runando ~ A Thranduil Story

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Maethon and Norgon lead their men through the forest, they'd been searching for days now, but they had no luck. By now, they were deep within the forest, almost on the southern border. They were far from the halls of the Elvenking and their homes within the trees, now they were closer to the lands of the Elves of the outer woods.

"To be honest, I think Laineth's fled the realm. She wasn't in her home, no one else has seen her for days," Maethon muttered to Norgon, "If what Lord Ortheron said about her is actually correct, I can't blame her for fleeing. The King did not look happy at all."

Norgon scoffed, leading his men down the mossy stone path, "Of course the King won't be happy, he took this woman in and gave her supplies, let her remain in his realm when he could've told her to move along, and this is how she repays him? I believe she is still among us, the inhabitants of the outer woods are quite fond of her, they're probably harboring her in one of their talons."

They came to a hill that overlooked the rest of the forest and the plains that lay before it, running along the Anduin. Maethon sighed, still incredibly conflicted between letting his friend go and following his King's command. "Well, we shall pay them a visit then."

The Elves walked along for another day or two, the path lead the men further around the forest than to their intended destination, drastically increasing the amount of time it took for them to reach the villages of the outer wood elves. The sun was beginning to set, its rays shining through the treetops and inbetween branches, Maethon and Norgon leading their men towards the light.

Above them, through the trees, ran a follower. Someone who was eager to avoid confrontation with the woodland elves, but needed to know where they were headed. Thus, they were faced with one choice: To follow the platoon of armed elves. It was risky, the follower would certainly be interrogated by the elves if they fell down or they heard them up above. However, the platoon was well trained, and as they were on the search for a practical fugitive.

One by one, the soldiers of the platoon drew their eyes upward, searching through the branches. Norgon knocked an arrow into his bow, aiming it up into the branches. Maethon had his hand on his sword, ready to fight. The trees rustled and the branches creaked, very light steps could be heard rushing through the trees.

"Who goes there?" Called Norgon, "Reveal yourself, by order of King Thranduil!"

The follower groaned, they had to lower themselves down from the trees now, they wouldn't risk being shot by these mere Silvan elves. So, they flipped down, twirling and twisting from branch to branch before landing on the leaf covered path in a crouched position, slowly rising to their feet.

The person looked more like a shadow, cloaked entirely in black. They had a hood and a mask, covering most of their face. The only feature that was visible was their eyes, which were a piercing orange color, quite alike the setting sun. They wore armor like that of the Greenwood guard, but it was much darker than the greens that Maethon and Norgon wore.

With an arrow to their temple and a sword to their throat, the stranger found themselves in a bit of a precarious position. Maethon nodded to one of his men, motioning for him to step forward and pull down the mask that the stranger wore. The soldier moved to face the man, who was much taller than he, reaching up to pull his mask off.

Quickly, the stranger reached up and wrapped his fingers tight around the soldier's wrist. The ellon let out a yelp, not expecting such a mysterious stranger to have the guts to grab onto him in such a way. Maethon pushed his sword more towards their throat,

"Just what do you think you're doing, stranger? Had you done this before the King, he would have you hanged for treason!" He exclaimed, using the tip of his sword to dislodge the stranger's mask.