The four Valar children left Rivendell just before dawn, as planned. Arien was somber and kept to herself, which suited Rian who rode beside her. Behind them chatted Hanna and Taelen, the scene much different than Hanna's journey to Imladris. When she had set out from Mirkwood, and then again from Lothlorien with Taelen, her heart had been filled with fear. It lurked now at the back of her mind, the fear that something was watching them, but she found comfort in Rian's keen eye as the Ranger-trained Valië led them on through the winding trail which would take them past the eastern boundaries of Rivendell.
Several hours passed by and Hanna began shifting in her saddle, hopeful that they would stop soon.
"Are we heading north after we near the base of the White Mountains?" Taelen called to Rian.
"Arien told me to head south, so that is what we'll do. We'll ride through Hollin and pass over the White Mountains to Lothlorien."
"South?" Taelen sounded surprised. "Last night Arien said we should head north. Did you finish your calculations, Arien?"
"I was given more information," Arien answered. "I thought Hanna would have told you."
Hanna had been so wrapped up in listening to Taelen talk about Lothlorien in spring, she had forgotten to mention her and Arien's brief interaction in the stables with the elf Legolas. He'd seen Arien leaving, and came to give her the information which swayed her decision.
"Legolas, whose father is Thuranduil who rules over Mirkwood, said he and the woodland guard have noticed an increase of activity in Dol Goldur." Arien said. "They've seen Thuringwethil fly in and out of its gate, and have followed her as far as Lothlorien, but she always seems to disappear upon reaching the woods."
Hanna had thought the Elf to be unique from other Elves she met in Rivendell. No one there had offered up any helpful information for the Valar children, as far and Hanna had known. And he had called her "Arien Elentari," a title Hanna had not heard before. But if it matched the look Legolas had given Arien, Hanna was sure it was romantic.
"But why are we going back to Lothlorien?" Taelen asked, his brow furrowed.
His question meant more to Hanna than Arien and Rian. Lothlorien was Taelen's home, and the last thing he wanted was to draw Thuringwethil or Melkor to the Golden Woods.
"As I said before," Arien began, "one of the Silmarils was tossed in the sea, and one into a fiery pit." Arien waved a hand in the air and the fog around them shaped itself into a map of the sea and the rivers which flowed to it from all over Middle Earth.
"The Silmaril tossed into the sea was proving hard to locate, but I believe I might have an answer, confirmed by the information Legolas gave. He told me Thuringwethil has been haunting the borders of Lothlorien after you left, Taelen. She must be hunting a Silmaril there, and it fits with the research I have done." The fog dissipated with another wave of Arien's hand, returning to cloak the mossy ground on either side of the path.
Taelen laughed warily. "But how could a Silmaril tossed into the sea end up in Lothlorien?"
"I was not sure, but there have been tales since the beginning of the second age of the power in the Nimrodel. It is odd for such a small river to have power, and for it to have a guardian spirit."
"A guardian spirit?" Hanna asked.
Taelen answered, a light appearing in his eyes. "The spirit of Nimrodel protects its waters. Her spirit was said to have been brought as a guardian by Ulmo himself. It was in that river that I discovered my connection to the waters of Middle Earth."
Arien nodded emphatically. "If Ulmo wanted a guardian there, then there must be something precious worth guarding."
"What made you consider this as a possibility before Legolas confirmed it?" Taelen shook his head. "It seems impossible to guess the Silmaril would end up in the middle of Lothlorien, so far from the sea, and with no water sources from the sea as well."
"Right – except for one report I found from Cirdan the shipwright. He wrote Elrond at the beginning of the second age. There had been a sudden change in the tide that left almost as soon as it came. Elrond told him to inform him if it happened again, but it didn't. I checked the date of the correspondence, and it was around that time rumors of the spirit of Nimrodel began."
The other three rode in silence, taking in this information. The trees around them gradually grew more dense, their red autumn leaves bright against the dark Misty Mountains which drew nearer with every step. But Hanna didn't see any of the Mountain's majesty while she mulled over Arien's information. Hanna wasn't sure how Arien had found a letter written to Elrond in her research, but she was not surprised. Arien seemed precisely the kind of person Hanna would expect to find rummaging through old letters in the hope of finding one sentence that answered her question.
