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━━━━»•» act one. age of ruins

02. a brave heart «•« ━━━━

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ third age ━━ year one

𓇻 eriador; wildernis

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THE SHIRE WAS EXACTLY AS ELGARAIN HAD PICTURED IT AND AT THE SAME TIME IT HAD MANAGED TO EXCEED ALL HER EXPECTATIONS. The hills had been even greener than those at home, the trees grew taller beneath the special care of the gardeners and the rivers seemed more clear and fresh than any waters she'd ever seen before. She'd wanted to draw it all, to sit down and take it all in but Gyda hadn't planned on stopping. Sometimes they even drove on through the night.

Days had now passed since their beautiful journey through the Shire. They'd kept to the main roads as not to scare the residents. It'd been hard for her not to stray a little and ask for a cup of tea in one of those very cozy homes.

But Galion, ever at her side, had managed to keep her on their path, usually under the watchful eye of Gyda, who always seemed to know exactly where Elgarain was.

Except for right now.

She'd managed to sneak away, right under the noses of the two guards. They crossed a stream earlier and she spotted the perfect place to watch the sun set and her fingers were itching to make the colors come alive on the page. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to draw anything in the Shire and no matter how good her memory was, it barely did the beauty of the hills justice. And so she was determined to put at least one sunset on the page.

She was seated in the high grass, knees pulled up to support the parchment. She missed her paint and different sized pencils but knew she simply had to make do with the equipment she'd brought with her. It wasn't nearly enough and she could only hope there'd be more supplies in Rivendell. If she'd even have the time to paint between her lessons...But that was a thought she tried hardest to ban from her mind.

"How many times are we going to have to do this, Aranel?" A voice questioned from behind her.

Elgarain didn't even look up from her paper. "At least five more," she told Galion.

The warrior scoffed and for a second Elgarain let herself enjoy the fact she'd managed to annoy him once again but her satisfaction didn't last too long. "Don't make me carry you," Galion threatened.

The mere thought of being thrown over his shoulders made her cheeks flush in embarrassment and so, with a deep sigh, she got to her feet and followed her guard back to where they'd set up their camp.

"Found her near the stream again," Galion told Gyda as they reached the Captain of the Guard.

Elgarain glared at the brunette, clutching her parchment closely, afraid it'd be taken away again.

Gyda crossed her arms over her chest, looking incredibly tired. "How many times do we have to tell you not to leave camp alone," she muttered.

"But I wanted to paint the sunrise at the stream." Elgarain pouted, looking at Galion in the hope for some support.

Galion was barely able to hide the grin on his face as the princess spoke. "It is a pretty sunrise." He shrugged, but as soon as his eyes met Gyda's he seemed to shrink beneath the weight of her glare.

"I don't care if it's pretty. It won't be pretty if she's dead." The Elf spoke.

Elgarain couldn't help but recoil at her words and the image of the ruins of the farmers house they crossed earlier flashed through her mind. She lowered her gaze, playing with her pencil as she tried to push the image away. It was the first time she'd come so close to seeing the destruction Orcs could leave in their wake. She didn't want to think about what had happened to the farmer family but her nightmares had painted a picture for her anyway.

"Look, Aranel," Gyda sighed. "If you want to paint or sketch, you ask us, and we can go with you if it's safe enough."

The young princess casted her eyes to the ground, and for a moment she wished she could tell someone of her fears and doubts of losing the thing most precious in the world to her once they'd arrive in Rivendell. But instead she simply nodded and mumbled quietly: "Alright."

Gyda nodded. "Go get something to eat with Galion. We'll be leaving shortly." She cleared her throat, "And don't wander off again."

Elgarain nodded, feeling suddenly deflated and without another look at Gyda she made her way over the fire, sitting down with her eyes focused on the flames.

"Sulking isn't going to help anyone," Galion said as he sat down next to her and handed her a piece of Lembas bread.

"I wasn't sulking," she said, a little too defensive, before taking a bite of the white bread.

"Right," Galion nodded, smiling at her.

She took a deep breath and almost opened her mouth, almost told him everything that was bothering her but at the very last second something held her back and she remained silent.

