My palms sweated as I blocked an incoming spear hurl, jumping as the Elf before me attempted to bring me off my feet by swinging the blunt end of her spear at my knees. I moved sideways, feinting a sword slash and elbowing the Elf before me, before she groaned in pain and fell to the ground...
This whole spar started off as I met Minyelaire, injured, groaning in pain by a rock near the entrance to Rivendell. I calmly asked her if she was in pain, and she rebuked me by saying how could she not be in pain when she was leaning against a rock. I should have said better. I sat down next to her, trying to discern her thoughts, but decided that I should act, not think.
I knelt down and took out some Athelas Herbs and and a Bowl with Grinder, and began mashing the herbs into powder, pouring water in the bowl and waiting for the powder to dissolve. Impatiently I looked at the tiny glass Phial in my hand, wondering when the Athelas powder would dissolve. Satisfied that it finally did after a few moments of waiting, I then offered her the Phial. She snorted once I explained on the properties of King's Foil, telling me that she did not believe how it should heal her. To counter her claims I said that it can only neutralize the pain and mend her slowly, with her injury being worse than I thought. Suddenly, she looked at me with her yellowish eyes, searching for something in my expression - a calm serene smile.
"You may kill me, steal my possesions and make off with my things." She said, gesturing at her gear.
"And why should I kill you?" I asked inquisitively, almost sarcastically. The night sky was clear above us, with cool wind blowing in our small, rock and cliff-enclosed space, every now and then, but the rocks would shield us from the worst of the effects.
"I am in a weak state." She said, but I rebuked her, looking at her incrediously.
"You are a noble warrior, you shall live." I pointed out. She fell silent, and I pressed the Phial in her hand. She eyed the Phial with suspicion, looking at the comforting green tinge of it's contents, before raising it to her lips, her face a dangerous expression.
"If this has some wiff of Poison, you should hope I die, and my wrath will know no bounds."
I ignored her comment and only smiled, watching her drink some of the Athelas Essence. Once she became certain that there was no poison she settled down, holding her chest. The wind penetrated the small space, blowing into our faces, and our hair swayed with it. The Moonlight changed Minyelaire's sickly-blond hair colour into a fresher looking gold, and I watched her facial scar, now very prominent among her features, before the Moonlight subsided with the Moon's disappearance beneath the clouds, and her hair turned back into it's sickly white-blond colour.
"Does it feel better now?" I asked, examining her facial scars. At first I wished to heal them, but then it dawned upon me that she may have gotten the scar willingly, judging by how neatly it was etched upon her face.
"The Pain has subsided, but the Broken Bones remain." Minyelaire said. I was aware that she knew I was watching her scars, and she briefly touched them before I tilted my head at the small gorge ahead of us that was Rivendell's entrance.
"It was given to me by my brother." She said quietly, "The Scar is a tribal symbol of the Cinn-lai."
Shocked, I peered at her, not expecting her to answer so soon, to my thought-up question. I guess there was more to Minyelaire than my eye really saw. She looked away however, and we both became silent for a moment.
Slowly she explained to me how she ended up with broken ribs. She had sparred an elf maiden the night before, defeating her, but not before suffering a heavy shield-blow to her ribs. That was the night we met, and I figured she might've left a few moments after I did. I did not ask which maiden sparred her, fearing it may be one of the Elves I knew, but slowly she started to entwine me in conversation.
We proceeded to talk about battles we had experienced (a subject I was not comfortable with), the men we slew (again I did not like to talk about it much) and I showed her my sword, laying sheated at my side. I slashed at the tree in front of me, and drove it into the ground, before she said, "Try this."
She offered me a curved blade; A scimitar. I had not seen something like this before. I wondered at the blade, curious. She threw the Scimitar at me, and I caught it, trying it and experimenting. I ran at the tree, slashed a makeshift target, and ran back, hurling the Scimitar at the target, before it fell limp to the ground.
Minyelaire explained to me, the heritage of the blade, how 20 where forged by the Orthorim, and how these blades were not seen before, even in the hands of men.
"This is an honourable blade." I said quietly.
"You may keep it." She said. Startled, I looked at her, trying to discern her emotions, but with no success.
"I have no honour nor right to wield such a blade" I said, trying to place it before her, but she refused.
"You make keep it." She repeated.
"I.... thank you, for such an honourable gift, I can only offer you my Theorbo."
