A faith to live by,
a self to live with,
and a purpose to live for.
Bob Harrington

Chapter 25

Faith – Part III

Fire

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"Anayah?"

Anayah ignored Rahan as he walked up behind her.

"Permission to speak freely?"

The hand that was brushing Captain Erenol's horse paused for a moment as Anayah nodded her head.

"I am sorry if my words of earlier seemed harsh, for that was not my intention when I spoke. You worried me, for I truly did not want to see you sicken from the heat; it would have broken my heart if I had said nothing and you had collapsed or even died of dehydration. However, I wholeheartedly apologize for offending you and making you angry and will pay close attention to how I present matters to you from now on.

On another matter, I also wanted to tell you just how proud I am of you. You stood tall with the rest of us this day and …"

He paused as Anayah turned and looked at him sharply and in turn he gently took the brush from her and finished grooming Erenol's horse while he talked to her.

"Yes you heard me correctly and I must add that my words were in no way meant to make light of your height." When he spoke next, his voice was soft but sincere. "I am always proud to be around you, Anayah, but today I was doubly so. You did well."

Both elves knew that their actions and words had been born in the heat of the moment and each pardoned the other the excessive intensity of both thought and feeling that had almost caused a breach in their relationship. Without saying anything, Anayah suddenly threw her arms around her Captain and hugged him and without hesitation, he smiled and returned the affectionate gesture. After a bit he gently pushed her away and looked into her eyes.

"You do realize that you have to talk to Gandalf, don't you? Go. I'll finish grooming the horses."

She looked at him solemnly, then after nodding, slowly walked away. As she was walking across the camp to find Gandalf, she paused where Bansil was sitting next to Erenol's pallet and talking to the wounded Avari Captain. The two Guards politely paused their conversation and waited for Anayah to speak. Without saying a word to either elf, she removed the water flask from her belt and after pointedly looking at Bansil, took several long sips, making exaggerated swallowing sounds as she did so, then afterwards wiped her mouth the length of her forearm.

"Ahhh!" She said, before shooting Bansil the 'Look of Doom' one more time then walking away.

The two Avaris looked at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing. Erenol grabbed his wounded shoulder that was protesting his movement of it, but the Captain just couldn't quite stop the chuckles from escaping his mouth.

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She found Gandalf talking to Legolas and Banion but when the two elves saw her approaching nodded politely then walked away so Anayah and Gandalf could have some privacy. Both she-elf and wizard were silent for a bit then without looking at Gandalf she sighed and spoke with a voice filled with uncertainty and grief.

"I was so sure that was him … and when he looked into my eyes … I almost … I almost couldn't bear the despair I saw there."

She looked up at Gandalf with tears in her eyes, looking for consolation … or knowledge … and above all, she looked for truth.

"But that is exactly what the Witch King wanted you to see; it was his intention to feed your despair." He put a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes with all the sincerity he could find in his heart, for it was truth he was about to show her. "Did Barahir come to you?"

Anayah blanched at the wizard's words and hastily looked down at her hands, hoping he had missed her reaction. She was in error but was also surprised when Gandalf gently raised her chin with his hand until she was forced to look him in the eye.

"There is not much that those of us who are caretakers of rings of power do not know about other rings, including Barahir, young one. Your father, Grandmother and I, all know that you can call Barahir to you, or he will come to you voluntarily when your brother is in need. But the ring did not come to you when you called, did it?"

Anayah looked up at Gandalf for just a few moments more as a cold chill of relief raced through her at the realization that he had been right after all and the tortured and horribly wounded being she had seen on the path in front of her had not been her brother, but had only been an illusion. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly and with a twinkle as well as just a bit of moisture in the wizard's eyes, he hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Gandalf."

"Not to worry, Anayah. True friendships always survive trials such as we have faced this day … just remember that."

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As she was walking across the camp, just shortly after taking her leave of Gandalf, she met with Legolas as he came toward her with Huan's case in his hands. She smiled as she reached out and took the leather case from him, then seeing it was only the case he was handing her, gave him a puzzled look.

"Where's the other arrow?"

Legolas suddenly looked away and blushed an interesting shade of red. After a moment of hesitation on her part while she was waiting for an answer that wasn't going to come, she suddenly realized what it was that was causing her friend's sudden discomfort.

"No! You didn't!"

Legolas looked down at his feet before answering.

"Well haven't you ever missed with Huan before?"

She was not prepared for the question and her exhausted and overloaded mind couldn't come up with a suitably witty response. With one hand on her hip, she squinted as if she was thinking deeply about how she should respond and after stuttering and stammering for a bit, commented in what was probably the worst way she could have.

