~The Hatching Journey~ [PR]

Thélowên frowned, she was highly displeased by Rhaenys answer but it was also the answer she had expected. The woman was madly dedicated to the 'not hurting anything no matter what' principle and it quite bugged Thélowên - although not in an uncomfortable way, more because she didn't understand the thing. It's not like they are going to kill for fun, they do have a purpose for it. Thélowên straightens up, taking her general stand with a commanding aura around her, a skill she had almost perfected over the last four years. She looked with fierce eyes on Rhaenys and sighed.

It took a moment for her to speak but eventually she did so.
"Well, I know you feel like that but you need to practice, and those damned Araneae are trying to get closer to Harlond to get more food for their huge numbers." Thélowên hated those beasts, they were disgusting. "Besides, if they get any closer they will start to take our food too, all the woodland creatures that protect our berries and tree fruits are snacks for them. They are disrupting the ecosystem of the Silver forest and we can't allow that." Thélowên said with a firm voice. She had saved this practice to the very end because she knew it would be hard for Rhaenys and to not harm the animals with unnecessary pain Rhaenys also needed to be as good of a shot as she could be before killing real living beasts.

Thélowên was not taking no for an answer this time. Usually she was pretty gentle with Rhaenys and didn't push her too hard as she did with the other cadets but this time she couldn't back down. It was for something bigger this time. They would have to fend for themselves out there in the wilderness and as Thélowên had studied back in Gondolin at the Hirántil academia she had learn far more than the average elf about strategies, the land outside the elven cities and the creatures that lived and fought in the land and many more things. Her training and education had continued after she arrived in Harlond, studying under Mithlandos, the Grand Master of Knowledge and one of the eleven council members, and getting a share of the Infinity Library hidden far down under Harlond for safekeeping. Yes, she had studied and trained in exceedingly high amounts. That was also part of how she had become who she was now. And the persons he was now knew that this training session was highly important for Rhaenys even though she did not know it herself yet.
"I'm sorry Rhaenys, I can't take no for an answer this time. I have saved it until the very last moment possible. But out there," she pointed towards the land beyond the elf city, "you are the one protecting my back and I need to know that you can do it. Just like I will have your back and keep you safe. I'm not asking you to kill for fun, I'm asking you to show me that I can depend on you as friends should and also I'm asking you to help protect the Silver forest, it's little creatures and the citizens of Harlond." Thélowên tried to keep her voice calm but it was a difficult task. So instead she tried to focus on Rhaenys face and eyes.

Rhaenys studied Thélowêns face and expressions thoroughly. Her friend frowned but showed no other sign of disapproval. It probably annoyed her that Rhaenys didn’t enjoy her idea of training, although she was excellent at hiding it. However, her brown-haired friend let out a sigh before speaking, which kind of confirmed Rhaenys theory. She noted how Thélowêns aura and posture changed, which meant that she was being grave, more so than before. Rheanys listened to Thélowên speech about what trouble the Araneae caused Harlond. Apparently, it had been more than Rhaenys knew. She was still disturbed by her feelings towards the practice and she could even hear the egg pulsing with her, even though it was in her bag. It was as if the dragon inside could feel her discomfort and tried to make her feel better. She put her hand down in the bag, feeling the scales and the irregular surface of the egg, which actually made her feel better. The connection between them was truly something remarkable. She pulled her hand back from the bag and let it rest on the bow like the other one.

Her mind started to drift, thinking about killing the living creatures in the forest. If she didn’t hit the right spot directly, the creature would suffer; and at her hands, which made the whole thing worse. Although she knew she needed training, and if the Aeaneae were as destructive as Thélowên said, it could justify the actions they were about to do on some level. In some way, it was to protect Harlond. At least Rhaenys could think that way, to feel better about herself. It was still cruel, however. She was still reluctant to the training, but her mind had started to get used to the idea when Thélowên spoke again. Her friend’s voice pulled Rhaenys away from her thoughts and back to Thélowên.

She was quite sure she detected a strained tone on Thélowêns voice, but she decided not to focus on it. Actually, she was quite hurt that Thélowên didn’t think that Rhaenys knew that she needed to have her back during their journey, and that she hadn’t what it took to protect her if needed. But to be fair, Thélowên had never seen Rhaenys in real action, and that was what she wanted now. Unfortunately, on the expense of another creature. Rhaenys sighed and met the brown eyes of Thélowên.
“Fine” she said, fighting the urge of putting a reluctant edge to her voice, “I’ll do it only to show you what I’m made of”. Rhaenys took a firm grip around the bow and put it in the quiver. She grabbed her bag with her left hand and looked at Thélowên.
“Lead the way”.

