Time passed, and it was winter of the year.

There was heavy snow in the sky, and the river was covered with thick ice. From under the ice came a muffled cracking sound. A strong wind blew across the lake, and the dead trees on the banks of the river shook violently and made a clattering sound. A group of elves was riding along the riverbank. The wind howled, and the snow covered their eyes.

They wore dark blue fur jackets, with a ring of snow-white fluff around the edge of the hood and cuffs, which was stained with a lot of snow, but the color difference was small and looked inconspicuous. The fur coat looked warm, but a few elves would still twitch a few times. That's because the biting cold wind will go from under their hoods and into their necks. They carried the Fianor lamp, because it was difficult to see the road ahead in this snowstorm. The faint blue glow of the Fianor lamp illuminated the path beneath their feet. So the procession struggled through the snow.

From time to time, snow fell on their faces, melted into droplets of water by their body heat, and hung briefly on their cheeks. Under the whip of the wind, their faces quickly returned to dryness. Their slender eyebrows turned gray because of the snowflakes on them. This gives them a different kind of heroism. Turgon walked at the front of the line, alongside another elf. The elf resembles Turgon, but is not as tall as Turgon. They were now in East Bereriand, heading north along the banks of the Chiron River. Turgon covered his face with his thick-skinned gloves so that the snow would not get in the way of his sight. The snow on the ground was a little thick, and the horses' hooves made deep footprints in the snow. But because of the raging wind and snow, the footprints were soon covered by new snow.

It's the year 320, four and a half years after his sister left Gondolin. For four and a half years, he has been inquiring about his sister's whereabouts. But the end always disappoints him: Arettir is not heard from. The lords of Gondolin believed in the fact that Arity was dead. They advised Turgong to accept this fact, for no mortal could cross that spider valley alone. Turgon was convinced that his sister was still alive.

The destination of their trip was Estorade. Although he has not given up on finding his sister, he has begun to despair after repeated failures. He began to realize that Beleriand was about to change dramatically, and that he should be prepared for it all instead of indulging in frothy fantasies all day. This trip is to find an ally for his father, Fen Guoqing. These allies are the descendants of the elves, humans.

They set out from Heslum, northwest of Beleriand, the territory of Finland. They traveled south, crossing the vast plains of Taras Dilnon. It occupies most of the territory of Sibereryand, and is also the land of Finrod, the son of Finafin. He was the first Elven King to attempt an alliance with humans, and was served by Beo, the patriarch of the Beo family.

Subsequently, they crossed the great river West Ryan from the West Ryan Marsh. It is the slowest flow of the West Ryan River. They then traveled east along the southern borders of the Grey Elves' kingdom of Dorias to the land of the sons of East Bereryand: Fëanor. Since then, it has been going north along the Kailong River.

The elf who was riding alongside Turgong spoke, "Do you really not want to?" he began, "about the funeral of Arettir." She's probably dead, and we all hope she's going to walk decently. ”

This elf has the same fair skin as Turgon, and has more masculinity than Turgon. He looked at Turgong with his eyes peeking out of his hood, his eyes full of bravery and fearlessness.

"Yes, Fingon. "I'm not going to hold a funeral for a living person." I didn't believe she was dead because I never saw her body. ”

The elf who talks to Turgong is his brother Fingon. They set out from Heslum together. Fingon nodded, pulling his hood to cover his face. The cotton wool on the hood dances in the wind. He understood his brother's stubbornness, which was the same as Arityr's.

After that, neither of them spoke again. There were ten elves in the cavalry behind him, all of whom were Fingon's subordinates, who had lived in Heslum in an oceanic climate for more than three hundred years, so they were not used to the winter in the interior of Beleriand. Their bodies trembled, suppressing the cold through occasional communication.

However, the weather did not keep going with them, and the blizzard slowly subsided. Within twenty minutes of their silence, the winds had subsided. The snow was much lighter, and instead of hitting the ground as hard as before, it landed like goose feathers. Everyone's vision has widened a lot, but the cold has not faded. But the elves in the cavalry stretched out their hands and let the goose feathers fall on their palms and melt into droplets. They laughed, because winter in Heslum only rains.

Turgon, however, was accustomed to all this. Of the Finnish family, only Turgong and his people lived the longest in the land of Beleriand. He didn't like the perennial humidity of Heslum on the northwest coast, which was one of the reasons why he wanted to relocate to Gondolin.

They could now clearly see the woodland to the northeast along the Chiron River. It was Nan Elmoth, and it was in this woodland that Elwe, the elven king of the Telleri tribe, met the noble lesser god Merian during the Great Migration of the Ancient Terre. Here they fell in love and became partners. This is the only time in history that a mortal has been combined with a god. However, Elway also gave up his journey to the west, staying in Beleriand, and became Singar, the king of the gray elves. King Singh now resides in the vast forest kingdom of Doriath, in the middle of Beleriand, but this woodland is still nominally the land of the Sindar elves.