She chuckled, "I am not trained to wield instruments, but weapons." She then told me how she slew a man who sang in front of her on a market in Haradwaith, as she felt he was thinking more about just her beauty. I was slightly disturbed but decided not to talk much about it. She reassured my concerns of the scimitar by patting the twin, sheathed in a leather belt.
I asked her whether she could wield a shield, and she patted her large shield lying by the rock next to her. I proceeded to tell her how I could only wield light ones, explaining that the size and weight of a large shield would hamper my movement. She told me about shield-training as a mastery, and I told her how handy a shield could be in breaching a foe's defenses.
Immediately, she stood up, taking her spear, and asked me to show the trick to her. I refused at first, prominently knowing she was ten times my superior, and that she was hurt, but through gradual provocation I was won over.
The wind blew more strongly now, and the Moonlight returned, her hair turning back to gold, while my own became a more brownish colour. The yellow Moon looked down upon us, perhaps anticipating our friendly match, but I did not heed it at all, concentrating on Minyelaire instead.
I cautiously moved, shielding my chest, and studying Minyelaire's next move. Her spear came at me and I blocked it, grabbing her spear in the process and hurling my shield at her chest. She thrust the spear upward, getting my grip lost in the process, and attempted to slash at me. I swiftly evaded the attempt and stepped behind her, hurling my shield at her back, but before I could do so, the blunt side of the spear hit my shield. I side-stepped the spear, moving quickly enough to strike. Swiftly, my sword hilt came down upon her shoulder, and she groaned in pain before whirling around.
My palms sweated as I blocked an incoming spear hurl, jumping as the Elf before me attempted to bring me off my feet by swinging the blunt end of her spear at my knees. I moved sideways, feinting a sword slash and elbowing Minyelaire, before she groaned in pain and fell to the ground.
I held my sword tip to her chest, waiting for her to rise, and observing for any indication of movement. She rolled out of the way, getting up, but before she could raise her spear, she doubled over and almost collapsed.
Alarmed, I brewed some more Athelas, worried about her. I pulled out more phials, and she repeated the sentence to kill her. I politely declined and gave her some more athelas. At first I thought she passed out, but she sat up again, nodding. I slowly sang some healing incantations, and she eyed me beadily from above, perhaps wondering why I was singing.
"You are quick, Minyelaire," I complimented her agile movement, "If you had not swerved away at the last moment you would have hit your head against the cliff."
She panted, clutching her chest, but seemingly pleased at my compliment.
We talked about things like Marriage, Harad, Battles, and travelling during the course of our conversations, and I was happy to know that she did not seem to be bored. I told her the tale of my Friend, Sarathaela, and she said that they were not much different from each other, she in turn explained to me how she lived among the men of Harad, being dubbed "Shiannaféya" due to the women's fear of her taking the Children away at night. I found the name oddly lovely, but she only laughed when she said it did not sound lovely to the Haradrim at all.
After a while of silence, she stood up, and I followed suit, ready to catch her if she were to collapse again, but she appeared to be going about well, and I relaxed.
"I need to go to Harloeg." She said, "Someone awaits me there." I raised my eyebrows, wondering if it were a man, or another elf, who needed to see her, remembering last night's gathering, and how the Elves reacted once they learned that Minyelaire was an Unwilling. I hastily brewed more Athelas Essence's for her, handing them to her and explaining how they will help in her journey in case the pain were to come back. She nodded and took five phials, and suddenly, out of the blue, midnight sky, I asked if I could accompany her down to the banks of the Bruinen.
To my surprise she nodded, and I asked her to wait while I fetched my steed, Cuinichereth. I rode back to Minyelaire, and we set off under the starry sky, silent.
For the steep part of the High Moor I dismounted Cuinichereth, leading her about the cliffs, and slaying any beast that came between our paths. Minyelaire swiftly took any foe on, despite her pain, and I tended to her wounds after every slight slash she would get. We eventually reached the other side of the Bruinen, wadding through the shallow water with our boots, and she stopped short of the Gorges.
"I must hurry..." She mumbled.
"Well, I guess we part here." I smiled, "Farewell Minyelaire, I thank thee for the company, and for the spar."
She nodded in return.
"May your future path shine brightly." I said, extending my hand for her to shake.
To my even bigger surprise, she shook it and gave a light squeeze to it, before setting off. I sighed and waved goodbye, calling my steed to me. As I turned, I looked behind and saw Minyelaire already heading down the road to the Lone-lands.
"Hello, Cuinichereth." I said, patting my steed before I ascended the slopes again.
These are peculiar meetings indeed, one that is very rare. But it does happen, most often with the blessing of the Valar.
