Six

Eleniel

I opened my mouth and gasped. I opened my eyes, then closed them as the world blurred.

"Eleniel." The voice seemed far away and it echoed in my head. "Eleniel." The sound reverberated around my mind, making me cringe. "Eleniel!"

"WHAT?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" I yelled, my eyes flying open as I recognised my father's voice.

"Well don't wake up half the deceased!" He grinned. "Welcome back. Your mother was so worried."

I switched to Sindarin. "And what about you?"

"You are strong. The was no need to fear."

I grunted. "Thanks. Speaking of mother, where is she?"

Legolas nodded his head in the direction of a mountain of pillows and sheets. "She was bitten."

"What? Again?" I realised someone had removed my armour and it was sitting in a pile on the far side of the room.

"So it would seem."

I sat up in my own mound of bedclothes and stretched. "What time is it?"

"The sun has only just set. We managed to drive the spiders away with torches an hour before."

Plus one point to the Elves, I thought. Then I realised it was probably something Miriel would say. Right. I needed to rescue her.

"Prince Legolas." one of the guards' popped into the room. "I think you should come and see this."

My father nodded and stood. Before he left the room, he looked back at me, "Eleniel, stay here with your mother."

As soon as he'd gone, I stood up, made sure my mother was still breathing, jammed my armour back on, and ran through the halls to the armoury. If I was going on a wild goose chase for Miriel, I'd need some pretty sharp knives.

Halfway there, I stopped. I turned around and sprinted to my parents' chamber. I opened my mother's wardrobe and scooped up her pouch of throwing knives. She had used them on her quest half a century ago. I glanced back at the open wardrobe and rolled my eyes. How in the Valar did that thing fit on Miriel?

I quietly left the halls of Mirkwood and began my journey.

Legolas

Thranduil was already at the scene, scowling down at the white body.

"What, again? I thought it was dead."I said, prodding the milky-eyed head.

"It never came out of hiding." my father said in Elvish, "At least now we know that something has frightened them back to the surface."

Something that frightens giant spiders. Right. Great. "What are we up against this time?"

The king's gaze met mine. "I do not know."

Miriel

Darkness had arrived and I was freaking out. I was at the edge of the forest and I had no clue what to do next. The sounds of the night made my hear race.

The skin-changer's secret

I stepped out into the night, a sack slung over my shoulder, and looked up at the sky. I smiled to myself, then began my journey.