Alexa stabled Spitfire and went in search of Glorfindel. She had many questions that desperately needed answering. Her search was brief, however, for she soon found him on a balcony overlooking Rivendell. She nervously approached him, her heart pounding. For the first time in a very long time, she wanted to run away from a confrontation, but her pride prevented her from doing so. She sighed. They had to talk sometime.
“Hello,” she said softly.
Glorfindel turned and saw Alexa standing a few feet away from him, her eyes huge. “Hello,” he replied, his expression veiled.
Alexa shifted her weight nervously. She did not like being unable to read his expression, for it made her uneasy and unsure of herself. “I…I do not know what to say,” she stammered. She paused for a moment before continuing. “I have spent my entire life wrongly hating you and my people. I am so confused. I do not know what to feel anymore.”
His heart ached for her. He knew so little of her life, but what he did know told him that his baby had suffered so much pain. “I am so sorry, my child. If I had known where you were, I would have come and gotten you the moment I found out.” He lowered his head. “I thought you were dead, but deep down, I always hoped you were alive and would come home someday.”
Alexa looked at him, and knew that she could not contain her questions any longer. They were weighing too heavily on her mind and heart. “Who was this Elf? What happened to my mother? What happened to me?”
He sat down on a bench and motioned for her to sit beside him. She walked over and sat down warily, for she still did not know nor trust this Elf.
Glorfindel watched her sit and was troubled by her unease, although he understood it. However, it still hurt that his daughter was so distrustful of him. He took a deep breath, hoping he would have the strength to get through this tale.
“Nenthalion and I were both in love with your mother, Elerrina, but she loved me and chose me over him. Nenthalion went mad with hatred and jealousy. Your mother and I were married, and we heard nothing of Nenthalion for several years. The day Nenthalion reappeared, I was meeting with the High Council. Nenthalion went to our home and tried to convince your mother to leave Rivendell with him. When she refused, he attacked her. One of our maids saw this, and ran to the Council to tell me. I ran home, four guards accompanying me. When I burst through the door and saw him trying to force your mother to leave with him, I seized him and threw him back against the wall. I wanted to kill him and would have, but two of the guards held me back and prevented me from doing so. The other two grabbed Nenthalion and took him to the dungeon. Later that evening, Nenthalion killed the dungeon guards and managed to escape.”
He paused for a moment and looked at Alexa, who was listening intently. “Three years later, we had you. We named you ‘Elyndiriel’.”
“That is my name?” Alexa asked. He had called her it before, but she had not realized that it was her Elven name. The name sounded so strange, so… unfamiliar. It did not feel like it belonged to her, but rather, to someone who had lived and died long ago. Someone who may never live again. “What does it mean?”
He smiled at her. “It means ‘Star Gazer.’ We loved you so much. You were our entire world. When you were six months old, your mother and I took you for a walk around the countryside….”
* * *
“Please, Glorfindel,” Elerrina begged. “Let us keep walking. It is such a beautiful day, and the baby loves the walk.”
Glorfindel looked at his wife with a tender fondness. He could never refuse her anything, especially when she begged. She would look up at him with huge green eyes, and she would stick out her bottom lip in a slight pout. He always found it too adorable to resist. He smiled at her in surrender. “All right, my love. We cannot go too far away from the city though, for it is not safe.”
She smiled at him brightly. “Yes, my love. We will not go much further.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked into her eyes. “You always know how to get what you want, do you not?” he asked in mock annoyance.
She ran her hand through his golden hair, and kissed the special sensitive place on his neck, smiling wickedly as he shuddered. “Yes… I do,” she teased.
“You are ruthless, you know,” he said, trying to sound stern.
She smiled slyly. “I know.”
He grinned and kissed her lightly. A small, frustrated cry startled him, and he released her. He looked down and smiled at the baby in Elerrina’s arms.
“Are you feeling neglected, little one?” he asked as he leaned down and kissed his baby’s soft cheek. The baby smiled and put her hands on his face. He growled playfully and gently nipped at her fingers, making her squeal with delight.
Elerrina grinned at them. “She wanted a kiss from her ada too.”
He smiled. “She can have as many kisses as she wants, for as long as she wants. And so can you.” He gave Elerrina a quick kiss. “We had better keep walking, or we are going to be here all day,” he said and growled playfully in her ear.
She laughed and tapped his arm. “Let us keep walking, love.”
“Oh, very well,” he replied, trying to sound hurt.
She grinned and whispered in his ear, “Later.”
“Yes. Later, my love,” he said huskily and kissed her sensitive ear. He grinned as she shuddered. “Tonight.”
She looked at him and touched her ear. “And you say I am ruthless!”
Glorfindel grinned at her. He put his arm around his wife and daughter, and they continued on. They walked for awhile longer, then stopped to rest near a placid lake on the outskirts of the woods. Many large trees grew around the lake and seemed to form a protective, loving canopy around them. Various blossoms grew at the bases of the trees and throughout the meadow. This was a place that seemed unable to harbor any evil, but rather, security and peace. Elerrina sat down and set the baby in front of her. Glorfindel watched them lovingly.
“Is she not the most beautiful baby you have ever seen, Glorfindel?”
“That she is, my love.” He sat down beside her and began to play with his daughter. He smiled when her little baby hand grasped his finger. She had quite a grip for a little one.
Elerrina watched Glorfindel play with Elyndiriel. She had never loved him more than she did at this moment. He was a wonderful father. He sensed her staring and smiled at her.
“What is it, my love?” he asked tenderly.
She smiled at him. “I love you, Glorfindel.”
