Chapter ten: From the earth they arises…

The sunlight felt like caresses, and the sweet wind made her feel better than in a long time. The valley was indeed beautiful and she enjoyed the scenery immensely. She had never seen a place like this before, the landscape was so lovely it seemed unreal and she was listening to Elladan's stories about the place. He showed her the rivers and the many waterfalls and she was relaxing and felt at peace. They saw some herds of deer grazing on the many meadows, birds sang from the trees and she knew that she already loved this valley. It was so pure in a way, so unspoiled. Elladan told her they never cut down trees unless they already were dying and they didn't hunt unless they really needed the meat. It was a very ecological way of thinking and one she supported whole heartedly.

She told him of her job and her everyday life and he was eager to learn more of the nature of her home. She explained how mankind was abusing her home world and it made him very sad. They were discussing the differences between their worlds and time just slipped by without them even noticing. Amy felt so at ease when he was around, she was still feeling rather confused by his confessions and his proposal but she chose to ignore it. She wanted to enjoy the moment without thoughts filled with doubt.

They rode by a small brook, Elladan showed her a school of fish that moved through the water like small dark arrows and she enjoyed watching the serene nature of the area. The trees were large and strong and she had never seen many of the species there. Elladan told her their names and she listened and tried to remember. They were about to ride across the brook when she noticed something odd. Elladan was busy explaining the different methods of catching trout and he wasn't as aware as he usually would be. But she could tell that something was off right away. The birds had seized singing, the air eerily silent and the wind seemed to have died down. She stopped her horse, stared at her surroundings. " It is too quiet here!"

Elladan jerked, he lifted his head, sniffed the air, his eyes were widening. " You are right, something is wrong."

He turned his horse and was about to tell her to ride back towards the city when the ground underneath them started to shake. Amy gasped and Elladan had already pulled his sword, the ground was bucking like an untamed horse and she could see that the grass was being lifted up, as of something underneath the very earth itself tried to break through the layer of roots and old dead vegetation and into the light. Amy spurred Dusty but it was too late, something shot out of the ground and it grasped onto the old horse with heavy thuds. Dusty let out an awful sound, Amy had never believed that horses could scream that bad, the thick rope like things had latched onto the animal and was pulling him off his feet but the gelding was fighting bravely.

Amy had never seen anything that disgusting, it looked like roots but they were wet and looked slick and there were visible veins everywhere, pulsing and twitching.

Elladan let out a shout and hacked away at one of the tentacles, it snapped with a sickening shriek and some dark almost purple liquid was sprayed everywhere. The poor old horse was thrown over onto its side, Amy was thrown out of the saddle and landed on the ground with a gasp and a moan. Immediately several new tentacles shot out of the ground and tried to grasp onto her. She had never seen anything like this, it looked as if some giant octopus had mutated and developed the ability to live on dry land. Something massive was working its way up, the soil cracked and a monstrous head became visible, it looked almost humanoid but its eyes were just dark hollows and its mouth was enormous with huge saw like teeth. It roared and the tentacles tried to grasp onto her again, to drag her in.

She dodged them, her fear fueled her reactions and she heard the thing roar in anger. It tossed the poor old horse around like a toy and the animal screamed one last time and went silent as it hit the ground with a terrible sound of bones snapping and tissue being ripped apart. Amy screamed in anger and sorrow and Elladan sneered, the thing was almost out of the hole now, it had to have some sort of legs too, not just tentacles. He shouted at the horse he rode and suddenly he rode straight at the abomination. Amy gasped and didn't believe what she was seeing, the elven horse jumped out of the way when the thing tried to grasp onto it and Elladan jumped from the back of the horse and straight onto the ugly pale head with its blue veins and disgusting smell.

He was brave, nobody could deny that. He hacked away at the tentacles with a speed that was unbelievable and the thing was writhing and bucking, trying to toss him off. But he kept his balance and the grey eyes were like steel as he made an extremely elegant movement and jabbed the long elegant elven blade down into the beast's skull. It looked soft and vulnerable but it had to be rather tough still. It took some effort to push the blade in and the thing let out a horrible howling sound that was probably the most ghastly noise she had ever heard. Elladan spun the blade and the thing went limp, collapsed forward with the nasty maw still open. The thing did stink like a garbage dump in mid july and it was oozing some sort of pale sticky liquid.

