Story of a Warrior
Part I

Adarin walked through the door and hung a layer of his coat up. His lovely wife, Lilinel , ran to him, hoping for good news. He lowered his face to hide his emotions, his feelings. Lilinel lifted his chin and as their eyes met, she knew the answer. For melancholy was his mood and hope was his feel.

” You are going to war! “she cried, weeping on his shoulder. “You mustn’t –I need you! Elenor needs you!” At that moment of the mention of his daughter, she walked into the den where Adarin and Lilinel were mourning.
“Father, mother, why are you crying?”said the small voice. She looked up at his father and he got on one knee looking straight into the daughter’s eyes.
“Father is going to be gone for a while,”he choked out, hating to bear leaving his daughter; his love. At this comment by Adarin, Lilinel ran into their bedroom and sat crying.
“Will you be back? “she asked, starting to cry.
“Yes! Of course my love, I couldn’t bear to leave you for long,” he said, a tear passing, rolling down his cheek.
” Think of me often, wherever you may be. I love you, daddy. I always will!” she said, tears now streaming down her face.
“Never will I lay my head to rest and not think of you, my dear, ” he said, now practically about to burst into tears. To hide his face, he looked at the window, now suprised at the time which had passed. “‘ Tis late. I need to go now, ” he said, kissing his daughter’s cheeks. He went into the bedroom to grant a goodbye to his fair wife.
” I have to leave now. They are expecting me late tonight — I shoudln’t be late.” Adarin leaned over kissing Lilinel’s head and putting his lips by her ear. “I won’t forget you — I will see you again, whatever I have to do-I will. I love you, and don’t forget that.”
“Goodbye, ” she murmured, dismissing him from her depressing sight.

He walked to the doorway, yelled a final goodbye, hugged Elenor and got ready to leave. He put on all of his layers and was about to set off. Adarin picked up his luggage ((it had already been packed in case he did go)) and loaded it onto Nimroch, his midnight brown horse. He couldn’t ride the horse most of the time unless he carried some of the luggage himself and had room to sit down — he started out on foot. His journey was short ; dirt road, long dark forest, and the meeting place of the war groups. Little did he know he was being followed.

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Lilinel was on the bed crying until she could cry no more. She hadn’t noticed his leaving, or the doings of Elenor. She loved Adarin with all her heart and hated to see him go – her loyal love, and hope in the world. Lilinel got up and wiped her face, and prepared to make dinner. She could hardly do this; for her hands were quivering violently. Looking up, trying to ease the pain she felt inside. She prayed and it seemed better, and she was finally able to make the dinner.

“Elenor! Elenor!” she called, “time to eat!” She waited for five minutes but Elenor never came. Lilinel walked into her daughter’s room and she wasn’t there. “Elenor!? Where are you?!” when her daughter didn’t answer, she became very worried. Even though this little blue -eyed, golden haired, beautifully bright girl was only five years old, she was mature for her age and did what she was told. Minded, obeyed , and was rarely naive. When her mother called, she always responded. “Elenor! ” she yelled from the doorway, to the outside. No answer. She told all the neighbors Elenor was missing and there were search parties throughout thier neighborhood/city, but she was no where to be found. Little did Lilinel the mother know, that while she was weeping for a very long time, Elenor had crept out after packing her bags and followed her father. Lilinel was beginning to panic- she sat on the bed impatiently and awaited any news from the search parties and feel asleep from exhaustion.

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Elenor had packed her bags and left after her father. ‘I will follow him,’ she thought to herself, ‘and I will see him every day!I am sure he wouldn’t mind. He would love it! Ooh,daddy!I am coming! ‘Many thoughts like this crossed her mind, and the biggest and the one she most remembered was,’ I will get to see daddy,and we will never be parted.’ Now that you hear this five year old’s thoughts, you can tell she is particuraly bright in vocabulary and thought development — but has the same desires and needs of an ordinary five year olds. She had taken little notice of her depressed mother, and the desire to stay with her loved father burned within her. Maybe it was five year old desires, an adventure to be had, or just to be with her father. All of these were correct,and Elenor was very excited about the few days to come.

She was now approaching a turn in roads and she dodged to not be seen and kept going, keeping a sharp eye for her father’s directions. This went on for a while when finally she and her father were approaching a dark wood. He entered these and tried to keep up.

Elenor was having quite alot of fun following her father. She would creep from tree to tree so she wouldn’t be seen. He occasionally looked behind him, and seeing there was nothing there, he figured that he had heard a mere squirrl or small creature. They went on like this for many hours it seemed and Elenor became very weary, and was extraordinarily tired of walking. She soon made sure she was as close to Adarin as she could and stopped to eat a little apple to ease her hunger, and maybe cool her off. She thought she should get off the road in case someone tried to find her, and wandered into the dark wood. Then,many things happened at once. Adarin began to quicken his pace, and left to quickly for Elenor to note. As she thought of this, an orc claw grabbed her hands and another put his hand over her mouth. She was hit over the head with something, and knew no more.

