At the Mercy of a Burning Coal

Disclaimer; I don’t own anything that is even remotely related to Tolkien…except for this story and my characters maybe…

Lily sighed in relief and trotted toward the meadow saying, “ Finally! I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.” Lathwen frowned, scanning the meadow with her keen eyes, “ Wait Lily!” She said sharply. Her friend stopped and looked back at her with a frown. “ What? It’s not like there are any assassins out here! It’s near Imladris for pities sake!”

Lathwen trotted up toward Lily and said, “ Believe me, there are things worse than assassins…I had the pleasure of meeting one near Weathertop.” Lily arched an eyebrow, “ What exactly are these…things?” Lathwen winced slightly as she shifted in her saddle. Her thighs and calves were already burning. “ Orcs.” She said darkly.
“ WHAT?! THOSE THINGS ACTUALLY EXIST?!”

Lathwen put a hand over Lily’s mouth, “ Yes they exist!” She hissed, “ But *we* will cease to if you don’t stop shouting! You don’t know what could be out here!” She carefully took her hand away and Lily said in a much quieter voice, “ Looks like I’ll need to learn to use my bow sooner than I thought.” Lathwen gave her friend a wry look before stepping further into the meadow.

There was a gasp from Lily. Lathwen turned in her saddle to face her, “ What? There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t see any of your assassins here!” She said. Lily asked nervously, “ So you mean…that guy over there isn’t a friend of yours?” She pointed to the far side of the meadow. Lathwen looked over.

A gray-cloaked man was sitting astride a black horse. Rosethorn took a step backwards.

“ He’s probably just a friend of the elves’.” Lathwen said dismissively, “ Nothing to worry about.” Lily snorted and said, “ So you mean that deadly arrow he’s pointing us is a ‘welcome’ sign? I don’t think so!” Lathwen gasped as the man raised his bow. “ RUN!” She shouted and wheeled Rosethorn sharply.

Lily turned Wildfire around and began galloping for her life out of the meadow with Lathwen at her side. “ Wait, aren’t we going the wrong way?” She shouted. Lathwen answered with a nervous giggle, “ Yeah, we are! But I’d rather take a little detour than be killed!” “ Good point.” Lily said back as they circled around the meadow instead of going right through it.

Lathwen could see the terror written all across Lily’s face; and her own heart was beating like a drum. She looked around as best she could through the blur of trees, and saw that they were at the back of the meadow already. “ Slow!” Lathwen called to Lily, who nodded to show that she understood. Both girls’ reigned in their mounts and stopped to take a breath.

“ So tell me,” Lily asked, “ Why exactly are we running *towards* this man?”
“ He’s gone already.”
“ How do you know?”
“ Well for one thing, I don’t hear any footsteps or horse hooves or twigs cracking or arrows being drawn or—”
“ Good. So which way to we go now?”

Lathwen sighed and said, “ Nowhere. The horses are exhausted…or Rosethorn is at least…five days of rest after galloping for maybe four isn’t a lot. I’ve been careless.” Lily slid from her saddle and winced as her feet hit the ground, “ How do you *stand* it?” She asked, “ My legs are killing me! So is my back come to that.”

Lathwen shrugged and dismounted also. “ Well, for the first few days I was to tired or hungry or frightened to think about the pain.” Lily walked stiffly for a few steps and then collapsed underneath an oak tree.

“ I’m not sure I’m liking the whole ‘pain’ part of adventure.” She said. Lathwen laughed and got out bread and cheese from the saddlebags. “ I’m not to fond of it either.” She said. She gave Lily her share and unsaddled the horses, tying their reins to a branch. Only then did she plop down with a groan and eat with Lily while the horses munched on grass.

Lathwen finished eating before Lily. She sat there for a moment, taking in the beauty surrounding them. “ So, my second in command…I have some questions about this brilliant idea of yours. Will the men and women we recruit be nomads…or will we live somewhere? And how will we provide for ourselves?” Lily answered, “ Actually, I was thinking we recruit only women…men have enough armies and whatnot, but us women have nothing. Maybe this could be the women’s chance for escape…we could prove men wrong on many accounts.” Lathwen nodded slowly, “ Okay, but my other question?”

“ Simple. We have many options you know…we could work as mercenaries, but pride might get in the way of some women…we could farm and then sell the crops. We could get paying jobs without anyone knowing that we were part of your band of women…but then again, news travels fast…”
“ Or we could do a mixture of those things.”
“ True. And what would you want your band to be called?”
“ *Our* band…it was your idea…if it even works. As for a name…I haven’t thought about that.”

