Chapter 52
From Greenwood
The palace of the Greenwood Elvenking was built and carved into underground caves, and was only accessible through the narrow stone pathway between the large stone gate and the edge of the forest. Underneath the bridge was a swift-running stream, with sharp rocks at the sides and waters cold as ice that could be the death of anyone who could fall in. Engraved on the gates was a familiar Elvish motif of leaves and curling stems, painted in silver which seemed to be faded now. Two heavily armoured guards stood at each side of the gate, their faces covered by bronze and made them look imposing and intimidating.
Haldir was far from being intimidated. He was being escorted by one of the scouts who found him in the forest. There was a struggle, of course; because these Wood-elves did not know who he was, and thought he was an intruder. He explained that he was sent there by King Amroth to search for Lady Nimrodel, and after a series of whispering amongst the scouts, they finally nodded and led him to the fortress.
Inside, the hallways were more magnificent. It was spacious, with shafts of sunlight poking through the holes from above; despite stationed underground, the air within was fresh and the ambiance was pleasant and almost otherworldly. Countless stone bridges overlapped one another, each leading to a certain hallway, room, or cellar. Pillars were carved and painted to look like the beech trees outside, and often, there were paintings of branches and leaves on the pillars. Each had two golden lanterns that illuminated the hallways, and perhaps even warning someone not to trip and fall into the watery abyss below. It was the same stream from the outside that flowed under the bridge, and it flowed through the Forest River beyond the palace.
"We are here," one of the scouts told him. "The King waits for you."
The Marchwarden from Lórinand nodded and stepped into a hallway, which lead into another bridge and another room. After a while of walking and admiring the place, he stopped short at the sight of the marvellous throne room, with menacing antlers protruded from the back of the chair. He approached the dais, eyes warily looking up at the regal Elvenking seated at the top.
"My Lord," Haldir addressed formally and bowed. "I have come from Lórinand under strict orders of looking for Lady Nimrodel."
The King let the silence hang for a moment. His eyes were searching for something. He said with a sigh, "Indeed you are. Elaborate your errand to me and perhaps I can help you." He rested his chin on the heel of his palm, crossed his leg over the other, and stared down at the young warden with piercing eyes.
"Lady Nimrodel ran away from the forest and we supposed that—"
"We?" Thranduil interjected softly, feeling his heart race faster. "You are with someone?"
Haldir noticed the hopeful look on the King's face. He had not seen the Sinda before, but heard stories about the ill temper. "Yes, I was travelling with someone, though I am the only one to enter the forest."
"Do tell me who your companion is." Thranduil saw Raithon lurking in the shadows beside his throne, completely unseen by the warden. His friend gave a little shrug and waved his hand casually. He rolled his eyes at the captain and was relieved his guest did not see.
"Erfaron," Haldir answered reluctantly. He was not sure whether it was safe to mention her name too early. "She was travelling with me and insisted that I enter the forest on my own."
Thranduil got off his throne. He climbed down from the dais and smiled pleasantly at the fair-haired Silvan elf. It was rare for the Silvan folk to have golden hair and striking blue eyes, and more infrequent for one to have silver-gold hair and blue-grey eyes. The warden stood two or three inches lower than him, though his build and arms were undoubtedly larger than his own. He gave Thranduil the impression of a cold and strict Chief Marchwarden, and perhaps even haughty, due to how his eyes stared back at the King, almost glaring.
"What is your name?"
"Haldir, my Lord."
"And you were born and raised in Lórinand?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Siblings?"
"Two younger brothers." He did not understand where this conversation was going. He only followed when the King began to walk away from the throne room and lead him elsewhere. He made sure he was three steps behind the King, while continuing to answer his questions.
"How old are you?" Thranduil crossed the bridge and led him to the dining halls.
"A hundred and ninety-three."
"Quite young. Your brothers must be too young then."
Haldir nodded, a small smile curling in his lips. He loved talking about his brothers. "One is currently a hundred and twenty-nine, and the youngest is seventy."
When he entered the dining halls, he briefly bowed to the dark-haired butler who passed by them, and continued marching on with the Elvenking. His stomach grumbled at the sight of the servants laying out foods on the long, narrow table.
The King chuckled and gestured at the table. "By all means, help yourself. You came a long way from Lórinand. Have you not eaten?"
"Oh, Erfaron gave me an apple before I set off." Haldir was planning to politely decline the offer, but he was already sitting beside the King, and waited on the meal.