Thélowên was somewhat surprised at first by Rhaenys reaction. That she actually agreed after being told the reason. It was a good reason as well, the Araneae had been breeding, with the amount of fresh meat they had consumed and the amount of forest they had claimed it was no surprise their numbers grew drastically. It was one of many concerns the Council had been working with lately.
"Lead the way." Rhaenys said and Thélowên nodded,
"You know, the council has actually ordered me to terminate a few of the Araneae. Eight of them to be exact, four adults and four youngsters and only female." Thélowên said as they were walking away from the training area, "I'm not very found of the creatures so I'm not really against killing a few of them." she continued as they were walking, fully aware that it would be a sentence Rhaenys would have a problem with, so she continued quickly.
"But before you get upset, I'm not found of killing things. I'm found of terminating threats and keeping our people and innocent creatures safe. The Araneae is far from innocent. They are to blame for many things actually, but I know you already know that." Thélowên drew her fingers through the brown curly hair to place it back in its correct location after a wind had tussled it.

She was quite fond of her own hair actually, a rare colour of deep brown - most elves had a light colour to their hair, usually blond or white. But not Thélowên, she, like many other in her family, had dark shimmering hair. It was something that connected her to her noble bloodline of the Duilin family - the best of the best in archery and respected loyal soldiers. Thélowên looked towards Rhaenys, she had the standard blonde colour to her hair but her eyes were a glowing amber. It was an impressive combination as well. Thélowên let go of the thought and focused on the subject again.
"By the way, Rhaenys, I'm only asking you to terminate two of the eight. That's all. I can deal with the rest." she said and smiled. Her aura back to normal - or, well, normal for being around Rhaenys that is. They were friends, more than comrades in war or socialising soldiers. They were actual friends despite their differences and Thélowên deeply appreciated that friendship.

Rhaenys listened to Thélowen and bit her lip. Not only did she need to kill living creatures for basically no reason at all, she also had to kill the children of these creatures. She decided to keep quiet, a discussion was unnecessary since she figured the outcome of it considering she had already agreed to the training. As they walked towards the forest, Rhaenys took a few deep breaths, filling her lungs with the air and preparing herself for what she was about to do. She clenched her hand around the bow as they arrived at the edge of the forest. She sighed and looked over at Thélowên. Only two out of eight? The word “only” didn’t quite fit in the sentence, according to Rhaenys.
“Let’s begin, then” she said and looked out between the trees that made out the Silver Forest.

Rhaenys readied her bow with an arrow, and took a few steps between the trees. She hunkered, looking on the ground after trails of the Araneae. That was one of the fortunate things about them being enormous, they left pretty easy trails to follow. Rhaenys stopped suddenly, since her eyes picked up movement from her left. She turned, and the massive, twelve legged Araneae moved in front of her. Rhaenys put up the bow and let go of the arrow, which flew in a beautiful trajectory. However, since the Araneae moved, the arrow only pierced its back leaving the creature injured instead of dead. The creature shrieked, and Rhaenys fired another arrow to put it out of its misery. Since the Araneae was slower, the next arrow pierced the head and the creature lied down and took its last breath.

Just as Rhaenys was about to say something, another movement was picked up, but from the right this time. A slighter smaller Araneae ran in front of her, and she fired an arrow. This time, the arrow pierced the leg. She shriek filled Rhaenys ears, and she let go of yet another arrow, which unfortunately missed its target.
“For Eywas sake” Rhaenys muttered. She threw the bow on the ground, ran up to the Araneae while she drew her dagger from the sheath around her right ankle. When she came up to the creature, she buried her dagger in its body, in the heart. When the creature died, Rhaenys turned to Thélowên.
“Am I done?” she asked, her voice was expressionless. However, it was more of a demand than a question. She picked up the bow from the ground and met the brown eyes of her friend.

Thélowên sighed, Rhaenys had thrown herself to fast into the task. Unhooking her bow from the back holder she drew an arrow half way and stepped forward.
"Rhaenys, that was... Well to be blunt it was crap and no, you're not done. You didn't show me anything else than desperation in killing as quickly as possible. Just to get done with it." Thélowên sighed and walked passed the dead creature Rhaenys was beside.
"I thought your training had paid of more than this. You didn't ground yourself, take time to find your centre and aim properly. Neither did you shoot with pure purpose and you didn't calculate where your arrow should hit to kill the creature as cleanly as possible." Thélowên sighed yet again, "again, and this time you find a target that is worthy of your arrow. Not a teenage creature that has already laid eggs a few times or an old creature that no longer can lay eggs."

