~ Part Seven ~
~ Flashback ~
"Ellía, nin galad, what did I say about wandering off?" A beautiful she-elf asked her daughter. "Sorrui, Amil. I just wanted to explore a bit." The small she-elf said with a sheepish smile. "Perhaps it is best we wait for Círdan and Joralf to return, before running about, yes?" The elf asked with an adoring smile at her child. "Lá, Amil."
As the two she-elves were about to start a small fire for the night, Joralf and Círdan came sprinting towards them. "My Lady Celebrían! We must go, now!" Joralf ordered as Círdan began to untie their horses. "Whatever is the matter, Joralf?" She asked as she took you Ellía's hand in hers.
"An orc pack has picked up our sent and is on their way." Círdan rushed out as he tossed their packs onto the horses. "Just one pack? I believe we can handle that." Celebrían said confidently to the two shaken guards. "No, My Lady. We cannot." Joralf said lowly as he came to look her in the eye. "The pack is lead by the Pale Orc..." He breathed out.
Ellía looked up at her mother's face and saw an emotion that she had never witnessed from her before. Fear. "We must make haste for our borders." Celebrían said firmly and picked Ellía up as she hurried to the horses. "Amil? Who is the Pale Orc" the child asked as her mother placed her on the ground so she could strap her swords on.
"I hope you will never find out, nin mel." Celebrían whispered out as she lightly cupped Ellía's cheek. "My Lady, they will be here any mo-" Joralf began to say but was cut short when he dropped to his knees with an arrow lodged in his throat. "Joralf!" Ellía cried out and started to run to the guard but her mother gripped her arm tightly.
"GO CELEBRÍAN!" Círdan shouted as he unsheathed his dual swords and turned to face the charging orcs that had appeared out of nowhere. "Amil! We cannot leave them!" Ellía sobbed as she has placed on her mother's horse as Celebrían climbed on behind her. "Joralf is my gone, my dear, and Círdan is making a sacrifice so we may get away. Let their lives not be lost in vain!" Her mother explained as she pushed the horse into a gallop.
Ellía could hear the pounding of feet and snarls behind them, but she kept her eyes shut gripped the horse's mane tightly. "You must keep going, nin galad. Venâ knows the way home. All you must do is hang on." Her mother suddenly whispered in her ear. "Why do you say this, Amil?" Ellía asked worriedly as she finally opened her eyes and looked up at her face.
Celebrían looked down at her daughter with a fierce love burning inside her. She would do anything for her children, even if that meant laying down her life so that they may return home safely. "Tell your Ada and siblings that I love the dearly." She told her daughter before taking Venâ's reigns and forcing them into Ellía's trembling hands.
"Amil!", Ellía cried, but her mother had already gracefully jumped form the horse with her blades drawn. Ellía looked over her shoulder, with tears streaming down her cheeks, and watched as Celebrían began to cut down orc after orc, while dodging the snapping jaws or wargs.Venâ let out a sad whiny before running even harder.
Just as Ellía had lost sight of her mother in the trees, she heard a horrible growl and she and Venâ were knocked to the ground. The young elf felt her breath be knocked from her as she hit the forest floor hard and her head slammed on to a tree root sticking up from the ground, causing her vision to go dark.
When she awoke again, she let out a cry when she saw her mother laying across from her, bloody and beaten. "Amil!" She called weakly and tired to sit up, but a piercing pain shot through her head, making her fall back to the ground. She glanced over to see if her mother had heard her, but she did not even move.
Loud cackles from behind her, made Ellía roll over to see a group of terrifying looking orcs laughing at her. She felt her eyes glisten with tears. 'We are going to die here...' she thought in her mind as one of the orcs walked up and loomed over here.
He snarled something in orkish that Ellía did not understand, but cried out when he reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair. The orc dragged her to her feet and lead her to the pack of orcs. "Let go of me!" She sobbed out, but that only provoked the orcs, causing another surge or snarls and laughs.
The orc threw her down to the ground in front of a huge white warg. The beast lowered its huge head and neared its disgusting yellow teeth as it growled at her. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for it to lunge at her but it never did.
She felt a new presence approach her, so she peaked open her eyes to see something even scarier than the warg. A big pale orc loomed over her with a menacing smirk on his scarred face. He looked her over and said something in orkish before stepping towards her and kneeling down.
Only when he reached out to roughly move her hair, did she see that he was missing part of an arm. All that was there was a large pitchfork looking piece of metal that had been stabbed through his flesh. The girl flinched when he roughly poked at her pointed ears. The pale orc growled out an order and shoved the small elf backwards.
Before she could try and pick her self up, a smaller, but still equally as terrifying, orc jumped on top of her with a shriek. Ellía cried out as she tried to fight against the creature's hold, but after the blow to her head, she was weak. As she was still struggling, movement beside her caught her eye and she cut her eyes to the side.
The pale orc approached with a jagged blade in his one hand, still wearing the evil smirk. If it was even possible, Ellía became more afraid. She began to fight even harder as she started to sob. She knew there was only one way this was going to end, with her death.
The pale orc dropped down beside her and roughly turned her head to the side so her ear was facing the sky. The orc cried out something and with one last cackle, he brought the blade to her ear. Searing pain ripped through her as she felt the blade cut of the tip of her ear. Ellía let out a shriek and continued to scream as she felt blood stream down face and onto her neck.
The orcs howled in approval as their leader forced her head to look towards him as he lowered his blade to her other ear. "Amil!!!" Ellía cried out in pain and terror, but no answer came. She could see her mother past the orc's leg and it seemed as though she wasn't even breathing now.
The young elf let out another blood-curdling cry as her other pointed ear was cut and more blood flowed. The pain was unbearable and in her already weakened state, Ellía's vision began to grow dark once more. The last thing she registered was a roar from the forest, but it was different from the orcs and their wargs... something she had not heard before....