Elladan jumped down onto the ground, his eyes were wild and he was pale. " What in the name of Manwè's tits was that thing?!"

Amy was out of breath, her adrenaline caused her to feel dizzy and she swallowed again and again, trying to calm down. " I have no idea, a horror movie director's wet dream?"

The elf just stared at her. " Hu?"

Amy shrugged. " Oh, never mind that, it was ugly, that is for sure."

Elladan had a dark expression within his lovely eyes. " It was after you Amy, it was targeting you!"

She felt ice cold, wanted to say that it could have been a coincidence that she was attacked first but she knew that he was right. " Oh shit!"

He whistled for his horse. " We have to return now! I have never heard of any evil creature being able to enter this valley, we have always believed that Imladris was safe."

Amy didn't know what to say, she just stood there, almost paralyzed. Alright, she had seen orcs, had been told she was some sort of ancient spirit dressed in flesh and she was living in a place inhabited by elves but this? This was too much, way too much. She would have preferred an army of spiders, at least she knew what a spider was. This monstrosity had to be something that the creator had left on the stove to simmer a wee bit too long or something. Or were there nuclear experiments being done in secrecy some place? The monster had looked like some terrible mistake but the tentacles had been very strong and she saw that some of them in fact had suckers on them and sharp barbs, like on a giant octopus.

Elladan bit his lip, stared at the carcass. " We should burn it, before it spreads any disease."

Amy felt herself tremble, the thing had almost gotten her and her poor horse was dead. She felt the need to go hysterical but she kept herself in check. God damn her before she acted like some bimbo. "I think this is the terrestrial version of what the old sailors referred to as the kraken"

Elladan tilted his head, he was still breathing fast and he held his sword ready. " Kraken?"

She nodded. " Yes, a giant octopus which could pull entire ships down like a kid drowns a toy boat in a bath tub. These days we call it rouge waves."

Elladan shrugged. " Call it whatever you ,like meleth, I call it a creation of Morgoth!"

Amy stared at the carcass of her horse, she felt so sorry for poor old dusty and felt how her nose clogged up. Oh no, she was such a cry baby when it came to animals, she could watch TV-programs about all sort of terrible thing happening to people and she wouldn't even flinch but add animals in need and it was time to secure all hatches and get the life west for the floodgates would open up completely. She went over and saw that the impact had crushed the horse, several bones were broken and it had probably died instantly. At least that was a comfort. She was about to pull the bridle off the dead horse when they both heard a buzzing sound, Amy raised her head a bit confused and Elladan frowned. "What the hell?"

The buzzing came from the ground, from the hole where the monster had broken through and Elladan let out a shout and grasped Amy by her waist, he tossed her onto his horse as if she was a toy and jumped into the saddle behind her with the grace of a huge cat. The hole in the ground seemed to grow, more soil fell into it and suddenly something burst out of it. It looked like smoke at first but Amy did see that it wasn't smoke. It was some sort of insect swarm and it was huge and dense and the buzzing was very aggressive sounding.

Elladan swore and spurred the horse which went straight into full gallop right away, the insects looked almost like one being, controlled by one mind. It reminded her of a huge flock of starlings she had seen one evening. She felt a strong arm around her waist and he had sheathed his blade again, it was of no use against insects like these. The swarm was catching up on them, it was too fast, much faster than even the swiftest horse and Elladan screamed to his horse and the animal changed its course. Amy had no idea of what he was planning on doing, the first insects reached them and she saw that they did resemble wasps but they were a heck of a lot larger, almost black with sparkling red eyes and long stingers. She did not for a second doubt that these were poisonous.

The horse screamed as several of the things landed on it and stung it and Elladan swung his cloak frantically to keep the nasty insects away. Amy felt a sudden stinging pain in her leg, then in her thigh and she saw that two had stung her. The pain wasn't that bad at first, hardly any worse than that of an ordinary wasp sting but then it hit her and it hit hard. It felt like liquid fire had been injected into her body, as if somebody had poured molten lead into her bones. Her muscles were convulsing and she felt her throat constricting. Panic shot through her, she knew that she was in serious trouble now. Elladan noticed that she had problems breathing and the horse was stumbling by now, it made rasping sounds and Amy saw that they were heading towards a rather huge drop. The river was rather slow flowing and deep there and she realized what he was about to do, oh shit, oh god, oh NO!

