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━━━━»•» act one. age of ruins

09. a test of strength «•« ━━━━

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ third age ━━ year 2949

𓇻 eriador; imladris {rivendell}

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"THIS DUEL IS MERELY A TEST OF STRENGTH," ELLADAN SAID AS HE WALKED AROUND THE CLEARING WITH HIS HANDS FOLDED ON HIS BACK. "Wounding your opponent will not be tolerated. The duel is won by disarming your opponent." He came to a halt in between the two of them, his face stern but mirth was twinkling in his eyes. Then he made a small bow. "Alvar."

Elgarain raised her spear, holding it with two hands like she'd seen her father do so many times before. The weapon didn't feel out of place in her hands at all. The balance was different from all the swords she'd trained with. She knew it would take many hours of practice before she'd be able to master the spear correctly. Even so the weapon already felt more like hers than the sword ever had.

In front of her stood Estel, placing himself confidently with his blade in his hands. He seemed more than capable of cutting her down in a second. But Elgarain would make sure it wouldn't come to that. Pretending like Gyda and Galion were watching on the sidelines, criticizing every move she made, certainly helped. She could almost hear Gyda's voice in her head: "Plant your feet, keep your balance, don't get distracted."

Slowly the two started circling around each other, eyes never leaving their opponent. She noticed the way Estel's feet moved surely over the uneven forest ground. Disarming him was not going to be an easy task, but she hadn't really expected it to be either. She wasn't even sure she could win this, but she wasn't going to give up without trying either. Gyda would scold her for thinking she'd lost a battle before even starting one, after she'd calmed down about the fact Elgarain was starting one at all of course.

She took a deep breath, trying to relax her muscles and ease the tension that lingered in her bones. Then she struck. She danced forward, pushing the spear towards him. Estel blocked her attack with ease, which she had expected. She just needed to get familiar with his fighting style and find an opening.

He countered the attack with a few quick strikes. She managed to block them all and felt slightly surprised at the ease she'd managed to do it with. She could've killed Gyda if she mentioned "muscle memory" one more time but, as always, she'd been right.

Once again she thrust her spear forward, aiming at his shoulder but Estel turned out of the way, aiming with his blade for her hand as he did so. But Elgarain anticipated his move and managed to jump back at the very last second.

For a moment they simply stood opposite each other, a small smile on her features as she watched him. She could tell by the gleam in his eyes that she'd surprised him. Whatever Elladan had told him about her fighting skills, he'd been expecting to beat her with ease. Well, he was in for quite the surprise.

"Quit toying with each other," Elladan said.

Elgarain flashed him a quick, disgusted look and judging by the smirk on his features he knew very well his words could be interpreted in more ways than one.

"What do you say?" Estel said, tilting his head slightly. "Shall we give him something to marvel at?"

She didn't reply with words, instead she let her spear do the talking. She danced forwards while reminding herself to watch her balance and aimed for his sword once again.

Estel responded immediately by blocking the blow and lashing out at her with his own blade. It was a good thing she'd reminded herself to watch her balance, because he almost managed to knock her down. At the very last second she jumped away, landing her toes as if she were dancing instead. She couldn't help a small smile appearing on her lips and it only widened when she saw something spark in Estel's eyes. The grey darkened and it sent a shiver down her spine.

They moved at the same time, weapons meeting in the middle before withdrawing again. A blade aimed at her side, the point of a spear pointed at his shoulder. They were caught in a whirlwind and neither was able to come out on top.

Breathing heavily she took a step back, quite pleased with herself. She'd managed to avoid defeat for this long. But she was growing tired, while Estel seemed like he could go on for the entire remainder of the day. It slightly annoyed her. He was human, she should have way more stamina. But apparently species wasn't everything, training was just as important.

Balancing the spear on her arm she danced forward once again. Estel was watching her weapon closely and she used his distraction to suddenly kick at his legs. He tried to jump away but was a second too late. What she hadn't counted on though, was him taking a hold of her arm and dragging her down with him. A yelp escaped her lips and she felt her cheeks color red at the sound. At the very last second she remembered her training and managed to push her embarrassment aside and curl up and roll. If she hadn't, she would've landed right on top of Estel.

Gyda's voice was basically screaming inside of her, always stay on your feet or your enemy has already won. Elgarain didn't doubt and jumped back immediately but Estel was a few seconds faster. She felt the cold blade against her neck. He walked up to her from behind, standing so close she could feel his chest against her back when he breathed.

"You're dead, my lady," he murmured.

She leaned back, her head almost touching his shoulder. "So are you, my lord."