This time, however, the destination was not there, but Estorade, a settlement a few miles south of the woodland. So they left the Kailong River, which originated in the northeast, and began to walk due east. After a few more minutes, they were able to see the settlement.

In fact, it is better to call it a small town. The houses in the town were made of wood, and the town was surrounded by an oak fence with large tracts of farmland they had cultivated. The farmland was covered with heavy snow, and no one was cultivating it. But Turgun can imagine the scene in the fields at the beginning of spring.

Now, the South Elmos Woodlands are due north of them. Turgong didn't know why, and unconsciously looked at the edge of the woodland. He became distracted, and the horses under his crotch stopped. Fingon looked back at him suspiciously. "What's wrong, brother?" asked Fingon, "that's Nan Elmos." The land of the Grey Elves. You don't want to have anything to do with them. However, rumor has it that one of King Singar's blacksmiths named Eor has bought the fiefdom with a sword. This Eor seems to have broken away from King Singhal's rule and occupied his own land. Rumor has it that the woodland was dimly lit, and that he spent his days studying the art of blacksmithing with his servants in his stone house. ”

Turgong still stood still. It took a long time for him to react: "It's nothing. It was just a sudden sensation......" he said, "Forget it!" he closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously, so that he could not be cranky. He took off his hood, his long hair raging in the wind. "It's almost time to get to Estorald, let's go. Fengong said with a frown.

They got back on their feet and soon made their way into the farmland of Estoriade. After a while, they came to the main entrance. The houses in the town are neatly lined up, and the cobblestone roads crisscross it. There are a lot of humans walking back and forth on the streets. The appearance of these humans is completely incomparable to that of elves. They have one less noble aura than elves. In terms of height, they don't have a slender body like the elves, but they appear to be very strong. Male humans generally do not have long hair and have a thick beard on their chins. And Turgon found that both men and women had some dense wrinkles. If it weren't for their pink skin like the elves, Turgong might have mistaken them for Orc.

At the gate of the town, two soldiers in iron armor guarded it. Turgon's party came to the gate. The human guards saw the elven messengers and excitedly opened the wooden gate for them. After entering the door of the town, there are several cattle farms. There are a lot of cattle and sheep in it. Further down the town is the densely populated area.

Fingon blew the horn, and many people in the town came out of the house, some looking directly out of the upstairs windows. Some of them watched as if they had seen something new, while others began to bow to them as if familiar.

Bowing to them were the humans of the Beo family, who had seen elves in the early spring of ten years ago.

And those humans who are full of freshness to elves are another branch of the three major human families, the Ma Ruihe family. They had only entered Bereriande eight years earlier, and had always learned about the elves through the stories of the Beo family.

Turgong and Fingon had the same expression on their faces, as they had never seen a human before. They also don't quite understand human aging. They rode through the streets of the town towards the center of the town.

At this time, Turgong couldn't help but glance at South Elmos, a few miles north of the town. Suddenly, he saw a figure standing at the edge of the woodland. The figure was looking at this side, too. It was a female elf, her belly bulging, and she looked like she was months pregnant. But the face of this elven woman is recognizable from Turgong no matter how far away it is.

"Arettir!" Turgun shouted suddenly. Fingon stopped his horse and looked at him blankly: "What?" Turgong glanced at his brother and immediately pointed in the direction of the woodland. When he looked again, he found that it was empty.

Turgong rubbed his eyes: "I may be overthinking. ”

They were led by a group of human soldiers to the square in the middle of the town. In the middle of the square is a fountain, and on the north side is a town hall with a bell on it. The brothers dismounted, and several human soldiers led their horses to the stables on the east side of the square. They were welcomed into the town hall by a group of humans, while the other accompanying elves waited in the square on horseback.

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The hall is quiet inside, with log pillars supporting the roof of the hall. In the middle of the hall is a black carpet with yellow trim. At the end of the hall there are four chairs, all made of stone with cushions. The hall is flanked by two passages that lead to the two wings of the hall. Upon entering the hall, the human soldiers invited the two brothers to sit on two of the chairs at the end of the hall before stepping down.

Soon, two men with heavy beards approached. They wore relatively dignified cotton coats and sat on the other two chairs. These two humans have a leadership temperament that no other human has ever had. The difference between the two of them is seven years. The older one is the patriarch of the Ma Ruihe family, his family is named after him, he is thirty and eight years old Chinese New Year's Eve; the relatively young human is called Balan, the current patriarch of the Beo family, the son of Beo, thirty-one years old.

