Star-Crossed

Chapter 30

Four years later…         

“Beuren!” Arathorn yelled. She brought her head up over the bushes she was kneeling behind. She had seen several pairs of oddly shaped tracks and just wanted to check them out, it was only deer though.

“What is it?” She called, standing to her full height, her hair was only a little longer now, rather than the middle of her neck, it reached all the way to her shoulders.

“Where were you?”

“Just looking.” She said, he offered her his hand to help her up out of the small ravine. Her brother nodded. The longer they wandered the hungrier they both got. Finally Beuren decided that it was time for them to eat. She had her brother set up camp while she hunted.

She stalked one of the largest bucks she’d ever seen. Beuren crouched behind a thick bush as she took aim another arrow hit it. Surprised, she perked her head up above the top of the bush. An orc lumbered down towards the deer, three more following. Soon they had swarmed the deer, ripping it to shreds, fighting for food like the savages they were.

Slowly Beuren stood. She backed away silently, making it up the small hill she’d just come over to get to the deer. A section of intestine was thrown, an orc lunged at it, but its eyes caught something else. Beuren blinked, then stared at the orc. It gave a wretched scream then charged, all of the others following it.

Beuren sprinted away. She started running back towards her camp, forgetting she wasn’t alone. When she reached the camp she’d out run the orcs, for a while at least. Arathorn looked up at her. She grinned.

“Orcs.” He stood, drawing his sword.

“Let’s do it!” Their horses were close by, Kaane (Valor in the elven tongue), Arathorn’s beautiful bay gelding, and Ohtar (Warrior in the elven tongue), Beuren’s new grey stallion, Beleg had been taken by a stray arrow during a fight with orcs.

They stood side by side, weapons drawn. The orcs were closer now, much closer. Arathorn and Beuren shared a look, and then charged, taking down the orcs as fast as they could. The pack was rather small, easily defeated. The pair hurried to their horses, abandoning the idea of food, for they guessed that was merely a hunting group, there was bound to be more.

Sure enough, a loud echoing howl sounded. They shared a glance, dodging a tree. Taking the reins of her horse, Beuren swung herself up onto his back, Arathorn following close behind. Ohtar grew restless, Kaane did as well, both rearing and side stepping.

With one good jerk of the reins, Beuren sent her horse into a gallop. They rode for several minutes together, and then she got an idea. They couldn’t all follow both of them, which would split the pack into a more manageable size. She signaled to Arathorn with her hand to keep going straight. Beuren veered left, splitting the trail. They both knew that if they were to get separated, that they would go to Rivendell before searching for each other, it was their pact.

She twisted in her saddle to see that it wasn’t wargs at all, just wolves. Though it was only wolves, there was no way she was going to stop, not with twelve of them after her, biting at Ohtar’s ankles. Beuren urged her horse faster.

As she topped a hill, she noticed that the wolves started cowering and turning back. Thinking that she’d finally out run them, she slowed her horse, turning and watching them run. Laughing and mumbling several insults under her breath she looked to her right, at the grass, it looked awfully dark for only being sunset. That’s when she noticed that the darkness was a shadow… of a Warg and rider.

With a sigh she turned around. The orc smiled. She smiled back, nodding then turning forward in her saddle. Just as she did an arrow zipped by, tearing through her shirt, splitting the flesh. Beuren jerked her arm away and spurred Ohtar into a sprint. The thudding paws of the wargs grew nearer. She spun in her saddle, taking aim at one of the over grown dogs with her bow. She fired an arrow into its skull, killing it; its rider was crushed under its weight. Arrow after arrow she fired, each meeting its mark. The orcs seemed to be just multiplying like roaches. Several arrows sped past her face. That was when she started weaving in and out of the trees. Ohtar was light on his feet, making it easy for him to turn at last second.