"Miss all the way or just a little bit?"

Prince Legolas Thranduilion, Crown Prince of the Mirkwood Realm and the "once" undisputed best archer on all of Middle-earth, then turned away and walked off in a huff.

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Anayah had to check on Asgorath and after telling Rahan that she would return fairly quickly, left the camp for the deeper shadows of the forest.

"As if, little sister." Súrion muttered from the branch of the tree he was sitting on, and after jumping down from the branch, he began to follow her closely. Anayah should have known that there was no way any of her Guards were going to let her go anywhere alone. Some very strange and dangerous things had happened to them since they had left Carn-dûm and none of the Guards in their unit were going to let Anayah risk her life by going anywhere without having at least one of them with her.

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Banion had seen the exchange between Legolas and Anayah and knew that his friend might appreciate a friendly "male" ear and so intercepted the younger elf.

"I think we traveled an acceptable distance today, don't you?" Banion began.

"We would have made an even greater distance if Lord Asgorath had not fallen asleep at the second stop then couldn't be wakened, although I have to admit that Anayah did look kind of cute jumping up and down on his back like she was. I got the impression that perhaps our dragon Lord might have been faking it a little just to get her riled."

Both Princes laughed quietly then Legolas shook his head.

"I can't even begin to imagine what he has been put through, Legolas."

"Neither can I."

The two settled into a comfortable silence while they watched the night stars fade away in the sky above them.

"I hope that we can see this adventure through to the ending that both he and Lady Ederyn are hoping for."

"As do I, Banion."

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Later, when Legolas was taking an apple to his horse, he happened upon Gandalf standing at the edge of the forest, one hand upon the trunk of an ancient pine as he gazed at the stars above him. For a moment, Legolas stood beside his friend, quietly enjoying the peacefulness of the waning night. He sighed.

"It will be light in two more hours."

"Aye." Gandalf replied before he lapsed back into silence.

"The trees sing of hope, Gandalf. How can this be when there is so much chaos about? My heart is saddened yet the trees are not; this confuses me."

Without even looking at the young elf standing beside him, the wizard sighed.

"Perhaps they are long-sighted, young Prince, and foresee a day in the future that does not hide evil intent."

"We can certainly hope."

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Anayah's passage through the forest was swift and silent, but soon her journey was over and she had reached her destination. None of the Rangers in the younger group had detected her presence although she saw Elladan's eyes flick in her direction before he gave a little smile then went to join Elrohir at the fire. He sat beside his twin and whispered something in his ear, which caused him to smile, just as Elladan had done. Anayah shook her head before she flipped the hood of her cloak over her head and skirted the edge of the forest looking for …

She found the particular elf she was looking for and like Elladan had done before him, she saw his eyes flick in her direction before once more settling on the young Ranger in front of him. Greyfell was listening to the young adan tell him of an idea that he had about stealth deployment. He was pleased with the young man for he had been one of the hardest to reach out of all the stubborn young ones he had had to deal with so far.

It was never an issue of lack of discipline, for the young man had been polite to a fault and saw to his duties in the best way he knew how. The problem with young Merith was that in the past, every time he had gone to an elder with an idea, he either had been ignored or had been told to see to what was important to the survival of the people in the village. The young man had become increasingly frustrated until he had finally stopped going to anyone with anything he had to say.

Greyfell had been working for some time on getting the idea through to him that who he was as an individual, what he thought and what he felt - all of these things - was important and was just as valued, as were these same traits in any of the other Rangers in his unit. And on this night, the young man had finally gone to his Captain with an idea that had come to him. Unfortunately, when he noticed that Greyfell was actually listening to him, he misinterpreted the attention and once more thought he was going to be ignored, told that his idea had no merit to their current situation or in the worst case, would be told to be quiet. He paused and after looking down at his feet in embarrassment, started to apologize for bothering the Captain.

"You have done nothing wrong, Merith, and I will seriously consider your idea for future use."

Merith looked at his Captain with wide eyes, unused to such courtesy.

"Thank you, sir."

Greyfell nodded and smiled at the young man.

"Now, since you shared the idea for a valuable stealth skill, I will share a new skill with you."

"Sir?"

"I am going to teach you about balance … the good with the bad, one with the other, and the seen and the unseen."

"Sir, I don't understand."

The Captain leaned in close.

"You have some brilliant ideas about stealth and while I will consider your ideas closely, I think there is one thing you should also consider."