They sat down in their chairs and saluted the two elven kings, and then regained their upright upper bodies. The two elves nodded. Ma Ruihe spoke, his voice magnetic: "Noble elven guests, do I have anything to serve?"

At this time, Turgon noticed that four young boys were eavesdropping in the hallway leading to the side of the hall. One of the young boys had just coughed before he caught Turgon's attention. Now the other three little boys were making a quiet gesture to him at the same time. They are Marach's two sons, Malah and Imrah, and Baran's two sons, Blounn and Baranor. The oldest of them was thirteen-year-old Malach, and the youngest Baranore was only three years old, with Bronn holding him. Turgong watched them laugh as the four little boys ran away out of shyness. Turgong suddenly recalled life on the Western continent. When he was younger, he frolicked with his brothers and other children. It had been a long time since he had seen so many children playing together. He believed that such scenes should be common among rapidly changing humans.

Fingon spoke, "We have heard that ten years ago Balan's father, Beo, had traveled to Nagoth Lund to serve the Elven King Finrod. He said, "My father, Finguo, the elven king of Heslum and the supreme king of the Noldor, considered you humans to be a brave and resourceful race. He wants to make an alliance with you in the same way that Finrod did. If you can choose an envoy from the patriarch's lineage to serve Fen in Heslum, then he will give the rest of your family a habitable fiefdom of Heslum. ”

Balan frowned, "I'm sorry for that. "My father, Beau, has gone to the land of Finrod, and his brothers Angrod and Agnoll have welcomed the rest of our family to their lands, the Sonian Heights. So my people have sworn allegiance to the Finrods. The people of our clan will no longer serve another elven king. ”

Ma Ruihe glanced at him, thinking that his words might make the elves uncomfortable to hear. So he put his hand on Balan's shoulder, nodded and said, "You elves should also respect the choices of the Beo clan, shouldn't you?" Ma Ruihe took his hand back and looked at the two elves, "My family is very willing to be loyal to the High King Fen Guoxuan. I intend for my eldest son, Malach, to become an envoy to the side of the Finnish kingdom, but he has not yet reached human adulthood. Among humans, the adult is fifteen years old, but he is only thirteen years old this year. As soon as he reaches adulthood, I will send someone to escort him to Heslum. ”

Fingon applauded him. "Two guests, we still have something to deal with, so we left first. With that, Balaam left the hall through the main entrance.

Ma Ruihe lowered his voice and said, "You need more allies, two adults. He bent down, and the other two elves approached him, "To the northeast of here, in the land of Shagailian, there is a great human family. They called themselves the Haradins. But the people of their family naturally yearn for freedom and do not submit to rule, so they do not even have a patriarch. That's why they didn't move in with Estorad and mix with our two families. It will be troublesome for you to get their allegiance, but if you succeed, the power of the Finn family will increase greatly. ”

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By the time Turgong and Fingon came out of the hall, the snow had stopped. The thick clouds in the sky had also dispersed, and the sky had cleared. The western skyline had turned red because it was already dusk. The elves who were waiting outside saw them come out and slapped the snow off their cloaks. Both brothers turned over on their horses and looked down at Ma Ruihe, who had sent them out. The four children in the hall had just followed, leaning against the pillars of the porch and peeking.

"Goodbye, sons and daughters. Fingong bent over his horse and put his hands on his chest.

"Goodbye, firstborn children. Ma Ruihe bowed deeply to Fingon.

Fingon turned his head to look ahead, twitched the reins slightly, and the horse under his crotch began to move. The rest of the cavalry followed, and began the journey. They returned the way they came, past the pasture. The cows and sheep mooed and bleated, as if they were sending off a guest. When they came to the gate, the guard just opened the wooden door for them. After stepping out of the wooden gate, they walked on the snowy field. The fields were eerily quiet, save for the sound of their horses' hooves. The red sunset stained the snow, the town of Estolad, and the South Elmos woodland in the north.

From the moment he left the town, Turgong kept his head down in contemplation. He began to think about what he had seen in the woodland to the north when he had come. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had really seen Arityr. He turned his head to stare intently at the north, and Fengong looked at him suspiciously. "What the hell is going on, brother?"

Turgong flung the reins, rode north, turned to his brother and shouted, "Fingon, you go first! I must go to South Elmos to confirm something! I will catch up!" Fingon suddenly figured out that it must have something to do with Arettir. He couldn't think of anything else but her. Probably due to a tacit understanding between the brothers, Fingon ordered the cavalry to continue walking.

