The Shadow Hunter

Chapter 02: Shadows in the Dark

They had waited for hours on the trees, yet none of the Greenwood Elves were sighted. Varilerin threw a menacing glance to Ellain and Ruindoldir, accusing them for lying to her that they would arrive today.

“Patience, Varilerin. They will come sooner or later,” Ellain persuaded her nervously, not lifting her eyes from the road beneath them. “If they have arrived, we will sight them.”

“Though I suppose you’re just going to escort them from the shadows?” Ruindoldir added. Varilerin didn’t answer and instead played with her bowstring as if it was a musical instrument. Ruindoldir sighed once he knew that the elleth wouldn’t be stepping farther from the branch she was perching on due to her nature, and shifted his eyes back to the ground.

“They don’t need to see me,” Varilerin said after a while, “for I will not see them either.” Varilerin suddenly stopped moving her finger on the string and looked down, stopping Ellain from protesting her words. From afar came two identical dark-haired ellon riding horses, their faces eerily similar to Arwen’s “It’s Lord Elladan and Elrohir,” Varilerin informed them quietly, and then paused when she saw figures of green not far

Behind them Varilerin saw a line of Elves cloaked in green and carrying bows. Their hairs were brown and golden, reflecting the color of the woods and the earth. In front of them, directly behind the two Elves, was a golden-haired ellon wearing a circlet and radiating power more than the others. His cloak was silver and shining, and his eyes were full of wisdom. Beside him also rode another with a face resembling his, though Varilerin could saw that he was younger.

“Here they are, the people you’ve waited for,” Ellain said and looked directly at Varilerin,” and Lord Elrond’s sons as well, maybe meeting them on road.”

“We should greet them,” Ruindoldir told the two. “We do not want the Greenwood Elves to think us as wandering Orcs, don’t we?” Ruindoldir raised his brows at Varilerin, who gave him a look that convinced his deductions of her answer.

“I’ll be watching from above,” she told him, though in her heart she wished not to escort them. She was afraid that one of them would discover her presence, especially the ones walking in front of the line. Ellain looked unconvinced by her words, her face filled with worries and doubts. “I promise you, I will only help guard the road. No harm will come to me,” Varilerin continued again with a sigh.

“I find your words hardly believable,” Ruindoldir said honestly, considering that Varilerin was still young and unwise. “But then again, you are more capable of the others….” he said again, this time hesitantly.

“I believe in our friend’s abilities, Ruindoldir. Now, shall we greet them?” Ellain interrupted as she rose to her feet. Ruindoldir nodded and threw a last glance to their quiet friend. “Be safe,” Ellain said before they both leapt from the tree like the wind. Varilerin watched as they landed softly on the ground, slightly surprising though not shocking the visitors. She moved closer to observe them, but still keeping her presence cloaked among the shadows of the trees.

“Ruindoldir, Ellain, it is such a surprise to see you greeting us!” one of Elrond’s sons greeted. The other smiled and patted Ruindoldir’s broad shoulder.

“It is unexpected for you to arrive along with the Greenwood Elves as well!” Ellain said as she looked over their shoulders.

“Has there any news while we’re away?”

“None other than your sister keeps quarreling with our quiet friend,” Ruindoldir answered plainly.

“Ah, Varilerin is such an intriguing child, isn’t she, Elladan?” Elrohir said to his brother gleefully. “Father must have had a hard time while we’re gone!”

“Varilerin, you’ve never mentioned her before,” the younger blonde ellon behind them said suddenly. Varilerin narrowed her eyes, afraid that Elladan and Elrohir had spoken too much about her to those she didn’t know.

“And sadly you won’t be seeing her, Legolas,” Elladan said to the ellon,” For she is shy, shyer than the deer of the woods.” Legolas chuckled upon hearing his friend’s remark and was the more curious to see the elleth.

“Come, honored guests, we shall escort you to Rivendell safely,” Ruindoldir said, interrupting their discussion about his friend. Varilerin smiled at his friendly gesture and watched as Ruindoldir greeted the nobler elf riding beside Legolas. The others nodded silently and followed the two rangers through the road, which was guarded by more rangers among the trees and on the branches.