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Adarin knew none of the doings of Elenor and Lilinel, but was set upon his quest to the meeting place, which wasn’t very far now. He glanced around and noticed something – a dark figure on a side of a tree, not a long way off. He stared at it, but it didn’t move or flinch. The horse neighed and ran foward at a great pace, the horse knew what was to happen and didn’t want to be apart of it. Adarin yelled for the horse to come back and didn’t succeed. “Bother the horse,” mumbled Adarin and gave a large sigh. The black figure had moved while Adarin had yelled for his horse; it was right beside Adarin. He put his hand to his sword hilt.” Who goes there? Show yourself!” he yelled sternly, without fear or nervousness. A figure approached–what seemed to be a mere man with much armour upon him. Adarin realized it was no man, but an orc. The orc shook his head in laughter. “Boys!” yelled he, “this man will hurt us if we try anything.”

What Adarin didn’t know was that about five of the orcs he thought were trees weren’t. And these were decent sized orcs.

“Do not touch me,” said Adarin, “or you will taste the metal of my sword. “The orcs taunted him, mimicking what he had said, but Adarin stood tall showing no emotion on his face. The orcs all got out thier swords, and Adarin had two orcs killed by the time the last of the orcs had gotten his sword out. This man, who you would think wasn’t as much as a warrior, was– a strong, Gondorian man and very much a warrior. He was taught by the best, and had good training from when he was a boy through teen years. He soon killed all five with a blow to the head and a gash across his whole arm. He began running as fast as he could (for he was a fast runner) to the meeting place–and he saw it vaugely-the walls in which he was to meet.

After an hour of running, but what seemed hours to him,he finally arrived; out of breath, tired, and especially hungry. The captain had been awaiting his arrival and when he saw him, the leader ran to him, in shock.

“You look terrible….” he began, “what has happened? Your horse ran to the stable in such a fear it seemed. We have taken your luggage up- “The captain called to someone who could bandage him up, and turned back to face him.

“I ran into some orcs in the western woods. I fear they have taken it over-I thought I heard some behind me, and following me as I exited the wood. I could have been killed, but luckily there were only five.”

The captain looked at him hard and wondered what they should do. “Nothing is to be done–they have taken over the Eastern woods also.We have no chance of running them out until we join the Gondorian army.” The captain looked away and they both saw a woman coming to bandage his arm and give him some soup. “Come, dine with us-we are to talk about war, “he said in a kingly tone. Adarin followed the captain, also known as Eorinian. Both approached the large building in which they were to dine and took a seat. Turkies, fruit, bread, meats, wine, and many maps were set on the table.There sat Rorimer, Lasolf, Earin, Theor II, and many others bustling about, talking, and laughing some. They all stood to greet Adarin and the return of thier captain and began getting to work. Adarin explained what had happened to him, including every detail about the orcs, thier works, the actions they took, and so on.

“When are we to leave?” Rorimer asked.” ‘Tis many days it seems that we have stayed here studying these maps.”
“Rorimer, we are to decide of that tonight; now that we have Adarin, the second captain under me with us,”replied Eorinian, as many men agreed. They all looked at Adarin and finally noticed the scratch and his head –which had swollen from the blow. “What happened?” many men asked, greatly curious about the abuse.

“An orc band, dear men. They have taken both woods.” With Adarin’s comment, all went silent.
“We must leave soon, or all of this land will be taken! Now is the time for action!” stated Lasolf, a man eager for battle. They all turned to face the dark-eyed, black-haired man, considering this comment.

Shouts of ‘I agree!’ and ‘Nay, we cannot!’ and ‘Yes, we should’ – from the sensible ones. “Silence!” Eorinian yelled, trying to get the attention of his group.”We need to take action in an orderly fashion. We head north to meet the other Gondorian armies so that we may join together and ride to Mordor. Delays aren’t a given, and there will be many people with us- Elves and men, mostly. Lasolf, I agree-but we must make plans now.”

They all poured over the maps, discussing what roads were to be taken, what the forces of evil were up to, and how exactly their attack would work. Adarin sat listening a while, but most of the time confirming decisions and helping map out the road.

By the time all where done, Adarin had fallen asleep and he was woken by Eorinian, who directed him to where he was to sleep.

“As we decided before, be ready an hour after the sun’s rising and we are to leave midday.” Adarin knew this and could hardly pay attention to anything he was saying to him. Bits and pieces were heard,’orcs’, ‘Gondor’, Mordor’,mapping and planning’,was mentioned a lot . Adarin soon got to his room, plopped of his bed, not bothering to change into his sleeping clothes (the luggage was brought to the room by some of the men ), plopped on the bed, and fell fast asleep.

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Elenor lay fast asleep on the cold wet ground, having a terrible nightmare about orcs and big spiders. She woke up in a cold sweat, trying to remember where she was and how she got there; but she could only remember bits and pieces. She heard two gruffly voices and saw to dark figures facing away from her, by a newly-made fire.

