The queen of the forgotten kingdom

Chapter 13

A/N:
So, before I start, I wanted to say some things.
First things first: Thank you all for reading the stuff I'm writig and updating here. I know my english is terrible, so thanks to all my dear readers.
Second, sorry for not updating yesterday. I was very busy. School, y'know?

But now let's start with chapter 13.
Have fun :)

It was still dark when the fellowship set off.
Except for the waterfalls it was completely quiet. The birds weren't awake yet. Even the wind seemed still sleeping, for no leaf was stirring in the trees.
the Hobbits yawned when they left Rivendell. Elrond watched them from one of the balconies. Worried he turned to his daughter, who was standing next to him.
"I just hope, this was a good idea...", he said and went inside. Arwen followed.

"It has been hours since the last break.", Pippin lamented.
"And it will be quite a long way since we reached our destination.", Gandalf answered the Hobbit.
"But we're hungry.", Merry tried to help his friend.
"We ate no two hours ago.", Boromir interfered.
"Exactly. Two hours ago. We'll starve, Merry. They'll let us starve.", dramatically Pippin laid his hand on the forehead, which made the other Hobbits laugh.
"Fool of a Took.", the old wizard muttered and shook his head. 

Further on the back of the cavalcade were Aragorn and Faya.
"How's your side?"
"My side? Oh... better. I think."
"You think?"
"Well, sometimes it's still hurting and it left a nasty scar, but otherwise I can't complain." She shrugged.
"Tell me.", she said after a while. "Are you adverse to leave me run a bit?"
"Don't you want to save your breath for walking?"
"I want to go hunting a bit. It won't be long. I promise."
"We can't wait for you..."
"I know. I'll find you, really."
"Ok, but be back at dusk."
"Promise.", she said and was already gone.
"Where is she going?"
Aragorn turned surprised. It had been Gimli, who had spoken.
"Oh... she just needs some time for herself, I think."
"Already?", the dwarf laughed. "We've been only out for less than a day."
"May be.", the Dunedàn replied. "But she's a free thinker. In Rivendell she's feeling a little trapped, I think."
"Really?", Legolas jumped in.
"I think so. She changed since... since the attack."
Aragorns look turned dreamy. He was worried about her.
She may say, she's ok, but he could she in her eyes, she was lying. The fear may be vanished, but something else had come. Something that made her, otherwise so gleeful, eyes melancholy. He couldn't say what it was, but he could still see it. Elrond had seen it to and even Arwen had asked him about it. He wanted to help Faya. But how? This question had haunted him for weeks now. Ever since they had been attacked. He had to find something, that-
"What attack?", Gimli tore him from his thoughts.
"Excuse me?"
"What attack you're talking about?"
"Oh... um, how should I say it? Well, Faya and I, we should-, no I should bring the Hobbits to Rivendell. I asked her about help, and she came. On the way we were attacked by Nazgûl, who almost killed Frodo, but, well, the Hobbits tell it like that, Faya went between them and was hurt instead of him. Frodo was still hurt though but without her he would surely be dead."
"Oh, really?" Not only the dwarf was impressed, but also the elf.
"Then it's good we have her with us, isn't it?" Gimli laughed. Then it went quiet by the men.

They pitched their camp on a clearing and now were seated around a campfire, eating Sams stew. Still no hint of Faya, and the night was coming quickly."
"Excuse me for a second. I have to stretch my legs."
Aragorn stood up and turned into the woods. He didn't knew where she was, but he would find her. Hopefully.
"May I accompany you, nín Mellon?"
Legolas also had stood up and looked at him interrogative.
"Hm? Oh, um... If you wish to come."
Both men left the clearing and stepped into the undergrowth.
"You're worried about the Half-wolf, aren't you?"
"Yeah, she promised to be back by sun down. Maybe something happened to her... can you hear that to?"
"The singing? Yes, it's elvish. The song of Lúthien and Beren."
"What?"
"I said, someone is singing- "
"I understood that part. Come on! Maybe it's her."
"Why should- "
"Just come."
Both began to run, always following the singing. And really. There at a small stream Faya was sitting.
"Fay!"
The woman turned and smiled at the two newcomers.
"Hello, Aragorn. Aiya, Legolas. What are you doing here?"
"We searched for you. You promised to be back at sunset."
"I know, I'm sorry. I lost the track of time... Aragorn? Are you ok?"
"... Is that blood?"
The Half-wolf looked at her hands in surprise.
"Blood?", she asked, as if she realised it only now.
Stunned to two men looked down at her. Then suddenly she burst out in loud laugher.
"Of course that's blood, Aragorn. I was hunting.", she giggled and wiped tear out of her eye.
"Fay! You scared me to death!", Aragorn said with relieve and joined her laugher. Legolas smiled as well.
"So you want to tell me, you already ate?", Aragorn asked after a while as they went back to the others. "Have you seen anything suspicious around here?"
"Well, I haven't seen anything but I heard a lot of things. There are Wargs around here. Plenty of them. In the woods. In the mountains. Everywhere. Ghastly creatures."
The men nodded. When there were Wargs the Orcs and Uruk-Hai were near, too. Did anybody note something about their transaction? They didn't know. And the uncertainty was shattering.