The younger brother ran all the way to the woodland a few miles away. It wasn't until the sun had completely set that he came to the edge of the woodland. There was an eerie silence in the woodland, and it was dark. A sense of fear gripped Turgon's throat, and he rode his horse to the edge of the woodland, tangled.

After a moment he shook his head, "I must find you, sister!" Turgong looked up and glanced at the bright moon, which is rare to see on such a clear winter night. He looked into the woodland again, the bright moonlight made it even darker, and Turgong felt a cold air waft out of the jungle. "This is the territory of the grey elf Eor. Although we share the same evil enemies as the Grey Elves, they may still be hostile to us. ”

He was on the verge of backing down. But suddenly he heard the sound of snow in the woodland, the sound of light feet on the snow, the weight of a woman, and it seemed to be running. He glanced into the woodland, and vaguely felt a dark shadow flickering in the shadows. That's where the footsteps come from, and it's slender. When Turgong thought that the footsteps just now might have come from a woman, he immediately came to a conclusion.

"Arityr?" Turgong shouted, but did not respond.

Turgong waved the reins and walked deeper into the woodland. After walking a short distance inside, he heard another footsteps, heavier and with the sound of metal armor crashing against each other. Turgong lowered his voice and shouted a few more times, but still did not get a response.

From the source of the footsteps just now, there was a snap. It sounded like a slap on the cheek. The loud voice brought Turgong to his senses. He remembered that he was doing something stupid. The sound was probably something about the elves who lived in the woodland. Then the footsteps just now are most likely not Arityr. And if he continued to walk into the woodland, he would most likely get involved.

Having figured it out, he immediately turned back on his horse and left the woodland. He shouted a Quenya to the horse, and the horse ran faster. Basking in the moonlight, Turgon tried to catch up with the cavalry that had gone away.

Everything is so serendipitous, and everything is so predestined.

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Four years ago.

The temperature is getting colder day by day. The scorching heat of summer has long since left the vast land of Beleriand, and has been replaced by a slightly cool autumn. The grass on the Himmlad plains turned a withered yellow color, and the cool breeze on the plains in summer slowly became manic and biting. The most uncomfortable thing is that there is no water source on the plain until the Kailong River on the southeastern border of the plain, and the autumn in the interior is exceptionally dry.

Arettir couldn't remember how many days he had been walking on the plains. Her body was a little tired, and her lips were chapped with dryness and a pale pink color. She was thirsty, so she grabbed the reins and stopped on the plain. Aspharos, the horse that had been carrying her all along, gasped violently. Arettir retrieved the kettle from his horse. There was still a small half-pot of water left in the kettle, because there was no place to get water on the plains. She had brought the jug of water from the fortress of Agron. At the time, all she knew was that the fortress had been attacked by the Orcs, and that Kellegun had left her room to fight alongside Kurjufin. What Keller Gong said to her at that time made her completely give up the idea of continuing this ambiguous relationship with Keller Gong. So she left.

All she remembered was that after running for an unknown amount of time, the blue glow of her dagger vanished. She knew she was far from the fortress of Agron. After that, she completely lost the concept of time. The only thing that is certain is that she has been walking south, and the temperature is getting lower day by day. As for how many sunsets and moonrises she had spent on the plains, thirty times, fifty times?

Fortunately, she mastered the art of hunting skillfully while she was on the Western Continent, and she did not starve to death on the road. Or rather, all the Noldor elves hunt.

Before she left the Agron Pass, she had seen the map of East Bereriander. She felt that by that proportion, the Himrad Plains were not very large. But she was able to be sure that she had not left Himmlade, because she had not yet reached the Chiron River. She wondered why it took her so long to travel a short distance of about twenty leagues. In fact, she didn't know where she was supposed to go, she just blindly headed south. She vividly remembered what the secondary god Uni had told her, that she must not return to Gondolin or it would bring disaster to them. So she just wanted to find a place, a place where no one would be restricted to settle down, even if it was only one person to live in. She remembers seeing on the map that on the other side of the Chiron River was a woodland called South Elmos. She felt that if she was lucky, she could set up her own place there.

She didn't know anything about what was in the woodlands.

After removing the kettle, she took a sip of water and put it back. She sat down on the yellow grass, her thighs blistered from the long ride. She hissed as she rubbed her hand over the blistered part. She got back to her feet and rolled over her horse. After riding some distance further south, Arritil suddenly felt a change in humidity. When she looked up, she saw a thick fog. "There must be a body of water ahead, is it the Chiron River?" Arettir said to herself, "I guess it's been autumn for a long time, that's why there's such a thick fog." ”

She rode into the fog, and there was little visibility. If it weren't for her quick reaction, she would have almost fallen into it without seeing the Chiron River that suddenly appeared in front of her. Although, this did not have any effect, because in the next second, the joyful Arettir took the initiative to pounce into the Chiron River. She drank the river thirsty. The river wasn't deep, and if Arritil stood up, it would only reach her waist. But she now soaks herself in the river. A chill seeped into her bone marrow, but she enjoyed the pleasure of wetting her whole body. Her clothes were wet against her skin, and her twin peaks loomed under the sheer clothing.

