Of The Sun (The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings/LOTR)

Pt. 1 - Chapter 13 - Rilien

Anariel stepped lightly and quietly back across the Mountain Pass, making her way much easier and quicker now that the storm was gone and she travelled alone. She was not moving for half as long as she thought she would have to be when she finally found Gandalf.

"Anariel, what are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you."

"For me?" He smiled, slightly amused. "I assure you, my dear. I can more than manage on my own. Now where is the remainder of our party?"

"I know... I... I had a dream. I saw you walking and I thought... I thought perhaps I was meant to come and find you in some way. That maybe you would find yourself in need of help. Our journey was not an easy one." She said gravely.

"Yes, I saw the storm. Bad timing. Couldn't have encountered that if you tried ordinarily, but the danger has quite passed. You said you had a dream?" He asked carefully.

"I... I had to... to save Fili and... Bilbo and some of the others." She spluttered out. "I was tired." She admitted, feeling guilty.

"Mmm." His chin rose a little more as he looked to her. "Were you indeed."

"Please, not now Gandalf." She begged.

"Very well. Where did you leave our friends?"

"In a cave. A did not want to camp there for the night, but I felt we had no choice. Thorin and Dwalin looked it over and said it was safe."

"I believe you may be right. You did have that dream for a reason. Come now, we must move quickly."

They moved with haste until they found their way to the cave she had left the others in.

It was empty.

"Goblins." Gandalf spat.

"Amarth faeg!" She cursed under her breath as Gandalf threw her a quick surprised look. She wasn't someone who swore often. In fact, she didn't really swear. The literal translation meant 'poor fate,' which was sort of like an elf saying 'damn it,' which was hardly as bad as it could have been, but pretty much as bad as it got for an elf and vulgar remarks.

She ran a hand through her hair as she looked around in a bit of a panic. "This is not your fault." Gandalf said.

"I knew we should not stop."

"You had to wait out the storm. There's no sign of any passages or tunnels in here. You made the right call. As you did when you left to find me or else you would be with them now."

"If was with them then..."

"No, you could not help. You'd be a prisoner just as much as they are. You're more use to them out here. Now come. We will find another entrance. This one is closed to us."

They left the cave and went back out onto the mountain pass, following its trail a little ways until they found another cave. This one was small and even less use to them. They continued on, walking up and down and scaling higher to reach more and more caves until they finally found a passage they could use.

The pathway was dark and damp and the storm from outside had sent water rolling down its descending slope. Their feet pattered on the ground as quietly as they could muster until they finally reached dry stone and the tap tap tap of the damp rock behind them ceased.

Anariel could hear a voice in the distance. A loud one that grew as they came closer and she was finally able to make out its words. It was a loud booming voice that was not entirely pleasant and crackled a little as it tried to, she realised now, sing. He was singing.