Thélowen set of in a sprint, hoping Rhaenys would follow here. She ran closer to the Araneae, seared for the perfect target. She found it a few meters up in a tree. An Araneae in the midst of its life. Teaching its youngsters to hunt for birds i the trees. She stopped, making no sound. Taking aim, finding the soft spot under the Araneae's chin to allow the arrow to pierce its windpipe, killing it almost instantly. She found her centre, felt the wind in her hair and everything slowed down almost to a halt. She let go of the arrow and it glided soundlessly through the air, hitting the Araneae cleanly, killing it without a sound. Thélowên straightened up and felt pride in her skills. She was without a doubt the best archer in Harlond.

Rhaenys looked at Thélowên and read her lips as she spoke. Why? Because she didn’t hear one word of what she said. Her ears were filled with the pounding sound of her blood pumping through her veins and the sound of her beating heart. She was quite ready to give Thélowên a piece of her mind. She had actually done the task given to her; terminating two out of eight Araneae and showing her friend that she could protect her if needed. However; to be fair, she had not done it with her bow and arrow as good as she could have. Her hand clenched the bloody dagger in her right hand. As sudden as she had started to hear the sound of her own blood and beating heart, it stopped. It was as if something left her body, and she returned to reality.

She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to; Thélowên had already started to sprint. Rhaenys feet moved in the footsteps of her friend, and she watched how she killed a mother Araneae, leaving the youngsters to their fate. Said youngsters ran down from the tree when their mother was killed, and Rhaenys moved flexibly to the top of a big stone. There, she crouched a little and carefully aimed towards one of the youngsters running across the ground. She concentrated and took a deep breath just as Thélowên had taught her. The world slowed down for a second and she let the arrow fly. It pierced the Araneae’s heart, killing it instantly. Rhaenys stood up straight, looking towards Thélowên.
“I’m done, I’ve proved twice now that I can protect you, with and without bow and arrow” she said expressionlessly, and this time it wasn’t a question. She got off the stone and looked towards the dead spider she had killed. It made her feel sick. She looked around the area of the forest they stood in. The spiders had vanished, they had probably hidden from the threat she and Thélowên created.

Rhaenys leaned towards the same stone she had stood on and picked up the egg from her bag. It was pulsing, more intense and brighter than usual. She could feel from the egg’s aura that it was warmer than normal, even though it didn’t burn her.
“You’re getting restless, aren’t you?” Rhaenys asked it while stroking the surface. Usually when a dragon rider got chosen, he or she hatched the egg within weeks. However, this wasn’t the case with Rhaenys, because of the danger and changed circumstances in the world concerning dragons. She didn’t know the time record for keeping a dragon egg unhatched after its choice, but she was certain that she was close to breaking the record, if she hadn’t done it already. Rhaenys moved her eyes from the egg to Thélowên, waiting for her to speak.

Thélowên shook her head, feeling slightly defeated as Rhaenys clearly had other things on her mind than their safety out there in the wild. She on the other hand had barely any other thing on her mind than specifically the adventure awaiting them just a few hours ahead.
"You know what, it's fine, just go. I'll deal with the rest of them." Thélowên smiled. She had re-focused on their purpose for it all and the fact that Rhaenys was against killing unless necessary was a fine quality to have. Thélowên quite admired that about her friend if truth were to be told, not that she would ever say that out loud - she, the fierce archer general of the elf army, feel anything else than a longing to fight? Unthinkable for most. Some things were better to not mention.
"But make sure you're ready a little before we are heading out. We'll meet at the main gate." Thélowên said while crouching down a bit on the large branch she was standing on at that moment.

Rhaenys looked at Thélowên. She didn’t like the way her friend shook her head. Sure, maybe she hadn’t finished the task the way Thélowên had wished, but she couldn’t say that Rhaenys was unable to protect her. When, because Rhaenys had a feeling it was when and not if, they were attacked, Rhaenys would have no problem killing whatever creature posed a threat towards them. She wasn’t sure if Théwlowên was disappointed or not, but she did smile when she told Rhaenys to go. Rhaenys just nodded, looked once more at the dead spiders before turning her back towards them and walked towards the city.

