Alkthoniel Alkthoniel was born to Laebeth and Arlo Cuthalion in the year 3175 of the Second Age. Her life began under the eaves of Mirkwood, and many a happy year was spent there. She would play hide and seek through Thranduil's Halls with her older sister, Aurëthil, and quietly sit listening to tales of the elder days. The vast forest was ever a place for adventure and exploration for the younger elves, but they were never far from their parent's sight. Mirkwood was not safe. In 3200 of the Second Age, Laebeth and Arlo took Alkthoniel to Imladris. The Homely House would be a place of peace for the elves. Twenty nine years later they were gifted with Eouwen, and Alkthoniel doted on her new little sister. She learned how to fight with sword and bow, and often she would go out on skirmishes with her kin. The glory of battle enticed Alkthoniel, perhaps more than it should. At best she became adequate in the healing arts, and for song and poetry her heart did not yearn, but for the clash of steel it did. Aside from swordcraft, the main passion for Alkthoniel came in the simple joy of riding a horse. Wind whipping through long blonde hair, being at one with the animal, rushing over field and through forest... She would go missing for days at a time, never saying she was leaving, or when she was returning, and little did she reveal of whom she had met and what she had done. Only the smile upon her face told of the joy she found under sun and star. When the Last Alliance formed in 3430 Alkthoniel saw a chance to gain honour and valour in battle. She thought back to the tales told to her as a child. Laebeth had spoken of formidable elf lords, who were mighty in their wrath, and of dark adversaries who fell beneath the onslaught. To join them in history, in song and story, would truely be a dream come true. So when the Rivendell host joined the Last Alliance, Alkthoniel went with them, along with the rest of her family. Such devastation she had never known, and there was no glory in that final battle, though history remembers the names of the brave, and the lost. It was a black day for the free people, but one that offered hope, for Sauron was was amongst the fallen. Alkthoniel returned to Imladris with a new perspective on battle, yet the horrors of Dagorlad had not quelled her love of the sword, they had simply rooted a deeper hatred of the dark forces within her. In the subsequent years of peace Alkthoniel and Laebeth travelled Middle Earth. Far and wide they went, from Forodwaith to Gondor, learning all they could of the places and the people they met. Such time together strengthened the bond between mother and daughter. Back to the top Return to the front page of the book