"And what would that be sir?"

He winked at Merith, put an arm around his shoulders and whispered in his ear.

"Whenever you are talking to someone, always pay attention to your surroundings."

Greyfell nodded to the area directly behind the young man and when Merith turned, was startled and jumped back a step, for there was a cloaked figure standing within touching distance behind him. Anayah flipped the hood of her cloak off her head and after giving young Merith a hug, stepped back until he had been dismissed. The two friends then threw their arms around each other and hugged fiercely. Then Greyfell pushed her away from him although he didn't release her altogether.

"Anayah, I am so angry with you."

Her eyes were twinkling.

"What on Middle-earth for?"

His voice grew soft and sincere.

"I thought you had died and my heart was broken because of it."

She reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips.

"You know I wouldn't go without saying good-bye, elf-man."

"I would certainly hope not, my princess."

With an arm around each other's waists, the two then went to find the twins and Aragorn.

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For awhile the Ranger camp was a cheery place, and as the sky finally lightened into day, the four siblings and Greyfell told stories, laughed and for just a little space of time pushed aside chaotic memories and worries about the rest of the journey. Anayah had just about decided the time had come to leave when Elladan nudged her in the ribs and nodded toward the forest. She sighed and shook her head.

"Súrion are you going to quit sitting out there like you think nobody knows you're there and at least come in and say hello and goodbye?"

There was a slight rustling in the branches of one of the closer trees and soon the big Silvan Guard slowly lowered himself to the ground and while grinning sheepishly walked towards the group of grinning elves and human who all had to make suitably sarcastic remarks about his stealth abilities. They chatted for a bit longer then after telling her brothers and Greyfell that she still had to check on Asgorath before she laid her head down for a rest, took their leave and quickly disappeared into the surrounding forest.

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When Anayah and Súrion finally found Asgorath's nest for the evening, they were not too surprised to see that Sauros was there visiting with the dragon Lord. As she was lathering the antibiotic salve onto the dragon's shoulder, she looked over at Sauros.

"I would have thought you would already be sleeping, my Lord."

"I will bed down with Lord Asgorath after a bit, Anayah. First dark will come all too soon, I know, but the Lord and I still have much to talk about."

She lightly patted Asgorath's shoulder.

"Lord Asgorath, I was meaning to ask a question of you that has been weighing on my mind for awhile now."

"And what might that be?"

"You can assume a human form if you so choose, is that not correct?"

"Yes, all of the Old Ones can do this thing."

She nodded.

"Well then, when you were in Carn-dûm, why didn't you turn into a human … shrink … whatever … and escape?"

Asgorath chuckled.

"I was in the middle of a large cavern under constant surveillance by Orcs, fell beasts, another dragon and sometimes by the Witch King himself ..."

"And you were wrapped in chains."

"And I was wrapped in chains. Don't you think with all those things that someone would notice that I was planning to leave? Seriously, though, Anayah, I was partially or totally sedated during the entire time I was in Carn-dûm and as that condition closely resembles sleep, I was unable to change. I won't be able to take on a human form until the sedative is entirely out of my system, which will be some time yet, just as I will be unable to fly until my shoulder heals."

Anayah nodded her head as she finished wiping the excess salve off her hands onto a cloth she was carrying with her. She walked to the head of the dragon Lord then reached into her belt pack for the antidote leaves and withdrew two to offer him. Sauros chose that moment to yawn mightily and for a moment, she was forced to remain silent in favor of the noise that was issuing from the tired dragon's mouth. Unfortunately, sound was not the only thing that came out.

She waited until Sauros had finished yawning, then with watering eyes, held the leaves out to Asgorath, pointing at them as she did so.

"Minty fresh …" She then pointed at Sauros's mouth. "Not minty fresh."

Súrion almost hurt himself trying to get to Anayah to catch her before she hit the ground in a pretend faint. When both dragons began to roar with laughter, it was unclear if they were laughing at the stricken yet relieved expression on Súrion's face or at Anayah's antics. Perhaps it was just a little bit of both.

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When Anayah and Súrion finally arrived back at the camp of the Rescuers, everyone was asleep except for the Avari Guard on duty and Rahan who would not sleep until his Charge as well as Súrion were back safely. Súrion went to give his report while Anayah went to check on Erenol.

The Avari Captain was awake, and seeing this, she poured him a portion of the pain relieving tea then helped him sit up enough to drink it. He sighed as he lay back down. Anayah gently wiped the sweat off his face with a cool, wet piece of linen then checked his bandages.