A butler arrived to serve the warm lemon-cakes. He served the King first, and then the warden, and went off to fetch more food and drinks.
"I am surprised Erfaron did not come along," Thranduil murmured, looking crestfallen.
"She worries about Lady Nimrodel and the horse."
"Horse?" The King stopped short from drinking his Dorwinion wine. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What horse?"
Haldir swallowed the delectable lemon-cake and modestly wiped the crumbs off the corners of his mouth with a kerchief. "She thinks it would be troublesome if she and Lady Nimrodel shared the same horse, while I walk on the ground," he explained and eyed the newly-arrived tray of biscuits.
"Go on and eat," Thranduil urged him, and was pleased to see him reaching for the biscuits. He chuckled. "Still mindful of others, isn't she?"
"Indeed." Haldir nodded. Then, he remembered why he was there in the first place. "My Lord, about Lady Nimrodel—"
"Don't worry. She is fine, although she did prick her foot and left it bleeding for a couple of hours. The best healer has already tended to her wounds, and she has gotten some sleep before you arrived. After you finish eating, she may come and leave the forest with you."
"I do hope she would not take long," Haldir murmured. "I left Erfaron out in the fields across the Great River. King Amroth would scold me if both Lady Nimrodel and Erfaron get into trouble with the wargs." He sighed.
The King's eyes shot up in alarm. "Wargs? You mean inside the forest?"
"No, my Lord," Haldir answered, shaking his head. "Wargs outside the forest. There was a pair that ran after us back in the Gladden Fields."
Fear crept up in his system. Since when was the last time Thranduil truly felt fear? It must have been a thousand years ago.
"Was she hurt? Did you kill the wargs?"
Again, Haldir shook his head. "She did not let me. Instead, we just escaped and left the Fields."
Scowling, the Elvenking looked up and saw Raithon still lingering around. He beckoned him closer, keeping his eyes locked on his friend's dark eyes; and he said, "Wargs outside the forest, Raithon?"
The Captain of the Guards blinked. "I thought we are strictly ordered to keep watch on our borders. The Old Ford and the Gladden Fields are kilometres away from our borders, and we cannot afford to send too many of our scouts so far out. The kingdom stretches from northern Greenwood way down beyond the Old Forest Road. If we send scouts all over, guards here in the palace would decrease."
Thranduil did not like the tone of Raithon's voice. "And we are just going to ignore those foul beasts run around?"
"I did not say that, only that we must think about this matter thoroughly and not in the middle of lunch." Raithon leaned over and snatched some biscuits. "Talk to me when you're done interrogating your guest. Welcome to Greenwood, Haldir," he said to the startled warden, his voice ever amiable when meeting strangers. Thranduil had often complained that the Captain of the Guards must be intimidating, not friendly.
When Raithon was completely out of sight, Haldir looked at the Elvenking. "So much has happened already, my Lord. I really need to get back to Erfaron."
"Good decision, unless you want her to wait for you longer." Thranduil nodded and sent someone to fetch Nimrodel from the infirmary.
Afternoon waned into twilight, and then came the evening. High above, the peaks were white with snow. The Old Ford looked deserted and strange, with the shadows of the Misty Mountains looking like hulking creatures. The rest of the field was a dark and bleak emptiness. There were no trees, except across the Great River where the Woodland Realm was; there was only the wide expanse of endless dried ground and some patches of grasses.
Feeling all alone, and without her harp, Erynlith began to sing to occupy herself.
"She walked by day
Under mantle grey
And hood of clouded blue;
But she went by night
All glittering bright
Under the starlit sky."
Something moved swiftly on her left. It was all she had been waiting for all night. She raised her voice a notch.
"And her slippers frail
Of fishes' mail
Flashed as she went by
To her dancing-pool,
And on mirror cool
Of windless water played."
Her eyes caught glimpse of a tawny beast standing not so far from her, growling. In the darkness, its amber eyes gleamed and its muzzle wrinkled back to showcase rows of sharp fangs. The warg carefully approached her, head down and steps silent like a predator ready to pounce. Saliva drizzled from its large mouth, splattering the ground. Blood oozed from its shoulder where Haldir had struck it with an arrow in the chase earlier.
Now that she could see the warg closing in on her, Erynlith reached out for her bow and hummed a little tune.
"So still on her own
An elf alone
Singing as before
With flowers in hair
And voice fair
And slippers frail."
