The autumn sun was shining through the few copper-coloured leaves still clinging to the branches in defiance of the icy winds cutting through the vale. Despite the deeply blue sky, the weather was already turning to winter and the temperature mirrored it. There was an edge to the wind and the smell of ice in the crisp mountain air.
The warrior climbing the path had little appreciation for the stark beauty of the autumn day, though. Her black hair hung in tangles around her head. Occasionally a gust pulled a matted strand away from the rest and played with it for a moment before it fell to her shoulders again. Her chainmail armour was covered in patches of rust and spots of an undefined brown liquid. She was pulling a dusty, ragged cloak around her against the wind as she stubbornly put one foot in front of the other, climbing ever upwards. There was more dust and mud on her shoes, and more of the brown stains.
Finally the narrow path gave way to a gap in the cliff wall. She looked up, lifting her head to show her identity to the guards hidden in stone nooks above the path. A member of the Eldar race, and welcome to the vale.
As she stepped through the gap, the valley of Imladris spread before her.
~*~
She stared for a moment, taking in the sight of the house amongst the rushing water. It still looked the same it always had, and it would still look that way when she was gone.
But she herself, the warrioress, was different.
Her steps were slower now. As she descended the steep road towards the bridge, she was putting each foot down hesitatingly, as if testing if her legs would still carry her. Her eyes were looking forward without really taking in anything of the scenery around her. Step for step, she walked down the road, until finally she came to the thin bridge spanning the water that foamed down the wide stone ledge and around the buildings set into it.
She hesitated once more as she reached the bridge. Her gaze went up suddenly, flitting around huntedly. Then, as no-one challenged her, she set her foot onto the stone tiles of the bridge and crossed over to the Last Homely House.
She was back.