Elladan let out a roar and the horse jumped off the cliff, he had kicked his feet out of the stirrups and was holding onto Amy like crazy. She wanted to scream but she couldn't, it felt as if they were falling forever and then there was an almighty splash and ice cold water covered her and she didn't know what was up or down and she couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe, she didn't want to drown! She was flailing around with her last strength and Elladan hadn't let go of her, he pulled her with him as he swam underwater with powerful strokes and she could see through the glassy surface of the water. The swarm was up there, waiting for them to emerge. How were they to escape this?

Amy felt her lungs burn, she was desperate for air, her field of vision was decreasing and her heart was beating in a desperate rhythm. It was so cold, so terribly cold. Her body refused to listen to her, it was moving in spasms even now and as darkness crept in on her she did only regret that she had to die before she had managed to get in bed with Elladan. It would have been one memory worth savoring through eternity.

The elf swam towards the other side of the river, a boat was moored to a fallen tree and he grasped onto it and with the strength of desperation he managed to tip it over. There was air trapped underneath it now, enough to breathe in for a short time. He couldn't reach the bottom, had to tread water to stay in place and he held onto Amy with all of his might. She was unconscious, wasn't breathing and he let out a howl of despair and pressed his lips against hers, forced air into her lungs. She needed to get out of there and fast, she was freezing to death, her throat was swelling shut and the poison was wreaking havoc with her body. He did it again, and again and she coughed and spat water but didn't wake up and he whimpered and held her as close as he could. "Do not leave me Amy, do not leave me now. Please, do not let me lose my true love before I have even bonded with her!"

He sobbed and felt how the cold water was draining even his strength. The insects were still on the outside, attacking the boat and it sounded as if an army of archers were firing at it, continuously. Elladan felt like crying, he was so afraid and so confused and also pissed off like never before. His horse was dead, Dusty was dead and Amy was dying, somebody was to pay for all this. There had to be something he could do, something that could save them, but what? Had anyone even noticed that something was amiss?

Gandalf was riding hard down towards the river and before long he was joined by two others. Elrond and Galadriel was joining him and he felt a surge of gratitude, he would need their help, he just knew it. They heard some strange sounds and the wizard swore and spurred his horse again. Elrond rode a tall black mare and Galadriel was riding bareback on a grey gelding that looked as if it was about to run until it dropped dead. "What did you see?"

Elrond had to shout to make himself heard over the thunder of the hooves. Gandalf almost sneered, he was leaning forward over the neck of his horse as he fidgeted with the top of his staff. " Something I haven't seen since the time of the great lamps!"

Elrond almost gasped, that was such a long time ago, the world had been very different back then. "What then? Do tell us"

Gandalf didn't even look at him. " A force created by mistake and later on used by Morgoth. It is some sort of shape shifting magic, and I bet that it still is serving the dark vala."

Galadriel looked pale. " That ancient? What is it doing here now?"

Gandalf put a bright red crystal into the top of his staff. " I saw it in the woods, in its original shape, a strange almost formless creature. It wants the girl, there is an evil mind behind all of this, and it spells disaster if it gets her."

Elrond listened, they didn't hear much more now but he felt that there was danger ahead. Galadriel held onto the mane of her horse with one hand and she was mumbling some sort of enchantment. Her ring had started to glow and Elrond felt that also his hidden ring reacted. Gandalf had closed his eyes, then he opened them again and his gaze was burning. " The magic is down there, by the river. I will deal with it but you will need to protect Elladan and Amy."

Elrond felt how his mouth had gone dry, he felt it. A sort of acrid taste in the air, a wicked mind trying to invade his thoughts, slippery and slimy and just disgusting and so very very old, terribly so. He shut it out with ease and Gandalf rose his staff and shouted something Elrond didn't understand at all. The words were powerful though and echoed between the walls of the valley. There was some sort of dark cloud over the river in one spot, and underneath it he saw a overturned boat. The cloud had to be insects?

Gandalf let out a shout and the swarm changed their target, now they flew straight towards the istari and the buzzing sound almost sounded like laughter. Galadriel gasped and Elrond couldn't believe his own eyes. He saw that the wizard made a gesture with his staff and a strong bright light seemed to spread from him and it sort of engulfed the swarm completely. The rings were glowing by now, and Elrond lifted his a bit reluctantly but he sort of felt that he had to. There was warmth coming from it, and a sensation of touching something terribly loaded with energy. Galadriel did the same thing and he saw that the swarm of insects seemed to shrink. Or rather, the insects were shrinking, returning to their natural state.

