Now the adventures of Maradil begin. This is where the meat of the story begins. I have already fully thought out Maradil's first adventure and will release it divided into three chapters, all released very shortly after one another. I DO NOT OWN LORD OF THE RINGS.

Maradil, his friends, and the two representatives had left the enclave of Aradale and were now well on their way through the countryside of Kunrude. Earlier they had to run back to the enclave because Maradil, Darzul, and Barin had hastily left and forgotten the representatives, but they were now all together. They had made progress, but it was now dusk and night was approaching.

Darzul then said, "Maradil, it's dusk. You remember what the wizard warned us about, don't you? We had better find some place to camp for the night."

"I guess" Maradil replied back. "We could camp out at under those trees over there." He pointed out a cluster of trees whose branches looked as though they would make a good roof to block the wind.

After a few minutes they had gotten everything completely set up and everything was ready. The five of them made a small campfire and they sat down to eat. They didn't have the time to cook anything and it was probably also too risky, so they just pulled out some Elvish waybread that they had in their packs and ate.

"We probably shouldn't have this fire ablaze for too long", Jeredia said. "You know how risky it is."

Maradil responded, "It's not that dark yet. I thought that maybe we had a little time and could warm ourselves up before the cold night."

"Alright then Maradil", Barin joined in. "If something were to happen because you were being reckless, as usual, I'm getting out of here as quick as possible."

"You really wouldn't leave me behind would you?" Maradil said back jokingly.

"Of course I won't you fool.", he then leaned over to Maradil and whispered, "But I'm not sure I can say the same about those two tag-alongs."

"Well, I'm bored." added in Darzul.

"You know what this calls for?" Maradil asked. "Some music to pass the time. Maradil had a devious smirk on his face like he was planning something. He then pulled out a small stringed instrument and started to play.

"Where were you even keeping that thing?" Barin asked. "I never saw you pack it." Maradil then looked towards Barin.

"Oh I know what's coming." said Darzul and he started to snicker a little.

Maradil then began, "Not sure if you two have heard it, but now let me tell you a tale. A tale of a dwarf who really loved his ale. The tale of Barin's Blunder." Maradil now looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

"Oh hell no, not this again." Barin shouted. "By Nazog's beard, you two are just never going to let me live that down." Nazog, for those who might not be familiar, was the dwarf after whom the port town of Nazog was named after, where Barin had grown up, and he is also someone whom Barin is very proud of and looks up to.

"What's he talking about?" asked Pathil, "What is this Barin's Blunder that he speaks of?"

"Don't listen to him, he's filled with all kinds of nonsense." Barin answered. "Just don't worry about it." Barin was now getting red all over. He did not want these two people he hardly knew to find out about his embarrassing secret. "Besides Maradil, for someone raised by elves, you can't even sing that well."

"Relax" Maradil said. "I just love seeing how you react when you think I'm going to tell others about it. Joking aside, it's now gotten very dark. We should put out this fire and get to sleep." With that, they all did just that.

Maradil woke up around what seemed to be the middle of the night and found that everyone else was still asleep. He tried to go back to sleep but, he kept hearing strange noises outside, some of which didn't sound friendly. He could see through the tent what appeared to be the shapes of something off in the distance. It seemed as though it could be wolf, or some other predatory nocturnal animal, but there was an air of dread about it. Even worse, he felt as though it was looking right at him. Though he couldn't fully see it, Maradil was sure that it could see him clearly.

Then Maradil heard what sounded like a bow firing and an arrow flew towards the creature. It didn't hit it, but it was enough to scare it off and the creature ran away as fast as it could. Maradil was glad that it was gone. He got up and went outside. He looked up in the trees and saw Pathil sitting there with his bow by his side.

"What were you doing up?" asked Maradil

"I couldn't really sleep." Pathil said. "I thought I'd just stand watch instead. It's a good thing I did. Go back to sleep now, there's nothing to worry about."

Maradil went back to his sleeping bundle inside the tent. When trying to fall asleep, he heard a sweet sounding humming which then turned into singing. Was it Pathil singing an elvish song? It sounded so comforting and soothing, and it very much reminded Maradil of a song his adoptive mother used to sing to him to help him fall asleep when he was a child. This time it also had the same effect. He could feel sleep taking hold of him and he closed his eyes.

There was a noise like blasting horns and Maradil shot up out of his blankets. He then seemed really annoyed. "I swear if this is Barin..."

He went outside and saw group of horseman riding past their camp as quickly as they could and blowing their horns as they went by. Barin rushed out of the other tent.

"Is it breakfast time already!" He looked very excited and was obviously still half asleep. He was still unaware that they were not in Aradale.

"Well that wasn't very nice of them" Darzul appeared behind Maradil.