The time she'd brought Gyda down during her lesson was still burned fresh into her mind. She'd gone over the moment at least a hundred times. Never again would she forget the feeling of Gyda's dagger aimed at her side. She would never make that mistake again.

The point of her spear was aimed at his chest, hidden between her arm and her torso so he hadn't even seen it coming.

"Well would you look at that," Elladan laughed through the clearing.

With a smirk on her lips Elgarain turned around, facing Estel even though a small voice inside of her begged to keep standing so close to him. She opened her mouth, about to say something she hoped would sound witty but a sudden noise behind her made her stop. She froze when it was followed by a smell she'd hoped she would never smell again. It brought back memories of a scared young Elfling about to be skewered by a rusty blade.

Estel noticed the way she tensed almost immediately and all the playfulness disappeared from his face, making way for worry. "What is it?" He whispered, his human senses unable to pick up what her elf senses could.

"We have to go," Elladan said, his voice tense, having heard the same thing.

She wished she could move, she wished all her lessons and all the moves she just made would come back to her and get her moving. But she was frozen in her memories, frozen in the same fear that had held her in its grip when she'd been young.

A hand landed on her shoulder and far in the distance she could hear the echo of someone calling her name. But the rotten smell coming closer and closer was the only thing she was aware of. The hand moved from her shoulder to her chin and carefully moved her head. Two grey eyes stared right into hers and startled her from the storm of memories holding her hostage.

"Don't freeze," Estel said softly. "You can do this."

She took a shaky breath and before his words could truly land, the heavy fall of footsteps reached them, surrounded them and she was brought back to reality.

A pack of orcs had circled around them. Her heart was racing too fast to calm down and count them. They all carried huge weapons, their faces drawn into angry snarls. They shouted at each other in their foul language, which left Elgarain feeling as if someone had poured ash into her very soul.

Elladan and Estel stood close to her, looking as if they were ready to protect her with their bodies. She tightened her grip around her spear. She refused to need saving once again. She knew how to protect herself this time around. She would not freeze again.

The orcs kept shouting in their foul tongue, as if mocking them. For a moment she was glad she could not understand them. Until one of them spoke in the common tongue, something she did not think orcs could even do.

"Three heirs at once, you're making it easy for us, Alba," he spat.

Some small part of her was sharp enough to realise that what he was saying didn't make any sense. He was either trying to sound like he knew everything about the world, or was genuinely stupid. She guessed it was the second option. But she couldn't dwell on it since most of her energy was focused on staying calm while repeating that one sentence inside of her head, don't freeze, don't freeze, don't freeze.

"When I tell you to," Estel mumbled between the taunting shouts of the orcs, "you run."

"I'm not leaving you here," she whispered harshly.

"Do as he says Elgarain," Elladan joined in.

She clenched her jaw but didn't protest. She just proved she was at least just as good as Estel. She knew she could protect herself. But as she looked at their determined faces she realized it wasn't about her fighting skills. It was about that stupid title she carried. She was the Aranel and therefore her life had value. It made her want to scream. But there was no more time to protest.

As if an invisible signal had been given, the orcs stormed forwards, coming from all sides. She wasn't given any time to prepare. With her spear firmly in her hands she gave them a deadly greeting. She blocked the blade aimed her head and pushed the point of her spear through the orc's chest, bringing him down.

A shaky breath left her lips as she watched his body fall. A sudden realization settled in her mind, this was the first time she killed another living being. And even though the orc had been out to end her life and Elves and Orcs would never be allies, she still felt a weight appear in her heart. As healer she took a vow to save as many people as she could, every single day. Except now she'd taken a life away, instead of healing it.

"El, now!" Estel screamed.

His voice brought her back from her guilt. Her eyes searched for him and saw he'd managed to create an opening. She ran without thinking twice, even though every single bone in her body protested. She didn't want to leave them behind, she wanted to stay and fight. But they'd both ordered her to go and she listened. She hated to admit that a small part of her was glad she didn't have to kill anyone else today...

She ran faster than she had her entire life, letting the sounds of the battle fade into the background. Her heart was beating like a war drum in her chest, while her mind was racing. She refused to simply hide and wait. There had to be something she could do.

In a split second she made her decision and changed her direction, heading west. She considered letting go of her spear so she could evade the trees better but she knew Gyda would kill her for leaving a weapon behind and so she held onto it. After all, it was the spear she'd beaten Estel with.

She focused her eyes and let her feet carry her over the forest floor, faster than a deer. The trees passed her by in a blur, the clashing of swords long gone. With an ease she didn't even realize she had, she managed to dodge low hanging branches and jump over tree roots. She may not possess the fighting skills of an Elf, but she certainly had the agility.

Finally her destination came into view.