"I suppose we head for Lothlorien then," Rian said. "That is the shorter trip, which is good. And it is closer to Dol Goldur."
"Did you memorize a map overnight?" Taelen looked at her with wide eyes.
"No, I memorized it when I was ten," Rian answered him without turning around.
—
They traveled like this for a week, rocky pathways leading them through hills and sparse forests. They rested a few hours each night until they reached the base of the Misty Mountains. They looked less menacing than the first time Hanna had seen them, when she and Taelen passed over on their journey to Rivendell. It was different to approach the looming peaks with the thought of going to find Thuringwethil, instead of her stalking them. Still, a haunting chill settled in her chest as they neared the end of the road and reached the start of the pass over the mountains.
"I think we should hurry," she said to Taelen, who rode beside her. His eyes didn't move from the trees around them.
"You feel it too?"
An eerie howl cut through the air and Hanna's horse reared up on her hind legs, letting out a loud whinny and flaring her nostrils. Hanna gripped the sides of her horse with her knees, and she barely managed to stay in the saddle as her horse settled down. But before she could take a deep breath, a second howl sounded and as her horse reared a second time, she slipped. The action around her- Taelen jumping off his horse, Rian and Arien galloping toward her- happened as if in slow motion while Hanna turned as she fell, reaching out her hands to the ground below. The rocky surface turned to soft, freshly tilled earth, cushioning her fall. Time sped forward and she heard Taelen shouting to the others before he was at her side. He touched the soft patch of dirt around her and blinked twice before taking her hands and pulling her to her feet.
Hanna looked over his shoulder and saw what was causing the feeling of unease: a black wolf as tall as a horse and wider than a bear, with hollow eyes and teeth as long as daggers, threw back its head and let out a guttural howl unlike any she had ever heard. Rian stood confidently in front of it, her sword drawn, with Arien on her horse a few paces off, an arrow notched in her bow.
"That was not there a few seconds ago," Hanna whispered to Taelen, frozen where she stood. He slowly shook his head, drawing his own sword and taking a step toward Rian and Arien.
The wolf snapped its head toward the movement, baring its teeth in a too-sentient grin. Hanna didn't have time to draw her own weapon before the wolf sprang toward the two of them, maneuvering past Rian's sword with the grace of a much lighter creature.
"Look out!" Arien yelled as she shot her arrow, burying it in the wolf's shoulder, but it was not hindered, and landed heavily in front of Taelen and Hanna, snarling.
Taelen swung his sword deftly at the wolf but missed by an inch as it ducked the blade. Before Hanna knew what she was doing, she pushed Taelen to the side, raising an arm as the wolf lunged at her. The ground shook as a wall of rock rose, following the movement of Hanna's arm The wolf crashed into it hard, letting out a growl as it stepped back, blinking its eyes.
Hanna turned and started running back toward the trees.
"Come on!" She yelled when Taelen didn't follow her immediately. But suddenly Arien screamed and Hanna was suddenly slammed into the ground. Her head was ringing as she felt the wolf's cold breath on her neck, but moments later the pressure on her back was gone. She turned her head, and darkness clouded her vision. She thought she had passed out, but when the darkness cleared, she saw Rian's sword hanging where the beasts neck would have been- the wolf had disappeared into a cloud of black smoke.
"Hanna!" Taelen knelt beside her, gently holding her head between his hands. She winced as she tried to sit up, and he shook his head. "Stay still, let me check to see if you have broken anything."
"The wolf! Where did it go?" Arien asked, riding up with her bow still in her hand.
Rian sheathed her sword. "It disappeared in a black mist seconds after my blade cut it. I have never seen anything like it."
"Neither have I," Hanna said, surprised her voice came out steady despite the pain as Taelen checked her for injuries. "I have faced many dark creatures in Mirkwood, but never have I seen a wolf so abnormally large, nor a creature disappear in a puff of smoke."
"It must be a servant of Melkor. Perhaps it is of the void and cannot be touched by a blade?" Arien bit her lip, pulling out a small book and a piece of charcoal. "I have read about the wolves that served him. The one that bit off Beren's arm while he bore a Silmaril to Beriland is described as a monstrous beast, larger than any other, with teeth sharper than a sword."
