Hytorax

[elvishfaerie3088]

Beautiful sunrise, i thought. I danced around gracefully letting the sunlight hit my face. I began to hum an elvish song from long ago, it was nice to let my past out for a while, it had been bottled up so long, no wonder i had gone a touch crazy.
"Sunshine Glistening, Daises are in the bloom, And i look up out of the gloom, the trees seem to reach out and listen, hmm mmm hmmm hmmm, The land shall bloom in twilight or at noon, and all shall sing in praise hmmm hmmm mmm mmm." I had turned from my elvish singing to the common tongue. Should i wake the others? Why would they not want to be up! Tis' such a wonderful sunrise. Ah well crazy hobbits and such! I started to pick at the flowers as i began to dance again. Finally i stopped my fun and went and tiptoed back into camp, lazy bums! i thought. I sat down and began to weave at the flowers i had brought back with me.

ooc: There, lol, someone's awake!

[Arat-Falathion]

"Enjoying the arising sun of morning dawn, Glistenfae?" Glimdrell said, resting in a laying position, his body half uprised by the support of his right albow to the grass. Glistenfae was talking silently with the flowers in her hands, suddenly laughing and then touching the flowers gently whispering satisfactly. Truly a new light shone upon this elven maiden this morning.

"Ah! You are awake!" Glistenfae cried and jumped back upon her feet, dancing over to Glimdrell and helping him up. "Seems so..." Seemingly having no choice, they both danced around among the sleeping fellowship, hand in hand, enjoying the sunrise of the new dawn...

[Sicirus]

ic: I woke opend my eyes to see a changed land from what I had seen during the night. Flowers that had not been seen before had risen it seemed during the night and flared out like different clored flames. The golden light of the sun lit up the trees and stream that flowed next to our camp.
I rubbed my eyes and rose up to walk towards the stream. The stream sang merrily as it flowed swiftly and tirelessly(sp) past to a never ending journey. I splashed some cool water on my face then shivered at the sudden shiver that ran down my spine from the shock of the cold. Yet it was pleasent. I laughed watching the fish pass by being driven by the stream. I turned my gaze to two figures walking in the distance smilling. it seemd that the two elves had been up enjoying the beautiful morning atmosphere.
I looked over at Aasar and wished he would wake up. Adrian had fallen to sleep at once when put on a soft pillow. She slept soundly smilling at the new comforts.
I went over to a low branched tree and stared to climb it. I got to a certain pint and looked out at the lands that lied ahead. But when I looked behind us I noticed another camp.
Was that....?

[Silverstripe]

Aralle woke just after Gil did, to see Glistenfae and Glimdrell walking together. Faintly, Aralle could hear Glistenfae singing an elvish song, one Aralle had not heard for many years. The griffin smiled, glad that Glistenfae was enjoying herself.

Aralle looked around the camp. Everyone was still asleep, except Gil.

Then I'll not disturb the elves in their merriment. I will find Gil-Thalion.

Aralle rose quietly, careful not to wake any of the others. They needed their sleep, though it was a pity they could not enjoy this fine morning. Aralle laughed, and started humming the song Glistenfae had been singing earlier.

Though Aralle knew no one was watching, she didn't dare use her Sight to locate the young hobbit. Any use of magic ... or rather, any alteration in the status of magic (since griffins and wizards are always magical) might be noticed by the sorcerer. Elise knew this, too.

Fortunately for Aralle, Gil hadn't gone far away. The rustling of a tree's leaves, when there was no breeze, told the griffin where Gil was.

Aralle smiled, remembering how a companion on a long-ago quest had told her to climb more trees. At the time, Aralle had thought that a bit silly, since if she needed to see things from a high place, she could fly! But this morning seemed to make everyone merrier, and Aralle decided to give the advice a try.

Her ascent was slow (Aralle not being used to tree climbing), yet the climb was easier than she would have imagined. Soon she was near enough to the hobbit to speak to her.

Gil had known the griffin was coming long before the hobbit saw Aralle; Aralle had never learned to climb a tree silently. In fact, the griffin would have looked ridiculous to any experienced tree-climber.

[Lief Erikson]

Hruad woke slowly, and when he did he saw that the sun was shining broadly down upon their camp. They hadn't even set any night guards; they must have totally lost their heads the night before.

Not that they didn't have good reason, he thought to himself as he sat up. They'd nearly been trapped and killed in what was essentially a dark, evil tomb. And if it hadn't been for Aasinav, they might all be dead.

Hruad glanced over at the man, sleeping soundly, wrapped in his robes. The Hytorax lay beside him; he must have been looking at it during the night.