The bridge of Rivendell appeared between the trees but Elgarain didn't slow down. She stormed into the courtyard, not even allowing herself time to catch her breath. The two guards standing by the gate stared at her with raised eyebrows. Maybe they thought this was another one of her antics but as she approached them, their expressions turned serious. Perhaps she looked more frightened than she'd wanted to.

"We were in the woods," she said, slightly surprised when she realized she wasn't even out of breath. "There was a pack of Orcs, they came out of nowhere. Elladan and Estel are fighting them. They told me to run."

"What's going on?" A voice came from behind her.

She turned around and, for the first time, felt relief when she saw her two guards. "Elladan and Estel need our help, now."

She was glad they didn't question her. Instead Daros immediately took off towards the stables.

"What happened?" Ithel asked.

"We were in the woods when a pack of orcs snuck up on us," she explained, talking faster than she ever had in her life.

Ithel frowned at her but he wasn't given time to ask why she'd been out in the woods in the first place. Daros returned with three horses and Elrohir by his side.

Elgarain shook her head at him. "No, you're not fit to fight yet."

"My brother is in danger, Elgarain. You cannot tell me to stay here," he said while climbing onto his horse.

Her face hardened. "Fine but then you cannot tell me to stay either." She walked up to him and climbed into the saddle behind him.

"You know my father would not agree, neither would the head of your guard for that matter," Elrohir said.

"We won't tell Gyda if you won't," Ithel said with a wink.

She flashed him a grateful smile and then they were off.

Elgarain led the way, giving them the directions they needed to reach the glade. They arrived way faster on horseback. As they approached she could hear the sounds of the fight. She could only hope they weren't too late. Quickly they got down from their horses and snuck up behind the orcs.

"You stay behind us, you hear me?" Daros said with a stern look her way.

She felt herself nodding, not only surprising her guard but herself as well. But she truly wasn't ready to feel the tip of her spear sink into another living being today.

Daros turned back forward and with a nod they stormed forwards, shouting the names of any star able to aid them as they reached the orcs. Swords met swords in a hurricane of noise. Elgarain, from her position kneeling behind a tree, tried to look for Estel and Elladan in the chaos. Hoping to see them alive and unharmed.

A shaky breath left her lips when she saw Elladan greeting Ithel, his face grim but thankful. With her heart in her throat her eyes kept searching for Estel. Only to find him engaged in a battle with the largest orc of them all. There was blood streaming down a nasty cut on his forehead, and he was limping as well. He wasn't going to make it, she realized with a startled beat of her heart. He was already tired out from the duel with her and the fight following afterwards.

He wasn't going to make it.

Before she even realized she was moving, her feet had already carried her out of her hiding place. As silently as possible she moved through the chaos of the fight. Her spear was still firmly in her hand, ready to strike.

A shadow fell over her from behind. She clenched her jaw and turned around, faster than she even knew she could, her spear ready. The silver tip sunk into the stomach of the orc behind her, bringing it down to the ground.

She didn't give herself time to think about what she'd just done. Instead she turned back around, walking up behind the huge orc, who was still raining down blow after blow on Estel. He was still holding his ground, concentration drawn on his face but she could see his footwork was turning sloppy. He was getting tired.

And while looking at him, losing this fight. She suddenly felt calmer than she had the entire day. It was clear to her now that there were times when killing was the only option left. She shouldn't have to feel guilty about that.

So there wasn't a single hint of a doubt within her when she raised her spear and pushed it through the orc's back. Her blow had been so strong the tip came out of his chest. He made a startled sound, a dying snarl and then he was silent. She pulled her spear back, her arms trembling but her face determined.

Estel stared at her with wide eyes, then he dropped his sword, walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. She let her spear fall to the ground and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

"Don't ever tell me to run again," she muttered in his shoulder.

She could hear the smile on his face as he answered. "I won't."

°∴,*⋅✲✦ ( ♕ ) ✦✲⋅*,∴°

𝕬𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝕹𝐎𝐓𝐄 . . .

I feel like I absolutely suck at writing action scenes. It's so difficult!

Anyways sorry for the little delay. This chapter should've been published yesterday but I completely forgot oops. Hope you guys don't mind haha

Despite me really struggling with this chapter, I do hope you all enjoyed reading it! I really love the scene with Estel and Elgarain at the end. They're just so cute and oblivious and in love. Who knows what will happen next...Also I keep accidently writing Aragorn instead of Estel. It's gonna be so much easier when I reach the part of the story where he learns his true name lol. ;)

xx nelly

TRANSLATIONS:

Alvar ― (good)luck, blessings

Alba (black speech) ― Elf