Lily said, “ Well, we’d sort of be a female revolution…why not choose a name that would really burn the men’s pride?” Lathwen shrugged and stretched, “ Like what?” “ I don’t know…”
“ Do we really *need* a name?”
“ No. You’re right, after all, actions speak louder than words?”

Lathwen yawned and stood up, brushing the leaves from her cloak. Lily stood to and popped the last bite of bread in her mouth. “ Shall we get going?” She asked. Lathwen nodded, “ We should. But I feel bad for the horses…they haven’t had a lot of rest…”
“ So lets walk…we’ll lead them.”

Lathwen agreed and untied the horse’s reigns, saddling Rosethorn as Lily saddled Wildfire. Taking her map from the saddlebag, Lathwen examined it and said, “ We’re near a river called ‘Hoarwell’…we’ll stop there for water. Then I think we’ll follow it ‘till it splits up once, then keep going until it splits again, then we’ll follow the left half and ride between Lorien and Fangorn if circumstances allow. We’ll keep close to the Fangorn’s border, and from then on we should have a clear path to Rohan.”

Lily nodded, “ Good. When we stop for water, you’re going to start teaching me to shoot.” Lathwen grinned, “ Fine with me.”

***
Lathwen and Lily had stopped at Hoarwell to get a drink and rest the horses. This time they stopped for a good hour and a half while Lily struggled to use her bow. Like Lathwen, Lily needed practice.

After that hour and a half, the girls’ walked leisurely down the bank of the river until they came to the first split in the River Hoarwell. It was midnight when they reached the first split, but Lathwen felt that they had done very well time wise. Lathwen and Lily stopped there for the night. They gathered branches and made a small fire, huddling near it for warmth while the Rosethorn lay down to sleep. Wildfire stayed upright.

Lily idly threw a twig into the fire, causing it to crackle. “ Question…once the women join, will you allow them to go back to their families or have husbands and children? Or will you make them stay?”

Lathwen looked appalled and said, “ Of course I’d allow them to go back at any time! I’d never keep them from their families and children! They can go and come as they please, so long as someone tells me beforehand, and as long as no man sees where we are.” Lily yawned and threw another twig into the fire.

Something howled in the distance, causing shivers to run up Lathwen’s spine. She looked to her right and saw the Misty Mountains looming at her side. A low birdcall sounded through the darkness.

“ That doesn’t sound like a bird…” Lily said uneasily. Lathwen snorted, “ Sure it does. We’re just tired and still somewhat scared from that man in the cloak event…why don’t you go to sleep Lily? I’ll watch for four hours and you watch for the other four.” Lily said, “ But what kind of bird would be out at this time of night?” Lathwen shrugged and stood, “ Get some rest Lily…we’ve got a long way to go tomorrow.”

Lathwen stood watch, an arrow on her bowstring, looking around frequently at any noise she heard. Once in a while she could wander in a circle around the fire just to keep herself awake. She would start to sing a random song quietly, so as not to wake Lily, but then she would trail off and stop. The four hours passed slowly for Lathwen who was quite bored. She sighed in relief when her four hours were up, and shook Lily awake.

Lathwen fell asleep to the sound of the wind blowing the grass, causing a soothing rustling noise to be heard.

***
Lathwen yawned and rolled over. The start of a new day…thank the Valar! She opened her eyes and instantly wondered what had woken her. Wait…Lily was supposed to have woken her…where was Lily? Lathwen bolted upright and saw that both of the horses were still there, but wide-awake. She looked around and saw that Lily was nowhere to be seen; everything except her bow was still there.

Without a thought for her own safety, Lathwen shouted, “ LILY! LILY WHERE ARE YOU?!” She picked up her bow and strung an arrow, heading toward the opposite side of the bank where a small forest stood. “ THIS ISN’T FUNNY LILY!”

Lathwen’s heart started racing. Where was Lily? Had she gone off on her own? Had she been captured? Was she dead? Where in Arda was that girl?! “ LILY!!!!!”

Lathwen was panicky…her pulse quickened, her palms got all sweaty, and she felt like her lungs had constricted into tight knots. She tried calming herself with deep breaths. “ Okay Lathwen...calm down. Look around to see if you can find any clues as to which way she went.”

She quickly searched the ground, coming closer and closer to the riverbank. She stopped suddenly as she saw one pair of footprints on the muddy ground. “ Lily’s.” Lathwen said out loud. But then she stopped, and thought. Could there possibly be more people…like the people who took her, if she was taken that is? If she was taken, where are the other’s footprints? Are there any creatures out there who make no footprints at all?

Lathwen shivered…it was somewhat frightening to think about. She took her arrow from the bowstring and placed it back in the quiver. Bracing herself, Lathwen plunged into the river. Though the air and weather was warm, it had done nothing to heat the water. Lathwen held her bow above the water as she waded across…that part of the river was particularly shallow. Thankfully.