Hruad stood up and stretched. Reaching down, he shook the leaves off of his blanket and started to roll it up. He finished shortly and turned to their horses, thinking to himself. He hadn't ever cooked a meal in his life before and it would probably be a bad idea to start now. But he could at least go and get some firewood. They'd been on the run for so long; they'd not had a hot meal in a long time. And hobbits always knew how to cook, he thought to himself with a grin.

[Mathron]

Aasinav slowly opened his eyes, and sat up. The night's rest had been more peaceful than expected - replenishing the reserves he had drained in the battle with the Barrow Wight.

As his thoughts turned back to the battle, he felt a flash of pain in his side - or rather, the memory of pain, from when the Barrow Wight had struck him in the combat. He laid a hand across the wound, but felt merely smooth unbroken flesh beneath his robes. The same as it had been last night. He frowned - he would have to investigate that. It may have merely caught him with the flat of the blade, but he suspected otherwise.

He shook his head. It wasn't worth worrying about now. Soon, they would return to Néred, and he would see this through to the end.

[Earniel]

Imarwyn glanced sideways at Athalt. The commander hadn't said much since he had woken her up with the comment that they would return to Néred. By now she guessed she knew why. He must have been to the other camp while she was asleep. But he had returned without the Hytorax, she would have known if he had done otherwise. Yet Athalt would have never left the Hytorax with the other company unless he had found some evidence that supported Hruad's claims.

No wonder Athalt is disturbed and silent, Imarwyn mused. Because if Hruad had been telling the thruth, then there is truly some sorcery at work in Néred. And that was directly where they were headed. She shivered unvoluntarily.

"How will you explain in Néred that you return without prisoners?" she asked.

[Lief Erikson]

Athalt shook his head slightly with a sad smile. "My reputation will be damaged badly.

"We'll start by telling them the truth. They'll already have heard that magical power overcame my men and that we were defeated outside that wood. Afterwards, you and I were gone because I had gone to alert another commander to seek for them. Then we helped in the search for a little longer and organized some patrols. That will assist the company by making King Vahatres think that we're already looking for them, so that he doesn't think he has to send a force himself. It also could have the good effect of alaying the sorcerer's fears."

He turned and looked at Imarwyn a little more closely. "I'm sorry for getting you wrapped up in this; it's a political intrigue that could crush the lives of many men. Hardly the sort of thing a horsetrainer gets herself involved with."

[Sicirus]

ic: i looked at the camp and tried to make out who had stayed there who were the people?
A branch creaked and I looked down to find Aralle climbimg up to my spot. She reached a branch just below mine and asked of what I was searching for.
"The morning.star." I replied with a slight smile then pointd out to her the second camp.
"Do you know them?" I asked the griffin who had just spot the camp and the two inhabitants.
The wind blew slightly and blew worm fresh air on our backs. I breathed deep and took in all the spring like air I could manage and waited for the griffins response.

[Earniel]

Imarwyn smiled faintly. "Hardly the sort of thing for a horsetrainer indeed. Ever since I passed through the Gap of Rohan I rolled from one peculiar situation into another. Yet it was horses that got me involved in this in the first place and not any fault from your part. And when things get ugly I'll count on them to get me out of trouble again," she said as she patted Merrah's neck affectionately.

She turned and looked back to the barrowdowns where Hruad's company should have woken by now. "But if we can fool the sorceror into a false sense of security, the more chance the others will have. I just hope that sorceror can't read our thoughts because then the game will be truly up. And I suppose even the fastest of the mearas won't be able to safe us then from his wrath."

[Silverstripe]

Aralle looked out at the camp, straining her eyes to see the people Gil was talking about.

"Know them? I don't think so. But wait. Perhaps I've seen them before."

As the griffin leaned out to take a closer look, the branch she was onbegan to crack. Aralle quickly retreated to a safer location, then said,

"I couldn't see them well enough to tell for certain. One of them looks familiar, though it's not one of my good friends, or an enemy. But what are they doing here?"

ooc: I'll edit my post as soon as Sicirus decides what she wants to have found.

[Lief Erikson]

Hruad looked up as he heard movement and saw Gil and Aralle hurrying back down the hill toward them.

"We found a campsite up there," Gil told him as he stood upright, another piece of firewood in his hand. "It looks like one or perhaps two people were sleeping there last night- extremely close to our own location."

"Did you find anything in it?"

"Hoofprints leading away," Aralle said at once. "Heading in the same direction as we're about to go, actually."