"Not bad." She remarked. "I think we can wait to change them until later." She smiled as she caressed his forehead comfortingly.

"I hear that I owe you my life. I am in your debt." He nodded slightly in appreciation.

"You owe me nothing, Captain Erenol, other than to rest while you can and do your best to recover and regain your strength."

"I will do my best, my Lady."

Though he would have wished more time for a conversation, his eyes had other ideas and slipped shut as he fell asleep.

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The light and length of the day had been what their night should have been and unfortunately, the day was waning and the night was approaching with undue haste. Both camps of Rangers were now eating and packing what they would carry with them on the second leg of their journey.

Elladan and Elrohir sat beside the fire, forehead to forehead as they took comfort from each other and gained strength for whatever lay ahead of them. Elrohir reached up and put a hand on Elladan's shoulder.

"El, sometimes I wonder if all this is really worth the effort we are putting into it – what we do, that is."

"Of course it is, brother. We have always taken great joy in each day and in each breath we have taken. It is always worth it."

"But what of the days of sadness, Elladan? What of those?"

"We take those as well, for it is duality and the way things have always been. They both give us strength – and if we never lose respect for life, we will never forget how to love it."

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The larger group of elves, the Rescuers, were mounted and preparing to leave. Erenol would ride in front of Bansil – Anayah would never be able to say what exactly caused her to make that decision, but it turned out to be a very wise decision.

As the group finally began to move, Rahan looked at everyone then sighed, more resignedly than anyone had ever known him to.

"I am a large elf and have always held to the notion that because of my size I stand a greater than average chance of surviving under any of a number of different circumstances. However, on this day I think all my large size means is that I will probably be the first to die for other than the dragon, I present the largest target."

As everyone laughed, Anayah caught his eye and tapped her heart twice, for her Captain had managed to do just the right thing to ease her mind as well as the tension in the rest of the group.

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The group made good time for the first few hours of the nightlong journey and as she was wont to do during long trips, Anayah spent time thinking over the near past. Seeing that she was frowning intensely over something, which probably meant she had a question that needed answering, Gandalf rode up beside her.

"Would you like to share your thoughts with an old grey wizard before you implode, young elf?"

"Well … I was thinking …"

"So I observed."

Anayah gave him one of her "who me?" looks then continued with her thoughts.

"Why did the attacks on us stop at dawn?"

"Legolas asked a similar question of me. I think the most simple way of explaining it is that for evil there is more to fear in the time of light than in the shadow of night for evil cannot hide his intents or purpose in the light nor does evil even have the courage to try."

She was still frowning.

"I understand that, Gandalf. But why doesn't he just blast us out of existence – why don't you just blast him out of existence?"

"As you well know, young one, the Valar have forbidden me to match power with power and while the defensive action I took the night of my confrontation – our confrontation – with the Witch King was understandable and acceptable, to aggressively apply my Istari skills would not be acceptable. It's a grey area that might be a little hard for you to understand, but essentially, and to put it in a way you will understand … defend, yes; blast, no."

"Oh. Ok."

Knowing the young she-elf as he did, Gandalf knew with certainty that her quick mind had already heard, dealt with then had moved on to another topic. He just chuckled as he dropped back to his place in the line, for such was life around Anayah.

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Shortly before the moon would be directly over their heads, the horses in the group began to get restless. Each rider peered intently into the shadows around them and Rahan at one point had even risked sending Súrion and Saeros out a distance ahead to see if they could find anything out of the ordinary but the two stealth experts of Anayah's Guards had come back with no new information for them.

They were all moving cautiously, as they would continue to do until the new danger finally presented itself. Unfortunately, the danger was about to present itself in a form nobody expected.

Anayah held up her hand and everybody stopped.

"What is that sound?" Banion looked at his Guards but though they were looking around them carefully and listening intently, could not hear anything.

"Are you talking about that high pitched … almost a whistling sound?" Lieutenant Duilin of the Avari Guards had an extremely heightened sense of hearing, his specialty among his Thurin Tirith Unit.

Banion nodded then, when Anayah called out, looked to where she was pointing. High overhead, a great ball of fire was falling towards them. When the horses, who were naturally afraid of fire started dancing and rearing, their riders were hard pressed to keep them in one place. In truth, the nerves of their riders weren't far behind those of their rides and they all began to entertain the notion of scattering in an attempt to get out of the way.

"Hold!" Gandalf and Rahan yelled at the same time. Rahan nodded in deference to Gandalf.

