A Grim Discovery

He could not tear his eyes away from the terrible scene. Two elves, fair of face and lithe of limb lay bloodied and broken upon the forest path before them, robbed of spirit and reduced to empty vessels. There was a male and a female; perhaps closely related for their features mirrored one another, although their hair was of a different hue. Danel and Parnard had stopped briefly at the sight of them, and then had continued their search for others, or for dangers still lurking close. Estarfin found his eyes fixed upon them however, heedless to all else.

A splintered cart lay nearby them. Traders perhaps? Wandering through the dim paths of Mirkwood before they were attacked? But by what? There were cobwebs upon the body and they were not both still … whole, but spiders or beasts would not have left the bodies as intact as they were, and there was no sign of a battle or struggle nearby. Estarfin gazed at the elf woman, wondering why the sight affected him so. He was no stranger to death after all, though it had been a long time since he had seen one of his own kind in such a state. Was it her similarity to Danel that had given him pause? She was fair of face and her hair was a dark red, but there was no real likeness otherwise.

Parnard arrived at his side, stirring Estarfin from his thoughts. He scolded himself, he had been oblivious to his surroundings; Mirkwood was not often forgiving of such laxity. Perhaps his companions had been right, that he was tired and should have rested. Estarfin kneeled and brushed away some of the cobwebs from the woman, then gently passed a hand across her face, closing her eyes. He saw Parnard nod at the gesture of respect.