Gandalf shouted one last spell and let go and the swarm dissolved, the confused and weakened ground wasps would return to their hives, the dark magic removed from them forever. Gandalf almost trembled in the saddle, he looked tired and Elrond rode next to him down to the river. "How could that thing enter here? My ring protects the valley?"

Gandalf sighed and blinked. " Like I said, it has been here, waiting. Or a small piece of it has, what I saw in the woods on my way here was yet another part of it. It can crawl through the very bones of the earth and every small piece of it is somehow connected with the others. But it is gone from the valley now, forever. It can never return when there is no part of it already present."

There was a shout from the river and Elladan emerged from underneath the boat, he was dragging Amy behind him and she was unconscious. " Help, she got stung and she can barely breathe! "

Gandalf and the others dismounted and Elrond threw himself down next to her, she made rasping sounds with every breath and was terribly cold. Gandalf stared down at her with narrow eyes, he was playing with his beard and Elrond didn't really know what to make of his expression. That old man did have quite a poker face when he wanted to. Galadriel was holding one of Amy's hands, she looked shocked. " The poison, I can feel it! It is trying to change her!"

Gandalf nodded, a somewhat bitter grin on his face. " Yes my lady, you are right, it is trying to transform her. She is important indeed, for more reasons than one would expect."

Elrond was pouring as much healing energy into her as he possibly could and he saw that Elladan was shivering too and in obvious distress but he had to concentrate upon his work now. The poison was terrible, he could feel it surging through her system, messing things up but he was holding it at bay, at least for the moment. He stared at Gandalf. " "What is it trying to do to her?"

The istari sighed and sat down onto a rock, he looked like a very ordinary old man but Elrond knew that he hid his true nature very well. " It is trying to corrupt her heart, make her a willing slave of the darkness. The spiders are just a tiny bit of it all, someone wants to free Morgoth from the void, before time"

Elrond swallowed the taste of bile and Galadriel was trying to aid him by adding the power of her ring to him. Bringing Morgoth back? Who would dare to try that? She was a lightbringer wasn't she? Could that mean that her powers could be abused? Elladan was sniffling and he looked so very frightened. Elrond had seen his son badly wounded many times but he had never seen him looking like this. He already knew that his son had fallen for the adeneth, but he hadn't really believed that it was anything serious, just a minor crush or perhaps just lust. After all, the girl was very attractive in a sweet and yet sensual way and Elladan was hot blooded. This on the other hand was clearly serious, he couldn't mistake the light in his son's eyes for anything else than love and his soul was crying out in despair. He couldn't lose his Dan, not like this! If she died his son's soul would follow her, and time didn't matter. Be it today or in a hundred years, if they bonded she would be the death of him. And yet, what could he do? He was helpless! It was such a bitter thought.

Gandalf took a deep breath. " This takes too long!"

He touched Amy with the staff and she jerked, a gargling sound escaped her and she arched before she fell down again, limp and pale. She took a deep breath and then she opened her eyes with a shriek. Elladan was there immediately, lifting her upper torso up into his lap, trying to calm her down. " It is alright, ssshhh, I am here. You are safe!"

She just stared at them, then she started to register what she saw and she whimpered and Elladan embraced her and kissed the top of her head, almost desperately. Elrond felt a stinging pain in his heart, so be it. She would perhaps cost him his son but who was he to deny Elladan true happiness, how brief it may become. Galadriel got back onto her feet. " She is so cold, and weak. We have to get her back home right away"

Elrond nodded and Gandalf whistled for their horses. " Yes, she had to recover and then we are going to have a long talk. I am afraid it is needed. "

Elrond frowned. " You knew the magic would attack as insects?"

Gandalf grinned, a very proud little smile. " Yes, I sort of guessed it would. It is very efficient that way. We saw that a lot back in the old days when Morgoth was being captured the first time."

