((Part #8))
Arangilas pours some more wine into his friends glass, before filling his own.
He looks over to his friend sitting relaxed in his chair, falling in and out of light sleep.
He owes this man everything...
Arangilas smiles slightly to himself
The time he had spent up in the mountains with this man had been hard.
Harder than he ever could imagined that day they rode out of Rivendell.
But at the same time it had been some of the most fulfilling and joyous days of his life so far.
They had sparred daily, and Arangilas had really learned a lot from this skilled and hardened warrior.
But the most important lessons had come through discussions and the mans well of wisdom - which to Arangilas seemingly ran deeper than the deepest oceans.
Arangilas had sharpened his skills in tactics, diplomacy and the lessons that could be learned from the tales and books of old.
It was also here Arangilas had met his inseparable partner in battle - and in life.
Milinea Pilin, the beautiful daughter of this man - now sleeping in his chair.
Milinea had taught Arangilas the ways of the hunter, and made him quite able with the bow.
She showed him how to track prey, or foe - in ways he had never before known.
Arangilas had given her lessons in how to dual wield a sword and a dagger - and how to use them in a most deadly matter.
At first she had reminded him of how it used to be to have Elfendil arround.
And in many ways the loss of his brother of heart, had haunted him again.
But their relationship grew far stronger then the boundaries of even deep and heartfelt friendships.
And when Arangilas had asked her if she would join him, there had been no hesitation in her words.
The day they had packed their satchels and gear to head back to Bree - it had been the first day of spring.
The sun warmed their faces, and the leaves had started to spring out on the trees.
There had been so much life flourishing in the woods leading from the base of the mountain.
Deer's with their newborn fawn's.
Bears with their cubs.
Birds in the trees, hurrying back and fourth to feed their younglings.
Everything was so beautiful - and so far from the reality that would meet Arangilas when he now yet again would return to Bree...
***
Arangilas walked over the doorstep of a ruined hall... burned down beyond recognition of its old glory.
On the only wall still standing, there was the remains of a banner - full of soot from the fire - you could barely see the background colour of blue, and the stitching in gold resembling a few smaller triangles forming a bigger one. the middle triangle being upside down and in black.
The war banner of the Knights Of Eriador...
The old headquarters was no more.
Fanwater was not what it once had been...
Most houses were abandoned, and in ruins...
People had not been living here for quite some time.
Milinea picked up a small piece of burnt tree from what once had been the floor of the great hall of the knighthood.
She let it crumble to dust between her fingers.
"It has been like this for at least three seasons... since last summer I would guess"
Milinea had seen the growing fear in Arangilas eyes.
The fear of not knowing what this meant, and if it included that something had happened to the other Knights - his old friends...
Arangilas and Milinea searched the rubble to see if they could find any clues to what had happened.
To Arangilas relieve they found no remains of bodies in the ashes.
"The fire started here for sure, Arangilas..."
Milinea was pointing towards a area where the charcoaled wood was notably worse burnt then other places
"This is the mark of wood burned by some sort of oil. I am positive that this is the origins of the fire"
There was no doubt in Milinea's eyes.
The fire had started just where the main entrance had once been.
A little shiny object caught Arangilas eye, as he was staring down the black whole which once used to be a cellar, now filled with debris from what had been the entrance floor.
He carefully jumped down and picked up, laying it at the palm of his hand to study it.
It was something he had seen before many times...
It was a small insignia to fasten you cloak with...
His Father had wrote about the clan that bore this insignia in his old accounts of the knighthoods deeds and doings. Arangilas had never read it, but on several occations noticed the drawing his father had made of their mark as he just randomly looked through the books. A crow-like creature with its claws clutching a dagger...
But it was not something he would ever expect to find here... especially at their old - burned down mustering hall...
((To be continued))
