Chapter 7

A/N

Hi my lion headed Sphinxes!

Sorry for the slow update (I've been soooooooooo busy!), but guess what? It's the summer holidays (yay!), so I should hopefully be able to update more often (Says the girl who took three months or so to update)! Anyhoo…

I hope you like the new chapter, and please leave one of your wonderful reviews as you usually do. Also, I'd just like to thank all of you lovely viewers purely because this story wouldn't be where it is now without you guys, so yeah, thanks a bunch!

Enjoy!

Sphinxy

Silence.

Not a sound was heard throughout the forest, the endless green forever quiet. There was no chirp of birdsong, no rustle of the breeze in the emerald leaves, not even the soft footfall of the two elves and snow-leopard, as they snuck along the forest floor. Their breaths came steadily and were unheard by all, silenced by the thickening air.

They were getting closer now, Aéneth could feel it. It was like an odd nudging sensation, that started deep within her bones and made its way slowly up into her heart, piercing her soul. Even Lucrio was tense with anticipation. His hackles were raised, every hair on his body stood on end. Even his lips were pulled back in a silent snarl.

Aéneth already had her bow strung with a single arrow, ready to lose it at any given moment. Legolas had his hand on one of his silver daggers, sat loosely in its sheath so it was easily removed if necessary. They didn't dare stop, even when the sky grew dark and small pinpricks of light hung in the darkness. No-one even thought about lighting a fire, or making torches, besides, the moon was as bright as the sun and nothing was unseen thanks to their elvish vision.

Soon the air thickened even further, until it was like walking through molten rock. Heat radiated from the green around and swarmed about them until sweat sheened on their foreheads.

Suddenly, a black cloud rose in the sky, blocking out the sun. But it was nothing more than that, just a black cloud. The only thing was, it seemed to stretch from up in the sky, to the ground ahead of them. However, they didn't take much notice; they had other things to worry about. As they advanced through the forest, the scenery changed a little. Rather than the dense green Aéneth had become accustomed to, the trees became thinner and fewer, and more huge spider's webs appeared. This just made the trio become even tenser, as they had to cut their way through the white tendrils using Legolas's daggers and Lucrio's claws. Even though there was no sign of the ghastly monsters they'd encountered last time they were here, Legolas stayed close to Aéneth's side, protecting her. Soon however, it had become almost too dark to see, and the group almost considered camping where they were for the night. That was until Lucrio stopped them in their tracks with a low growl. So they swiftly re-considered their previous plan, just as the big cat started to gaze at Aéneth, eyes glowing in the darkness.

That's when Aéneth felt the power, flowing through her veins, just as it had before. She felt it run through her, until it concentrated in her fingertips. She held her hands up to examine them, before looking back at Lucrio. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in a sort of nod. So Aéneth pulled both hands back to rest just above her right hip. Then she threw both hands back out in front of her, where a ball of golden dust shot out from her fingertips and flew through the air in front of her, briefly illuminating their surroundings, before it disappeared into the distance.

Aéneth stood there dumbfounded, before smiling and chuckling a little, until Legolas joined her. Then she grinned wickedly and held her right hand in front of her. She summoned all of the power once more and let it gather in the palm of her hand, until a small ball of the glowing golden dust appeared. It grew, until it was around the size of an orc's head, before she took her hand away, allowing it to float in mid-air. She grinned as she admired her work, before she tapped the ball of light once with her forefinger.

It exploded.

Light filled the forest as the sphere became as bright as the Sun itself. Lucrio was almost grinning smugly to himself, whilst Legolas was beaming with pride. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He leant his head on her shoulder, and she leant into his touch, smiling."

I love you," He murmured.

"I love you more," She replied matter-of-factly.

"I highly doubt that," Legolas told her."I don't.""Oh really?" He said, trailing kisses along her shoulder and up her neck. Her breathing hitched, and suddenly he spun her round to face him. She squealed and giggled, before she pressed her lips to his. He smiled into the kiss, before they reluctantly broke apart.

"Really," She whispered.

He smiled before they continued through the forest, the sphere of light leading the they could see a light in the distance, but rather than being comforted by it, they were unnerved by it, as it was the same place the black cloud touched the ground. As they got closer, the sight before them was enough to chill them to their bones.

Fire.

But it wasn't just any fire; it was an orc campfire. When they realised this, Aéneth swiped her hand across her glowing orb, turning it to gold dust that floated gently to the floor. They quickly darted behind a large rock, peeking over the top at the sight before them.

Orcs swarmed around the fire, grunting in their own odd language. Hunks of meat were torn apart by razor sharp teeth, pointed and tinted a foul yellow.

The trio stayed hidden whilst they came up with the best method of attack. Whilst Legolas started explaining a complex way of ambushing them, tendrils of glowing gold dust, slithered around Aéneth's ankles and crawled up around her body, until it touched her fingertips. She pushed it away, but it came right back, until an idea popped into her mind.

"Surprise."

"What?" Legolas asked.

"Surprise," She said once more, "That's the only way we'll have a chance."

Legolas looked shocked, but he nodded in agreement.

Aéneth put her right hand behind her back, allowing the dust to collect on the palm of her hand. Once it had gathered into a ball, she threw it straight into the orcs fire.

BOOM!There was a huge explosion as sparks, dust and fire was thrown across the clearing. The orcs all screamed in both fear and rage as half of their camp went up in flames. They ran around frantically trying to gather weapons and find their enemy.

Suddenly, Aéneth, Legolas and Lucrio leapt out of their hiding place and charged at the orcs. They took down many, as golden dust swirled about them, protecting them, but there were too many. Soon all three of them found themselves in the grimy hands of the orcs. They struggled against them, but even Aéneth could not help. The dark magic was too potent here.

Soon darkness tinted the edge of Aéneth's vision, and she felt herself slipping slowly away.

Soon, the darkness claimed them all.

A/N

Hi again!Just to say now, THE EMMALAS SHIP IS FINALLY SAILING! Okay, so now I've got that off my chest, I'm thinking of doing a new cover for both books, so if you can, then send me some fan art and cover ideas, you never know, I might just use yours! Also, I'm thinking of making these books into films on a new fanfiction youtube channel, but I'm not really that great with things like this, so if you could give ,e some help and ideas, then that would be great!I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Thanks again!

Sphinxy