Elrond was glad the children hadn't yet been awakened back then, it would have been such a horrible war to behold. Elladan got Elrond's horse and held Amy and his father and Galadriel shared a horse. They rode hard back to the city and Amy was very quiet and almost lethargic. Elladan was very worried and they didn't stop until they were at the very doors of the healing ward. Elrond called for some of the other healers and they came rushing. Amy was free from the poison but not out of the woods by far, she had inhaled water, had hypothermia and the stings were nasty too, huge and swollen and painful. Elrond opened the doors and Elladan carried her inside, the servants were already making a huge fire in the hearth and they didn't hesitate even a second when she was laid upon the bed. They cut the clothes off her and warm blankets were wrapped around her with hot rocks between them.

Elrond found some ointments that would help fight the swelling and the pain and then they gave her some medicine that would help her avoid pneumonia or other problems. She felt like shit and she felt terribly sleepy too. This was not good at all. She knew that Elladan was there, she could somehow sense him. He had saved her but what the heck were those things and why had they attacked her? Her head hurt and she felt cold in spite of the warm blankets. Elrond came with a cup with something in it and Elladan held her so she could drink. It was sweet and very strong and she gasped for air and felt how her insides did warm up again, she suddenly felt as if she was drinking liquid fire.

Elrond put the cup down and felt her neck, counted her heartbeat and checked her temperature. " I think you will be okay Amy, but you will need some rest. I will keep you here until tomorrow just to be on the safe side."

She rolled her eyes but knew that he was right, she had gotten a lot of water in her lungs and she had almost died. Elladan let his hand run through her hair. " I will keep you company Amy."

She swallowed and allowed herself to relax against his chest. "Good, I was afraid I was going to be bored to death!"

He kissed her brow lovingly. " No chance for that, I am going to keep you entertained, fear not. And I will demand that the kitchens bring you the best food available. "

She had to snigger. " Wonderful, your cooks make excellent food, I hope I can move around a lot soon or else I will put on weight."

He grinned and held her close again, knowing she was safe was wonderful, exhilarating in a way. He was so relieved he could have cried and he didn't even want to leave to change his own wet clothing but one of the head healers grasped onto him with a very stern gaze that made Amy giggle and told him to get lost and change his clothing. Elladan obeyed and it didn't take long before he returned wearing new and dry clothes. Amy knew that elves don't get sick but it felt better knowing he was dry and warm.

Elladan found a comfortable position and let her lean onto him, he was constantly playing with her hair. " So, what sort of food do you eat where you are from?"

Amy could feel his heartbeat and smelled him too, she felt so safe, so treasured and she didn't want to think about the terrible attack. She just wanted to exist within the moment, with him. " Oh, there is a lot of great food there, and some that is not so great"

He tilted his head, she could feel his chin on top of her head. " Not so great? Why are people eating it if it is not so great?"

Amy closed her eyes, she felt surprisingly well. " Oh, it is all about culture. I had a friend once who came from a country to the north of the continent known as Europe, they had a dish called smalahove and it is literally a sheep head that has been cut in half, scorched with a blow torch, smoked and baked. Imagine, food that is staring at you!"

Elladan let out a small grunt, and it didn't sound very pleased. " Half a sheep head? I would have to be half dead from starvation to even consider something like that!"

Amy snickered. " You would ha? Then we have Haggis, a sheep's stomach filled with meat and vegetables and boiled whole. And the French have a lot of fine wine and some cheeses that smells like nothing you can even imagine. Some places they eat fertilized duck's eggs with the duckling inside of it, and I have even heard of places where old butter is considered a delicacy."

Elladan looked a bit green. " Eru's mercy! You humans have peculiar customs."

She turned her face towards him. "What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?"

Elladan cringed. " Oh by Manwè's balls, do I have to answer?"

She nodded. " Oh yes, no escape now my love."

He took a deep breath. " Right, we once visited King Thranduil's realm. The inhabitants are silvan and avarin elves, very close to nature. I got persuaded into trying one of their special dishes."

Amy was curious. " Tell me more, please. "

He sighed and held her close. " It was a stew, made from fermented fish, raw mushrooms and some herbs and they had added the testicles of a stag and some sort of kidneys. I haven't to this day dared to ask what sort of animal they came from, but I was high as a kite for hours because of the mushrooms and I spent three whole days puking like crazy."

Amy had to laugh, she couldn't help it. " Oh my, that is one hefty dinner."

Elladan had gotten a stern expression upon his fair face. " Time for payback, what is the weirdest meal you have had?"

