The Queen of Middle-Earth | Aragorn & Hermione

Chapter 6

When you love a person all fear disappears. And when you are afraid all love disappears. - Osho

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A hot damp with fiery ashes was hanging in the room. The smell of burned flesh and smoke filled the wizards' noses in no time.

"What happened?" Gandalf coughed, trying to wave away the smoke with his hands.

"I think Dumbledore overestimated himself." Saruman answered from within the fog, "Where is he anyway?"

"Here!" Gandalf yelled from the other side of the room. "He is not moving."

"Let me see that." The white turned Dumbledore over when he found him. He bowed over and listened to the wizard's heartbeat. "He is perfectly alive." Saruman said uninterested. "He just needed to learn the lessen that he cannot do everything."

The grey rolled his eyes, his old friend had always been jealous of the third wizard and seeing him failing this one time made the white very content.

"Look! He got burned." Gandalf said pointing at the old wizard's hand. The flesh was almost black and it looked like it was rotting away.

"Well how inconvenient." Saruman said and turned away to open any door or window he could find, in order to get rid of the fog.

"So what will we do now?" Gandalf asked in concern. They had been sure the spell to unite their powers would work. Dumbledore had always been able to cast any spell and now he was lying on the floor, burned and half-dead. The skills of the wizards had been too much for his wand. Trying to cast the powers on Saruman had caused an explosion with all three of them being launched from the place they were standing. Maybe that stick of a wand was just too small. Maybe he or Saruman should have tried it with their staffs.

"Since Dumbledore is not able to seek out our fellowship of imbeciles," The white wizard spoke with his deep voice, while waving his staff around the room to get the damps away from him, "we will release the Crebain to find them."

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The strange fellowship of Hobbits, wizards, a man, an elf and a dwarf had reached the foot of the Misty Mountains when another person had found them.

"Boromir!" Argagorn's step quickened to greet the man standing in the landscape. "My friend, how did you find us?"

"Éomer. He told me where you'd be, when I saw him riding to Rohan." The tall man with blond hair and a characteristic nose looked at Hermione and the wizards. He had a low voice and a behaviour like that of a leader. "He told me you've found what we've been waiting for." He continued.

Aragorn's head turned around to the trio as well. "Maybe." His look was fixed on Hermione. They had eye contact for a short moment, before he turned his head again. "They want to go home." He said in a sad voice, while scooping up the dirt in front of him with his feet.

Boromir looked at the wizards pensively, probably he hoped for them to fight as well. The witch looked at Aragorn, who looked a little bit nervous. She felt sorry for him that he had to explain to the people that they were not the salvation they had hoped for, but she really didn't want to get involved in something she had nothing to do with. At least that was what she told herself that she wasn't a part of this war.

"I see." Boromir nodded. "I'll help you find a way home." And with that said he sided the fellowship with a slight nod.

At the late afternoon they decided to take a rest. It was hot and the air got thinner, the higher they climbed. The three wizards were sitting on a rock and looked down at Pippin and Merry, who trained their fighting skills with Boromir. The man was telling them how to step and how to hold their swords and the Hobbits were doing their best to block his attacks.