"That's not the only strange thing," Aasinav remarked as he approached them, apparently having overheard their conversation. "I found the Hytorax lying on top of my robe last night, not where I'd put it."

"This grows stranger and stranger," Hruad said, frowning. "Yet it cannot mean enemies, I think," he said to himself, sounding all the more puzzled. "Or they would have taken the Hytorax when they had the chance."


A few minutes later, as the hobbit members of their company put together a delicious meal for them all, the answer to their question came. Glimdrell and Glistenfae appeared to have discovered the identity of these people through the animals and trees nearby; it was Athalt and Imarwyn.

"Perhaps they have finally come to believe me," Glimdrell said to himself as he took a seat by their fire.

"Perhaps," Hruad said, but his eyes were already focused back toward Enedwaith. "Whether it was them or not, they made no attempt to make contact with us so our mission remains the same. We must reach Néred as soon as possible; preferably before they do."

[Sicirus]

ic: You mean the leader of those mean soldiers (yes, I am using baby words) was camped here and actually did not try to arrest us?"
I stared to clea and put away from cooking things and packed up my things getting ready to leave for Nered.
"What shall we do with the Hytorax when we get to Nered." I asked.
'Are we going to destroy it somehow?"

[Lief Erikson]

"We will probably attempt to use it to break the magic that binds the king," Hruad said as he assisted Gil in cleaning the dishes.

It wasn't long before the company had finished packing their things and getting everything prepared for their journey. Then they mounted their horses, starting off at a quick pace back toward Néred.

[Arat-Falathion]

Glimdrell rode over to Losillevens side. Looking over at her he said. "So, maybe this will be a better time to talk about our past..." She smiled in return and nodded, "Perhaps it is..."

Immersed in their talk of past times set them oblivious to the others, but their horses led them along with the company...

[Earniel]

Days passed and Athalt and Imarwyn came close to the forest of Dwinei where they had met the elf Glistenfae. Néred was near now. They could ride through the gate within four days. Suddenly Imarwyn pulled Merrah's reins and the horse stopped in the track. Athalt turned to Imarwyn with a questioning look.
"I cannot go to Néred," she said.

Athalt nodded. "I understand."

Imarwyn smiled. "No, I don't think you do. I came to Enedwaith and I do not intend to leave it so soon. What I mean is that I feel I cannot enter Néred now. Alone you'll have more chance to convince the sorceror. My heart tells me I won't do well if questioned about what really happened these last weeks. Besides I gave my word to the stable boy I would return with the horse I borrowed and that horse is still with Hruad's company. I won't break my word. There is also one other thing I wish to do before I enter the city again. I will reach Néred again in a few days probably around the same time as Hruad if his company keeps traveling at the same speed as they have done up until now. They're only a day behind us. Goodbye until then, Athalt." With these words Imarwyn took leave from Athalt. With a nudge of her heels she urged Merrah on.

In the noon of the second day since she left Athalt, Imarwyn reached her destination. She was close to the borders of Dunland and in the east she could see the Misty mountains. It was not far from here that Imarwyn had first met Athalt and his soldiers. The land was hilly with an occasional grove of trees. In one of these groves Imarwyn dismounted. She unloaded her pack from Merrah and tended to the horse.

After that she walked through the grove until she found the tree she was looking for. On its bark a figure of a horse was drawn with a few knife cuts. At the foot of the tree Imarwyn started to dig, using one of her knives. Soon she uncovered a bundle wrapped in clothes. She smiled, it was exactly where she had left it. She wondered why she had left it at all but at that time it had seemed a good thing.

As she wiped the sand of the bundle a twig snapped behind her. In a second she had dropped the bundle and spun around, her knife ready, only to find the last person she expected.

"Hello dear sister," said Tareod calmly.

[Adrian Baggins]

I awoke to find myself on a pillow and it took me awhile to realize where we were, I got up and walked around, Swift walked up to my limping. "Swift, what is it?" I asked bending over and looking at the injured paw, there was a shard of steel in his paw, but how had it got there?"

[Mathron]

Aasinav looked around at the faces of the other companions, seeing most of them lost in silent thought. Their journey to Néred continued quickly enough, but they still had a ways to go, traveling as a large group, especially with some party members still wounded.

Aasinav patted the Hytorax at his side. It was safe there, but his strength had been drained considerably from the battle with the Barrow Wight - he needed the journey back, as well, in order to recuperate his strength, if he wished to prevent the Hytorax from being taken from him by force.

He shook his head, and glanced at his companions again - it seemed he was as prone to drifting off as any of them!