Suddenly she saw the woods on the other side of the river, and the shady woodland was South Elmos. Arettir vaguely felt a dim atmosphere in the woodland, but it also exuded a magical power, similar to the feeling she had had when she had passed through the kingdom of Doriath of the Grey Elves with several Lords of Gondolin before. Arettir knew that in the legend of the Sindar elves, it was in this woodland that their king, Singar, met and fell in love with the Maia named Meian.

Arettir returned to the shore and untied the iron hoops and reins from Asfarus' back, restoring him to a free steed. "Now, I'm free. I'm going to give you freedom too. Go, the Himmlad Plains will be at your disposal. She patted the horse's back, and the white steed departed.

She walked into the river again, and she had just enjoyed the rain, but now she felt the cold water pierce her whole body like a needle. She waded across the Chiron River, which was so fast that she made sure it was secure with every step she took. In this way she came ashore from the other side and stood in front of the woodland. The magic drew her in and made her walk in without hesitation. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugged herself tightly, and couldn't help but tremble. She longed to strip off her soaked clothes and walk naked in the woodland, maybe it would be much warmer.

But she didn't, out of a strange sense of shame. Although she didn't think she would meet anyone in the woods, her instincts told her that there were a pair of eyes staring at her. The air in the woods was thin, so Arettir felt a faint sense of suffocation when she came in. Light is hard to get into, only a faint white light between the cracks in the trees. Amazingly, the leaves of the trees grew vigorously, as if someone had used some kind of power to deliberately isolate the woodland from the outside world. Arettir couldn't imagine what kind of person would like such a gloomy environment. She thought of Morgoth's minions, but it couldn't be, because there shouldn't be an evil creature that could sneak past the Angban Siege and swagger south across the Himmlad Plains.

She had barely taken a few steps into the woodland and had a feeling of wanting to leave. A sense of dread rushed over her head, and she immediately turned around. But what she saw made her nearly faint: the Chiron River behind her was gone, and a large number of trees had appeared on the edge of the woodland. She even felt like she was in the heart of the South Elmos Glades now, not like she had just walked a few steps in.

Arettir spun around in a panic, telling herself that she was just misremembering. Or maybe she's gone too far between thinking in a daze and not realizing it. After this lap, she finally lost her sense of direction completely. Arityr's head was dizzy, and she put her hand on her head and shook her head. "The air is so thin here...... I must be delirious......"

With that, Arettir fell to the ground. The moment she fell, she felt her surroundings light up, a blinding white. Arettir opened his eyes with his hand, and when he got used to the light, he slowly withdrew his hand and found himself in a pure white city. So familiar......

"I'm in Gondolin?" she muttered to herself as she lay on the ground. She smelled a familiar aroma. She couldn't be wrong because she used to smell it every day. The scent comes from a spice from the harbour city of Buglossonbar. She looked up and saw the person she expected: her brother Turgon.

Turgong held out his hand to her, "You're home, Arityr. Arettir smiled weakly and reached for Turgon's hand. Turgong pulled her up from the ground. She hugged Turgon.

Her brother took her into a room in the King's Tower and lit a fireplace for her. A wave of warmth immediately enveloped Arityr's cold body. Turgong smiled at her, and she smiled at Turgon. It was in this warm atmosphere that Arettir gradually closed her tired eyes.

After closing his eyes for a while, the long-lost sense of security suddenly left. She felt her surroundings darken again. She immediately opened her eyes and found herself in a room made of stones. The scene just now was just her hallucination. There is indeed a fireplace on the wall of the room now, and there is a fire burning in it. She sat on a solid wooden bed, and a dark gray-haired elf flicked the firewood by the fireplace to make it burn even louder. He turned and watched as Arritil stood up. Arettir found that by elven standards, he wasn't very tall. But through the crimson armor on his body, his muscular chest could be felt. His gaze was full of power, but with a somber tone.

Arettir found that her clothes had dried, and she didn't know why she had the illusion of returning to Gondolin, perhaps because she had regretted leaving there. In retrospect, in this chaotic world, the hidden kingdom was not a true paradise.

"Did you save me?" Arettir began.

