The Second Branch upon 'The Burl of Hárvang'
Otacher was gravely wounded in an orc ambush along the road to Arhaim, lacerated by an orcish blade coated in an unknown venom. Though alive, Otacher's wounds refused to heal completely. He required constant care and attention, denying him and his wife any ability or freedom to provide for their family. The wood-elves of Mirkwood or the Galadhrim of Lothlórien likely had a healer among them that could remedy Otacher's wounds. Otacher, however, was too prideful to seek their help, and Agilda was too afraid of the roads to venture far from Hultvís. Thankfully, Adel was of age, and able to work.
Adel became the apprentice of a forester, Walderbrant, at the age of sixteen. Walderbrant once served as master of Hárvang's crafting hall, and was a great friend to Otacher. Walderbrant treated Adel as if he were his own son, teaching him all there was to know about surviving in Mirkwood. Foresters were well-regarded among Woodmen, and Adel had earned a sufficient wage—enough gúlmarks to keep his family comfortable and fed.
When Adel turned the age of eighteen, Otacher's health declined, his body atrophying and his mind losing any hope at recovery. Otacher fell into an agonized and feverish slumber, and could not be stirred awake. Against Agilda's wishes and Walderbrant's warnings, Adel ventured alone, northwards towards the Forest Gate, to seek the aid of the Elvenking at Felegoth.
First his village, then his father, and now himself, Adel was attacked upon the road by orcs. Adel, however, had anticipated them, having brought a sharpened axe and an untempered fury with him. With vengeance knotting in the back of his throat, Adel roared towards his foes; a booming voice, an unsteady voice, a terrified and trembling voice—the voice of a harrowed son, mourning his broken father. In the opening clash, Adel had slain two with his axe, and three with his bare hands, yet there were still thirty more, and they were already upon him. Adel was outnumbered and overwhelmed. He was sure he'd be doomed to a fate worse than his father's.
As he endured bludgeoning and bone-shattering blows from the orcs, a shadow of a different kind, a nobler kind, had descended upon him. The wingbeats of a great bird buffeted the dust upon the road, and rattled the branches of the nearby trees. A pair of orcs were carried away in the grasp of great talons, the rest were scattered and fled in terror. Adel, broken, exhausted, and unable to return to Hultvís, closed his eyes and resigned himself to whatever came next.
Later, Adel awoke in the village of Vegbár, across the Anduin, in the care of the Beornings. Adel, from his wounds, had been unconscious for three days. At his bedside was Walderbrant, a sorrow over his face. Walderbrant revealed to Adel that his father, Otacher, had passed, having surrendered to his unhealing wounds. Adel was filled with frustration and mourning, yet clarity came upon him like the first cold breeze at the end of a summer. He knew, above all else, that he had to return to Hultvís and console his grieving mother, Agilda, who had believed she had lost her husband and son to the orcs.
When Agilda saw Adel at the gates of Hultvís with Walderbrant and the Beornings, she wept so loudly that it upset the chickens and the sheep.
