At the Mercy of a Burning Coal

Disclaimer; Usual disclaimer applies.
Note: Eh…sorry for this short chapter. I have lots o’ work to do. My computers running a scan for the virus anyway, so I won’t have to keep retyping! YAY!

Lathwen was woken to the sound of shouting and feet pounding on the stone floor of the hallway outside her door. (If elven feet *can* pound) It was the day after Lathwen and the others had been in the library…what a frightening experience that turned out to be.

Lathwen shot up out of bed and rushed to her door. She opened it and saw that several male elves were rushing down the hallways with weapons and some with armor.

“Valar! What is it?” Lathwen asked the closest one. He looked at her in confusion. Lathwen mentally slapped herself and asked again in halting elvish. He answered, “An attack near our borders. A messenger came bearing the news that there was a group of elves from Lorien involved. He didn’t say if they were wounded or outnumbered. We go to help them.” With that, he rushed off with the others.

Lathwen snorted and closed her door, “Early in the morning to! Can’t they make a fuss *silently* so others can sleep?!” She suddenly stopped short and an idea formed in her mind. With a grin, she quickly shed her nightgown and pulled on her tunic and leggings. After putting on her boots, she grabbed her quiver, arrows, and waterskin and headed out the door towards Lily’s room at a fast pace.

Lathwen turned the corner and instantly bumped into someone. “Ouch!” She yelled as she stumbled backwards, holding her shoulder where something hard and sharp had poked her. “Oh! Sorry Old Bess! We didn’t see you!” Lily said in concern.

Lathwen nodded and looked up. Lily, Edhelwen, and Nestariel were all there…dressed and weapons ready. “Looks like you had the same idea as us.” Lily said with a grin. Lathwen laughed. “Let’s go get our horses then! Now’s a good chance to prove our worth to a bunch of stuck up warriors!”

***
Lathwen and Nestariel cantered into view of the battle before Lily and Edhelwen. The elven warriors from Imladris were already there, along with a small group of elves from Lorien who wore green and brown.

At a glance, Lathwen could see that there were more orcs than elves. She heard Lily’s shriek from behind her once she saw the ugly goblins. “So *that*’s an orc!” She breathed. Lathwen sighed, “Unfortunately.” She looked behind her at the others who were looking somewhat pale. “They aren’t as bad as they seem…just keep a straight head, okay girls?” Lathwen said in a cheerful tone. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t been to battle against an orc that wasn’t wounded…so the one at Weathertop didn’t count, and she didn’t know if her piece of advice was accurate.

The others nodded at her and mentally prepared themselves. Lily bent her bow and notched an arrow like Lathwen. Edhelwen and Nestariel loosened their swords in their sheaths. Lathwen didn’t even need to say ‘let’s go’…in one movement she and Lily had let fly their arrows, which thudded into an orc about to split an injured elf in half.

The goblin let out a piercing wail and dropped his blade, then he to, fell to the ground with a ‘thump’ and was still. A few elves from Imladris whipped around and saw the four standing there. Lathwen smiled at them and turned to her girls’. “Ready?”
“As always.”

The Outlaw Maiden’s dismounted and ran into the thick of things, Edhelwen and Nestariel covering Lily and Lathwen’s backs’ as their deadly arrows flew accurately through the air. Most times they aimed for the exposed neck of the orc’s, which was easier than trying to pierce the goblin’s armor.

Nestariel and Edhelwen’s blades flashed in the sun with a blinding light. They were lashing out, blocking, parrying with lethal combinations. Once in a while Lathwen could hear Edhelwen chanting to herself, “Overhand cut, backhand side, parry, parry, and thrust…oh my, it almost got me there!”

Lathwen grinned and kept her arrows coming. There was a lull among the warrior maidens, and Lathwen looked around worriedly. Good, the orcs were almost gone…but they were running out of arrows as well as energy. Lathwen whirled around as she heard a sudden cry from the left side of the ‘battlefield’.