The elf nodded, and Arettir thanked him. "I am a grey elf, named Eol. I was a blacksmith in Doriath, but I don't want to be ruled by him in the land of Singar. So I gave Singar, one of the swords I forged, Angrahel, for a small piece of woodland he ruled, which was South Elmos. My servants and I are now settled here. ”

"I am Arettir, the daughter of Finn Guoyi. ”

Instead of answering her, Eore walked straight towards Arettir and climbed onto the bed. Arettir smelled the spices on his body, exactly the same as Turgon's. She instantly understood why she had dreamed of Turgong when she was unconscious just now. "This aroma is ......"

"The spice is produced in Buglossonbar, a city of Sinda on the coast. I bought it from there. Eol replied perfunctorily, and then tried to climb onto Arityl. The scent of his body almost made Arettir forget to resist. By the time Arettir reacted, he had already placed his hand on her chest.

Arettir shoved him away, "What do you want to do?" she jumped out of bed and took two steps, then turned her head, "Thank you for saving me, I think I'm getting out of here." ”

Eore interrupted her, "You can't leave this woodland unless you have my permission." "After coming to this woodland, I don't know why, I gained some power. I can create illusions in the minds of travelers passing by, and get them lost in this woodland. You should remember the strange feeling you had when you first entered the woodland. You're here because of the illusions I created. As soon as you step out of this room, you will be lost in the forest. ”

"Why are you doing this to me?" asked Arettir.

Eol's two fingers were raised: "There are two reasons. First, you're a Noldor elf. It was you who slaughtered the Telleri clan and brought the enemy to Middle-earth!2," he smiled wickedly, "I need a woman to spend my lonely time with me in forging swords in this dim woodland for so long. ”

When Arettir heard this, he immediately turned and fled. Eor stood up and shouted something, and Arettir was surrounded by several cloaked elves. They lifted Arettir straight up, grabbed her back to the room she had just had, pushed her face up to the bed, and then took out some ropes and tied her hands and feet. The servants then bowed to Eol, left the room, and closed the door.

Step by step, Eore walked towards the bound Arettir. She struggled weakly, but the rope was too strong to break free. Eore shed his armor, his strong muscles throbbing in the firelight. His giant pillar showed the hunger and thirst of his heart.

Arettir even throbbed when he saw his body. Eore violently tore all of her clothes. This strength caused her to give up her resistance, and let Eol's body get closer, and the swelling of her inner thighs from the long ride tormented her nerves. But the pain was mixed with a pleasure she had never felt in her life. Her eyes were closed, and the familiar scent surrounded the tip of her nose. The scent gave her the illusion that the person in front of her was her brother, and a sense of guilt arose.

The harsh reality hit her hard. In the fireplace, the flames crackled, the firelight flickered, and the woodland ushered in the autumn night.

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In this way, Arettir spent four years in South Elmos. Soon after arriving in the woodland, Eor forced her to marry him, though only his servants were present. And so she became his wife. She didn't love him because of his violence. He often punches her up when he gets angry.

But Eor was able to bring Arettir satisfaction. This satisfaction was something she had never experienced before. However, he often did so in a rather brutal manner, and Eore didn't seem to care if she felt excruciating pain at the same time as she burned herself. At first, Arettir may have rebelled because of the intense pain, so Eor would most likely tie her up. Later, however, Arity came to accept this rough approach, and it became redundant.

Fortunately, this kind of thing doesn't happen very often. He spent most of his time immersed in blacksmithing, sometimes leaving home for the East. To the east, according to Eol, is the Blue Mountains, which are also the borders of Beleriand. There are two dwarven cities in the mountains, Beregost and Nogrod. He was there to discuss with the dwarves about his favorite metalcraft. Before Arettir came to the woodlands, his interactions with the dwarves had led Eore to create a metal that shimmered like black jade, which he called Garvaun, as hard as steel, and as malleable as it was easy to craft. His armor was made of it.

In the following year, Arityl tried to escape once. However, because of the spell Eor cast on her, she almost got lost in the woodland. She was later recovered by his servants, who tied her up and beat her again. Since then, she has given up on the idea of leaving the woodland. She told herself that she would have to spend the rest of her life here. Because she knew that even if she could really escape from South Elmoth, there would be nowhere to go. There was no way she could go back to Gondolin, for she was not as selfish as she had been. She felt guilty about leaving Gondolin and her offense to Turgon, and knew she couldn't go back and face him. In addition, the prophecy that the Maia named Uni told her has always been in her heart. If she returns, she will bring the scourge to Gondolin.

Regardless, South Elmos is also a place where she can live, and she slowly discovers that Eol is not exactly disgusting to her. The kind of robustness that is rare among elves gradually fascinates her. Sometimes she finds that she enjoys spending time with him. The only thing that pained her was that she had to suffer in silence as Eor poured out her anger. Eventually, she accepted life in the woodland.

