[maikafanawen]

Yanithe shook hands with the elf and Ani Dao began to tell the rohanian about some past adventures of hers. Night began to cover the land like a black cape, and stars shown down through gaps in the forest canopy. Burzdol joined them and listened as Ani Dao talked:

"Hmm, let me see. I remember a small adventure. It was about one hundred and forty years before I left Mirkwood.” Ani Dao’s favorite thing was to tell stories, and right now, her two friends seemed intent on listening. “I was working with my trainer, Ahret Ban, late one evening. He told me that a band of orcs had been spotted in the forest and that a good portion of the guard had been dispatched to hunt them down and eliminate them. Looking at me with a bit of amusement and adventure-lust he proposed, ‘I’ll bet you a barrel of wine we’ll find ‘em first.’ I laughed thinking he was jesting. When his expression didn’t waver I got excited, ‘Really?’ He nodded and we retired back to the palace to prepare for the chase.

“ ‘Now listen Ani, we have two groups of about two dozen to avoid, one foe, and one friend. We must be very stealthy. It would be best if we found the orcs and took care of them and any evidence of their passing before the guard finds out,’ informed my trainer as we packed some food and a rope in a bag and tied our weapon belts around our waists. I nodded my acknowledgement, and without further delay we were off.

“Ahret Ban’s patience is great and mine is not so. We had not been searching three hours before I became anxious. ‘Where would they be? Why would they enter? Who spotted them and how far away were they?’ When I asked my trainer these questions he just shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’m not sure. But that’s what makes it challenging, my young apprentice.’ It took us four days before we found them, and by then I didn’t quite believe that Ahret was telling the truth. We heard them approaching and quickly hid ourselves in trees above the company.

“ ‘Irshk! What is the hold up? We keep going until we get out o’ this stinkin’ wood!’ A large black orc sniffed the air around him. Ahret and I held our breaths. ‘I can’t smell a thing in this forest.’ Orcs growled their frustration and little arguments broke out among them as the two leaders quarreled. Silently, my trainer slid down, out of the tree and bade me follow. We slunk up behind the orcs that had singled themselves out and slit their throats, hiding them in the woods behind. We took out eight before one of the others took notice. ‘Where did Burdau go? He was here a minute ago…’ Ahret Ban loosed an arrow that silenced the orc into death. Emerging from the forest he jested with them in a low voice: ‘I am the great elf warlock. Fear me, and return beyond the borders of this forest.’ The leader called Gurok gave out a snarled laugh, ‘Fear you? When you are have my size in weight?’ The orc swung his scimitar around and Ahret easily dodged it. ‘I give you another chance, orc,’ he spit out the word, ‘Leave.’ Infuriated the orcs came at him. In a blur, Ahret threw out kicks, punches, and slices with his dagger and ten more went down. The six remaining turned to run and I meeted them. I gripped my throwing knives like such,” Ani Dao had unsheathed her knives as she spoke and held them before her in demonstration, ‘I swung them around my head like this and released them.” All six knives broke free from her hands and found their marks in six different trees. “All of our opponents had been defeated in less than ten minutes.” Satisfied with herself she sat back down, leaving the knives where they were. “We quickly hid the bodies and went back to the palace. A week later, while we were speaking with my father in the throne room, the guard returned saying that the orcs must have left the forest because there was no trace of them left.”

Ani Dao got up to retrieve her knives, then returned to hear what her friends had to say of her story.