Bring Me With Her

Prologue

"What happened in Dol Guldur exactly after I was gone?"

The Elf lord sighed. "I've told you what happened many times, Gandalf. His power was distinguished and he fled to the East."

The Wizard furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that all?"

Lord Elrond couldn't help but give a small roll of his eyes. "Saruman promised that he can no longer regain his full strength without the Ring of Power."

Gandalf the Grey couldn't help but be a little frustrated with his old friend. He had been debating this with Lord Elrond for months now, and they hardly got anywhere at all. The Wizard wouldn't even be questioning anything at all if he hadn't noticed any...odd events. However, Gandalf failed to mention that these events weren't even occurring in Middle Earth.

It was nothing particularly terrible that was going on in a little corner of the world known to them as Terra, but there were certain things going on with a particular person. A person who had been in Middle Earth for quite a bit of time.

Nearly seven months had passed, nearly seven months since Gandalf had sent his Terran friend back to her home in America. He had paid four or five visits to her in between those months. The Wizard didn't know what it was, but the last time he saw her, he couldn't help but feel something kind of...off in her presence. And he was sure that it had nothing to do with the death of a certain Dwarf.

Though she seemed beyond repair after his death, the Terran finally seemed to be on the road to moving on over the past few months. Though it seemed to be normal that the tragedy gave her grief every day, his former burglar was not well. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. She claimed that it just had to do with the sadness that would still creep up on her and weigh her down, but Gandalf felt like that wasn't it. He felt like it had to be something else, but what it was, he didn't know.

He often thought about a certain trinket that she picked up during her time in Middle Earth, but she told him that she lost it during the Battle of the Five Armies. Gandalf tried to think of anything else that could have left any kind of fingerprint that could be the cause of all this, but his mind was blank. And that was why he needed Lord Elrond. He needed more information.

Gandalf and Lord Elrond had been sitting at a table in Rivendell for what felt like years. There was hardly anything more that the Elf lord could tell him, and he knew it. He just had to know though...what if there was something that they missed? What if there was indeed something dark affecting his friend?

The Wizard was reluctant to keep the facts about the young woman a secret, but he was afraid that he wouldn't receive much help if he did. Terra was a completely separate universe. Whatever happened there would never affect this place. Therefore, the situation would be left alone. And Gandalf couldn't leave this alone, not while there was any kind of potential for his friend to be harmed.

"Gandalf, I don't know why this troubles you so. Saruman swore that he would deal with Sauron. There is nothing to fear. Ever since the end of the Battle of the Five Armies, we have had nothing but peace among the lands."

The Wizard really couldn't argue with that. He knew that the land had been peaceful, and there were no signs that trouble may be afoot. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him. Maybe it really was the Terran's grief that was getting to her. Maybe.

"My lord." The two of them turned their heads to see Lindir walking towards them with a letter in his hand. "A message from Dale. A recent report, informing us of the success of our aid. And by the looks of it, the alliance between Bard and Thorin has been going very smoothly." Lord Elrond gave a satisfied smile while Gandalf only widened his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

Lindir furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "A report, from Dale, Mithrandir. Our aid has been-"

"Not that! Did you just say Thorin?" the Wizard nearly snapped. Lindir took a small step back as Gandalf stood up from his seat, and the Elf gave a slight nod. "Thorin, who?" he demanded.

"Thorin Oakenshield, the King of Erebor." Lindir replied, as if this was nothing new whatsoever. With that answer, Gandalf the Grey took off, demanding that his horse be brought to him immediately. He had a certain Dwarf king to interrogate.