Felegoth

We made slow and silent progress along the trail to Felgoth. The three of us were in a line, each leading our horses. Pelorian bore the body of the fallen red-haired nis; Norlome all the parts of the Ner we could find, enshrouded in Estarfin’s cloak. A particularly silent Parnard led Swan Hoof, and headed our short patrol.

Estarfin seemed to be very aggrieved by the deaths of the elves, the deaths of the men however, meant nothing to him. I was bothered by both, and I suspected I shared that with Parnard. My ‘cousin’ had been almost silent since Estarfin and I had slain the men. It seemed as if he could not believe what he had witnessed. The constant darkness of the great forest did nothing to lift anyone’s mood, even the few pools of moonlight seemed to have lost their magic. To me though, the mood of the land had altered. Whereas earlier I had felt oppressed, herded along, there was now an odd sense of satisfaction. The ‘sacrifice’ had been made, and it was pleasing. I could imagine the bodies of the two men already surrounded by forest predators. Soon enough there would be naught left of either. 

And what was left of me? At times I had been a warrior, but never a murderess. And that is how it now felt, that my conscience was buffeted along a wildwater, smashing from one bank to the other. Estarfin felt no remorse. I knew him well enough to understand that. But neither had he requested me to participate. Always he had said he did not ask nor expect that of me. We understood each other in such matters. That was not what concerned me. I knew the truth of those moments was that I had wanted to kill. 

Finally Parnard broke the awkward silence. “There are frogs of all sorts,” said he, “now we draw close to the river.”

He slowed his lead, and I slowed Pelorian, checking briefly that the body was securely strapped to her back. 

“And all manner of night birds…Owls, and hawks…” he continued, looking back over his shoulder at me. 

“I am just hoping we come across a patrol out of Felgoth,” I said heavily. “The sooner we can pass on these bodies to be taken to their kin, the better.”

I looked back to Estarfin, who was watching me. He nodded. “The path has been quiet,” he said softly.

I thought again on the mutilated horror that his mare carried. How could any man have managed to do that to an Elf? It made no sense. 

“The guards have no business west,” Parnard explained. He sounded preoccupied.

I rubbed Pelorian's nose and told her how well she was doing. For any horse to walk through such a place was a test of their courage, and trust in their rider. Then I spoke a little louder, "I did hear something large moving through the woods, a short time before we came upon the wagon. Moving on all fours…the size of an auroch, or similar.”

Parnard sighed.

“Not that there would be any auroch in this part of the forest.” I added.

“Why did those men kill the elves?” asked Parnard.

“Who knows their hearts and minds,” replied Estarfin, taking out a piece of dried boar from his travel bags, and chewing on it.

“Truly the minds of men are strange. I cannot help thinking they were frozen with fear.”

“Just like the wood,” added Parnard. “It was mighty silent back there. That is why I did not linger.” He quickened his pace, and was soon almost out of my sight as he led Swan-Hoof around another twist in the trail. 

“Valar know what we say to those in Felgoth,” I was not looking forward to that encounter. 

“We had no part in their deaths,” Estarfin stated.

“My expectation is they came from Felgoth,” I continued, “so would be known, and may have relatives there.”

“Perhaps,” Estarfin shrugged.

A steep bank lay before us and Parnard had already crossed it. We led our horses more slowly, considering their burdens. A solitary crow flew past.. “Dry and dusty,” said Parnard as we joined him on the opposite side. “It is difficult to make out any tracks."

“And now it is misty again,” I said the obvious as our trail led downward into fog.

“It makes for swift marching though,” Estarfin commented. He was right, although the swirling grey mist became so thick that it was hard to see where we were going. 

“I hope the trees nearby are not moving,” I was thinking of past experiences. I have seen it a few times. I would not want us to stand in their way.”

Parnard looked back over his shoulder at us, the mist now muffling most sound, then continued to creep silently along the path. 

“I have never seen it,” Estarfin commented. 

“I travelled, wandered about in the Second Age far more than you, meldanya,” I reminded him “I was this side of the mountains quite often then, and earlier in this present Age. I saw it once here, long before the Greenwood came under the shadow. And I saw it once on the borders of what is now Rohan.”

“Once here, what?”

“Walking trees.”

We almost ran into Parnard who had halted on the path and was staring fixedly towards something in the distance. 

“This is familiar?” asked Estarfin.

“There is a lake up thereabouts - I can smell it.” 

“Do we need to find it?” 

“Not with this cargo,” the Wood Elf replied, motioning at the two corpses. 

I nodded in agreement. So far we had mercifully been disturbed by few insects interested in what we bore, by a putrid lake that was sure to worsen. 

“Come on, Swan-Hoof,” Parnard sighed, then murmured, “What manner of goods am I bringing into the city!”

“Goods? I fear we bring sorrow to some folk, but also, at the least, certainty over what has happened.”