So she stopped trying to escape for a long time, and gradually gained the trust of Eor. He lifted the spell that had been cast on her and gave her relative freedom. She is no longer imprisoned in Eor's stone house, and can walk in the woodlands. Sometimes Eol would even go with her into the woodlands to watch the stars and spend the night together.

Eore had only one ban on her: she was not allowed to go outside the woodland. Because the plains north of the woodland belonged to the sons of Fëanor, and he did not want her to have any contact with them because of the hatred shared by the Sindar elves, and to the south of the woodland was a human town of Estorad, Eore felt that it was crazy to associate with these unknown races, so he did not let Arettir go to the place south of the woodland. Arettir really didn't have much interest in this, so he kept following the rules he had set.

In the early spring of the fourth year, when a warm breath awakened their throbbing of a winter in the dust, Eor planted the seeds of life in her body. During this time, Eol really rarely applied violence to her, but he didn't show much concern for her. Arettir even had the illusion that Eore didn't care about the child.

An incident after that confirmed her suspicions. During the autumn and winter season, which was also a critical period for Arettir's pregnancy, Eor suddenly rode a horse and set out on the road to the dwarven capital. In fact, at this time of year, he would go once, because the day of autumn and winter communication was the dwarven New Year's "Turin Day". Arettir didn't think he would leave her this year, but she was wrong. As in previous years, he left behind his sword, Angveriel, which was forged along with the sword he had given to King Singar, and the other sword will be mentioned in later stories, and left South Elmoth.

So, that cold winter, she was strong and took care of herself. Aeor's servants sometimes came to her little help out of conscientious questioning. After two and a half months, it was time to give birth at any time. When she woke up that day, she suddenly had a premonition. She didn't know if it was the magical power surging in the woodland that hinted at her.

Her hunch was that she had to go to the south outside the woodland to have a look. It was inhabited by humans who were called later sons and daughters by the elves. She knew she shouldn't have to go against Eor's wishes to reach out to the humans, but an unknown force drove her to go.

On this day, she got up from bed very early. She hadn't slept all night, for the last few days. At night, labor pains in her abdomen would torment her and make it difficult for her to sleep.

She wore a gray cloth garment with a heavy fur cloak over it. She looked back at the empty bed and smiled weakly as she remembered the day she had been here four years ago. "It's ridiculous, Arettir. She said to herself, "You left Gondolin in search of freedom, and now you have completely lost your freedom." ”

She walked out of the stone house with a big belly, and one of Eor's servants stopped her, "Princess!" the servants called her, "your child is about to be born, so stop running around the woods." The servant advised her. Arettir didn't look back, just waved his hand to tell him not to care.

The woodland is covered with snow. Heavy snow falls through the cracks in the trees into the woodland. The snowflakes fell on Arityl, causing her long hair to be dotted with white flowers. She reached out and spread her hand in front of her, and a snowflake landed in her palm, which then melted into a drop of water by her body heat. Then the snow fell on her hands one by one, melting one by one. Her hands were red from the cold. She remained silent for a few moments before she withdrew her hand and put the hood of her cloak on her head.

A strong wind blew through the woodland, and the stout trees stood, but the branches and leaves rustled. The trees in this woodland seem to be evergreen regardless of the seasons. Arettir speculated that it might be due to Merian's blessing, the strange magical aura of the woodland, and Eor's ability to make people hallucinate.

She walked through the woodland in the wind and snow. The white boots she wears blend in with the snow. Her feet on the snow converged with the sound of the branches swinging. She carefully held on to the tree to prevent herself from falling. There was some loose snow on the ground that had been trampled into smooth ice by servants who went out hunting in the morning. This is very dangerous for her. Once you fall, the consequences are unimaginable.

About an hour later, she was on the south side of the woodland. The snow is already a lot lighter. She looked over to Estorad. She had expected to see only a bunch of diminutive humans coming and going in that town. But she saw something she hadn't thought of. She vaguely saw a cavalry entering Estorade's gates. Judging by their attire and height, it was a group of elves, perhaps even the Noldor elves. She couldn't see clearly, but guessed that the Son of Fëanor might have sent an emissary to meet the humans.

But the sound of the trumpet told her the truth. She saw that it was the leading elf blowing the trumpet on the town's roads. She was all too familiar with the sound of the trumpet. There are only two elven kings in the world whose horn sounds like this. Those were her two older brothers, Fingon and Turgon. She could tell that the two elves in the lead were none other than her two older brothers.

"Turgon!" she shouted, but it was too far away for the sound to reach.

