For the "Speedily" challenge at Tolkien_weekly.

******************************************

A ranger learned to read the signs, swiftly scanning the woods as he traveled. Even the craftiest foe left a trail, and to the trained eye, a leaf turned astray was a banner.

After Boromir’s death, their father had ceased to heed reason, yet this change was not from grief alone. His stern mind was bent, like a branch pushed aside by the enemy’s passage. Faramir knew not how this could happen, for his father was guarded behind walls of stone, yet he feared that he read the signs aright--for long had he been a scout in dark places.