"This filth cannot be allowed to roam where they will," declared Estarfin, his bright eyes scanning the surrounding hills searching for more enemies. Wordlessly, Parnard held out his wineskin, an offering designed to distract and placate.
"No, we shall need clear heads to clear this nest of vermin out," said Estarfin.
"We are hunting boar and deer, not Men!" Parnard protested.
Danel calmly replied, "These are thieves and brigands that threaten the Halflings. They have Bounders - brave lads, but -"
"Into them!" shouted Estarfin, and barreled towards the encampment of at least a dozen men.
"Beware! Your death approaches," Parnard hastily called out in Westron. Then he hung back watching, enjoying the excitement when Estarfin broke into their camp like a whirlwind. One of the men snatched up a big bundle and began to run off.
"That is right! Sneak away while you can," Parnard said to the retreating figure. "Oh! He did not get very far, did he? You there, woman! Do not stay and cower; there is no mercy here! Flee now while you can! Too late! She was too slow."
Now the men were seized with panic and running in all directions. It was as if Estarfin had kicked over an anthill. One rushed past Parnard, almost knocking him over in his terror. Reflexively, he flung out his wineskin, happening to strike the man in the back of the head, the soft place where the base of the skull meets the neck. The man crumpled to the ground without a sound and lay very still. Then Parnard heard a peculiar, savage sort of yell, and turning around saw another man bearing down on him with a knife. He leapt to one side as the man lurched forward, and buried Steel-Thorn’s blade deep in his belly, but not before the man swung out a fist and struck him hard across the jaw under his ear. The life went out of the man's eyes and he lay on the ground staring sightlessly up at Parnard.
"Estarfin! We cannot slay all," called out Danel.
"Why not?" said Estarfin, mechanically wrenching his sword from the sternum of a sandy-haired woman.
"Because we could do with some venison," she told him. "Most here are dead and the others have fled." She wiped blood from her sword. "I was not expecting that," Danel said, turning to Parnard.
"I was not either! I stabbed him pretty well in the guts but then he reached out and smote me," said Parnard ruefully, rubbing his jaw and surveying the carnage. There were bleeding bodies lying everywhere.
"Never leave them able to attack; finish it before moving to the next," Estarfin told him.
"I thought it was finished. Men are very deceitful," Parnard complained, and unstoppering his wineskin took another drink.
"You speak with wisdom, Parnard," Estarfin said, now accepting the wineskin.
"That is the second time in two days someone has told me that; in fact, it is the only two times I have ever heard it said."
"You seem to have suffered no major injury," said Danel, noting that if Parnard could still drink wine, all must be well with him. "Though there are a few exceptions to Men."
"Come then, let us hunt more worthy game," Estarfin said, and springing upon his warhorse, cried out in Quenya, "Ride Gilastor, as the wind we shall travel," and rode away swiftly. They were close to a small village of the Halflings. It was night-time and tiny lights winked out from round low windows.
What funny strange houses, thought Parnard. Leaning well forward to avoid overhanging tree branches, and with one hand firmly on his wineskin, Parnard maneuvered his horse down a narrow lane towards an open field. He could see a gateway of bars ahead, a crude wooden fence erected to keep cattle from wandering, and made straight for it, intending to jump over it. However, as he approached the end of the lane, Swan-Hoof was startled by an ear-piercing scream, and thinking one of the halflings must surely be underneath his horse's hooves, Parnard tried to whirl half-way round in mid-air; Swan-Hoof drawing up in fright and confusion crashed into the fence.
No harm had come to any halfling, horse, or rider, and so Parnard rode away again, unshaken, being very well-fortified with wine.
"There is - too much here!" Parnard said to Danel, drawing his horse close to hers. "I thought we were avoiding the village? I may have smashed a fence to splinters. We should go at once." Then he noticed a halfling peeping out from behind a bush, for as soon as Lotho's Bounder saw Parnard coming up, lolling dangerously in his saddle, he jumped off the road to safety.
"Let us find Estarfin, lest he ride down all here," she said to him in Sindarin. "A small gem will suffice for Parnard's mishap, no?" she asked the Bounder in Westron, who merely goggled, as at that moment Estarfin rode up on his massive black warhorse. This was far beyond the duties of a simple Bounder of Yondershire, and he took off running as fast as his hairy feet could carry him. "I will leave some coin or an emerald on our return," Danel said to her companions.
"Coin? We paid for any damage with the blood of those villains," said Estarfin.