Galion was watching her closely, as though he knew something was on her mind but he didn't push her to say anything. "We're halfway there," he said instead, trying his hardest to make her feel better. "Soon you'll sleep in a warm bed again and have enough pencils to paint the entirety of Arda if you wish."

She couldn't tell him that Rivendell was much scarier to her than the road. The mere thought of the duties and responsibilities that were waiting for her there made her stomach ache. But how could she ever say out loud that she didn't wish to be Queen?

"I'll be right back," Galion said, getting to his feet.

She watched as he made his way over to Gyda, who had apparently been gesturing for him to come over. Elgarain didn't care much and returned her gaze to the dancing flames in front of her, absentmindedly chewing on the Lembas bread. She really didn't mean to be so difficult and make life for her guards so hard. But the weight recently placed on her shoulders was so heavy that at times it was hard to even breathe...And she desperately wanted to cling to the joys of the life she'd been living in Lindon before her responsibilities would take it all away. She was so afraid of the golden cage awaiting her in Rivendell that even in the vast wilderness of the Weather Hills she felt trapped.

With a heavy sigh she finally lifted her eyes from the fire, for a moment her gaze lingered on Galion as he was studying his arrows, as if wanting to make sure they were still sharp but a sound on her right caught her attention. With a frown she looked to the green bushes surrounding them, watching as the branches swayed even though there was no wind. A sudden excitement made her reach for her drawing supplies. Slowly, so not to draw any attention from Galion, Elgarain got to her feet and softly walked over to the edge of the clearing.

As silently as possible she worked her way through the bushes, all while trying to listen for the sound that had caught her attention in the first place. If she listened carefully she could hear the soft and familiar breathing of a deer. Her father had taught her how to recognise their footprints and breathing patterns when she was younger, not for hunting of course since Elves didn't eat meat, but for watching them. Her father told her studying a deer would teach her how to move just as softly and gracefully as them. Those early mornings spent in the woods were some of her favourite memories.

Bending through her knees she took a seat behind a tree, a smile playing on her lips as she watched the majestic brown deer step out into the woods, right before her eyes. For a moment she simply sat there in awe, watching as it peacefully grazed beneath the sunlight.

Silently she moved to sit in a more comfortable position, before getting out her pencil and parchment. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the deer and the paper as she tried to capture the elegant lines of its body.

She had almost finished with a rough sketch when the animal suddenly looked up in alarm, making Elgarain freeze in place. The deer looked around, ears seeming to catch even the littlest of sounds and then it darted away, disappearing beneath the shadows of the trees. Elgarain didn't dare to move, her eyes desperately looking around for whatever had scared the deer off.

She smelled it before she saw it. There was a sudden change in the wind, the stench of rot reaching her, making her almost choke on the thickness of it. Heavy footfalls echoed between the trees and her heart started beating faster in her chest. Her mind screamed for her to move, to make her way back towards the clearing, but her body refused to listen, remaining frozen in place behind the tree.

A shadow fell over her, blocking out the light of the sun and the smell of rotten flesh surrounded her like a thick fog. Heavy breathing came from behind her, followed by a low growl. Very, very slowly the young Elf turned around, her eyes wide as she looked straight into the burning yellow eyes of an enormous Orc. It was completely covered in heavy armour, its face drawn in a snarl as its eyes locked onto her petite figure.

It took a step towards her, axe raised and a frightened scream tore from her throat as she crawled back on hands and knees. Fear was holding her body captive, pushing it down as though she was bound in chains. She couldn't think straight, couldn't remember any of the few defence classes she'd had and so all she did was crawl away while the huge creature came stalking towards her.

The Orc brought down its axe and for one frightful second Elgarain thought her life was over. But in a blur of steel, Gyda was there, jumping in front of her, blocking the blow of the axe with her sword. Elgarain had never been so happy to see the guard.

"Get out of here, Aranel!" Gyda demanded forcefully through gritted teeth, while moving out of the way as the Orc swung its fist at her. She threw a look over her shoulder when Elgarain remained seated in place. "Now!"

And somehow her stern voice was enough to finally get Elgarain up and moving. Her body trembled as she crawled away on hands on knees, gathering her strength before finally pushing herself to her feet. The sound of grunting and steel clashing against steel echoed behind her but she was too fearful to look back and instead she kept walking. Until a pained grunt made her look back anyway, just in time to see the Orc knock Gyda's sword out of her hand.

