[Child of the 7th Age]

Elentari's post:

Without her sword, which had for so long a time never failed her, Elentari could do little but shoot arrows aimlessly. There was no place to aim at, for the dragon never showed its belly, and when her quiver was empty she could only try to distract the great wyrm. But, it turned out, her distractions added to those attacking the beast could not prevent it picking up Alcyávëiel the throwing her to her death. Weeping bitterly, Elentari began throwing rocks toward the dragon's head, hoping to hit an eye.

Shrieking in pain, the dragon flung its tail about, nearly hitting Elentari's feet from beneath her. As she looked up, Elentari shouted with joy, seeing a bloody arrow in the beast's hand, blood oozing from its eye. But her joy was short lived. As Callo jumped down from the ledge, Elentari saw the shards of her own sword used to stab him. Time seemed to stand still, as Callo fell to his knees and breathed his last breaths. Running to him, Elentari had time to mouth the words 'Thank you' to him before he passed to a much fairer place, free from pain.

"Forgive me," said Elentari. Closing her eyes she grasped the handle of her sword and wrenched it from Callo's body, causing the wound to become more ghastly. Standing, Elentari took a cloth from her bag and carefully wiped the blade clean. Had it of been the blood of an enemy, she would not have bothered, but going back into battle with the blood of your friend and ally on your blade was disrespectful and incurs the wrath of the Gods.

"Elentari, we must follow Vrain."

Elentari turned to see Grain and those who were left following Vrain. She ran too, her tear-stained face full of misery and grief. How many more must die she thought, before we rid these lands of the dragon and are at peace?. Her hand tightened around the handle of her broken sword. She could feel the ground vibrating beneath her swiftly moving feet - the dragon was following them. Running into a large chamber, Elentari spun round to see Lostlondwen and another elf hit a wall, flung by the huge claws of the wyrm.

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From then on, till Vrain's brave charge at the wyrm, things were unclear in Elentari's memory. Perhaps she had been hit by one of the falling rocks that had killed Lostlondwen and her mother, or perhaps it was the shock of seeing another of her friends along with her mother killed, but she would never know.

Elentari was filled with a sense of relief as she saw Vrain drive the trident into the wyrm's dark heart. She was even more relieved when Selvren pulled him out of the way of the falling dragon's body. Walking over she knelt beside the dwarf and told him Grain was all right, then went around healing wounds and bruises from the fight. But Elentari was deeply hurt by the amount of her friends the beast had killed. She had always questioned why the Gods left such things come into existence, but had never doubted that they were in control, and never would. Knowing no one else could die had the claw of the wyrm, Elentari set about the tasks of clearing up and did the job no one else wanted to do - to make her dead companions look as beautiful as they had when they were living.
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[ July 13, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]