The little growl from the warg turned into an enraged roar. It leapt towards her, mouth wide and arms wide open. Erynlith was a second late from evading, after she stumbled on her feet and almost fell on the ground. She turned back and saw the large beast, almost as big as her stallion, coming to her. Clutching her bow, she swung it like a sword and hit the beast on the lower jaw, though it did little to no damage at all. The warg shook its great head and snapped its mouth, foam trickling from its chin and coating the bloody fur.
It barked at her and came in again; she ran back to get some good distance while preparing to take the shot. It was fast, a fact that surprised her due to the immense size; naturally, big creatures moved slower than small and slender creatures, like deer and foxes. She had never seen a warg this big, so she assumed it was old and only looking for something to hunt.
"Nice doggie, tra-lay." She gulped, keeping her eyes locked on those angry amber ones. The warg kept advancing, although it was only walking towards her, its head lowered and the bushy tail moving from side to side. If the warg continued closing in the distance between them, she could not use her bow and arrows properly. She briefly glanced at Great River rushing on her left side, while her right hand slowly reached behind her waist. She hummed again, keeping the warg a little confused.
"There were Elves of old, and strong spells
Under green hills in hollow dells
They sang as they wrought many fair things,
And the bright crowns of the Elvenkings."
Her little friend the warg looked unhappy with her new song. It leapt yet again, barking, and came in contact with her bow. It staggered for a while and advanced to tackle her. Erynlith did not have the time to evade; she was knocked off her feet, the bow suddenly tossed aside. For a moment she focused on the pain in the back of her head, and the terrifying feeling that she could not breathe because of the thick fur on the warg's underbelly, the blood-coated fur and hot breath smelled pungent and maddening. She wriggled underneath the beast, which snapped its head here and there, trying to bite onto her shoulder or throat, but her hands closed in on the upper and lower jaw, the damp saliva soaking her blue tunic.
She wrestled the warg for a while, feeling her back being kneaded on the ground and her arms becoming tired. The warg snatched its head back from her hands, freeing her, and barked angrily as it watched its prey roll on the dusty ground. Erynlith panted and saw in her blurry vision that the warg was sprinting again; she grabbed her bow and spilled arrows, aimed, and fired. It missed. She miscalculated the distance. The warg tackled her, knocking the air from her lungs, and she groaned—the feeling of helplessness making her frustrated. Was this the Erfaron that everyone so admired in Lórinand, now beaten into dust by one warg?
It tackled her again, gentler this time. The impact was not even strong enough to make her stagger and fall back. She just knelt there, panting heavily, while the warg circled around her and wagged its tail.
It wants to play, she realized. Not an old warg, but a young one—a pup.
She wiped her forehead using the sleeve of her tunic, unaware that it only splattered her face with mud and blood from the warg's shoulder wound. Eyes still watching the beast, she crawled on all fours and went to her bow. The warg growled when she touched it, but she hummed again, lifted the bow, and waved it around. It surprised her to see that the warg's amber eyes suddenly focused on the bow. One hand continued waving it while the other reached out for the dagger behind her waist. Then, with a little whistle, she tossed the bow not too far away from her and watched as the young warg run after it.
She paused until it dashed past her. Then, bracing herself and putting all her strength in her arms and hands, she grabbed a handful of the tawny fur and forced the warg to turn back to her. Her other hand that held the dagger came slashing in, catching the left ear first and then pierced through the throat. An agonized howl escaped the creature and it desperately scratched and barked until her hold on its fur was released. She panted again and felt warm blood soaked her left sleeve. To end the warg's suffering, she fetched her bow, aimed her arrow at the head, and fired. The howling ceased.
Erynlith collapsed beside the beast and slowly drifted off to sleep, her thoughts going back to Haldir. She hoped he safely found his way to the Elvenking's Halls. She supposed it was better for her to be attacked by the warg, not the young warden. He had so much to learn. Better me than him, yes.
The night was cold and peaceful. It was moonless, yet overhead thousand stars burned bright. The gates of the Halls opened, and out came Haldir and Lady Nimrodel. She was guided by one of the guards to climb on the horse, whilst the warden held on to the reins and looked back at the Captain of the Guards and his King. Haldir was given a new set of travelling clothes as gift, more food and wine for the journey back home, and the message of Raithon's regards to King Amroth's cousin.
Haldir thanked them profusely and was about to leave when the Elvenking approached him.