With a strong blow the monster hit Gyda across the face, sending her to the ground. Wide eyed Elgarain watched as she fell, blood forming where her head was knocked against the ground.

The Orc walked over to Gyda, face drawn in a satisfied snarl, axe ready in his hand.

No.

A voice, sudden and stern, came up from the depths of her mind and got her moving before she even really knew what she was going to do. She reached for a rock on the ground, her mind going back to when she went to the lake with her friends and they caught each other to skip rocks over the water. She took aim and threw.

The rock hit the Orc on its head, not barely hard enough to do any damage but it did what Elgarain had intended, taking its attention away from Gyda. It had seemed smart to her at first but now all its attention was focused on her and that thought was erased. Terror clawed through her veins and with wide eyes she watched as the monster took a step towards her.

But Gyda moved faster.

With her blade in her hand she jumped back on her feet and dragged the steel across the Orc's throat from behind, blood raining from the wound like a black fountain. And finally the monster collapsed, its body falling down at Elgarain's feet.

She didn't even realize she was crying until she could taste the salt on her lips. It was all too much, her legs were trembling too much to keep her standing any longer and she fell down on her knees, exhausted, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

"Aranel?" Gyda whispered, slowly walking towards the young Elf. "Aranel?"

But her words bounced right off of Elgarain, her eyes fixated on the corpse at her feet instead. Her thoughts were spinning out of control. Was that monster the last thing her father saw before he fell?

"Elgarain," Gyda spoke up again.

Hearing the guard say her name for the first time send a shock through her veins that finally made her draw her gaze away from the corpse and to Gyda instead. She watched as the Elf kneeled down in front of her, noticed Elgarain's shaking hands and took them in her own. "It's over, Elgarain," she muttered softly.

Guilt hit her like a tidal wave when her eyes noticed the blood on Gyda's forehead. "You almost died because of me," she said, realization finally settled in. Panic took over, as though saying it out loud had made it real. "I-I ran away, I didn't listen and you-and you." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

Gyda's gaze softened immediately and she leaned closer, "Elgarain. I'm all right," She guided Elgarain's hand to her chest where her heart was beating steadily. "I'm all right and so are you. That's what's important."

For a moment Elgarain remained still, eyes focused on where her hand was placed against Gyda's chest, then finally she nodded. "I'm sorry," she mumbled softly. "I just wanted to have some fun before-" She looked away from Gyda, eyes turned to the ground but she couldn't stay silent any longer and the words left her lips before she could even try to think of stopping them. "Before I have to be all grown up."

Gyda frowned as she listened to the young elf. "I wish you could Elgarain. I wish you could stay innocent and happy—" She paused, thinking. "But you can't. You have a duty, and sadly it won't go away. But what you did today—it saved my life." Her voice was firm and it was enough to make Elgarain believe her. "You have a brave heart Elgarain. It will get you through this."

She smiled a little. "Not as brave as you." Then she frowned, the fight replaying in her mind. The way the Elf had moved, light and easy and yet with deadly precision. "Can you teach me how to fight like that?" She spoke without even really thinking about it, but it made sense. She didn't ever want to feel this helpless again.

Gyda chuckled softly, "I wasn't always brave. My father made me brave." Her eyes met Elgarain's again. "If you really want to learn, I won't stop you and I will teach you. But I can't promise to take it easy on you."

A mischievous spark appeared in her green eyes upon hearing those words. "Good, because I'm not easy either."

"I've noticed," Gyda smirked, "Now let's get back. I have some very important things to discuss with Galion."

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𝕬𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝕹𝐎𝐓𝐄 . . .

Aw, I love insecure and inexperienced Elgarain. Also bonding moment with Gyda, yay! Chloe and I totally freaked out writing this together haha. Reminder that if you want to read the story from Gyda's p.o.v. you can do so! (Seriously go hype up -voidlegends because she deserves the world).

Also, I'm really struggling with writing the dialogue and not make it too modern if you know what I mean. So please do tell me if it doesn't fit! I'm still trying to learn how to best capture the speech of the Elves.

xx Nelly