"Keep your position until the last possible moment then when you are sure of where the thing is going to land, then and only then do you move. Move before that time, or move in a blind panic and the chances are high that you will inadvertently move right into the thing's path."

Luckily, they were not in the path of the great ball of fire but when it did finally impact with the ground, it literally exploded into flaming shards, which quickly ignited the forest around its impact bed. Before anybody could react two more of the balls of fire hit the ground until, all too soon, the rescuers and their dragon Charge were surrounded by fire.

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It cannot be! Oh, sweet Valar, what have I done?

Elias threw his great head into the air as he reared, slamming back to the earth near the body of his fallen rider. It had been an accident … he had slipped … he had panicked when a large, fiery ember had hit his shoulder and when he had reared, his hind hooves had slipped out from underneath him and he had fallen backwards. Anayah had not thrown herself free and had screamed in pain when he had landed on her.

He had done what he could to rise quickly but when he had nuzzled her, she had not moved and when he had snuffled and nudged her face, had been alarmed to find the breath of life was no longer there.

What have I done? Help me! Help my rider! Please!

He frantically looked around at the fire that completely surrounded him, its acrid smoke choking him and burning his eyes as he desperately tried to find someone who could help his downed rider. He whinnied until the smoke he was inhaling burned his throat and he could call out no more.

"Elias?"

The fire disappeared – well, it almost disappeared.

"Elias, what's wrong, old man?"

Anayah had felt Elias plant his feet and when he didn't move further she had begun to become concerned. Looking around her at the advancing fire line she saw that the one small avenue of escape they had found was getting smaller even as they sat there looking at it. They could spare no time in making their escape, but for the sake of her friend, she had to try to find what troubled his great heart and had caused him to freeze as he now was.

She dismounted and walked until she was in front of him then gently pulled on his ears, his personal sign to lower his head. Anayah stroked his velvety soft nose comfortingly, leaning her forehead against his, while the next horse and rider in line, Bansil with Erenol riding in front of him, stopped close to the big stallion to give aid if necessary.

"I don't know what troubles you, my friend, but if it is of concern to you then it is a concern I will personally address. I think maybe I don't understand the reason you have stopped, Elias, so if you would tell me why you are fearful, maybe I can help. Please tell me what it is that troubles you."

I am afraid.

"Of what, Elias?"

I am afraid that I will cause your death.

"Afraid you will cause my death? Like it hasn't happened yet - well of course it hasn't happened yet if I am asking you if it hasn't happened yet." She frowned, until realization finally dawned upon her. "You had a vision, didn't you?"

Yes. And in this portent, I caused your death. If I were to do something, make some mistake and you were to die because of what I had done, I would not, could not continue.

"Listen to me, Elias. We don't have a lot of time to discuss this although I do promise that when we are through the fire we will discuss it at length. You have not yet caused my death and the chances you will are so small they almost don't matter at all. Every time you and I ride together, it is with the foreknowledge that anything can happen and one or both of us could die. However, I do not get the sense that this is one of those random moments for us. Your vision probably comes from the Witch King and was meant to weaken you by causing despair.

You are a powerful ally in this venture, my friend, so it would only make sense that that half-dead freak of nature would attack you the same as he has attacked others among our number. You may feel that your courage is failing you, Elias, but in those times when you feel weakened, rely on those of us who care about you to share our strength. I also am afraid but even so have not lost my confidence in you. Remember who you are, my friend. You are a Prince, and full brother to Shadowfax, Lord of all horses, and just like your brother, you are mighty in spirit and in strength, and nobody can take that away from you unless you let them - and I just can't see you doing something like that."

We have known each other a very long time, my Lady, and I have counseled you many times, even telling you that if the worst should happen and you were to fall that I would be there to carry you home. At this moment, I am by your side and by your side is where I will stay if I am allowed by fate to do so. I have heard your words and have felt the love you have for me, and for now and forever, that will be enough.

You are correct that I am full brother to Shadowfax and that in my own right I am a Prince.

He lowered his head further until he could look her in the eye.

Perhaps it is time that I quit acting like a fearful weanling and start acting like a Prince. Shall we?

"That's my horse!"

After Anayah had once more swung herself into the saddle, she wheeled until she faced the others and from the expression on their faces, knew that her conversation between she and the stallion had been shared with the others. It was an inspiring lesson for all of them to hear a great heart like Elias admit to a weakness as well as well as tell Anayah that he was willing to work through that weakness. When the she-elf and horse once more turned around and rode through the narrow breach in the fiery ring, there was no hesitation before the others rode through as well.

TBC