“What do we do with the little one?” One orc said to the other.
“Kill her!” shouted an orc on the other side of the fire. Elenor pretended to be asleep and listened as hard as she could and was trying to make a plan of escape.
“No, no,” said the leader of the bunch of orcs, “her father is a warrior-an assistant captain of a small army. He took out five of our group and the rumor has spread of him, and his captain…uh….umm,”he said, trying to remember.”Eorinian!”one of them shouted.”Yes, yes,” the captain continued,” one of the fiercest of the country. We can use this, this, human against them! He will be forced to give up if we threaten to kill his ‘precious’ daughter!” he laughed and taunted Adarin as the others chimed in and laughed also.

‘Oh my!’ thought Elenor to herself, ‘why did I do this? Oh bother, I can be so stupid sometimes. They are going to kill me and Middle-Earth be free or not kill me and be enslaved. How do I know that?’ she thought to herself, ‘Oh yea!Daddy always said that if we don’t fight we are enslaved and all that!’ her thoughts wandered into less advanced subjects of five year olds. She soon gained conscience of what was going on and tried to concentrate.

“Is the little maggot awake yet?” said an orc to another. The orc looked over, and it looking like she was asleep, figured it. “Nah!” it responded, “the little grunt is still asleep. “They smiled and laughed, drinking orc alcohol. Only a minute later, the leader of the group decided to head out, and Elenor was put on an orc’s back. They traveled through the woods for what seemed like an hour–for Elenor was still drifting in and out of awareness. They soon approached the gates of the city, and they climbed over it, and what Elenor saw, amazed her. There were more orcs, goblins, and many other creatures which Elenor didn’t have an idea what they could possibly be. It was a blanket of black covering the hills only what seemed a couple of miles away. Spears, swords, armor, and shields clanging-making a black cloud fall upon the ground.

“Less of us than we thought,” said an orc, “I thought there would be more.” Elenor practically laughed at the thought, for they seemed to be no end to the black hoard of evil. ‘Oh, what a mess I have gotten myself in,’ she thought to herself. They approached the black sheet of orcs quickly, running fastly now. She sighed an began crying, wishing her father was there.

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When Adarin woke up it was a rainy depressing day and he didn’t want to go outside or do anything. His heart was weighing him down from missing his golden-haired daughter and Lilinel, his beautiful wife. He noticed Eorinian standing beside his bed.

“Come, Adarin. The orc brute has come early.”
“What?!” yelled Adarin.
“Thousands of orcs head north gathering in Mordor …for the war. There are supposedly more coming and being bred,” he said, putting his head down, “Lasolf has been killed. He volunteered to be a messenger, a scout. He never came back…..the orcs have captured him; tortured most likely…..,” he said, sighing heavily.
“Ai, I am sorry. I know he was your good friend….I wish I would’ve gotten to know him.”

Adarin got up, and being already in his clothes, he stayed in them for the rest of the day. Adarin and Eorinian walked to the gate’s top floor and looked out upon the land. The rain was pouring overwhelmingly and he saw a glimpse of the black blanket of destructive orcs over the western land. He heaved a sigh and they both went downstairs and ate a replenishing breakfast, though the whole group could barely eat because of the situation. They members ate what they could and got ready to leave.

“Adarin, sir,” said Theor II, “should we head out now?”

Adarin looked at him.”Yes, we should….where has Eorinian gotten to?” At that moment, Eorinian walked up to Adarin. “Adarin….I have bad news…..”

“What is it?”
“Come here, and I will tell you. Your daughter has been kidnaped……or killed…….,” he said, his voice quivering.
“What!?” said Adarin, panicking, not able to understand.
“Lilinel, your wife,”he said, trying to get the name correct,”got up from sobbing after you left, many hours later, called for Elenor, and she didn’t come…Search parties were gathered and they searched for her, all day, and are still doing so. They found her scarf in the middle-part of the wood walkway, the same as you came,” he said, trying to hold in his tears from Adarin’s expression.
“She must’ve followed me!” his face went white, “by the orcs! Kidnaped from another band of orcs roaming the woods, waiting for the war to start!”at this point, tears were rolling swiftly down his cheeks.”I must find her! Now!”he started to run away, but Eorinian took his arm and held him back.
“You can’t do anything, Adarin. The woods have been searched by the groups…..and the orcs have already left for the war. She was not killed, they suppose, but taken captive. If we win this war, the odds of finding your daughter will be higher then not succeeding in winning this war.”
Adarin’s eyes filled with sadness ,anger, and happiness, thinking she was not killed.”We will win this war. Even if I die,” he said, the anger in him rising. He screamed and got on his horse pulling out his sword.

“WE RIDE!!!”

All the group got on their horses, raised their swords, yelled also, and off they rode, into the depressing morning, ready to slay any orcs that they met across the way.

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Part II coming soon!