"The house of Gilnor had been long forgotten by many," Lord Elrond began, "as you may know, here in Rivendell, there are many historical artifacts and records. However there is only one record of the House of Gilnor in our possession. I do not currently know how many other artifacts are still in existence but this should suffice for now." As he finished his last sentence, he offered the book he was holding to me.

The book was bound in soft, rich leather and also tied shut with the same. The shape of the book was warped slightly; carrying the years of untold burden upon it. I began to unwrap the strip of leather from around it and it revealed a small engraving on the spine which was previously hidden from view. I easily recognised it as Telperion and Laurelin; the two trees of Valinor, the trees that brought light to the Land of the Valar in ancient times and were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant, but their last flower and fruit were made by the Valar into the Moon and the Sun.

Radagast wanted to ensure that I knew of my heritage despitenot explaining customs and it also seemed that he didn't know of any House of Gilnor either.

I opened the cover and was greeted with the sight of a coin-sized insignia of what I assumed was the House of Gilnor. I flicked through the rest of the pages but to my disappointment, most of the book lay barren of any information. Just as I thought that I had aquired answers, they were robbed from me once again. I sighed out before I had the chance to stop myself and Lord Elrond sent me a look of empathy. He then stood up from his seat and paced over to one of the bookshelves.

"Perhaps I will be able to ease your frustration, split from house of Fingolfin, the house of Gilnor was created. It is my belief that you are one of the last descendants, or potentially the only descendant, of the house of Gilnor left. The house in question was unfortunately destroyed shortly after the beginning of the third age; 141 years after the start of the third age to be as precise as possible. The house was known by few and even fewer knew of the dominant trait residing within the members of the house. It was said that on the fortieth day of summer, in the presence of the setting sun, the eyes of all those residing within the house would shine a radiant violet." at this moment he turned to a pair of drapes and swiftly tugged them away from the concealed sunlight and then turned to face me with expectant eyes.

Sure enough he was not disappointed; I could tell from his expression.

I was left with a few questions but the main one took priority. "Who, or rather what was the house destroyed by?"

Lord Elrond's eyes flash with a glint of sympathy as he calculated his answer delicately; "unfortunately, I do not possess such knowledge and I am not confident anyone else does either. I am truly sorry Caladhiel," he paused for a few seconds and then continued, "n'nir nat', lle-aya utua n'e ten' lle."

{"Some things, you must find out for yourself."

I knew that no more of my questions would have been answered so I quickly thanked Elrond and left to retire for the evening.

***

I found myself tossing and turning in my bed. I couldn't get comfortable for numerous reasons. The two main reasons being the burden of self discovery and the protesting of my almost healed wound.

I stood from my bed and padded over to the mirror to inspect my wound. The flesh was pink around the severed edges and sore but as my eyes traveled outwards and away from the wound, my complexion had returned to it's normal appearance. I reveled at the talents of Elrond's medical skills and decided that I would thank him once the waking hours had commenced. But for now I was stuck waiting for dawn in my chamber. I couldn't just sit on the edge of my bed for the rest of the night. I knew that I needed to do something to pass the time. I had started close combat training today but I was intrigued by the virtues of archery.

After changing from my sleepwear to something more appropriate for what I was about to do, I slowly pulled open my door and snuck through the corridor and towards the training grounds where I was sure to find the archery equipment.

***

I stroked my hands over the smooth and delicately carved wood of the upper limb of the bow. There were beautiful golden twirling vines carved into the wood and around the grip. I grasped the grip in my hand and picked out a quiver of arrows beautifully fletched with warm sunset coloured feathers. I strode over to one of the marks and notched an arrow into the bow. Esteldor had also shown me the basics of archery during our time together but the memory was swiftly fading away. Before I was gone for good, I recited the instructions he had given me.

"Rina, sana tumba suula. Esta lle rooma ar' caela beleg e' lle ranqui. Tuka n'alaquel i' strien a' lle anta. Maa ndu i' pilin' ie' lle aith, caela lle ooleme de, suula e' ar' faina!"

{"Remember, take deep breaths. Relax your shoulders and keep tension in your arm. Pull back the string to your face. Look down the arrow at your mark. keep your elbow up, Breathe in and release!"

I heard the arrow fly through the air and watched as it thumped into the black ring of the target. I sighed out in frustration as I realised that it was going to take a lot of practice to perfect this skill. I notched another arrow, aimed and let it fly. This time it pierced the blue ring.

I shot arrow after arrow, only hitting the red ring once, until I was suddenly blinded by the rising sun as it shone over the cliffside to the east. My eyes quickly adjusted and I continued to shoot my arrows until I had run out. I dragged my now tired body over to the target that I had been practicing on and began to pull out the arrows for re-use.

"Ikotane lle merna a' be an cuar vee' eithel." I heard a familiar voice sound. I turned round and saw Maenor stood at my mark with his own bow and quiver.

{"So you wish to be an archer as well."

"Uma, amin utua ta sai- intriguien." I reply simply.

{"yes, I find it very intriguing."

"Ta will sana y' an coiasira a' tura i' curu vee' amin'm varna lle sinta." He stated

"It will take a long time to perfect the skill as I'm sure you know."

Then without warning, he raised his bow, already notched with an arrow and aimed directly at the target I was stood at. My eyes widened in panic but it was too late to get out of the way. I heard the arrow rip through the air hit the target with a thwack. I blinked a few times and stared at the arrow in the target just below where my hand was grasping one of my arrows. It had hit the gold. It wasn't perfect but in a battle situation it was enough for a fatal blow. I started breathing again as I realised that I was not harmed and jerked my hand from the target.

"Lle-aya caela ner -dur, amin naa yele quel i' best tira ten' y' tyara" He called out to me.

{"You should have more faith, I am called the best guard for a reason"

"Ta maa tanya lle naa" I called back

{"It seems that you are"

"Amin sinta tanya lle ume il- kaima," Maenor stated sternly, "auta ar' esta. Tul a n'alaquel later ten' trainien."

{"I know that you did not sleep, go and rest. Come back later for training."

I decided to take heed and return to my bedroom. I still didn't feel tired but as soon as my head had hit the covers, I swiftly changed my mind and a dreamless slumber took me away.

~*~

Prepare for my longest A/N so far!
(sorry but it's important)

I finally got there! I'm so sorry for not having this last week. It needed to reach my word limit but I didn't know how to get it there. Please forgive me.

Credit is due for the artist of the picture (I'll find out who theu are) I did a tiny edit just for effect but their work looks amazing so I'll be sure to check them out.

So I am in my last term of school right nowand you know what that means: GCSEs. I might have to put this story on hold so I can study. I don't want to but it looks like I might have to.

I'll leave you with this for now and we'll see how it all plays out!

~If you can successfully translate the following phrases you win a prize! remember that like all translators of any language, it wont be completely accurate but I will accept anything that makes grammatical sense.~

Lle sinta lle lammen ri' lle computer uma haha. Lle anna naa beien pande e' amin narn! Diola lle ten' parma-ien ar' amin estela lle ve' amin narn. Namaarie!

That's all for now! Be sure to vote, comment and share!