The Green Dragon - Part 2

[maikafanawen]

Ani Dao stopped her story at a good point and the three friends ordered dinner. Ani had always been hungry during her last 700 years of traveling. Her only hearty meals had been had with the dwarves and in one or two inns in the scattered towns of men. Tonight she decided on a beef stew. Along her journeys, there had also been a shortage of ale. The dwarves had brewed the best, although these hobbits were a very close second. They drank to the Shire and spoke randomly throughout their meal.

Once their plates were cleared and their appetites satisfied, the Mirkwoodian warrior finished her story.

“Alright,” she said leaning back in her chair, “where was I?”

“You had just made a deal with Benosh,” reminded Sofiya, her enchanting gray eyes wide with enthusiasm.

Ani Dao smiled, “Oh yes. After we convinced him we weren’t bluffing, we began to pour over maps, charts, and other plans. Lakr Bo and I spent our nights comfortably then, eating as well as Benosh and our limbs were left un-bound, though guards still stood around our tents. Escape would have been tricky then because we could be caught, and perhaps then, killed. So we decided to follow through with the original plan. One night after we had finished our plan-making for the night, a group of Easterling scouts made a ruckus outside the Lord Easterling’s tent. He emerged in a flourish of impatience with us behind him. The scene we took in was unexpected. Three Mirkwoodian elves knelt down in front of Benosh, hands bound, and mouths gagged. When Lakr and I caught sight of them, we realized that if they supposed wrongly about our intentions, things would only get worse. We attempted in vain to go back in the tent with out their noticing us. The three elves caught sight of us and at first seemed confused, then they realized what we were, or what Benosh thought we were: traitors. In a hurried motion of anger they began to flail and press against their captors. In the growing disorder, Lakr Bo took this as an opportunity and quickly kicked down one of the tent posts without the Easterlings knowing who did it. As the tent collapsed he made for the elves. Unbinding them in a single swipe with a sword stolen from the guards, he pushed them from the chaos and off home before the canvas collapsed on the Easterlings and the two of us. When things came to, and Benosh reclaimed control, he blamed the guards for letting go of the elves. We saw them disappear over the hills in blurs of greens and browns. Had they escaped thinking us traitors and that they had escaped on their own, or had one of them realized that it was Lakr who had saved them? We did not know, and could only trust to hope.

“That night, the Easterlings closed down the camp and made for the forest. Lakr Bo and I had convinced them that the palace was not for about twenty miles within the forest (when in truth it was no more than five) so it would be best to enter right away. Our plan was to lead the Easterlings past the palace and more into the center of the forest. That way they’d be trapped as well as lost. Once they were “setup” in the designated location, Lakr Bo and I, if everything worked out, would slip away. We knew our way very well around the forest, so we could get back to the palace and ready the people.

“The first part of the plan went very smoothly, the Easterlings were silent in the forest, and brought no attention to themselves. Then once everything was “setup,” things took an unexpected turn. Benosh had us re-tied. ‘There will be no sharing of my winnings. The deal is off. I can take the rest from here.’ Gagged and left to be eaten by spiders, two guards each had us staked to the ground in a clearing.”

Ani Dao paused intentionally taking a long sip of her ale to build of the elves’ anticipation. She smiled inwardly, and continued. “We were there for three days, our bones exhausted and our throats uncomfortably dry. That was when Lakr’s older brother, Jakr Gahn found us. He had been out dealing with some spiders when he came across our imprisonment of a clearing. He quickly untied us and fled with us back to the palace, leaving the baffled Easterlings behind.

Once inside the Great Hall, Thranduil immediately called for an audience with us. We were led by five guards into the hall. Next to Thranduil were the three elves that Lakr Bo had set free at the Easterling encampment. But instead of staring at us with mirth, they were smiling and even winked at Lakr Bo. Grateful they understood, we hearkened to what Thranduil King had to say. ‘The Easterlings are very lost, Ani Dao,’ he said looking at me with uncertainty. ‘What do they know?’ ‘Nothing, my lord. I led them astray with false information. They are waiting for an army of unsuspecting elves to ride right to them on their way to the closest side of the forest, my lord.’ I knelt down respectfully in front of him, so I did not see my father and the rest of the elven guard behind him outside the door behind me. ‘Ani Dao!’ I turned quickly as my father walked towards me, with a very angry look on his face. ‘If Thranduil King didn’t need you in the future for you courage, honor, and skills, I’d kill you!’ His face suggested he was serious, so I silently took my knives and sword from him as he held them out and followed him out of the Great Hall. Lakr Bo followed behind me after a few words with Thranduil.

“We were taken back to the training yards as the guard went to lead the Easterlings into the spiders’ nests. Jakr Gahn lectured us in the responsibility of being members of the guard. Then he made us go through every exercise on the course until the guards returned successfully. After the Easterlings were defeated for good, Tranduil held a banquet in the Great Hall honoring the Guard and Lakr Bo and I. Our lives took a different turn after that, Lakr Bo went on to train for the Elite Guard, which didn’t work out, and so remains the Royal Guard, and I went on to train with Ahret Ban to become an assassin for the king’s protection. Of course, I was never used either, for we had no specific enemy. Therefore I left my life with the elves and journeyed across Middle Earth, which, after many more adventures, and meetings, has led me here.” She gestured to the surrounding room and leaned her elbows on the table in finale to her story.