Amy had to think, she had tested a lot of odd food but she remembered one dinner in special. " Well, that was something I ate when I visited the friend I mentioned before? It was a sort of fish, and they dry it until it becomes like wood and stores it for a long time. Then they drop it into lye for some days, takes it out and puts it in water again and then you eat it."

Elladan swallowed convulsively. " Lye?! Are you kidding me?"

She giggled. " Nope, it looks like jelly and has no taste but smells like something that shouldn't be touched by human hands. I tried one piece of it and I almost gagged. It smelled like….oh I cannot even describe it, it is too vile. But many people love it though."

Elladan just rolled his eyes. " Hooray for cultural differences. "

Amy had to snigger. " yes, the spice of life."

Elrond and Galadriel had followed Gandalf into one of the studies, Aiwendil came scurrying too, looking rather confused. They sat down and Erestor brought them some refreshments. Gandalf stared into nothing for a while and the silence became awkward. Elrond hawked, he felt as though he didn't have the right to disturb the wizard but he was craving answers. " So, what is this all about, can you answer my question?"

Gandalf sighed and his gaze was still distant. " I am not sure, and I am being very honest now. I have no idea what she really is, and how she has ended up here but there is one thing I am sure of and that is that something wants to use her to free Morgoth."

Elrond knew his voice was raspy and shaking but he had to speak. " How?"

Gandalf smiled, a bitter smile. " By using the ancient dark force known as Ungoliant, nobody knows how powerful that entity really is, she could possibly tear down the doors of the night and allow Morgoth to escape from his prison."

Galadriel sighed. "That is why she attracts those spiders, why she had that dream. But who could be powerful enough to control that monster? Morgoth could not."

Gandalf sort of grimaced. " There lays the question, I think we may need to dive deeper into Amy's past to find the answer to it. But for now we have to keep Imladris safe, that is our first priority. The spiders are heading in this direction as we speak and there are a lot of them too."

Elrond cringed. " We know, believe me, we know! But if Amy isn't here the spiders should change their course now wouldn't they?"

The wizard nodded. " Yes, I think so too, but where can she go? I think the best option is to locate the dimensional gate and take it from there, it could perhaps tell us something."

Elrond groaned. " I have had people out there searching for it for days, we have seen nothing so far."

Gandalf sighed and pulled out his pipe, Galadriel made a grimace, she hated that bizarre tradition the wizard followed. It did stink and made her cough. " I have sensed that the gate is open still, but it could be anywhere!"

Gandalf raised an eyebrow and there was a short glimpse of mischief in his eyes. " No my dear lady it cannot. I have discovered something rather peculiar."

Aiwendil looked curious and his eyes were shining. " Really? Do tell us, please."

Elrond tilted his head and Galadriel managed to ignore the small of the tobacco the wizard by now had light on fire. The istari let out a sigh and stared into the fireplace, his eyes distant. "The spiders are migrating towards where Amy is right? She will bring back their mother, the origin of their species. But I think there is also a different cause behind the migration, what would you do if pursued by thousands of huge spiders?"

Elrond looked puzzled. " Run in the opposite direction?"

Gandalf nodded and grinned. " Exactly, and if you were the one behind all of this, the one wanting Ungoliant back where would you prefer that Amy went?"

Galadriel answered, her voice strangely hollow. " As far away from anything that may endanger my task as possible."

Gandalf got up and grasped a map that lay on a table, he held it up. " You are right my lady, the spiders is heading in this direction because they are sent to distract us, to hide the real reason why they are moving."

Elrond took a deep breath. " They originate from Mirkwood, are you trying to tell me that the gateway is there?"

Gandalf nodded. " Indeed it is, there is a dark presence already within the forest, what better place to summon the ancient enemy than from that place?"

Galadriel stared at the map. " The spiders will force her to flee to the south, towards Rohan."

Gandalf pointed at her with his pipe. " Exactly my lady. An open land where there is few places to hide, and few places where she can defend herself."

Elrond hid his face behind his hand, suddenly he felt so very tired and old. " Oh I bet Thranduil will looove this, he will accuse us of breaking an entry or something like that."

Gandalf just puffed. " Ignore such accusations, he may be an isolationist but he isn't stupid, If Ungoliant really is brought back within his woods not even that underground palace of his will save them. No, it will be a death trap. It is in his own interest that we locate the gate, close it and end this calamity once and for all."