~~~~~
The sounds of small birds and the buzzing of bees were what brought Ellía out of a deep sleep. She brought her plans to her eyes to rub the sleep away from them as she sat up. "Where am I..." she mumbled as she looked around the house she was in. She had been wrapped in a warm wool blanket and laid on a run soft run in front of a fireplace.
The fire had died out and all that was left were ashes. 'I've been here for a while...' she thought as she let the blanket fall from her shoulders. She stood up and raised her hands to her throbbing head. Ellía let out a cry as a sharp pain shot through her bandaged ears when he hands brushed against them. The door of the house swung open to reveal a large man with wild hair.
"What is wrong, little elf?" He asked gruffly and strode towards her. Ellía stepped back from the intimidating man, but tripped over the blanket. The man shot a hand out and steadied her before she could fall. "It is alright, little elf. I mean you no harm." He reassured her as he let go of her arms and took a step back before kneeling down on one knee.
"The orcs are gone now. You are safe with me," He said gently and gave her a friendly. Ellía slowly let her shoulders drop and breath again. "My name is Beorn. What is your's, little elf?" He asked her as he remained kneeling. "I am Ellía" she whispered. Beorn smiled at her and held out a hand for her to take. "Would you like something to eat, Ellía?" He asked her.
She was about to take his hand when everything came flooding back. "Where is my Amil?" She asked desperately and she began to look around the house. Beorn sighed and looked dat the child sadly. "I was not able to get to her in time. When I came back, you were the only one left. They thought you to be dead, little elf." He told her. "What do you mean when you came back?" She asked as tears welled in her eyes.
"I am a Skin Changer, Ellía. I discovered you in my bear form. I killed and chased away the orcs. Once I shifted back, I came to retrieve you and your mother, but only you were there. I wanted to search for her but, your injuries could not wait." He explained sadly. When he said this, the young elf remembered her ears.
"The pa-pale orc... he... h-he cut off my ears." She sobbed and began to shake. Beorn gently took the child into his arms and held her. "It will be alright, little elf." He hummed as the girl continued to cry into his shoulder. After a few moments her trembling had stopped and her sobs had quieted. Beorn looked down to see she had drifted back to sleep.The man scooped her up in his arms and walked back to the makeshift bed. "Rest, little elf. Your family will be here soon." He whispered as he laid her back down and pulled the blanket back over her.
A few days later, while Ellía was resting after a day of playing with the aniamls, Beorn heard an elvish horn sound in the distance and walked outside. A black stallion pawed at the ground with his hooves. "Easy, Radag. The little elf will be just fine." He soothed the horse as he watched as and elven company cam galloping towards him with a dark haired elf in the lead.
Beorn walked out of the gate to great the leader who, for an elf, looked quite worried. "You are the man we got the message from? Beorn?" The elf questioned. "I am and you are?" Beorn questioned. "I am Lord Elrond or Rivendell. Ellía's father." He told him quickly. "Ah, she bears some resemblance to you." Beorn said with a slight bow of his head.
"Where is she? Is she harmed?" Elrond asked worriedly. "She is sleeping for now. She did receive an... injury." Beorn said before trailing off and motioning for Elrond to follow him. The elf lord's guards moved to follow, but Elrond motioned them to stay.
The Elf followed the large man into the house. "Her ears, they have been cut off at the tip. She says the pale orc did this." Beorn hissed out in disgust. Elrond's breath hitched as he looked at his daughter who was curled up underneath a blanket. He silently walked towards her and knelt down to look her over.
He felt his eyes sting with tears when he saw her small ears wrapped in bandages. "I did not return quick enough to save her mother. I am sorry." Beorn said solemnly as he stood back a bit. "Do not worry, friend. One of the guards, Ellía's protector, got away and warned us. My sons tracked the pack down and were able to save their mother. My dear Celebrían now recovers in Rivendell."
Elrond said as he lightly brushed Ellía's cheek. "When they returned with no news of Ellía, we feared the worst. Until your Maeras stallion, Radag, came bearing your message. Rivendell will forever be in your debt." Elrond added as he gently picked his daughter up held her in his arms.
"I do not wish for any rewards. It is payment enough to see your family reunited. Also, Radag is not mine, Maeras horses have minds of their own. Do not be surprised if he shows up in your pastures, he has taken a real liking to the little elf." Beorn said with a small smile. Elrond smiled down at the Ellía before thanking the man again and walking outside. He handed the sleeping child over to a quiet Círdan so he could mount his horse.
Once he was on, Elrond looked down to see Círdan looking up at him with glistening eyes. "I have failed you and your family, Lord Elrond. If I had done my job correctly the Lady Celebrían would be well, Joralf would still be here, and little Ellía..." He trailed off as he looked the one he had sworn to protect.
Elrond leaned down and put a hand on the guard's shoulder. "If it were not for you, neither of my lós would ever have been found. You have served my family well. You have served Ellía well. The Valar have blessed her with you as her protector and I could not be more thankful, Círdan." Elrond told him with a grateful smile.
Círdan smiled at Elrond and gave him a small bow of his head before gently handing Ellía up to him. Once the child had been safely situated in her father's arms, he called for the company to move out. Before disappearing into the woods, Elrond turned his horse back around to see Beorn standing at his gate. The elf lord brought his hand to his heart as a farewell, to which Beron returned the gesture. "Let us go home, nin galad." Elrond whispered before urging his horse forward.
~ Elvish Translations ~
Nin galad - My light
Sorrui, Amil - Sorry, Mother
Lá, Amil - Yes, Mother
Joralf - Chief elf (technically a Norwegian word)
Círdan - Ship maker
Nin mel - My love
Venâ - another word for "friend"
Lós - flowers