Unexpected Fate

Chapter 7: Now far ahead the road has gone...

The sun had long set when we reached the outside of a dense forest. I could feel the ancient energy that surrounded the woods, the trees were tall and thick with a heavy canopy of leaves. Somehow, even with the growing darkness around us, the forest appeared even darker. Certainly not as inviting as the entrances to Du Weldenvarden.

Aragorn led us inside the forest, his pace now a bit slower.

"Be careful young Hobbits," Gimli whispered. "they say a great sorceress lives in these woods: an elf witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell,"

I couldn't help but smile. If only the dwarf had met my own queen, Arya. I imagined he would say something similar, though, there was a hint of bias towards my fondness of the queen. I had always considered her strong, wise, and calculating. I could only hope to be the fraction of the elf that she is.

Svellevarina had a difficult time walking through the trees as they grew tightly together. She was often forced to walk around many of them, sometimes losing sight of the group for a moment before coming into sight again.

"Well," Gimli continued. "here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox,"

Elves surrounded us, halting us in our tracks as their sharp arrowheads pointed directly at each of us.

"Oh," he said.

I tensed, ready to withdraw my weapon if they made a move to attack. Legolas had loaded his bow, aiming at the Elves in front of him.

"The dwarf breaths so loud we could have shot him in the dark," a male elf stated as he stepped forward, regarding the dwarf with raised eyebrows.

The male elf then spoke with Aragorn in an unfamiliar language. As he addressed Legolas briefly I assumed it was a shared Elvish language. The dialect was quite different from my own, meaning there was little chance of me understanding even bits and pieces of what was said. Instead, I relied on the body language of those speaking and the energy that they gave off.

"So much for the legendary courtesy of the Elves! Speak words we can all understand," Gimli spat.

"We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days," the elf replied gravely.

"And you know what this dwarf says to that?" Gimli continued in a harsher dialect, his voice thick with anger.

"That was not so courteous," Aragorn said to him.

With a glance at Frodo, the male elf said: "You bring great evil with you. You can go no further,"

Aragorn kept stride with the elf as he stepped away, speaking urgently to him. They continued their conversation away from the group, leaving the rest of us to wait there as the armed group of Elves watched us carefully.

Svellevarina found a break in the trees to lay down, resting her head on the soft ground. The rest of us tried to find comfortable seats as well for we were unsure just how long the wait would be.

"Gandalf's death was not in vain, nor would he want you to give up hope," Boromir said as he looked to Frodo. "You carry a heavy burden, Frodo. Do not carry the weight of the dead,"

The Hobbit did not reply, but his wide blue eyes met Boromir's in acknowledgment. I made my way over to my dragon, kneeling beside where she laid her head.

"Your mind is still troubled," She stated to me. Svellevarina was not wrong. The thoughts I held previously were having a difficult time letting my mind find the peace it needed to.

"I am going to attempt to scry Murtagh and Thorn if you wish to join me," I said to her.

"Of course," she shifted her position so that she curled around me, her body shielding me from the direct view of the group to provide at least a bit of privacy.