Eliriael stopped mid-run at the edge of the wood, her breath short. Her eyes danced with mirth as she pulled off her traveling shoes and took her first step into the Golden Woods. She let her bare feet sink into the grass and her lips broke into a joyful smile as she reveled in the sensation. In the next moment, she was immediately running again, bounding past trees and weaving between them. As she ran further, a warm air shook the last remnants of frost from the mountains off of her clothes, and the woods filled her with energy.
Eliriael was brimming with life, and her tiny feet pattered lightly across the soft grass, hugging it briefly and then pulling away, touching and then pulling away…until she was suddenly thrown forward and her feet did not meet the ground again.
“Don’t move. Try to run and you will pay with your life,” a low voice threatened harshly.
Eliriael’s face was still in the ground when she felt the hood of her cloak being wrenched away from her. Her long dark hair spilled forward and there was silence. She raised herself slowly, knowing that swift movements would only be met with consequences. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Eliriael turned to face her attacker.
He blinked.
She smiled gently.
“Berendir…,” she whispered.
The tall elf narrowed his eyes, then looked up towards the higher branches of the trees. He nodded briefly before looking back down at Eliriael and offering his hand. She placed her hand in his, and he helped her to her feet.
He looked away, at nothing in particular.
“Berendir, it has been a long time.”
He nodded shortly, his eyes still not meeting hers. Eliriael smiled and bounded forward to hug him. Berendir stood unmoving for a moment, and then he gently patted her back.
When she pulled away, Eliriael tilted her head and looked at her old friend carefully, but still smiling.
“It is not safe here. Night will fall soon. It would be best if you remained here tonight and continued the rest of the way in the morning.”
Berendir gestured toward the nearest tree and a rope ladder fell from above. As Eliriael grabbed the ladder and climbed up, she thought Berendir’s greeting a bit cold. Yet, he had always been this way…fiery in battle and action, cold in words and thought.
She came through the opening of the talan and saw two other wardens clad similarly to Berendir. They bowed their heads in greeting, politely. “Lady Eliriael.”
She returned the gesture and smiled to each of them. But their faces held no trace of the same expression. They simply turned back to watching the forest floor far beneath them. Eliriael looked to Berendir, searching for an explanation in his eyes. He returned her gaze long enough for her to know that he would tell her later.
Beyond the leaves of the tree, Eliriael saw the sun’s light sinking and fading beyond the horizon. The sky turned a darker shade of blue and the first set of stars began to glimmer.
“Galthandon,” one of the wardens whispered to Berendir. No other words were exchanged. They simply nodded towards one another in silent acknowledgment and the two wardens slipped through the opening in the talan.
Berendir still stood at the edge of the talan, looking out of the tree and with his back to Eliriael. “Lorien is not as safe as it once was. Greater numbers of the enemy are seen at our borders now.” After a brief pause, he continued. “We fear what it may mean.”
The vision of golden leaves cascading to the ground crossed Eliriael’s mind again. “I have fears of my own, which is why I have returned.”
Berendir turned to look at her with some surprise in his expression. Then, for the first time, he seemed to take in her appearance. His eyes softened as he looked at her. “You should rest. We will talk more of worries later.”
Eliriael nodded and felt her body melt at the idea of rest. She pulled her blanket from her pack and spread it on the wooden floor of the talan. As she laid down, the fatigue from her journey came upon her and weighed down her eyelids. She felt Berendir drape a blanket over her, and she smiled, content to be dreaming under the golden eaves of Lorien again.