Varilerin watched as the company moved through the forest, vaguely hearing Elladan and Elrohir mentioning her name. She slowly regretted her decision of not appearing in front of the company, for she was sure they would be quieter if she was to watch over them with her menacing silver eyes. Then again, all had already been too late, and all she could do was to guard them from the shadows.

I care not. They will not see me anyway, she thought as she turned around to scout the area.

Kill them.

Varilerin shuddered and stopped moving. Her eyes cautiously scanned for her surroundings, wondering what sound was that she had heard. As a half-Elven she inherited keen senses yes, but she was sure that the sound just before was not of the physical realm. She was sure her ears didn’t catch anything strange among the branches nor below.

Is it just my imagination? She thought, narrowing her eyes to increase her vision.

Kill them softly.

She heard the voice again, this time clearer and coarser than before. Her eyes unconsciously were directed to a direction in the forest and her heart beat quickly.

Is it just in my mind? she thought, but her heart seemed to tell her another. Her heart thumped faster and heavier, as if something heavy was burdening her both in mind and body. Her breathing was unstable and uncontrollable. Varilerin grabbed her chest to calm herself down, but found herself unable to. What is happening to me?

She looked up towards the direction again. But, instead of seeing trees and branches, she saw an ellon instead. His back was turned away from her and he didn’t move. His hair was dark and he carried a quiver. Varilerin glanced around, wondering how the ellon had managed to slip past her watch.

“Who are you?” she asked him as she regained her footing. The ellon didn’t answer. “What are you doing here?’ she asked again.

He remained quiet, eerily quiet. It was as if he could not hear despite his undeniable keen senses. Varilerin moved her feet slowly, afraid that he was someone unwanted in the valley. “Who are you?” she asked again.

Her question was answered. The ellon turned to face Varilerin slowly and inaudibly. His eyes were the first to meet hers and she could see only one thing: horror and fear. She shuddered, before her heart was more surprised by his chest. It was impaled by a black, menacing blade not belonging to the Elven kind. From the blade came his blood, profuse and bright.

”Please help us,” the ellon said. Varilerin widened her eyes in horror and leapt from her tree to help the dying ellon, but suddenly a fierce wind blew through the branches and blinded her vision. She closed her eyes as she braced from the wind. When she opened them once more, she saw the ellon no more, not even traces of blood on the tree trunks.

Illusion? Varilerin thought, but her heart told her it was more than an illusion. Her eyes were again directed towards the direction before and she was now sure that something was wrong there beyond. It seemed tranquil at first, but Varilerin saw invisibly darkness dwelling among the shadows. The darkness loomed over her mind and body, as if it was threatening her by its invisible presence.

Varilerin swallowed a hand of anxiety and began leaping nimbly above branches. Her right hand clutched her bow tightly, letting it absorb her fears of what would lie where she would be travelling.

Is it a vision? She thought as she swung from a branch. No, it cannot be. If it was a vision then I would have had received the ability long ago, when I was younger; and it is such a rare gift-

Her ears then caught rustles from the clearing beyond, but she couldn’t stop her feet in her speed to observe the situation. In fact, she didn’t need to, for a mere split second later a scream came from the clearing. It was a scream of agony, a voice of a dying ellon. The vision from before came to her conscience and she trembled.

No, she thought as she jumped to the ground below. Unconsciously she pulled out an arrow and pulled her bow as she made her way to the bushes. I shouldn’t be doing this, she mused, but found that her body had moved on its own. The ellon was dying, she knew, and her body knew it as well. Disregarding her mind and thoughts, she emerged from the bushes and aimed her bow at the ellon’s assaulter.

An Orc screeched at her menacingly, baring its sharp nasty teeth to her face. An ellon was lying beneath it, a blade plunging deep into his chest. Varilerin gaped for a second when she saw that the black blade was similar, no, exactly the same as the one she has seen before. The ellon’s was the same one she had seen as well, but this time he seemed to be closer to death than before.

Varilerin didn’t spare another second to wonder and released her arrow to the Orc’s head with a flick of her hand. The Orc screeched and fell down to the earth instantly. Varilerin didn’t move as she saw the Orc falling, her body still tense from the adrenaline she had just experienced. She was not even allowed to venture in the woods alone, and yet here she was with her first kill, clean and accurate.

