[Amanaduial the archer]

There was no way out: the way they had come was blocked, and now Raeis realised it was not mere coincidence. The webs that blocked their way down the tunnel glistened delicately, the strands thick and generous, oozing gently and slowly like thick honey, tantalising to the elf's hungry mind and beautiful to her good eye - diamonds and jewels of every colour seemed to glisten in the dim light from where they had entered the tunnel, the light twisting and refracting inside the web prettily. So beautiful they were almost ugly.

As she stared at the webs, holding out a hand towards them tentatively but not touching them, a shiver ran through her as she realised how calculated it had been.

The spider is no mere animal or insect... She has intelligence on her side.
Aye, so do we.
We? What, a scattered group who are at daggers with each other already. They would not stop at killing each other - how do you think they can rally to kill the spider?
We can form allegiance.
An allegiance?! An allegiance, ugly elf, is that what you say? And when have dwarves and elves ever come together succesfully? And as for the men...

Raeis shook her head violently to dislodge the voice that she fought with inside her fractured mind. Once it had been her companion, her friend even - some company to stop her from going insane, a prescence that had arrived suddenly one day after weeks of loneliness near death, uncaring. It had saved her, and she had cultivated it's prescence. But now...she scowled, annoyed. It had become irritable and nasty in the past few days, especially since the escape. It didn't like having her free to talk to others - it was jealous. But why should she reassure it? She had others now, she didn't need some snappy voice in her mind, telling her what to do, insulting her...

Others, ugly elf? The voice was always there, lurking at the edge of her thoughts. Others to talk to, is that what you think? Others like the man beside you, you mean? You see how he sneaks looks at you. He thinks you awful, remember, ugly elf? You thought so yourself. Think he can replace me, abandon me for him?! He is just a Man.

Raeis scowled fiercely and shook her head again a few more times, turning around, refusing to answer the voice. It had a way of making utterly impregnable arguements - why, she even remembered thinking he had thought her awful. No, wait, that wasn't what she had thought...the elf strained her mind to recall it exactly, but failed.

"Lady?" The little, scared voice from her left provoked a glare from her destroyed eye and she saw the fragmented view of the man again. He is watching me again! Again! Has he no shame that he shows his pity and disdain so obviously! The thought upset her, although she wasn't sure why - she didn't want all this company so suddenly, all these people confusing her and turning her voice against her...

"Raeis, what about the....the Spider?" he asked, coming around to her front so that she could see him more clearly through her good eye. She looked at him in confusion for a moment, trying to work out what he was saying, before her good eye widened as she remembered. The spider...of course...she turned around quickly as a scream rent the air and she realised that she and Zurumor were alone at the end of the tunnel: the others were all in danger back there. A sudden flash reel of their faces ran through her mind and appealed to something more humane inside her, a part of her that she thought had iced over, and the tenderness that lay beneath the ice had died within her years ago when the world had turned it's back on her. But it was still there, still alive, and although she had not been with them long, the elf realised she knew these people too well - maybe they weren't much, this ragged group of weakened creatures from the depths of Mordor from every corner of Middle Earth, but they were all she had. The elf's jaw suddenly clenched fiercely in determination. They were all she had, and this time, no one would take what she had from her.

Turning to Zurumor, she withdrew her sword from where she had jammed it in the ragged piece of cloth that sufficed as a belt and gave him an unsure, fierce smile. The man seemed relieved she had returned from the vagueness that had held her and drew his own long knife - the knife she had given him. Nodding to him, she turned back down the tunnel and began to run back to hell.

As they came to the entrance of the cave, the elf dropped suddenly to a crouch against the wall, and behind her Zurumor did the same, so that they were merely a bulge in the wall, two ragged, lump-like shapes in the pitch black - boulders, for all means and purposes. As their smell would hopefully be masked by the others, it was as good a disguise as any in this place. But they were not the only ones doing it: on the other side of the tunnel, Raeis saw another two shapes crouched, noticing them only by the fact that one was shuddering, shaking silently in fear. But the other was utterly still and Raeis realised that it had noticed her as soon as she had it - their eyes met, and Raeis realised that it was the copper skinned woman, Darash. The woman was not like any Raeis had ever seen before, even in her captivity, but she instantly commanded respect: every inch a warrior, despite the injuries she bore, especially on her arms. Somehow they only served to make her more magnificent. What Raeis did not realise was that her view of Darash was probably similar to what the other Men had felt when they had seen her and Morgoroth: an awe and wonder at the unknown. But unlike the Men, Raeis felt no fear towards this Woman.

In a smooth movement, the woman unsheathed her sword with barely a sound, her black eyes still locked with Raeis's gold flecked blue ones. Raeis raised her sword as the woman did the same, and touched the point lightly to her forehead. The woman did the same, and Raeis felt something intangible formed between them.

"Are you ready?" she whispered to Zurumor. The man nodded, and as he did so, Raeis felt him take a deep breath, feeling the air whisper along her sparsely clad back, so close was he. She paused for a second, enjoying the moment of closeness to another being, feeling that finally she was not alone.

But you will be if the spider gets them, ugly elf, the sulky voice in her mind reminded her and she jolted back to the present.

"After three...." Holding up three fingers so that Darash would hopefully be able to see them, she held the woman's gaze again and tucked them down one after another. One...two...three!

Throwing herself to her feet and into a run, Zurumor, Darash and Lyshka doing the same at the exact same instant, Raeis gave a fierce yell and threw herself at the spider's side. As she got close, it turned it's huge head and Raeis saw the glitter of the multitude of beautiful eyes, shining with fierce ugliness and, without a thought, stabbed her sword with all her might towards those eyes...