Elrond, Arwen, Elrohir, and Elladan were looking at Luminarie like she was a ghost.
" Did you just say that you would need mithril for this?" asked Elrond while his children continued to look at her as if she had just grown another limb or something.
" Well, it is the best material for making items that are magic conductive, and with good craftsmanship, you can do many things, you know?" she said with a smile. " Okay, let's drop this because we will get into a discussion that will take a great deal of time, and Arwen needs to sleep because we will leave at dawn. Goodnight, everyone," Luminarie said and went towards the room allocated to her. The elven family watched her leave, and after a minute , they started to talk about Arwen leaving and her future training. They agreed that standard training would be best as she wouldn't need anything extreme for the future. Besides , if they were to guess, Luminarie's standard training would be hellish enough.
Dawn, the next day
" Luminarie, take care of my family and safe travels. Arwen, be careful out there and listen to your teacher , " said Elrond while saying his goodbyes to everyone who was leaving. At first, he wanted to send 50 riders with them, but when Luminarie said that they would slow them down until the time they met Celebrian , he relented. Arwen was sitting in the saddle on her new mount, which was one of the spare Mearas that Luminarie's soldiers had in case something happened.
" Let's depart. And take care, Elrond. I will take care of their safety, and they will come back to you intact , " Luminarie said to the Lord of Imladris. When Elrond heard her, he smiled and nodded at her. " MOVE OUT!" she ordered, and her soldiers began to ride toward the mountain pass that Celebrian took. Once they were out of Rivendell, they took off at high speed. When Arwen saw this, she was surprised and noticed that the soldiers around her began to check their weapons, as if they anticipated a fight during the journey.
" Lady Luminarie, why are they preparing for a fight?" she asked, a little confused.
" Because we received intel before we started the journey to the East that in those mountains is an orc tribe with a considerable force. So we are preparing for the worst case, and this is why we started to pick up the pace to meet your mother. I don't want something to happen to my friend. I don't have many friends , and she is one of the closest ones to being my best friend , " Luminarie said with steel in her eyes while she, like her men and women , checked her swords and bow to ensure they were in accessible positions for quick action.
" How long will it take for us to reach my mother's convoy?" asked Arwen in a worried voice.
" Well, if they were riding at a normal pace and have about a two-day head start, then we are talking about one day at our pace because we have better mounts for fast and long journeys . That is one of the reasons I wanted to leave Imladris at dawn. We can ride longer in daylight with this , " Luminarie said . " The faster we leave, the sooner we meet them, and there will be a lower chance of accidents."
" I understand, Teacher, " said Arwen with a nod.
" You don't need to use any titles with me, Arwen. I may be your teacher, but I am a friend of your parents, so you are like a daughter to me too. I will take care of everything if there are any troubles , so relax , " Luminarie said with a warm smile, and they continued in silence.
Two hours until sunset, Celebrian's convoy
" My Lady, should we look for a place to stay already?" asked a female guard. Celebrian looked at her and then at the sun .
" Yes, we should prepare for the night. But be careful and look for a place with natural defenses if possible. I don't want to be surprised by the orcs at night," she said while gazing at the mountains before her.
" Understood, my Lady. Faelin, Leanor, you will go for reconnaissance and look for a
place that meets the conditions of Lady Celebrian."
" Understood," said the two elves , a man and a woman . They rode off while the convoy of 30 elves kept their pace.
Half an hour later
In front of the convoy, one of the elves saw someone riding toward them at full speed. He reached for his bow when he recognized Leanor from the scout team. But when he looked closer, he noticed two arrows in her shoulder and leg. He grabbed his horn and blew it while riding toward her.
" Leanor, what happened ? Where is Faelin?" he asked, looking at her wounds. When he saw the arrows , he gasped. " Are those from orcs?"
" Yes, and there were at least a few hundred where we found them. One of their scout teams noticed our scent, so Faelin told me to quickly report while he stalled them , " she said with tears in her eyes. When he heard this, he gritted his teeth, and they rode toward Lady Celebrian.
" My Lady, we need to turn back. There is an orc tribe on our way, numbered in hundreds, and they have our tracks. We need to run to Imladris at full speed. If they start to catch up , we will stall them, and you need to run."
" My Lady, there are wargs on the right and left closing in on us; we need to move."
„If none of us can run , then I will fight as well. Don't take me for a little flower , " Celebrian said while she took a bow from Leanor. „I still know how to use it," she added, thinking about her children whom she would not see again.
At the same time, with Luminarie and her company.
„Shouldn't we make a stop? We can still catch them tomorrow," said Arwen, who was a little tired from riding horseback the whole day. As she said this, the scout team in front suddenly fired a burning arrow into the air. When Luminarie saw this, her eyes narrowed, and she felt rage within her.
„To arms, Elves of the West!!!" she screamed, looking back towards Arwen. „Five squads will stay with Arwen; the rest follow me!" Then she started to ride at full speed, as her mount could muster at that time. When Arwen saw this, she was confused and looked at the squads that were with her.
„What is happening? Why did Lady Luminarie take 350 Elves with her at full speed? What was that arrow?" she asked , afraid of the answer, and when she got it, she almost dropped to the ground if she hadn 't been on horseback.
„That means there is a fight in front of us and they are allies," said one of them while looking around for any hostile movements.
While Arwen was asking those questions, Luminarie, at the front of her cavalry, reached the scout team and saw about 20 Elves in a circle, with a few in the middle who were injured and shooting arrows toward Warg riders who were circling around them to make them waste their ammunition while the infantry was moving from the mountains and would reach them in a few minutes.
„Neori, take your company and attack from the right side ; Leon, you will take the other company and attack from the left. I will take the rest and engage them head-on. Wait with your attacks until the infantry arrives . And close them off from behind like a triangle. I want every beast here to die , " Luminarie said with red eyes, looking at Celebrian , who had an arrow in her left thigh . „Now go! I will give you 30 seconds to leave so they won't know that there are more of us . "
„Understood, my Lady," both said and rode off to fulfill their tasks. After time was up,
Luminarie stood up in the saddle and looked at her soldiers.
„Now give the signal to charge!" she ordered. When she said this, she drew the spear that she hadn 't shown Elrond before. She lifted it up, and when the Elves saw it, their eyes flashed with emotion . „FOR GONDOLIN!!!" she screamed, holding Aeglos in her hand. The spear of Gil-galad gleamed in the light of the sunset.
„FOR GONDOLIN!!!" the rest of the Elves roared, and then the horns resounded. When the Orcs and Elves on the plains heard the sound of the horns, they looked in the direction of the sound. Celebrian, who recognized the sound of those horns from Elrond, who still had one in Imladris, was surprised to see so many Elves from the city that no longer existed . When she looked at the rider in front leading the charge , she covered her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes upon recognizing her friend , who was riding with more than a hundred Elves to help them.
„Luminarie... you really survived and left the world to find peace, but now you abandoned that comfort to help us. You truly are the best friend one could ask for , " she said softly, crying at the sight unfolding before her.
„My Lady, more of those beasts are coming from the mountains, " said Leanor with a pale face. When Celebrian heard this, she looked toward the direction of the mountains. What she saw almost froze her blood. She knew that even if Luminarie's cavalry arrived, their chances were truly grim, and even if they won, it would come at a steep price. From the mountains were moving about 5,000 Orcs .
„We are doomed," Celebrian said in a low voice. She had just ignited a spark of hope when it was brutally extinguished .