Return to the North [ Lord of the Rings x Silmarillion ]

A New Friend

In the morning, the sun shining down through the golden leaves speckled their faces and woke them gently. Barahir was the first to wake. He had heard stories of the beauty of the Lady Galadriel from his parents, Eowyn and Faramir, but had never suspected her entire realm could've been so fair. The golden leaves and silver bark of the mallorn trees, or mellyrn in the proper Sindarin elvish, made for an incredible sight.

He rolled over on the leaves beneath him and finally made himself sit up. He looked around and saw that no one was awake yet. Barahir stood up and stretched, trying desperately not to wake anyone with crunching leaves.

His moderately long, curly blonde hair gleamed beneath the soft sunlight. As he shook his head, his hair flew around his face and got in his eyes. He glared at nothing and pushed it away immediately. He felt the golden sunlight on his cheeks and smiled. It finally felt like they could relax a little. The merging streams, the Celebrant and the Nimrodel, made for pleasant background noise to wake up to.

"Quit fawning over your hair, Barahir," smirked his sister Finduilas as she climbed out of the flet. "It brings shame on our family."

Barahir rolled his eyes. "I was not. I was getting it out of my eyes and admiring the scenery."

Finduilas chuckled. "Whatever you say, brother."

Barahir glared.

By now, a few others had woken up. Elboron, their other brother, had climbed down and smiled at his younger siblings.

"Fin, leave our brother alone. You know he's sensitive about his hair," Elboron smirked.

Barahir rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "You are a wonderful help, you know that, Elboron?"

"He tries," Eldarion told them as he climbed down, followed by Aderthon.

"Thank you, my friend," Elboron smiled at his friend.

"He tries," Aderthon laughed. "Eldarion never said it worked."

Everyone laughed. The twins had woken up and Fëalas was being tended to by her sister. Elfwine and Edeva were preparing the meager breakfast they had decided upon. All were in high spirits beneath the boughs of the Mellyrn.

Coming over to the red haired twins, Eldarion knelt beside Fëalas.

"How are you feeling, mellon-nin?" He felt her forehead and cheeks for fever. "You seem alright."

"I am in pain, but that cannot be avoided." Fëalas shrugged. "I do not feel sick yet."

"Good." The prince nodded and smiled, but inwardly he frowned. It has only been a few days though. Who knows how long it will be before the disease sets in?

Eldarion stood and got his breakfast. He sat between Finduilas and Aderthon and picked at the berries and cheese on his plate while sipping at his water. Looking around at his company, he smiled. They were all eager to keep going; he could see it in their eyes.

"From here we head West along Nimrodel until we find a crossing." Eldarion told them between bites. "Once we cross, we will follow the Celebrant north until we reach the Gates of Moria."

"Sounds easy enough," Barahir muttered darkly. "Which means something is going to go wrong."

"Do we know where the dwarven convoys have set themselves up?" Elboron asked as he ate a blueberry.

"From what Gimli told me, there should be some kind of dwarven set up in the Hall and around Mirrormere." Eldarion explained by taking some sticks and setting up a diagram. "Here and here."

"So we should run into friendly faces by the end of the day!" Elfwine's face brightened.

"That is the hope, yes," nodded the prince.

After all had finished eating and the dishes were cleaned in the river, they took hold of their horses and led them through the forest along the small Nimrodel. It took about thirty minutes before they found a crossing point.

"Do you think this is where the Fellowship of the Ring crossed over?" breathed Fëalas in awe.

"Quite possibly, yes," Elboron nodded.

The whole company had a greater respect for this place now. As they mounted up to cross, they were silent. The sound of the Falls of Nimrodel was audible in the morning air. It sounded almost like singing.

After all had crossed, they increased their speed to rejoin the Celebrant. After an hour or so, they reached it and headed north. Before long, they found signs of dwarven civilization. They crossed through a few pikes with goblin heads warning away those evil creatures.

"Halt!" cried a dwarf, his axe ready in his hands. "Who are you to come to Moria?"

Beside him were two others, ready with weapons to defend their homes. Eldarion dismounted, and the others followed. Elboron pulled Fëalas down with him and he and her twin supported her between them.

"Greetings, master dwarves. Prince Eldarion of the Reunited Kingdom, at your service. My companions and I come requesting safe passage north with the blessings of both King Elessar and Lord Gimli of Aglarond." He bowed before them and walked forward. "I have a note here from the dwarf lord."

The dwarf narrowed his eyes but sheathed his axe and took the offered letter. He opened it up, noting the wax seal of Lord Gimli and read the contents. Passing it to his friends, he nodded at Eldarion.

"It is an honor to welcome the prince of the Reunited Kingdom. I am Bidor, at your service. Please follow me. I will escort you to see Lord Durin of Moria." The blonde dwarf bowed deeply to the company and spotted Fëalas suspended between Elboron and Círeth. "Please, at least allow your injured comrade to ride. There is no need for us all to walk."

"Thank you, Bidor," Eldarion smiled. "Elboron, ride with Fëalas. The rest of us will walk alongside you, good sir."

Bidor, blonde haired and thickly bearded, nodded and walked beside Eldarion. He began speaking to the prince of many things, including of the passage of a ranger recently.

"He bore the symbol of the Reunited Kingdom. Injured and desperate to move quickly, he told us he had urgent news for the King's ears only." Bidor shrugged. "We fed him and tended his wounds as best we could, providing to him a horse that we used to pull carts back and forth outside Moria. He left the next morning in a rush."

"How long ago?" asked Eldarion urgently. "Recently?"

"Maybe three, four weeks ago?" Bidor thought hard. "Ye almost four weeks, I'd say."

Eldarion frowned. Obviously some new news had been sent to Minas Tirith. Whether or not it reached the Kingdom, he did not know.

"Evidently this news troubles you, sir," Bidor observed. "I would ask you see Lord Durin and tell him of what had happened. He would welcome any news, any explanation for our odd visitor."

Eldarion nodded. "Of course. I will say what I can to your Lord."

Bidor smiled suddenly as he stopped. "Welcome to the Mirrormere, and the gates of Moria."

Down below them was a dell, deep with a dark blue lake. In it, Eldarion fancied he saw stars. Bidor led them down the road into the valley and past the great pool.

Dwarven guards roamed around the dell and beside the great gates. They watched the newcomers suspiciously but said nothing when they noted that Bidor was leading them.