“It will not be a pleasant duty,” Estarfin said.

“The guards will do it.”The darkness was growing ahead again, as if we were walking into an abyss. “We do not know them, but the guards probably will,” he said, slowing his pace. “That is why I would rather hand things over to them.”

Of a sudden there was a wolf’s cry from somewhere nearer than I liked, and my face was covered in sticky webbing as I accidently walked into a web Parnard had avoided. It startled me and I momentarily gasped. Estarfin drew closer, I heard the sound of him drawing his sword. 

“Bah,” I tore away the sticky substance as I swiftly regained self control, then I also heard a vibrating sound coming from the darkness. It was coming from the darkness in all directions.

“We should go – now,” insisted Parnard.

That was easier said than done. I rested my hand on Sarphir’s hilt.

 “The mist is getting thicker,” he said.

“There are wolves closing in, spiders watching us, it is darker and the mist is heavier,” I summarised. “What does it mean?”

“We passed the tall waymarker earlier today; we are nearing Felgoth. As for the rest, it means it is evening in the Greenwood.”

There was a shuffling in the undergrowth and a roar as a large bear moved out from the trees, making for Parnard. The Wood-Elf backed away, trying to steady Swan-Hoof, and reached for his sword.

“Do not leave the path,” cried Estarfin, letting loose Norlome and moving to the front.

Swift and stout of heart though Norlome was, it was not the first time I wished Gilastor was still with us.

Faced with three armed elves with swords drawn, the bear decided against the attack, and made his way back into the trees, attempting a quick swipe at Pelorian, and getting kicked in the face by Swan-Hoof for his audacity.

The horses were nervous, but still eager to move on - the forest on all sides seemed to be alight with eyes.

“You see how perilous this wood is,” Parnard said.

I think we all saw that.

Something moved across the forest floor, the next I knew Estarfin was fighting a tree: its root that had risen from the ground and coiled around his ankle,  trying to drag him down. He hacked the root in twain, but he pointed at a wolf emerging from the darkness.

“It will not be alone."  I said aloud what we all knew: the wolves were gathering. 

Estarfin looked around, trying to spot any weakness. Then he advanced, sword raised.

“Come then,” I cried, Sarphir in hand. “You may seek to surround us, but come any closer and meet your doom.”

We had encircled the horses as best we could. Pelorian and Norlome were hindered by the corpses they carried, but both would put up a fight if needed. We started to move in that formation, following Parnard. "Come! The bridge is not far,” he called out.

“They know we are prepared for them,” I said. 

The glowing eyes advanced. Then there was the sound of horse hoofs on wood.  Slowly, slowly did we cross the bridge over the misty Forest River.

With our feet on the soil of the further bank we could have hoped to rest a little, but there was a familiar sound of snorting and scuffling in the leaves  as a seemingly maddened wild boar charged Estarfin from the side. Thankfully it all but ran itself onto his angled blade. He kicked the body away, then pointed to it. “Look at it!” he cried and pointed to the strange growths and blemishes that mottled its hide. “Is that normal here?” he said to Parnard.

“No, another evil has fallen upon the wood."

“What if the Necromancer has poisoned the waters?” I said. “I know already that the Forest River can make the unwary fall asleep.”

Estarfin nodded, cleaning his sword carefully on the grass. “How could you tell?” he asked, looking up at me.

“That it could be poison?”

He nodded.

“It is one of those things the Dark Lord and his servants oft experiment with. It is easily consumed by animals if in water or spread over vegetation. It often produces growths, discolourations, malformations, as if they all compete with each other to craft the greater horror. The natural creatures of this forest are blighted.” I pointed down to under the bridge where some luminous and lumpy frogs struggled to sit up, then at an elk covered in similar tumours wading in the fell water.

“This is a foul place,” said Parnard, and continuing on, we walked until the path split in two. Then he stood considering both directions.

“Which way?” Estarfin asked Parnard.

“This way, I think. The trees are taller here and beyond lies the final bridge.”

We set off again, leading the tired horses with their burdens, clattering over that bridge and emerging into a glade lit with starlight, and healthy vibrant foliage. The path ahead curved slightly, but in the distance I could make out a group of guards gathered near what looked like a door in a cliff face. I remembered it well.

Parnard pointed ahead, then fluffed up his hair, patted the dust off his garments and assumed a serious mien. 

Estarfin nodded. “Good,” he said. “We have finally reached Felegoth.”

Finally I relaxed a little. The later part of the journey had been fraught with passing safely through the forest so that I had pushed aside my concerns over killing the man. Now the memory rushed back in to flood my thoughts. 

I tried to brush myself off - the dust came off easily enough, but the blood on my garments and hands did not.

Parnard tried to brush blood from Estarfin’s armour but it only flaked off a little. “Now we must declare our find,” he told us.

“Do you wish to address the guards?” I asked.

He looked over at the bodies. “I think not. I shall move to the back, with the horses.”

