This time they spread out the arrows more, so every six inches within ten feet of the source gets hit. They keep up that rate of fire for a few seconds, too; by the time she hears a call that halts the arrows, at least two hundred have been fired.

"Hold your fire," one of them says tensely; if she weren't amplifying their voices she wouldn't have heard it. "Name yourself, stranger."

"I am called Loki Odinsdottir. I do not work for the Enemy or have any hostile intent."

"Those who would seek to meet us in peace should approach our borders unarmed, not appear out of nowhere in the middle of our home."

"I approached from the air. I did not know where your borders were, nor that this was your policy."

"You are now better informed. Do not approach us from the air, or find yourself by any means or magic within our borders without leave."

"Noted."

"If you don't leave now, we will ask the trees of this section of the forest to sacrifice themselves in our defense by lighting themselves on fire."

"Should I go out and come in again on the ground, then?"

"If you insist on returning at all, yes."

"About how far will I have to go to reach an edge, may I ask?"

"Twenty miles west is the edge of our lands."

That is, indeed, where the forest stops being painful to look at.

She lands just outside the forest of headache and turns pedestrian, Lævateinn a harmless stick at her belt, and looks for a good place to stash her wyvern-tail dagger before approaching. Lævateinn she doesn't want to put down but the dagger is more replaceable.

Here it's just regular forest, with plenty of places to hide a dagger.

As she reaches it an Elf jumps down from the canopy above her, carrying two knives but looking almost friendly. "You can turn into a bird and found yourself in our territory earlier?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for approaching it normally. Please do not turn into a bird while you're here; we are not yet equipped to protect ourselves against enemies in the form of birds, though we will be shortly. What aid would you ask of our queen Melian of Eglador and Nargothrond and all Beleriand?"

"I seek information on the powers of Maiar and Valar - the Enemy in particular - so I may better plan to address the problem the Enemy presents. I have unusual powers from another, faraway realm, but they are not designed for combating a Vala, and before I design further powers I need to know more about what I am dealing with. Your queen was recommended to me as someone to talk to if only I could find her."

"Very well. The Enemy can take many guises, some of them fair, and desires nothing more than to see our King and Queen destroyed. You will forgive us our caution. I will convey your request."

"Thank you. Shall I wait here, then?"

"Go ahead. These lands are untroubled by orcs; the ones that venture near die very swiftly."