Fourteen days they had been out, when the weather changed. The wind blow from the south now. The clouds were strewed all over the sky and the pale winter sun came out. They had been walking all night and stumbled into the cold clear morning. Faraway in the south they could finally see the mountains. Blurry indeed, but they were majestic anyways.
"This is the land, in which once were the factories of my fathers. I don't need a map here.", Gimli declared proudly and began to tell them the whole history of the mountain, like he was a teacher, who was on excursion with his class.
At last he was interrupted by Gandalf, who pronounced, their destination was exactly the dale Gimli just talked about.
The Drimrill dale.
Now the Hobbits and Legolas joined the conversation as well and everybody told what he knew about the dale.
Boromir, on the contrary, bored as hell, sat down on a rock and Aragorn joined him. Since the man from Gondor found out, that Aragorn was his rightful king, he was even grumpier than before, wherefore he made a face, when he sat beside him.
Faya leaned against a tree and yawned. She looked around. It seemed like nothing had changed, since she had been her last. But yet so much had happened since that summer many years ago.

They encamped in a dell in between of some big bushes, ate something and weren't in a hurry to go to bed. They wouldn't continue their trip till the next evening. Everyone was revelled and the Hobbits were singing cheerfully songs.
Everyone, except for the Half-wolf, who was fluttering.
She jolted Aragorn. "Hey, do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"The silence."
The Dunedàn pricked up his ears.
"You're right.", he said after a while of listening. "There is absolute no sound. Not even birds."
he stood up.
"I have to check something.", he whispered. "I'll be right back."
Faya nodded and turned to the fire to warm her freezing fingers.
When Aragorn came back, Merry noticed him.
"What is it, Strider? Are you missing the east wind?"
"Well, not him.", the man answered. "It's something else, I miss."
"And was may that be?", the Hobbit wanted to know.
"The birds. Normally they are making a lot of noise at this time of the year, but now everything is silent. Not the tiniest noise for over a mile. I don't understand this."
Now Gandalf was attentive, too, and asked the Dunedàn if he had a theory about the source of the silence. Maybe the birds were just surprised about so many guests.
But Aragorn still wasn't feeling well about it.
"But Fay is uneasy, too.", he said stubborn.
"Then we have to be more careful.", the wizard said and send everybody to bed. So, they deployed a guard, it was Sam, and everybody laid down to sleep. Soon everybody was sleeping, except for Sam and Aragorn, who accompanied him. Now it was so quiet, even the Hobbit began to feel uneasy.
Suddenly Faya woke up and the men, startled by the sudden noise, turned to her in surprise.
"What is it?", the Dunedàn asked worried. What ever it had been to wake his friend, it couldn't be something good, because he knew sleep was something almost holy for her.
"I don't know. It's just a feeling... wait, what's that?" She pointed towards south. And really, there at the sky were odd dots, which grew, like the wind was blowing them north. They were birds, which were circling over the land, like they were searching something.
"Lay down. Quick! Don't move!"
Aragorn pulled the Hobbit down with him, into the shadows of the bushes and Faya jumped beside them.
The crows came closer and vanished towards north-west.
They were barely out of sight, Aragorn jumped up and woke up Gandalf.
He told him, what happened and, after a few interposed questions on Faya, the wizard decided to move on, as soon the sun would start to sink.