The Wanderer

Chapter Three

I descended the steps to the dungeons quickly, but I stopped when I heard quiet voices speaking. Hiding behind a pillar, I eavesdropped on the conversation.

"A runestone. My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise." It was the voice of one of the dwarves, though I did not know which.

"What promise?" The female voice made me stiffin, it was Tauriel. I peeked my head around the pillar and found her sitting outside the door of one of the dwarf's cells. The dwarf was taller than the rest and had dark hair, but no beard, only stubble.

"That I will come back to her." Tauriel looked down, knowing that the promise might not be fulfilled if the dwarves continued to remain here. All the more reason for me to release them.

"She worries. She thinks I'm reckless," the dwarf continued.

"Are you?" Tauriel asked in amusement.

"Nah," the dwarf says, smiling has he tossed the stone in the air. His misses the stone as it comes back down and rolls out of the cell. Tauriel stopped it with her foot before it could roll off the edge of the walkway and into the dark pit below.

She picked up the small stone and peers at it curiously. The sound of elven laughter rings through the dungeon as the feast upstairs got louder.

"Sounds like quite a party you're having up there," the dwarf commented, leaning against the cell bars.

"It is Mereth-en-Gilith, the Feast of Starlight," Tauriel explained, "All light is sacred to the Eldar, but Wood Elves love best the light of the stars."

"I always thought it is a cold light, remote and far away."

"It is memory, precious and pure. Like your promise." Tauriel smiled and gave the dwarf his stone back.

"I have walked there sometimes, beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light forever fill the air."

A memory seemed to come to the dwarf. "I saw a fire moon once. It rose over the pass near Dunland, huge; red and gold it was, filled the sky. We were an escort for some merchants from Ered Luin, they were trading in Silverbuck for furs. We took the Greenway south, keeping the mountain to our left, and then, this huge fire moon, right in our path. I wish I could show you..."

His voice sounded as if it had been a fond memory. Tauriel, intrigued, sat outside his cell as he spoke. Her eyes glittered with wonder as the dwarf spoke.

I looked away from the happy sight; at least one other elf did not harbor hatred for the dwarves. As I looked up, I noticed Legolas standing on a ledge above Tauriel and the dwarf. His face was blank, but I knew what it really meant.

Before I could call to him, Legolas turned and walked away, back into the feast upstairs. Time was not on my side, so I could not speak to the elf. The dwarves needed to be freed before the feast was over.

Just as I was about to find the guard with the dungeon keys, the elf I was looking for appeared. He was entering the cellar, probably for more wine.

I followed him into the cellar, where the king kept his fine wine. I didn't particularly like wine, it deluded the senses and tasted like dirty water; disgusting.

The guard gracefully walked into the cellar and said "We're running out of drink," to the elf stationed there. Quietly, I stood outside the door frame, wondering whether I should go in or not.

"These empty barrels should have been sent back to Esgarrouth hours ago. The bargeman will be waiting for them," the same elf said, noticing the barrels stacked up above the trapdoor.