Mallor was nervous, very nervous at that. I don�t think he fancied having about half a dozen arrows aimed straight at his head all at once. I also knew he was worried for my safety. I wasn�t sure I liked having an arrow that close to my face and I was a little concerned that they might just kill us, but other than those minor concerns, I was just peachy.
I really did feel like an idiot when I noticed how I was just standing there looking cross-eyed at the arrow in front of me, so I cleared my throat and looked up at the elf before me. Figuring that death was really the worst thing that could possibly happen right then, I decided on breaking the awkward silence.
�Greetings, Elves of L�rien,� I said. My words were met with something, in what I assumed to be elvish, that I didn�t understand and the elf in front of me gesturing towards Mallor and me with his arrow. His words were met by those of another who I could not see, for I feared to turn my head. The elf in front of me moved to the side, his arrow still pointing at me, and the other that he had been speaking to stood in his place.
�Those among my company do not speak the Common Tongue, for we have no need of it within our borders. Rarely do men dare to trespass here; speak truthfully with your purpose or be killed,� he said. I just kind of stared at him for a moment, studying him. For an elf, he more or less looked like a man, only prettier, shinier, and with pointy ears. I wanted to poke his ears just to make sure they were real, but I wasn�t so stupid as to try it.
Guessing that a straight response would save us both, Mallor spoke up while I just stared at this guy�s ears in awe. �We have journeyed from Minas Tirith, fleeing for our own safety and in search of answers from your lady,� he said. The elves lowered their bows and arrows at this elf�s signal.
�You flee from Minas Tirith?� the elf queried.
�I was banished,� I told him, just before Mallor could say anything ridiculous. �It is a very long tale as to why. My companion, Mallor, has come with me to guide and protect me. We desperately need to talk to Lady Galadriel, please, if you could take us to her.�
The elf eyed us both warily for many moments before he nodded. He looked to me, �I shall need to know your name, stranger, before I allow you to pass further into our borders.�
�Amanda. Preferably Manda,� I said. He nodded, and then gestured to Mallor�s sword.
�We will need to take your weapons from you. You have no need for them here,� he told us. Mallor started to protest, but I took my own dagger off my belt and looked at him.
�Do not worry! We are safe here, so give them your sword, Mallor,� I said, and then turned to the elf. �My other weapon is on the horse. You can keep these with that, if you like.�
So, he did. Soon enough we were set and ready to go and we all (I imagine we were nearly eight in number) headed through the woods of L�rien. I assumed they were taking us to Caras Galadhon, which I later found out that they were. I also found out that the elves were named Haldir, R�mil, Orophin, and three others whose names were in such complicated elvish that I couldn�t pronounce them. The only reason I could remember the names of the three marchwardens was because I had read their names in a certain book pertaining to the future of this entire world.
Haldir was the only one who could really talk to us because he was the only one who could speak the Common Tongue. How I had come to speak it was entirely beyond me. To the best of my knowledge I was still speaking English, but that was something complicated that I didn�t want to start thinking about right away. Mallor and I did a sort of speaking with the other elves of the company along the way, but by making use of hand gestures and facial expressions, which made things rather strange sometimes. I supposed the elves used slightly different facial expressions than humans did, but for all intensive purposes we understood each other.
With every step we took closer to Caras Galadhon, the more excited I became. I had become really hopeful that I would get all the answers I was seeking from Galadriel and that maybe, if I really wanted to, I could go home or something. I wasn�t sure what I wanted to do, if I was going to be stuck here until the day I died, that was. I was starting to adapt really well to the life I was living, even though all I had done thus far was travel around with Mallor.
He and I had become good friends in the time since we had fled Minas Tirith. He was teaching me basic Middle-earth surviving skills and found my utter failure at half of them to be entirely amusing. Other than that, though, we got along really well, and we trusted each other. I knew he would take care of me and he knew that I wouldn�t go anything intentionally stupid to get us both killed. It was really beginning to be a beautiful relationship. But our relationship wasn�t the only beautiful thing in sight. After a long bit of travel, we had finally arrived at Caras Galadhon.
