Eduwiges of Faldham chuckled as she hunkered down flat against the cold ground over looking the river Luhn. The Dourhand dwarves guarding the docks could hardly keep themselves awake despite the fingers of the cold wind creeping up the river. The dwarves had little fire pots next to them for warmth but did little to keep them awake. Eduwiges was pleased that the little fires would not do much to help the dwarves' night vision either.
She was dressed in black, light armor that clung tightly to her body. Any buckles or straps had been removed or covered with black cloth to avoid equipment rattles or snags on wood or rocks. Her flaxen hair was covered with a cowl and a mask covered the top part of her face like a ranger or sneak-thief. The rest of her face was blackened with burnt cork as well as any revealing skin left over. She carried only her large curved dagger and wore light shoes instead of boots. Eduwiges had left her swords and bow on her horse, Oenone, tied just over the cliffs in a tree covered vale.
The plans for the group to invade the docks, destroy the spire and retrieve the spike from the Douhands and their allies, the Angmarim had been made. Eduwiges however, had tired of waiting and wanted one last scout before the action began.
'Talk talk talk,' she muttered, as she eased herself into the water taking care to keep her head above the surface. Like an eel she slithered her way across the Lhun using her strong legs to keep herself even with the docks despite the current of the river. With a quiet gasp and a look at the docks Eduwiges pulled herself onto the rocks of the jetty beside one of the wooden docks. She was able to keep her profile unseen by laying flat on the rocks. The woman from the Mark rested for a moment taking big quiet breaths. Her pulse hammered from the swimming and her body shivered from the cold. Luckily, the gear she was wearing was of Elvish make. The water drained from it quickly, like a warm breeze in summer. It was given to her by one of her new friends, the huntress Xanderian. 'Ahh, the lovely Xanderian,' she thought, 'swift, deadly and beautiful.' Xanderian was the primary reason Eduwiges was out here, freezing her arse off spying on these pathetic dwarves.
Eduwiges had been introduced to her current group of friends by Ahmo, an Elf with a lineage going back eons. However, due to the fact they had saved each others lives in the depths of Moria and Eduwiges' relationship with the Elves of Imladris and Lothlorien, she held no particular awe for Ahmo. They were comrades in arms and respected each other as such. Eduwiges had been invited to what amounted to a safe-house for Addiela and Nethrida, a warrior women and a lore master who had been kidnaped and abused by the hands of the very dwarves she was spying on now. Luckily the two women had been rescued and the rotten plans of the Angmarim to wreak havoc had been defeated. However, until the spire was destroyed and the spike retrieved nothing and no one would be safe. So Eduwiges joined the interesting band of Elves and humans who were dedicated to protecting Addie and Nethrida as well as destroying the will of the Dourhands to cause trouble.
Thinking of the mesmerizing Xanderian, Eduwiges pulled herself quietly onto the docks like a shrouded wraith. She could see the fire pots and the Dourhands snoozing beside them at each section of dock.
'These dwarves are pretty confident in themselves.' she said quietly to herself as she crept up to a point where she could begin counting the guards.
'They haven't left much of a guard for...' she broke off suddenly as she felt a sharp point pressing into her right side. Like lightning Eduwiges reached with her left arm and grasped the neck of a hendroval before it could squawk out an alarm. The bird had flown into her trying to use it's beak to stab her in the side. Only the strength of the armor Xan had given Eduwiges had prevented her from being wounded. Like an old farm maid harvesting a chicken for dinner, Eduwiges used her strength to spin the hendroval swiftly in a circle breaking it's neck. The wings of the beast flapped fiercely as the bird died and Eduwiges looked alarmed to the closest guard post to see if they were alerted to her presence. The hendroval gradually quit flouncing around and became still and Eduwiges dropped it quietly off the dock and into the water making a soft kerplunk sound. The horsewoman kept her eyes on the nearest guard and slowly made her way up the docks to see what else she she could make of the area.