It was one of the elves from Lorien. He was wounded…scarlet elf blood streaming from his forehead because of a deep gash. The orc howled in triumph and raised its black dagger for the killing blow. An instinct caused Lathwen to raise her bow and notch an arrow.

Golden hair turned red with sticky, dark blood. A face paler than moonlight…unnaturally so, even for one of the immortals. Bright blue eyes deeper than the ocean…she was drowning…

Lathwen broke eye contact with the elf pulled her bowstring back. She let her arrow go with a shout that caused the leering orc to look up. His sallow skin went white as newly fallen snow as he realized his fate.

The arrow pierced his neck…his jugular vein. There was silence…Lathwen didn’t hear a sound, everything seemed to slow down for that second. She watched as black blood spurted from the wound, trickling down the orc’s front and splashing onto the pure ground…tainting it. The orc let out a gurgle, causing Lathwen to wince at the horrible sound. The goblin staggered, and then fell across the wounded elf, who groaned but didn’t try to move the carcass.

Lathwen let out a sigh of relief and suddenly it seemed as if her hearing returned. Sound flooded into her ears, each noise loud and commanding. Lathwen turned and saw Nestariel and Edhelwen wiping their blades on the grass, trying to rid their weapons of the slimy black blood that covered it to the hilt.

Lathwen looked down at her hands…they were fine. No orc blood, but dirt and mud. She looked down at her clothing and saw that her leggings and boots were splattered with blood of both the elves and the enemies, as was Lily’s.

Lily. Lathwen looked at her friend’s tired face and gasped. A gash ran from her cheekbone all the way to her chin. Lathwen rushed over and pulled a bandage from her pocket, pressing it on her friend’s face. Taking the bandage away, she examined the wound. Good…it was shallow.

“I’m all right Bess…I’ll be fine. You go help the others.” Lily said gently as she pressed the bandage down again to stem the flow of blood.

Lathwen hesitated, then nodded…and she jogged to the place where she last saw the wounded elf. She saw a hint of wheat colored hair from beneath a body, and went over. She pushed at the body of the dead orc with all her strength, finally tipping it over and off of the Lorien elf.

The male elf stared up at her with wide eyes. Lathwen frowned, but offered him a hand nonetheless. The elf tentatively took it and sprang up, instantly dropping her hand once he was up like it had burned him.

Lathwen let her eyes scan him for a moment as they stared daggers at each other. “I ought to spit on you instead of helping you up.” She said quietly, glaring at him. Glorfindel glared back as he held a hand to the wound on his head, “I doubt your aim would be good enough.”

Lathwen’s eyes narrowed, “If my aim was good enough to save your life, it should be good enough to take it away.” Glorfindel practically growled. He didn’t like death threats. “You wouldn’t though,” He said, “You don’t have the heart to.” Lathwen looked at him a moment longer, “You’re right…but that doesn’t mean I can’t.”

She spun on her heel and strode toward Rosethorn. Lily was already on Wildfire, with Edhelwen at her side, talking to her. Nestariel was walking over to her mount. Lathwen mounted and waited until all of her girls’ were on their horses to say, “Good job girls. I’m proud of you…we did good.”

Nestariel grinned at Edhelwen who smiled back. Even Lily let out a hoarse laugh. The Outlaw Maiden’s rode away before any of the others could even reach their horses. They were home long before the others to bring tidings of the battle.

***
Lathwen was walking back from the baths when she bumped into Erestor. “Hello Lathwen.” The advisor said with a smile. Lathwen grinned back, “Nice to see you again Erestor.”
“I hear you saved quite a few lives in that battle this morning.”
“I suppose.”
“I congratulate you…its not easy to face a battle like you did.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all…Lathwen, Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you.”
“Does he now?”
“He’s waiting for you in the library with a…er…guest.”

Lathwen frowned, “A guest?” Erestor nodded. Did he seem somewhat nervous or was she imagining it? “A guest. He wishes to speak with you.” Lathwen shrugged, “All right then. Thanks for telling me Erestor…see you at dinner!”

Lathwen walked toward the library, wondering who this elusive *guest* was.