessarily. And suddenly, all fear for own life had vanished, no longer worried about her or her safety. All she needed was to get him to safety, to make sure he would live. After that, then she would worry about herself. She could manage. His whole body was shaking with exertion, and she could smell the coppery scent of fresh blood starting to ooze once more form the wound in his shoulder.
"You see that tree?" She yelled over the drowning pouring of the rain, her finger pointing ahead a that thick tree trunk not too far away, just across a couple of fighting orcs and elves. It was not a long way. They could make it. It would be hard, but they could make it. "We need to get to it."
The Crown Prince nodded his head, or at least she thought he did for he barely moved at all, seeming to be placing all of his concentration on simply staying conscious and upright. She took a step forward, trying her best to tune out the blackened arrows that kept flying a little too close to her face. It was she could do to not fall over as Arahaelon imitated her with shaky legs, more of his weight crashing on her, but he did not stop, did not even complain once as she took yet another step, then another, pulling him with her.
"Rëa!" The cry made her stop mid-way, thundering over the sounds of the fighting. Her head snapped to her right, searching for a few seconds through the chaos around her before spotting a waterfall of platinum hair dashing in their direction.
Lossenel swung a sword she had stolen from some orc, slashing through two creatures with surprising ease before reaching their side, her gorgeous icy green-blue irises widening as they fell on Arahaelon's barely standing form. In a second, she was by their side, her own thin arms steading the Crown Prince form the other side.
"We need to get to that tree." She told Lossenel, her sister nodding her platinum head which glowed as bright as the silver Moon, even under the pouring curtain of rain.
"The others?" Her sister breathed out in a rush, struggling with her to help Arahaelon away from the heavier of the fighting, dodging stray arrows and somehow blocking blows that were aimed at them.
"I know not. I could not reach them. There were too many." She answered honestly, unable to conceal the worry and fear from showing in her voice as she spoke, but the snowy Princess did not press for answer, focusing instead on what little they could do at the moment.
The Crown Prince's knees threatened to buckle more than once, but every time Lossenel would speak words in that fluid musical tongue that she could not understand. And whatever it was the Princess was saying, it kept him going. An arrow grazed her left shoulder, pain exploding at her skin where it had ripped but not lodged. She shook her head, ignoring the sting of the deep cut as she kept walking through. She could worry later. Not now.
It felt like an eternity, but they somehow reached the base of the massive trunk, having to miraculously dodge many orcs and stray blows in the process. The wind howled once more, the storm picking up even further. It pushed her back with its unmeasurably strength, throwing her off-balance even with her feet strongly planted on the ground. She fell to her knees, Arahaelon's left elbow hitting her cheek accidentally as he too was blown away, Lossenel struggling to remain upright.
"Hold it, Rëa!" Lossenel screamed over the cries of the wind and rain, her hand pointing to one of the lower branches, just a little away from her fingers. She stretched her hands like she never had before, fingers suddenly curling around the soft wet bark, but it was enough to stabilize herself against the force of the furious storm.
The forest raged outside, trees crying out louder than before, thunder wracking the earth with a furious stroke, branches stretching unnaturally, uncontrollably. The power was too much, seeming to seeping into her bones without her control, almost pulling at her, wanting her to join, to give her energy to it. She could feel it again, that tingling on her fingers, knowing that she would be safe with her father guiding her through.
"No!" Arahaelon's voice partially startled her, not knowing if he was still strong enough to even speak, but his emerald eyes were fixed on her once more, even though visibly struggling to remain upright with the strong wind. "Almarëa, do not do it again! It is barely in control! If you get lost, it will consume you!"
Again? She could not understand. She had not done anything yet. What was he talking about? The wind raged once more, Vilya crying loudly for her to wield it, just as the trees cried out for her to join her father's energy, to join the connection. She opened her mouth to ask, but her screamed was drowned as a high pitch cry, the same they had been hearing all along, erupted through the forest, louder than the raging storm. She let go of the branch in surprise, trying to hold back ono it but it was too late, her body sent rolling backwards by the wind, slamming into both Arahaelon and Lossenel.
But the wind did not make her body shake in fear. The wind did not make her blood run cold, her body freezing. The wind did not make the nearby orcs squirm in obvious distress, did not make the elves around cry out in warning a fright.
No. It was not the wind. It was the pair of massive flapping wings that soared over the thick canopy, ripping leaves and branches alike with its gigantic claws, screeching so loudly that she thought her ears would bleed, hot red flames pouring from its opened jaws. A black cloaked rider sat at the base of the monster's neck, the hands and mask of pure shining metal, the pitch black fabric dancing weightlessly around him like thin air….
Here is chapter 57! I know it was a long wait, but now that's January's over…I finally graduated! I hope you enjoy this tense little chapter as much as I did writing it! And sorry (not really hehe) for the cliffhanger! Let me know what you think!
Thank you again so so much to all who reviewed the last chapter, as I said before and cant's say enough times, each of your comments means so much to me, you give more life to the story than you can ever imagine! AndurilofTolkien, yankumi, brandiuckeye, Saum the Smol Teddy, Morfindel, Flower-Uchiha, Hyuuga Senpai, Amsim, artvandelay5001, glassary, GondorianElf, helenaxo and Wtiger5
Love,
Elena