Jeredia also emerged from the tent. "I wonder what they were in such a panic for. Those were war horns signaling for troops to muster."

Pathil also appeared. "I'm sort of glad they did that. I'm not sure how much longer I would have lasted having to listen to the dwarf's snoring."

"I guess this means no breakfast" Barin said, sounding disappointed and finally to his senses.

After packing up their camp, the group ate a quick breakfast of some jerky and then they were off. They made haste in order to try to make up for some lost time. The five of them were hoping to reach Nasatra within a few days.

The next few days went by swiftly and with almost no incident. They were now only about a half day's journey from the city when they came upon a valley filled with several mysterious mounds.

"What are these things?" asked Barin, with a puzzled look.

"I've seen these before." said Jeredia, "These hills are some sort of burial mounds, probably for some ancient chieftains from this area a long time ago."

"I suggest we go around them." Pathil added.

"I agree", Jeredia responded.

"Too late" said Barin and pointed towards Maradil, who was already running through the valley filled with the burial mounds.

"Maradil no, come back!" Jeredia shouted after him. Then there was a rumbling noise and out from holes underneath several of the burial mounds crawled many hideous and fell looking creatures. They stood on two legs and their hands had long razor sharp claws. They all let out a horrible shriek and started rushing towards Maradil.

"That dumbass!" exclaimed Barin. He pulled out his battle-axe and rushed towards Maradil to help him. Darzul, Pathil and Jeredia pulled out their weapons and did the same as Barin.

By the time they had reached him, Maradil already had his two weapons out as well and they all formed a circle with their backs to each other. Then the fight was on. They began dodging the claws of the creatures while slashing and chopping at them whenever they could. One rushed towards Maradil and he side-stepped it and in the process cut off both of its arms, each with disgusting long nails at ends of its fingers. Barin managed to chop a few down with his axe and Pathil shot out the eyes of one with his bow. After felling quite a few of them, the creatures decided it wasn't worth it and fled.

"Glad that's over." sighed Darzul.

"You idiot, what were you thinking?!" Jeredia yelled to Maradil, "You really need to listen more before just rushing into things. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I don't think listening is one of his strong points." said Barin.

'What were those things anyway?" asked Pathil.

"The locals around here call them Kurai Demons" Jeredia answered. Though they aren't really actual demons. They like to burrow down into the ground and usually make their homes in places like these burial mounds. They probably were disturbed when Maradil walked through the valley where their homes were."

"I thought it would have been quicker to cross through the valley." Maradil finally said.

"In the future, remember that the path that looks the easiest may not always be the quickest or safest. Sometimes that's exactly the sort of thing creatures like those are counting on; some unlucky traveler to cross their path and become their next meal." Jeredia addressed to the group. From what Maradil could tell, Jeredia was well traveled and very knowledgeable on many things.

"Let's get going", Pathil said. "Our destination is close now, lets not stop until we get there. We've wasted enough time here already. It's not a good idea to stay here for too long." They all turned and started to carefully walk around the edge of the valley. Maradil turned and took one last look at the place. As far as his eyes could see, there were burial mounds that seemed to stretch on for miles throughout the valley and surrounding highlands. He could hear the wind howling in the distance. It gave the place an ominous feel.

The rest of their journey went without incident and soon they reached the city gates. There they found that a small escort had been expecting them and was ready to take them to the palace where they would meet the King of Kunrude and discuss their mission. It was only after they had gotten to the city that they learned from one of their escorts that there had been a safer way to get to the city and that they had taken a wrong turn.

"Figures", grumbled Barin, "We always end up doing everything the hard way."

"Alright", Jeredia spoke up, "We've now reached our objective and it's time to start our task. The King has not arrived back at the city yet, so we may have to wait a bit. The palace is closed off until he returns, so you won't be able to return there, though Pathil and I must go there to discuss things with the king's adviser. Just try to find someplace to stay and let us know where you are. Then we will send a messenger to go find you and summon you to the palace when the time comes." With that, Jeredia and Pathil were off.

Now it was finally the three of them, at least for a little while. "I'm hungry for some real food and I have a mighty thirst for some ale right about now." Barin said.

"Alright", said Maradil, "Lets look around for a tavern or inn, I'm sure there must be a bunch of them around here. After about two hours of searching, they finally found a place. The sign hanging above the door read: "The Dancing Dragon", with a picture of one drawn on the sign. The place seemed to have a bit of a character to it.

"This should be interesting." said Maradil, and with that they entered.

It took me forever before I finally got the motivation to start writing this story again. For now I will try to quickly put up the chapters for Maradil's first adventure as quickly as I can. In the next chapter, Maradil and his friends have a few odd occurrences at the Dancing Dragon and then they begin their task.