Suddenly, as she came to the cross section where the docks met the land she could hear chanting coming from the platform in front of the spire. Eduwiges immediately took cover behind a stack of crates unloaded from one of the ships. Three fires, each a different, unnatural color, sparked reflections against the stones holding the spire aloft in the sky. Chanting echoed from the flames in foul, guttural sounding languages. Intrigued, Eduwiges moved closer to the sound, using the edges of buildings and apses as cover. She pressed herself against one of the giant columns across from the platforms where the ritual was taking place. Dread struck her heart as she observed the scene before her. Robed women were dancing in front of the flames each wearing a horrific mask. Beside them, dancing with the women, were seven Merrevails, black winged slaves of the enemy! Their wings flapped obscenely and fanged screeching added to the terror of the chanting bouncing from the walls.
'Blood witches!' Eduwiges exclaimed, and counted the women and the Merrevails dancing before the fire. Suddenly, silence dropped like an anvil before the spire and the echo faded instantly. Twenty women and the seven Merrevails turned as one and stared right at Eduwiges. Shocked, Eduwiges was paralyzed with fear and was mesmerized by the gazes of the bat-women. Her head spun and her body wavered, near collapse. Footsteps tramped on the docks behind her and a Dourhand bruskly grabbed Eduwiges' arm... The touch was all she needed. It pulled her gaze away from the Merrevails and urged her into action! She grabbed the wrist of the Dourhand, twisted it and flipped the dwarf over onto the dock. She followed up with her dagger, silencing the Dourhand forever.
Realizing how pitifully she was armed, and watching as the women and beasts in front of the fires that were speeding down the ramps to attack her, Eduwiges knew she needed to escape. If only to warn her friends of the amount of blood witches and Merrevails she had seen. Looking towards the river Eduwiges calculated her escape route. She knew she could not get bogged down fighting dwarves with just her large dagger. She would be swarmed and slain by the witches. Breaking cover, she ran quickly to the first set of docks and leaped diagonally across the wharf onto the dock next to it dodging the guard running towards her. She saw a Dourhand closing on her from the right and she lunged with her dagger missing slightly, her blade glancing off the shoulder guard of the dwarf. The dwarf retaliated managing to strike a glancing blow with the hilt of his club across her face. Stunned, Eduwiges ducked to the left and rolled in with her blade stabbing the dwarf in the back, just above his kidneys. The dwarf folded instantly falling to the deck like a crash landing hendroval. Eduwiges almost lost her grip on the dagger as the dwarf dropped. She recovered quickly and shaking her head, leaped into the boat tied to the dock to avoid the swarm of Dourhands that had now moved in on her.
Eduwiges knew she was running out of time and that she either had to make her escape or be doomed. Dourhands began leaping into the boat and Eduwiges began running a midships to the aft of the small transport. As she reached the back of the craft she reached down and tossed the swirls of rope used to tied down the boat across the deck and leaped back onto the docks. Spotting one of the small guard fires, she kicked it into the boat and the coals scattered across the deck and began lighting the ropes on fire. A Dourhand slammed into her and she rolled him over her hip, slamming his head against the rail of the boat and he splashed unceremoniously into the water as flames from the boat leaped into the sky
She ran to the end of the dock and looked over the river Lhun and into salvation across the water. Screeching suddenly froze her in her tracks and she turned, hope draining from her fierce countenance as she knew what was at the other side of the wooden dock. However, in Angmar, she had battled Merrevails before and she knew not to look them in the eye. The bat-like woman's claws tore the deck and her wings were agitated as she began to walk towards Eduwiges. One of the blood-witches now had a mace that she brandished as she followed behind the Morroval. As sure as the sun would rise in the morning Eduwiges knew they meant to take her alive. That is why the Dourhands carried clubs, and the blood-witch a mace. Remembering the horrifying tales of Nethrida's and Addiela's captivity Eduwiges smiled boldly and shouted out for Bema (the Rohhrim name for Orome the Hunter) placed her dagger between her teeth and back flipped into the water.
As the Dourhands swarmed the pier Eduwiges had leaped from and the Morroval screeched curses upon her head she swam strongly for the bank across the Lhun. Eduwiges did not care if the current pulled her too far off course as long as she could make land on the bank. She heard the splashes of arrows plinking in the water around her but she was invisible, clothed in black. Her knees scraped the bottom and Eduwiges tiredly crawled on to bank of the river. Anxious to avoid dwarvish arrows she crawled through the mud of the shore, into the cover of the trees and bushes leading up into the hills. Tiredly, she made her way to the top of the cliff and down into the vale where her horse waited. Eduwiges untied Oenone, leaped into the saddle and raced away into the night.