Hanna watched as Arien sketched an image of the wolf and stowed the small book in a saddle bag once more. A tingling sensation along her spine distracted Hanna from asking Arien more about her theory. Her pain eased and she watched as Taelen opened his eyes and took his hands off her shoulders. She held her breath as she looked into his blue eyes, which were suddenly brighter than usual. The tingling stopped when Taelen took a deep breath and removed his hands. His eyes returned to normal, and Hanna wondered if her eyes were brighter when she used her powers.
"We need to keep moving." Rian knelt on one knee next to them.
"You should be alright to ride again," Taelen said to Hanna, taking her hand and helping her up. "Nothing was broken, you just fell hard. I've healed the bruising."
"I could have used you on many a journey." Rian shook her head. "The Rangers might be decent healers, but their ability pales when compared to that of a Valar, I suppose."
Taelen blushed. "It was nothing."
The four of them moved quickly back to the road, mounting their horses and starting cautiously up the mountain pass. The afternoon passed uneventfully. Slowly, they picked their way up the rocky path, over the spine of the mountain, and down the other side. They had nearly reached open ground when the same chill as before hit Hanna's chest, and she gasped when she saw the dark shape of the giant wolf against the trees only five yards away. The wolf let out a snarl, and bounded forward, heading straight for Arien. In one skilled movement, Arien leapt off her horse, drew one of her swords, and slashed the side of the wolf as it lunged at her. The beast did not react as the cut spilled black smoke, but barked aggressively and paced back and forth in front of Arien who stood looking at the sword in her hand with a worried expression.
"Why did it-"
"Arien!" Rian cried, jumping off her horse as the wolf reared back on its hind legs and howled. She got there seconds before the wolf jumped at Arien, its teeth bared. Rian reached for her sword but, realized it was still in its sheath on her horse's saddle. She yelled wordlessly as the wolf closed in on them, holding up her hands to shield Arien from the beast's attack. But the beast dissolved as it touched Rian's hands, the inky black smoke billowing around her and Arien.
"Did you do that?" Arien asked, trembling.
"I - I do not know."
"You have never done that before?"
Rian shook her head, and Hanna watched with curiosity as the Ranger studied her palms, which were emitting a faint yellow light.
"We need to keep moving." Rian's voice was quiet. "If we hurry we can reach the edge of Lothlorien before nightfall."
"But is it going to keep following us?" Hanna asked, shivering.
Taelen shook his head. "Even if it did, Rian can apparently handle it alone."
"That was too easy," Arien said, mounting her horse again and pulling out her sketchbook again. "I do not think it will follow us any more - it got the information it needs."
"Information?" Hanna asked.
"It saw all of us in action." Rian's voice was still quiet, but she had also mounted her horse and her face had a bit more color. "Let's go."
No one spoke as they rode, though Hanna longed to ask Rian more questions about her manifestation of power, but she remained quiet as they passed into the forest of Lothlorien. Taelen led them to their stopping point beneath a canopy of large trees. These were not the fabled Mallorn trees Hanna longed to study, but a lesser strain. Still, Hanna revelled in the forest's beauty. Rich green grass grew around the trees, and young moss patterned their pale bark. Everything felt soft, and Hanna took a deep breath as she settled under her blanket for some rest.
Fear threatened her peace, fear of this ghost-wolf, but she placed her palms on the ground and focused on the roots of the trees around them, counting each strand under the earth. Slowly she drifted to sleep, the forest canopy protecting her, the ground her support.
Awesome as usual! Easy to read and I'm invested in the characters. I loved getting some fight scenes and also feeling like there were a few places of almost like foreshadowing. I look forward to reading more! Also can I say that plot and pacing both seem well figured out through the piece as a whole so far. Can't wait to find out what happens next!
Love it! I'm excited that we're getting to fast-paced action, and I think this chapter was a good mix of dialogue/explanation and action. I like the hints at everyone's character through the fight scene. My one major suggestion is to include more descriptions / tags during the long dialogue section at the beginning (which Sara & Shelby also mentioned). I think the characters are really starting to show their complexity, and I especially like the small details from Hanna's perspective that give us more insight into her.