As she crossed the edge of the forest and met the lively town, she put the egg down in her bag. She walked around for a bit, watching the people. She had come to like the city of Harlond, even though she had not in the beginning of her time there. It had been a big change, but she had grown into the change quite well. At least she considered so herself. She walked through the main part of the city before arriving at the house which had been her home for the last two years. She walked up the stairs, wondering if it would be the last time she did. Rhaenys hadn’t considered what to do after the dragon was born, only that the dragon would be used by the army if needed, but that wasn’t until it was big enough.

Rhaenys arrived in her bedroom and put the egg on the bed.
“We’re leaving tonight” she told it, while picking up two saddle bags and a backpack. She had to pack light, but at the same time pack the essentials. She packed them and put the bags on the bed next to the egg. She walked out on the balcony and leaned towards the balcony rail. She watched the water of the lake move with the wind and stood there for a while. She reflected over the training she had had and hoped it would pay off. She stood up straight, turned around and walked inside. She picked up the dagger she had used to kill the Araneae and cleaned it. She put it back in the sheath around her ankle and looked at her bed. It seemed like she was finished. It wasn't much, however. That was another advantage riding with someone from the Army; Thélowên would have everything they needed.

Rhaenys placed the egg inside her backpack and put it over her shoulder. She put the saddle bags over her other shoulder and walked down the stairs. She walked down to the stable and her horse Aimon snorted in his box when she walked inside.
“It seems like we are ready” she said and put her hand on his neck.
“Finally, you’ve been waiting quite some time”, Aimon answered her. She opened the box and walked out from the stable with Aimon next to her. Since she had the connection she had with him, she didn’t need bridle or saddle, but she put on the bridle anyway. It was good to hold on to if they needed to go really fast. However, Rhaenys had always ridden her horses without a saddle, since the connection between the rider and the horse was better then. She just felt that she could move with her horse in a different way and it ultimately made her a better rider. She put the saddle bags on the front of her horse and put them together with a cinch. This meant that she could have her gear and at the same time ride bareback. She hung the backpack from one of the saddle bags and put her hand on Aimons neck. They walked out to the front of the house and she sat down at the same fountain she had been sitting on the very same morning. She leaned on her hands and looked around, waiting for the greatest adventure of her life to begin.

As she waited, Rhaenys watched Aimon eat the grass around the fountain. Rhaenys had been a rider since before she could walk and her ability to connect with animals on a different level made that skill even better. She had owned Aimon for the last two years and had become very fond of him. However, she also remembered the mare she had owned in Rivendell. Unfortunately, the horse had died in the struggle in which Rhaenys had been taken by Rydor. She felt bad about it sometimes, since she blamed herself of getting abducted, and therefore also the death of her horse.
“You’re drifting”. Rhaenys was pulled out of her own thoughts when she heard the voice. She looked up, and saw Eonë. He was carrying his sword, and traces of sweat could be seen on his forehead. Rhaenys smiled, as did Eonë.
“The rumour has already been spread, that it’s time for the Dragon Master to leave Harlond” he said and Rhaenys nodded.
“It’s true, I’m just waiting for Thélowên, and then we’ll leave” she said, putting a protecting hand on the bag. Eonës eyes followed the movement of her hand before turning back to her face.
“I can’t wait to hear about your adventure when you get back” he said and placed a quick kiss on her left cheek, before walking away.

Rhaenys watched his back moving as he disappeared behind one of the houses, thinking that it might have been the last time she saw her friend. When she got back. Perhaps more accurate to say if she got back. Rhaenys tried to stay optimistic, but she didn’t know what was out there. She had barely survived Rydor, and whatever was out there could be worse, and probably was, than him. She tried not to think in that way, but sometimes she couldn’t help it. However, she was sure that she had a chance of survival, especially with Thélowên there as well.
“Speaking of Thélowên, where is she?” Rhaenys asked quietly and looked up in the sky, which now was pink. The sun was almost completely gone, filling the sky with colours as if it was a painting. The sunset was beautiful, but Rhaenys preferred to get going before the last rays disappeared behind the horizon, leaving them in complete darkness.

Just as Rhaenys was on her way to stand up, she saw Voron, and Thélowên on his back. They stopped, and Rhaenys looked up at her friend.
“I’ve been ready since forever” she said and smiled, standing up. She mounted Aimons back smooth and easy. Her amber eyes met Thélowêns brown.
“Let’s go, we can’t wait any longer” she said with a laugh and put her hand on the bag with the egg inside. They were finally on their way, and Rhaenys couldn’t wait to meet her soul mate.