"Take care on the road," Thranduil said, smiling down at him. It felt rather different to be smiling at someone who was no more than a stranger to him, but he knew Haldir had been with a certain minstrel. He tapped the warden's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Tell Erfaron..." What? What do I want to tell her? He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"My Lord?" Haldir blinked.
Thranduil reopened his eyes and firmly said, "Tell Erfaron that I shall see her soon, when the opportunity rises."
*Little Princess Mee and The Hoard - J.R.R. Tolkien
Next Chapter: Nimrodel gets what she wants. Erynlith gets less.
Author's Notes: Yay for Thrandy meeting Haldir? No? Maybe I should hide behind a tree now... but Thrandy himself states he would come for her! *hides behind tree anyway* Thank you for reading! Do not forget to leave reviews, my dearly beloved!
*crazykenz - Nimrodel has some spoiled little lady issues. She throws tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants. Cousin Amroth is wasted on her. LOL. Thank for the review!
*Rosiethehobbit17 - Or we could go to Mordor and offer Nimrodel to our Dark Lord Sauron and be done with it! She'd stay there until the War of the Ring, and when Mt. Doom bursts, she'd be gone with it! *cackles evilly* Too morbid? Ach, it's Nimrodel we're talking about anyway! Also, I would like to have a big brother like Haldir. Thank you and may you enjoy your weekend as well, Rosie!
*SparklesJustReads - Ohhh! Forgive me for not making them meet... for now. Don't worry, I think Thrandy is as nervous as you are. :)
*Zip001 - Yes, Eryn would normally be shy about it, but seeing Haldir look and talk so sincerely, it made her change her mind. LOL. Ninny Nimrodel! I like the ring to it! Sorry but the Eryn and Thrandy meeting will have to be postponed for now. Thank you for the review!
*juliacensi95 - Thank you! My course also involves learning languages. Last semester we were learning Japanese and now we're learning Russian. It gets really hard sometimes because I get all confused and mix all the languages up. LOL. I sure hope I could travel around and see Rome. It is such a wonderful and historical place. *sighs dreamily*
Once again, well done! You described Haldir's character way better than I could! As children we do have our share of childhood heroes, so when Haldir gets to meet his face to face, he comes back to being the young elf he is supposed to be, and not the cold marchwarden who has brothers to watch over and a forest to protect. #ErynHaldirBBFs
Thrandy your crush on Eryn is showing... TEAM THRARYN INDEED! XD
Oh, don't worry about long reviews! I love reading them and they never fail to make me smile. Sometimes I read them first thing in the morning and it makes my day all bright and wonderful. So thank you and all the others who are reviewing! *hugs all of you*
*Rarora - In a few more chapters, they would meet! Like Thrandy once said, "I am patient, I can wait."
*Keara - By all means, please do fall in love with Haldir! Let no one tell you that falling in love with Elves is wrong. Let no one tell you otherwise! XD
*Drasna - Why, thank you! I'm glad you like the weekly updates (because I do have a lot of time in my hands). Glorfindel and Eryn forever you say? Ha! Tell that to Thrandy when he goes to see her. But noooo. It means Glorfy would be friendzoned. No, no our beloved warrior. *pats Glorfy on the head*
*Star of Sea - What? Oh noooo! Why did you read the Wikia? Nooooo. LOL. You just spoiled yourself, my friend. Think of happy thoughts, think of happy thoughts instead. Celairis needs to chill and return to her counsellor duties while Eryn gets Thrandy for herself. ;)
*Saura9 - Thank you very much! Hooray for cutie Haldir!
*Gremalow - In one corner we have Glorfy/Eryn group, and in the other we have the Thrandy/Eryn group. Poor Celairis. She doesn't have a place in between. No need to be harsh on her, though she does get a little clingy to her King.
*Flucas - Awww, I miss having Glorfindel around, too. He's probably keeping to himself in Rivendell until Eryn comes back.
*Lord Illyren - Eryn did not go to Greenwood because she knew the wargs were chasing them, and she could not risk endangering both herself and Haldir. So while Haldir fetches Nimrodel in the forest, she stays behind to keep the wargs from advancing. Yeah, she gets the feeling to watch over the young ones now that she is old herself. But worry not! She'll meet Thrandy soon!
*xSiriuslyPadfoot - OMG! I haven't seen you for so long, my friend! How are you and where have you been? Thank you for returning to this story and good luck on reading the rest of the chapters. :)