Lathwen cursed as she twisted her ankle on a large stone on the river bottom. Biting her lip, she waded across the rest of the way and wrung out her clothing.

With a sigh, Lathwen straightened and walked as quietly as possible into the woods. She walked for at least ten minutes before she noticed that the air was getting less and less musty as she traveled further into the forest. She looked up and saw that she could see more patches of sky.

Lathwen looked back at the ground and saw that she had stumbled into a very small clearing. She let out a gasp as she saw Lily tied to a tree at the far side, gagged and all. She ran towards her friend whose eyes had grown wide. Lathwen reached Lily and pulled off her gag. “ Lily! What—”
“ Don’t! Lathwen, this is a trap!”
“ What?”

Lily nodded emphatically and said, “ They captured me and brought me here during the night because they were sure that you would try and follow…they saw us journeying by the river…I think they may want to capture you to! They want to kill us Lathwen!”

“ Close, but not quite.” Said a cool melodious voice from behind them. Lathwen’s grip on her bow tightened, and she drew an arrow from her quiver and placing it on the bowstring, turning around.

Lathwen’s eyes widened at the sight of them. A group of ten elves maybe, each and every one with dark hair, except for the one who had spoken. His golden hair shimmered in the sunlight. Lathwen noted his muscles, saw his longbow, and his armor, and immediately knew that he was a trained warrior. She had no chance.

The elves circled around them, drawing closer. Lathwen spoke up collectedly, “ What do you want from us?” The golden haired elf spoke…he was obviously the leader. “ Information. Why are two women traveling here? Alone, unprotected by men or other warriors.”

Lathwen’s eyes flashed, “ Ah. Another hypocrite. So you think women can’t fight, eh?” The leader stepped closer to her, “ Depends on the woman. Put down your bow…you’re outnumbered.” Lathwen sighed and put her arrow back in her quiver, and slowly set down the bow at her feet. A silent dark-haired elf strode forward and picked it up, taking it out of her reach.

An amused smile curved Lathwen’s lips, “ Lets see now…two women, a group of trained elves…my, my, are we really that dangerous or are you all just quite suspicious?” The leader answered, “ I’d not mock us maiden…we have the advantage.” Lathwen blithely raised an eyebrow, “ Who said I was mocking?”

The leader didn’t respond, he just said as calmly as ever, “ Answer my questions.” Lathwen shrugged and turned around, facing Lily. “ I think you should untie her.” She said, her back still towards the leader.
“ Why?”
“ I may need her assistance in telling you what you want to know.”
“ Oh? She is free to speak and help you, seeing as you have taken off the gag.”
“ Ah…but she is still tied. Pain hinders thought…she’d do better if you would untie her.”

The leader must’ve given the signal, for an elf stepped forward and with on quick motion, severed the ropes tying Lily to the tree. Lily fell to the ground and Lathwen knelt beside her, “ Foolish girl. Why didn’t you shout?” Lily gave Lathwen a wry look, “ First of all, they had weapons…I would’ve been a walking pincushion before I could say ‘help me’ and second of all…you sleep like stone. My yelling wouldn’t have woken you.”

Lathwen thought she could hear a snicker from one of the elves, but she ignored it. “ Fine.” She said to Lily. Lathwen bent down on the pretense of examining Lily’s wrist where the rope had caused a burn. “ I have a plan Lily. Do what I say.” She murmured oh so quietly. Lily inclined her head slightly.

Lathwen stood up and looked at the leader with golden hair. Lily stood beside her. Lathwen asked slowly, “ Why is it you want this…information?” The leader put his arrow back in his quiver and strapped his bow onto his back before answering. “ It is very unusual for anyone, even men, to be traveling near Hoarwell at this spot, and I cannot be sure if you are enemies or not, I must know who you serve. Also, I confess, I am quite curious as to what you are doing here.”

“ Really?” Lathwen said as she casually walked closer to him. The other elves arrows immediately pointed at her head. “ Don’t be idiots,” She said to them frostily, “ I cannot possibly do anything to your precious leader without any weapons.”

The leader raised an eyebrow when Lathwen came a step closer. “ I must enclose this information with no one else but you.” She said pointedly. The leader nodded and said, “ Then let us step over there, my lady.” “ That will not be necessary.” Lathwen said shortly before doing the most daring thing she had done in her whole life.

Lathwen swiftly reached the elf’s side and whispered in his ear, “ Make one stupid move, and you will die.” The leader looked at her in confusion, but it was to late.

Lathwen had pulled one of the knives at the leader’s waist out from its sheath, causing a ringing sound, which echoed through the silent clearing.