"My friends," he began, his voice seeming strange and unnatural as it broke the silence. He cleared his throat. "That is to say, our journey does not need to be made in silence. We have plenty of time before we return to Néred, and should have advance warning if any enemies approach. Come now - we have just had a great victory, have we not?"

He smiled benevolently at them all, and then continued, "I remain a wanderer and a collector of tales - I am sure many of you have had interesting adventures before, have you not? Please, tell me of them, that I might record them into the record of history..."

[Arat-Falathion]

Glimdrell drew his attention away from Losilleven for a moment when Aasinav spoke. Truly he wouldn't mind to hear what other perill his fellow riders had gone through in the past. It seemed like a logical way of getting the road to Néred seem shorter. He and Losilleven was pretty much done talking of the past anyway, and had more or less gone over to a simple chat of the current journey and what would probably await them in Néred.

"You might considder adding my name." Glimdrell said abruptly. "I did have a name once, feared among the orcs of the Misty Mountains area, and sung among elves in Lothlorien..." Glimdrell quickened his horse's pace and caught up with Aasinav in the lead.

"During the dark tide of Sauron's greatness and Sarumann's betrayal I lurked along the boarders of my country, killing every orc nearing the area. That is the way of fighting I always attended to. Some may call it wimpy, a fight without honor, not dearing to stand before my enemies face to face, but I call it evening the odds and relying in the skills one always was ment to trust. My cunning in stealth has always been magnificent compared to my strength, I do belong in the shadows!"

Aasinav snickered at Glimdrells remark. "And I who thought elves belonged under the shining stars and the glowing sun!"

Glimdrell nodded solemly. "We do... yet my path has taken another route." Glimdrell chuckled lightly as a memory came back to his mind. "Actually I remember a poem that was written of my mysicism. It went something like:

Seldom do they speak of him
for few of them has seen him
yet most of them has felt him
and his gleaming silverdagger
in their back
They know to fear him
They know to flee him
Glimdrell Silvershadow
from the west

...and I do have a story to tell...

A band of orcs, derived from Moria, set one night out after the company, later known as the Fellowship of the Ring. Truly did orcs ever stream out of that dark hole and truly was I awaiting my time of action in the shadows.

Some reached the boarders of Lothlorien and was shot by elven archers, but there were more orcs about. Swiftly did I kill one by one. Orcs turning to see their comrades suddenly fallen behind them, ever pleasing is the helpless panic of these truly dumb creatures." Glimdrell smiled as he chuckled heartedly. "Indeed they fled about, having no idea of what struck them! And as they tried to figure out what struck them, they nearly boiled over by their overworked brains. Indeed they never saw me coming... Truly a hillarious memory of the past!"

The whole company laughed together and all agreed, orcs had never been the brightest creatures walking the land.

"Oh well, that's my two cents!" Glimdrell laughed, "I'd be more then pleased to hear some other stories?"

[Lief Erikson]

Elise wasn't interested in telling tales, whether she had many or not. Aasinav was jotting down notes as the others spoke. Sliverstripe told a story of a griffin's adventure during the war between them and the gargoyles. Adrian spoke to them briefly about how she met Swift, and what he meant in her life. Brilindil amused them all with a tale of an attempt he'd made in Hobbiton at getting people to join him for an adventure- an attempt that had failed. He didn't bother with telling them any of the battles he'd fought in or adventures he'd been through. He'd had his share of those but was content to leave them in the past.

"I'll have a private chat with you sometime, Aasinav," he said, slapping the other man on the back, inadvertently causing him to scratch a long line across several sentences he'd written. "Then I'll give you a more interesting story."

And finally Hruad gave them a last tale, the darkest one so far, the Legend of Tyrn Gorthad. He briefly told them what little was known about the Hytorax, that its origin was unknown but that it had been used in Tyrn Gorthad for many years before its misuse brought about the end of that kingdom.

This set again the dark mood on the company and many of them returned to silence.

"That tale isn't necessary to tell," Aasinav said, laying his pen down upon his parchment and moving his horse at a slightly faster pace so that he could come alongside Hruad. "It already has been written down in several places; no tale can I get from that. Tell me of your last bold swordfight."

Hruad punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Useless. It would be the shortest tale in history."

"Then pray tell us," Gil said, grinning.

"The End," Hruad answered.

The others laughed. Ease had come back on the company, and they continued along, chatting as they pleased.

The days rolled slowly by and they soon began to near Néred.

"They'll have guards looking for us," Hruad told the others as they set up camp a mile from the city on their last night of travel. "Does anyone have any ideas of how we might get in?"