“And I you, beloved.” He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. They remained in each other’s embrace until a strange noise startled them. Glorfindel glanced around sharply. The noise was coming from the woods and heading straight for them. Elerrina grabbed the baby and rose swiftly. Glorfindel stood protectively in front of them and drew his bow. They looked on in horror as a pack of draug-like creatures ran from the woods, heading straight for them.
* * *
“What is a draug?” Alexa interrupted.
He looked at her, remembering that she did not speak Elvish. “It is a wolf. I had never seen beasts like these before. They were like wolves, only larger and more vicious. They seemed to be bred for the single purpose of destroying everything in their path. I killed three with my bow, before they were upon us….”
* * *
“Get out of here, Elerrina!” Glorfindel shouted as he stabbed one of the beasts. “Now!”
Elerrina tried to run, but was quickly surrounded by several of the beasts. Glorfindel tried to get to her, but four of the beasts attacked him at once, knocking him to the ground. He fought to free himself as more of the beasts leapt upon him.
“Elerrina!” he cried as one of the beasts attacked her. She dropped the baby as she fell. “No!” he cried and kicked one of the beasts off of him. As he struggled to free himself, one of the beasts bit deeply into his leg, causing him to yell out in pain. Using his other leg, he kicked the beast between the eyes, which caused it to release his leg. He frantically looked at his wife, and saw one of the beasts dragging off his baby. “No!” Using every ounce of strength he had, he somehow managed to throw off the beasts. Stabbing two, he went for his baby, but froze in horror as he realized that the baby and the beast were gone. He spun around, hearing another sound coming towards him. He froze in shock as he saw Nenthalion approaching.
“You!” Glorfindel cried fiercely.
“I have waited a long time for this day, Glorfindel,” he said, giving Glorfindel an evil smile. “How do you like my beasts?”
“How could you do this, Nenthalion?” Glorfindel asked, enraged.
“You stole everything I loved from me! Now I have done the same to you!” Nenthalion drew his sword. “Now I shall destroy what is left of you!”
“I will kill you for this!” Glorfindel hissed.
The two Elves fought, both equally matched in skill. After several heated moments, Nenthalion began to gain the upper hand, for Glorfindel could not move as quickly with his injured leg. The fight raged on, but as Nenthalion was about to deliver a deadly blow, a noise caused him to stop. Glorfindel turned and saw three Rivendell scouts riding towards them. Cursing, Nenthalion retreated.
“This is not done yet, Glorfindel!” he shouted as he ran into the forest. The three riders halted before Glorfindel.
“Lord Glorfindel, are you all right?” one of the riders asked.
“Never mind me!”
“We will go after him, my lord!”
“No! One of the beasts has taken my daughter.” He pointed at two of them. “You two, go find my daughter!” he commanded. He pointed at the other Elf. “You, help my wife!”
The two Elves rode off in search of his daughter, and the remaining Elf went to Elerrina. Glorfindel limped over to them, and knelt down. The Elf looked at him, and then at the wound on his leg.
“Let me tend to that wound, my lord.”
“No! Help my wife!”
The Elf looked at him. “I can do nothing for her, my lord. You, I can help.”
Glorfindel felt his heart stop. “No,” he said, his voice breaking. He leaned down and cradled Elerrina in his arms. Signs of death that he had not noticed before became vividly clear in that moment. Elerrina’s skin was so cold and white. Her eyes were glassy and fixed on some distant place. He began to tremble, for he could no longer feel the life within her. She was gone. Closing his eyes, he wept.
* * *
“So that would explain where the scars on my shoulder came from,” Alexa said softly.
Glorfindel looked at his daughter, and saw that her eyes were downcast. “Later that day, the two riders returned to Rivendell. All they had found of you was a torn piece of your dress and the other piece of your medallion. Both were covered in blood. But, I could not give up on you. I sent more riders out to search for you. They returned a few days later, empty-handed. I had just buried your mother when they arrived. I was so consumed by hate; I went after Nenthalion. Elrond tried to stop me, saying that the riders had found no trace of him. But I did not care. I was going to hunt him down until I found him, no matter how long it took. It took me months, but I eventually found him….”
* * *
After many grueling months of searching, Glorfindel finally found Nenthalion. Glorfindel approached him, sword drawn, the single purpose of killing Nenthalion controlling him.
“I have finally found you, Nenthalion!” Glorfindel said coldly.
Nenthalion looked at him in mild surprise. “I can hardly contain my joy.”
Glorfindel glared at him, the hatred burning in his eyes. “Where is my daughter?”
Nenthalion gave him an evil smile. “I found her in the clutches of my beast. She made a nice meal for him.”
Glorfindel felt like he had been kicked low and hard. The last flicker of hope he had of finding his daughter faded. He glared at Nenthalion, eyes burning with murderous rage. “I am going to kill you for this!”
Nenthalion drew his sword. “I doubt that.”
Glorfindel attacked him with all the rage and hatred that had been eating him alive for months. It felt as though some darkness had taken hold of him, and had now escaped with a vengeance. He wounded Nenthalion, who fell to the ground. Glorfindel closed in on him, as Nenthalion scrambled to his knees.
“Please don’t kill me,” Nenthalion begged, his eyes full of fear. “Have mercy upon me.”
“Like the mercy you showed my wife and daughter?” Glorfindel sneered. “I do not think so!” He rammed his sword into Nenthalion’s heart. He glared into Nenthalion’s eyes as he wrenched his sword free. Nenthalion fell to the ground, dead.
Falling to his knees, Glorfindel stared at the blood covering his hands. At last, the beast was dead and his family could finally have peace.