"She wishes to reimburse the halflings for a fence that loomed up in my path very sudden-like," explained Parnard.
Estarfin laughed. The three elves galloped away again, jumping over streams and low rock walls, making their way deeper into the northern woods. Bears, foxes, and wolves were all they found, until at last Estarfin spotted a red boar.
"Who will take the shot?" he asked in a low voice.
"Go ahead, Estarfin. You found it," said Danel, while Parnard was looking in every direction but where the boar was.
Estarfin nodded and took up his old bow, nocking an arrow to the string. Danel readied her bow as well, in case of other boars nearby. Parnard readied his wineskin.
Estarfin loosed the arrow and with a thunk it hit the boar. It collapsed immediately. He rushed over to it, a long knife drawn and ready to finish the beast off, but it was already dead, pierced clean through the eye to the brain.
Danel pointed ahead at another boar and crept up the hillside stealthily. The arrow was drawn back and woosh! the boar fell over twitching, the feathered shaft stuck deep in its ribs.
"Very impressive," said Parnard.
"Nice shot," said Estarfin. "Shall we bleed them now? It would not do to wait too long and taint the meat."
"Yes, do it," said Parnard.
"Daegond would say 'aye,'" said Danel. "He knew about such things."
After observing Estarfin retrieve rope from a saddlebag to haul the carcass over a low tree limb, tying one end to the back legs of the boar and the other end to the saddle, Parnard wandered off to examine a particularly large oak tree, when he heard a pattering on the leaves and a low grunting. He spun around just in time to see a wild sow with red-rimmed eyes and menacing tusks trotting at him.
If Parnard had hunted boar before he might have been more cautious. It is common knowledge amongst hunters that when a wild pig is attacked, others are usually nearby; many a hunter has had to climb a tree to save his life after wounding one of a herd. But as Parnard knew nothing about boar hunting, he was taken by surprise, and only just avoided being gored in the leg.
The elf and boar circled each other warily, and each time the boar charged, Parnard swatted it on the nose with his wineskin and narrowly skipped away. This enraged the boar to madness, and it began squealing in fury, white foam flying out of its gnashing jaws. At last Parnard took up his sword and killed the beast by slashing in the neck and side.
Estarfin did not seem to notice the ridiculous fracas transpiring a short distance away, which was well for him, thought Parnard, who did not mean to torment the animal before dispatching it and wished that it had left him alone. Borrowing rope and a dagger, and calling for his horse, he copied Estarfin’s example and bled the carcass, whistling merrily as the ruby-red blood spilled out and soaked into the earth.
The elves having made short work of the boar decided to withdraw to a grove they saw, for it had started to rain, and seated themselves at the foot of a beech. Making a tablecloth of the grass, Danel unwrapped a cloth and laid out a plump juicy roast chicken and a large bunch of green grapes. Then they began to eat with relish and very leisurely, Danel and Estarfin savoring each morsel, and Parnard wagging his head in ecstasy as he feasted on a piece of roast chicken, the largest, that Danel had pointed out to him. The wineskin was lifted up and passed around, Estarfin noticing how much lighter it had become.
All was pleasant and convivial as the elves supped, then Estarfin said, "A fine night. It gladdens my heart."
"We should ride out more often," said Danel.
"I will speak to the Bounders; perhaps there are other Men in the area that need to be dealt with.”
"Perhaps there are, but what of the peace you were seeking?" Parnard asked Estarfin, throwing chicken bones over his shoulder and reaching for a handful of grapes.
"Peace? Perhaps once we have hunted them all there can be peace."
To this Parnard replied, "It might be so. ‘We have our work cut out for us,’ as the court tailor said to his apprentice the fortnight before the grand ball.” Estarfin nodded, glad that Parnard agreed.
Danel looked a little sad but nodded in agreement too. “Peace is to be desired, always," she said. "However, it comes at a price. We can ignore these brigands, they are nothing to us, but we can also secure our boundaries by aiding the Halflings."
"Whilst they are near they may yet be a threat. We should not ignore them,” said Estarfin.
"If we are careful not to scare the Shire-dwellers too much, this is a good place to visit. Elves from the Havens patrol at times, though they mostly keep hidden: we can do the same,” she said.
At length, the food being eaten and the wine having come to an end, the elves decided it was time to depart. Danel and Parnard, pleased with their hunt and at having carried out their plan so successfully, resolved to prepare the meat so that there would be plenty for the Midsummer’s feasting.