Estarfin nodded slowly as Parnard busied himself with adjusting Swan-Hoof's harness. 

I caught Estarfin’s eye. “We have been moving bodies, of course we are bloodied.”

He gave me a look that signified it was of no matter. One thing was certain, none of us looked our best.

Parnard sighed and waved a hand in resignation. “Go on,” he said.

We three walked towards the guards, who each were holding tall spears. They formed a line. One stepped forward.

Halting more than a spear’s length from them, Estarfin nodded a greeting. I held up a hand in a sign of ‘welcome’ and said “We are travellers from distant Ered Luin.” Turning to gesture to my companions, I saw Parnard hail the gate wardens, then drop his chin into the thick fluffy collar of his doublet.

“We come to pay visit to the land of our friend here,” I indicated Parnard.

Parnard said something that was muffled by his fur collar.

“But we bring sorrow and a mystery.” I could feel Estarfin’s gaze upon me. It felt…. 

“They are your people?” Estarnin said bluntly, gesturing to the bodies strapped to the horses. 

“Two bodies, found on the trail some distance from here,” I tried to be a touch more diplomatic.

“After the twist in the road, but before the mountains’ end,” added Parnard. 

The tallest guard, the one who first stepped forward, moved to the horses to check. Carefully he lifted the cloaks around the bodies, and learned forward to look. He sighed deeply, then walked back and nodded to the others. He briefly looked devastated. Then he turned to us, still wearing a most pained expression.

“I am Cemmen, of the King’s Guards. These elves – I sent them out two days ago.”

I watched him as he looked at each of us in turn. Estarfin was looking up, towards the stars, while Parnard rubbed his face and sighed. 

“They were Araddegas and Limmeth. Brother and sister. They were among our finest with the bow. What happened to them?”

I faintly heard one of the guards whisper, “Where there are Noldor, there is trouble.” If I could hear him, Estarfin could. Indeed, he turned to face him. In that instant Cemmen snapped his fingers. “Silence,” he said sternly. “You shame us.” The guard lowered his head, which was just as well. Estarfin would not lower his. He shrugged.

“They were dead on the path, and left as carrion,” Estarfin said, his attention now fixed on Cemmen. 

Cemmen’s previous sorrowful expression was altered. He was angry. I wondered how well he knew the pair?

He gestured to two ner on his far right. “Send a patrol out!” The neri left the line and hurried to fulfil his orders. “There must have been some sign, however small,” he said to us.

I shook my head. “We searched.”

“There were light cobwebs,” Parnard volunteered, “and very strange that no carrion beasts drew near the place!  And who the men were – well, I do not know.”

“Men!” said Cemmen. “Also dead?”

Parrnard crossed his arms. “Their bodies are still on the road. We did not know, ah, what to do with them.”

Cemmen turned to another of his guards. “Go, fetch three grooms to attend to these horses, and four more guards to care for the bodies.”

The ner left immediately.

Estarfin nodded his agreement. “The men were likely to have been involved,” he added.

Parnard stuck his chin and his mouth down into the depths of his furry collar again.

Seemingly not hearing Estarfins words, Cemmen said, “We will take and care for your horses while you take rest. And take and clean the bodies of our fallen kin, before informing their closest family. Thank you for returning them to us. For such a noble act, you are my guests.”

Estarfin nodded.

“I do not wish to know the details,” Parnard muttered.

“You, of course, are welcome to stay in our halls. A set of room will shortly be provided. But as for the men…alas, they fell also. I sent this pair out to take them warning. There have been many recent reports of movement among the wolves…even of some out of Dol Guldur. The men were our twice yearly traders in Honey, which we use in mead making. Very fine makers of honey they were.”

Estarfin shrugged.

“Traders?” said Parnard.

I felt sick to my stomach. Good, honest men, making a living trading with Felegoth!

“You will see if there are any remains to return to their kin?” I asked.

Cemmen nodded. “Of course. It is the least we can do. I had hoped to save them, instead I have lost four, including my niece and nephew.”

I lowered my head. “I am sorry.”

Estarfin returned to Norlome and pulled a few items from her pack, mostly dried meat and a bag of gold, and Parnard watching him was reminded to remove his wine-skin and the large black silk bag of armour from Swan-Hoof’s back.

I walked to Pelorian and hugged her round the neck. “Well done brave and faithful one,” I said. I removed naught. It was my honour I wanted, but that I had thrown away.

Turning back, as a groom came to lead Pelorian to the stables, I said “We – we wish we had found them…sooner.” Again I could feel Estarfin’s eyes upon me, concern perhaps?

“It is a messy business,” Cemmen said. “You did well. We will hunt and slay whatever did this, and – I must think of what to tell my sister.”

Then I heard Quenya being spoken. “We did all we could for them.” I turned to Estarfin and nodded. “So we did,” I replied, also in the old tongue.