Elrond pressed his lips together. " Not to be the one who ruins a great plan but how are anyone to get past the spiders? And if the gate indeed is found, can we destroy it?"

Gandalf just shrugged. " The girl opened it, I bet she can close it too. Whoever or whatever it is that is behind this all used her powers but she can control them too I am sure, if she just learns how to."

Galadriel swallowed, she stared at the floor. " I saw her dying…"

Gandalf nodded. " That is a possibility yes, and one we have to take into consideration but we cannot hesitate, our world is in danger. If we have to sacrifice a life or two it is a small price to pay. "

Elrond had to force back tears, the lives lost could easily include his son too, and if that happened Elrohir would suffer too and likely fade or chose to sail. It was a mess, a terrible awful mess. Gandalf smiled swiftly. " And regarding the spiders, I am sure we can come up with a way of getting past them."

Galadriel sat slumped forwards, she was looking less like a noble leader and more like some really tired and worried person. "So when are they to leave then? We cannot wait for too long, but I don't think Amy is ready to travel just yet. And who are going to follow her?"

Gandalf tilted his head. " A fair question my lady, that would be myself, Aiwendil, Elladan and hopefully some warriors."

He got up and his eyes got distant. " We leave in three days, we cannot hesitate."

Elrond groaned and stared at the map. The spiders were getting closer every day, he knew that they had to be stopped but he was so afraid he would lose those most precious to him. But there was no other way and he had survived hardship and loss before. Galadriel stared at him, her eyes were distant and her expression one of doubt. She reached out and grasped his hand, held it with a firm grip. " Send your best warriors, I fear that they may need it."

Elrond nodded. " I will, but I have no idea of whether or not they will be able to avoid the spiders."

Galadriel made a grimace. " I bet Gandalf has a trick up his sleeve. He usually does, but yes, I do worry. We doesn't know everything yet, we have no idea of what sort of energy she harbors, what opened the gate using her powers. I do not like to enter a battle without even knowing the enemy."

Elrond patted her hand. " I know, believe me. I pray the valar are with us in this,"

She sighed and her eyes were sad. "The valar care naught about our problems mellon, only a direct threat to them will be a cause for a reaction."

Elrond knew she was speaking the truth, they wouldn't react at all if this was something that only affected middle earth. If it started to spread across the sundering sea on the other hand? Then they would most certainly start fighting but by then it could be too late.

Amy had fallen asleep with her upper body resting against Elladan's body and he was holding her tenderly. He was to defend her no matter what and that was a thought that both made him proud and scared. It was as if his life hadn't mattered at all until now, but now he had a purpose and a meaning. He closed his eyes and just relaxed, enjoyed the warmth of her and her scent. He was almost asleep when he suddenly felt his brother reaching out to him through their sibling bond. " Dan?"

He answered immediately. " Yes Ro?"

Elrohir felt distressed, there was something odd about his presence. " Is it true?"

He hesitated for a few seconds before he answered. " What do you mean?"

Elrohir didn't answer right away, there was a sort of heavy silence. " You have found your one and it is Amy"

The voice was flat, hollow. Elladan swallowed hard, he hadn't at all thought of his brother these last hours. " Yes, she is my one, our souls are destined to be bonded"

Elrohir suddenly almost shrieked, a terrified anguished shout. " Then I will lose you Dan, you will die!"

Elladan understood his brothers distress, but he couldn't do anything about it. " Maybe, maybe not, nobody can tell."

Elrohir sobbed and Elladan wished that he could have held his brother, comforted him the way he had when they were younger and Ro got scared by something. "Oh Eru, can't you see that this will separate us? That we will be like ada and our uncle? I cannot…I cannot imagine life without you Dan, please, you cannot…."

Elladan swallowed hard and held Amy close. " I have to Ro, I already have. There is no going back. I will share whatever time she has among us, please forgive me."

There was a faint whisper returning to him, a bitter and so terribly sad sentence spoken with such hurt it almost broke his heart. " No, I will never forgive you this Dan, not until the end of all things"

Elladan lowered his head and whimpered, he just knew that his brother meant what he had said, but nobody could foresee the future in all its details. There could be that their fate would still be different from what everybody expected. He hid his face in her thick shiny hair and swore that he would stand by her side, in life and in death if it came to that.