Her ears caught dying screams of her kin and screeches of the same disgusting creatures from afar. She flinched when she realized that more would be coming once they heard their comrade’s dying scream, and she quickly knelt beside the dying ellon on the ground.

“You need to run…. Warn-warn the others!” the ellon rasped, coughing blood from his gentle mouth.

“What has happened?” she asked him, her voice trembling with fear. The ellon didn’t respond, his blue eyes reflecting the sun from above. Varilerin grimaced sadly and closed the ellon’s eyes with her shivering hand.

“May you find your way to the Halls of Mandos,” she prayed. She placed her hand on his chest before opening her silver eyes, now alarmed and cautious. The screams of her kin had stopped, but not the silent screeches of her enemies. She stood and drew her bow just in time to fire at an emerging Orc from the bushes and killed it. The Orc fell, revealing a pack of its kind behind him, angry of Varilerin’s action. Their faces were covered with the blood of the Elven rangers, who Varilerin knew was lying dead not far in the woods.

Without thinking, Varilerin leapt away from the clearing and ran as fast as she could through the forest. Her body was still trembling and her feet swaying uncontrollably, but she tried her hardest to force her way through the bushes. She could hear the Orcs chasing her with immense speed, but not screaming battle cries to warn other rangers.

How in the world did they get here unnoticed, in such a number? Varilerin mused. She glanced to her enemies just in time to dodge an arrow flying to her head. She tilted her head instantly, barely evading the flying weapon, which inevitably grazed her left cheek. She brushed her cheek quickly, knowing that poison was embedded on the tips of the weapon.

Varilerin glanced around in panic whilst she tried her hardest to dodge the aimed arrows. Where are the other rangers? She thought out loud, her heart confused of the action she must take, for she couldn’t find any of the rangers along the path she had past, nor the path beyond. There was only one way now, to run to warn Ellain and Ruindoldir’s company before the Orcs arrived to slaughter them.

Her thoughts diverted her attention from the fired arrows, something she realized too late. Without her knowing an arrow was fired towards her thighs, piercing deep and painful. Varilerin swallowed a scream when the arrow hit her, falling harshly to the bushes. She glanced at her deep wound, spurting blood and poisoned by whatever substance her enemies had mixed in their weapons.

The pain was outstanding for her, like shards of glass piercing her simultaneously. She wanted to stop, really stop and let herself die, but she knew she couldn’t. The safety of the others were on her shoulders, she couldn’t die now. She would fail her master if she did, and inevitably those she had always wanted to protect.

“Oh Valar, please let me endure,” she chanted. Gathering the last drops of her strength, she lifted her feet from the ground and ignored the profuse blood falling to the grass. She fixed her eyes to the path leading to the Elven road and she took a deep breath. ”Please let me endure.”

Filled with determination, the pain in her leg seemed to disappear as she made her way through the woods. She could hear no sound around her, not even the swishing arrows or the movements of the Orcs, only her beating heart and heavy breath. She continued to run, running for her life and for others, until she finally saw the light coming from between the trees.

With a last, high jump, she exited the deep woods and arrived at the said Elven road, filled with surprised Elves that shuddered upon her arrival. Her leapt caused her to fall to earth with a loud thump and the Elves drawing their bows at this surprising stranger. The Greenwood Elves were the first to point their arrows at her, frightful of what dangers this being could bring to them.

“Who is this?” an Elf, which she recognized before as Legolas, said to her as he threatened her with his weapon. Varilerin scowled and brushed his arrow away from her, towards the forest.

“It is not the time to ask such question!” she said angrily. “Orcs are coming, from the woods!” Varilerin glanced to the direction she had come from as she drew her arrow. Ellain and Ruindoldir ran to their friend, but stopped when they realized that her words were true. Several packs of Orcs suddenly emerged from the shadows of the trees and started assaulting the Elves gaping in surprise.

Varilerin watched as the rangers and several Greenwood Elves fired their arrows to the enemies. She grasped for her bow to help them, for she could not stay idle and watch her kin fight for their lives, but the strength in her body was suddenly dwindling. She lost control of her hand and her body. Her head fell to the ground and her silver eyes stared into the blue sky.

Then it was only darkness, emptiness, and abyss.