A hot, dry wind blew through Dale, cracking the trees. Suddenly all was ablaze from the dragon's fire.

"ANODIEN, NO DIRWEG!" the young elleths mother screamed.

Anodien had just enough time to grab her younger sister before her mother pushed her out of the path of falling debris. The debris instead fell on Anodien's mother, crushing her.

"NANA!" Anodien screamed.

"Anodien... Take Minaethiel... Go... Leave me... Find safety... Gi melin, Iellig..."

A tear fell from Anodien's eye as her mother spoke for the last time.

"Tolo, nin gwathel," Anodien whispered to the infant in her arms.

Numbly, Anodien wandered the city, until a tall grey figure walked up to her.

"Haldirrieth?" the figure asked her.

Anodien nodded.

"Tolo ar nin," he ordered, and she followed.

The grey figure led her out of Dale, into the country, and on to she knew not where. Day and night they continued on, until they came to a forest.

"Gandalf, what are you doing here at this time of night?" a brown figure asked, emerging from the cabin.

"Rhadagast, could you please watch these elleths?" the grey figure asked, Anodien guessed his name was Gandalf.

The conversation became quiet, too quiet for Anodien to hear at the point of exhaustion she was.

"Nodi?" thirty-year-old Minaethiel asked one night.

"Yes Min?" Anodien replied.

Minaethiel hesitated, then decided not to tell her sister what was bothering her. She didn't want to worry the older elleth.

"Gi melin, nin gwathel," Minaethiel whispered, snuggling up closer to Anodien.

"Gi melin, nin gwathel. Gi melin," Anodien smiled down, wrapping her arm around Minaethiel.

Anodien was worried about what Minaethiel was afraid to tell her. All she wanted was for her little sister to be happy. She had grown up fast, so Minaethiel didn't have to. The memories of the past was painful, but Anodien told herself that as long as Minaethiel was happy, then all was well.

Anodien had decided that Minaethiel shouldn't have to know the darkness of her past. Minaethiel grew up calling Rhadagast "Ada", and though it pained Anodien to hear it, just seeing the young elleth's smile each and every day made up for it.

Anodien did everything she could so Minaethiel could grow up in Rhosgobel in peace, learning the secrets of the forest.