It was midmorning the following day, when Gandalf and his party arrived at the mere. It had been a tense and silent day for all of them.

They were greeted by the sight of a magnificent statue in the middle of the water, illuminated by the sun. Raven had been so concerned telling them about the threat of the leech, she had neglected to explain what else awaited them. The alabaster and marble statue was breathtaking in its craftsmanship. The subject was a King of Man and an Elvish Queen locked in an embrace.

Gandalf gasped. "I know what this is. I saw this statue built. I had not seen it again in nearly five hundred years."

As they drew closer, Gandalf gathered them to explain.

"In the Second Age, Sauron's power first grew in the East. The Elf guardians of that land were the ancient Tatyars. They were small in number, but fierce fighters. They fought Sauron with all that they had. But the Elves were overpowered at every turn, captured, tortured, and some received the fate worse than death. They became Uruk-Hai, made to hunt down their own former-kind.

Sauron had his eye on a treasure - Hón-on, the sacred island in the Sea of Rhûn, home of the Tatyar Queen. That Queen was Amenolyë, descended from an unbroken matrilineal line to Tatië herself. Amenolyë decided that her people were more important than land or jewels, and ordered them to abandon the Island. She disbanded her army and sent her people into hiding, while she and a few hundred fled to Lothlorien. They were going to seek shelter with Galadriel, but briefly stopped here at this mere.

An Easterling King arrived at the same time, to rest his troops. It was King Khamûl of Helcar, returning from an expedition to Gondor. He offered the Tatyars his protection, and quickly offered Amenolyë his heart. He was not powerful enough to reclaim her island home, but he could take her back to his own Kingdom in the East, and keep her people safe, since he had struck a truce with Sauron.

Khamûl had this statue made for her, and placed it where they met to honor her.

They had a deep love, and Khamûl was able to grant Amenolyë's every wish through his growing wealth and power. She would not suffer the heartache of other Elves who had fallen in love with Man, because he did not age. He had that Ring for years, and Amenolyë's love held the corruption at bay for much of that time, but not always. As the Ring began to corrupt Khamûl, she tried to stop it. She conferred with Galadriel, as we fought the last great battles against evil at the end of the Second Age.

Galadriel convinced Amenolyë to steal the Ring and flee, with all of her people, to the safety of Rivendell. Alas, they never made it beyond Misty Mountains."

"I have heard the legend of Amenolyë." Rhavaniel said, "They tell it is a cautionary tale about loving outside of your own kind."

Bofur squinted at her.

"Clearly, I wasn't listening the first time I heard it." she snapped. "Please continue, Mister Gandalf."

Gandalf was quite serious, saddened by the memory, "What more is there to tell? It was perhaps the greatest loss to our side. To lose the Tatyar queen and her people, slaughtered, and still the Ring taken back by Khamûl...it was a terrible tragedy."

They stood on the bank of the mere. The Dwarves and Bilbo took in the beauty of the statue, the tragic story, and Gandalf's pain in the telling of the tale.

"No one who knew Amenolyë has been back to this place in all those years." Gandalf sighed.

"That is not true, Mister Gandalf. Someone came back and changed the statue at least twice." Rhavaniel noted. "The bird in their hands was added later - you can tell it was not part of the original statue. And later still, someone changed the inscription, to say the Queen stole half of the King's treasure."

"The black bird, of course." Gandalf smiled wistfully, "It represents their daughter, Princess Aemorniel. Galadriel was her godmother."

"And Aemorniel was the stolen half."

Gandalf was puzzled by Rhavaniel's statement, "What?"

"The queen did steal half the King's treasure, says the inscription. Look, the couple holds a ring and a bird. But the Ring was recovered by the King, as you just said. The queen only succeeded to steal their child. That is how I interpret the inscription."

"No one heard from Aemorniel again." Gandalf explained. "She was just a child when her mother fled with the Ring. We assumed her father found her as well, and we hoped he had spared her, so that we might find her after the war ended. When we didn't, we assumed that she had been killed, perhaps by the forces who assassinated Khamûl. She would have been four hundred and twenty-five years old."

"Queen Amenolyë was beautiful." Bilbo said in awe.

"She was." Gandalf sighed. "She loved Galadriel like a sister, though they were complete opposites in appearance and temperament. Galadriel was the calm eye of the storm, while Amenolyë was the whirlwind."

"Kili thought she looked like me." Rhavaniel smiled at the memory.

"Perhaps, a bit." Gandalf noted casually.

Bofur now squinted at Gandalf, "Raven looks exactly like Amenolyë. You do not see that, Gandalf?"

"I kept a secret from Kili." Rhavaniel confessed. "I never told him that the leech looks like me, too. That is why she frightens me to this day."

Gandalf frowned, "What are you talking about, now?"

"The leech has a face - eyes, nose, mouth, even Elf ears. She hides herself in the dark half of the mere."

Rhavaniel walked toward the edge of the water and Dwalin stepped in front of her, "Then stay away from there, girl."

Gandalf leaned on his staff, bowed by a dawning realization. "I never looked here. None of us thought to look here, not in four hundred years."

Bilbo stood at his side, worried at Gandalf's tone.

"Raven, you said the monster tried to drown you?"

"She pulled me under the water. I can think of no purpose, other than to drown me."

"But did she hurt you?"

"No. Kili pulled me out before she could do anything."

Gandalf put his staff in the water and chanted a few words. Nothing happened.

"It has been two years." Bilbo noted, "So many things have died in that time. The leech may be one of them. "

Gandalf motioned Rhavaniel to come closer, "Give me your hand."

She complied, and Gandalf quickly made a small cut to her palm with his knife. Rhavaniel pulled back, but Gandalf had a tight grip on her wrist. He let the Elf blood drop into the water.

There was a ripple and stir in a far portion of the mere. The leech showed herself, eyes peering above the dark surface.

Gandalf released Rhavaniel's wrist, and fell to his knees.

Bilbo rushed to his side with Sting drawn, while Rhavaniel jumped back and the baby cried. The six Dwarves huddle around her and her baby, with weapons drawn.

The leech swam closer, lifting her once beautiful face from the water. Her graceful fingers were fused into fins, and she put one on the bank by Gandalf.

She stared at Gandalf with her wide, yellow eyes.

"I am so sorry." Gandalf gasped, and a tear fell. It hit the leech's fin and she recoiled with a hiss. "We failed you. Can you ever forgive us?"

The leech looked to Rhavaniel, and back at Gandalf. She laid her head on the bank. He drew his sword.

"Wait!" Rhavaniel cried out. The baby began to wail.

"Gandalf!" Thorin called, "Who are you to decide? We agreed to talk about this!"

With a quick blow, Gandalf severed the leech's head from her body. Raven put a hand over her mouth to muffle her cry.

"Bofur, Bifur, please drag that body up." Gandalf managed to ask. "The rest of you, gather wood. We need to burn every bit of this." With that, he retreated to the tall reeds on the bank.