She wanted to run, and an urge to cry came to her eyes. However, when Turgun suddenly turned his head to look at the place, Arity suddenly forced himself to hide behind a tree. She clutched her chest and gasped nervously. She leaned against the tree, blaming herself for her impulsiveness. She can't be discovered by Turgon, she can't go back to Gondolin, she can't face the people she hurts, she can't bring disaster to the city she wants to go back to the most.

She walked out of the tree again, and saw that the two brothers had entered the town hall. Arettir found a stump and sat down to avoid the cold of the ice. She stroked her bulging belly with her hand and laughed. She hadn't laughed like this in a long time. She was happy to be able to see her brother again. How she wished that she had really rushed to her brother just now and been taken back to Gondorin by her. But she knew it shouldn't be this way.

A gust of wind blew, and Arettir's hood was blown off, and her long hair was messy in the wind. Snowflakes stuck to her face. A chill invaded her body from her neck. Insomnia for several days on end made her slowly wrapped in tiredness. She actually fell asleep on a tree stump in the wind.

When she woke up again, the snow had completely stopped. The sun has just set in the west. She stood up and suddenly saw Turgong approaching on horseback in the distance. Arityr's first instinct was to hide in the woods. She heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching, and finally stopped, turning into the sound of boots on the snow. By the darkness of the glade, she thought that Turgong did not see her, but the sound of her footsteps exposed her. Turgong was approaching her by the sound of footsteps.

At this moment, excitement triumphed over reason. Whatever the prophecy was, let it get out of her mind! Turgong was right in front of her, and in the darkness, Arettir felt a sense of belonging. Yes, she's going back to Gondolin! She walked out of the woods and hid no more. Resisting the sour feeling in her eyes and the choking in her throat, she raised her hand forward and walked towards Turgon.

One step, two steps, three steps, it's close at hand!

Tears flowed from the eyes, swept across the cheeks, and mixed with the snow.

At that moment, she felt a hand grab her left hand from behind her and tug it back. At that moment, she felt that her hope was completely extinguished. She guessed what it was and began to regret what she had done. She turned and felt a palm pound on her face. Suddenly, a sharp pain grabbed her. She felt her face swell. She fell and sat violently on the icy snow. She saw the person in front of her, and it was Eol, just as she thought. He happened to be back from the dwarven capital. Arettir looked back at Turgon, and saw him mounted his horse and left.

"No......" she stretched out her hand weakly, unable to make a sound. She crawled on the ground, trying to chase Turgon, but she couldn't do anything.

Eore tugged at her hair and pulled her in front of her. "You have broken the rules I have set for you!" he cried, "I will find you absent when I get home, and the servant told me that you are coming south, and I will know!" he looked at her, clenched his fists and tried to fight.

But Arettir suddenly screamed. She clutched her stomach tightly and looked pained. Eor saw blood flow from between her legs, stained red with white snow. Eor withdrew his fist, snorted softly, and shouted into the depths of the woodland, "Servants, I need help!" Eor took a deep breath, his eyes showing the worry he tried to hide, but he couldn't contain it.

Several servants gathered from the woodland. "Get her back! she needs treatment!" called Eol.

At the shout, Arityl fainted.

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When Arettir awoke, she returned to the familiar stone house. In the coma, she vaguely felt unbearable pain in her lower body. The flames in the fireplace flickered as usual. She sat up slowly and subconsciously touched her stomach. The abdomen, which had been erect, has now returned to its original curve. She reacted immediately. "What about my child?"

A servant walked in through the door, holding a child. The servant took the child into her arms. Arettir looked lovingly at the child, who was her son. The servant left the room.

Eore suddenly pushed open the door and entered, rushed in front of Arettir, and slapped her pale, weak, swollen cheek. The child, who had been quiet, suddenly cried, probably frightened by the heavy blow. Instead of covering her face, Arettir held back the pain and caressed her child tenderly, trying to calm him down.

"This is your son, Eor. Arettir said in a weak voice, "What shall we call him?"

Eore squinted at her, snorted, and left the room.

Arettir looked at his son, "Your father may name you in the future, but I will not call you by the name he gave you. I don't want my children to be called by my Sinda name. I'm going to name you in the Quenya language of the Noldor tribe, it's a secret between you and me. You will be called Romian. In the Noldor language, it is interpreted as 'Son of Glimmer'. For you were born in the glimmer of light in the shade of the trees of South Elmos. ”

Arettir looked at the fire, and she had a feeling in her heart that the flame was burning in her heart at the same time. She felt the flame of hope she had once extinguished suddenly rekindled. Yes, she made a decision. She has to devote herself wholeheartedly to the process of raising Romien. At least, she still has something she wants to pursue in her life, where she has lost everything.