Chapter 7

Flight to the Fjord

Author's Muse: Rejoice! Another chapter is upon us! I kept some themes from the original Consequences story. Those of you who read the previous will recognize them, but I've added more to it. This chapter is particularly book quite heavy (as in, I got lazy and copy-pasted from the kindle LOTR to my story), but it has my own flare in it despite that. There are some descriptions and dialogue that work the best from Tolkien's voice. I did change a big point of Brianna's character development in this chapter from the original. Let me know if you can spot it :3

Enjoy!

Their detour through the hills had ended in a disappointed Strider announcing that it was best to return to the road. The descent to the road had relieved much of Frodo's weariness and he was able to continue the trek without much difficulty after a while. Brianna continued to guide and help him as best she could despite the increase in her own discomfort. Worrying about Frodo's health and the safety of the other hobbits was cause enough for stress. Something strange changed concerning her relationship with Strider/Aragorn and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. What she did understand was that the exchange of each other's names had awakened a new level of intimacy that few shared. What made it all the more unsettling was how willing he was to call her by that cursed name.

She dared not ask why. Brianna suspected that the ranger didn't quite see the full scope of this change in their discourse. Even if he did she suspected that he didn't want to notice.

Pippin found a path in the later afternoon after a couple of days traversing down the hills toward a river Strider termed to be the Loudwater. It was old, clearly unused for at least sixty years, but clear in most places and made through what Brianna could tell to be the easiest path to the river. Frodo was able to traverse it with ease. Despite this their trek was cautious lest something unexpected spring upon them.

Suddenly coming out of a belt of fir-trees it ran steeply down a slope, and turned sharply to the left round the corner of a rocky shoulder of the hill. When they came to the corner they looked round and saw that the path ran on over a level strip under the face of a low cliff overhung with trees. In the stony wall there was a door hanging crookedly ajar upon one great hinge. (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Ch 12, pg 204, Kindle Edition).

Brianna stared at it through slitted eyes and motioned for Sam to take the reigns from her. Strider followed closely behind her glancing warily at the terrain in an effort to cover her back. They managed to open the door a bit wider – the first clue for them that the door had been hanging ajar for many years – and stepped into the cavern beyond. Brianna lifted her hand and focused. Fire briefly flared in her hand before it began turning yellow, then blue, then white. The fire smoothed into a bright happy glow that she released into the air to light the cavern.

It was quite disappointing in terms of creepiness. On the other hand old bones, empty pots and broken jars littered the ground. The urge to go in and excavate the cavern came upon her and she closed her eyes and breathed. Sadly, those days were long over but it didn't diminish the longing for them.

"What is this place?" She asked.

"Once I suspect it was a troll hoard, but no longer. It is abandoned," Strider remarked.

Pippin had slipped behind them to get a peek. He shuddered.

"That's definitely a troll hoard if ever I saw one," he said, "let's get away from here."

Strider voiced his affirmative and moved away. Brianna looked longingly into the cave. If time had permitted she would have gone in and spent a few hours looking for old relics. A release of breath pulled her away from the scene and returned to Frodo and the others.

"What's wrong?" Frodo asked as she twined Bill's reigns around her fingers.

She blinked. Earnest blue eyes blinked at her from a small head of black hair. Brianna forced a smile to grace her lips.

"Nothing. Just remembering things," she said.

"What things?" He asked.

She chuckled, genuinely amused, and began to lead them down the path once again. Strider glanced at them over his shoulder, dark brow raised. She stuck her tongue out at him. His expression turned shocked. With an impish shrug she returned her attention to Frodo.

"There was a time when I wasn't a huntress. I left for about thirty years to pursue something less dangers," she replied and frowned for a moment.

Alyan, Allyson, and Judah, she thought. I left for you and now I'm back for you because I can't let you go, can't forget.

"During that time I studied histories of my race and my world in general. I even went around different countries, or realms, to look for ancient artifacts left behind by people who are gone," she explained, "My mentor was there for so much of it. She could tell me things that no history book or rough translation of some stone tablet ever could."

"Is that why you have so many stories?" Pippin asked.

"I wouldn't call them stories," she replied, "they're more like accounts."

They continued on. Pippin and Merry strode on ahead of their little group and faded from sight as their foliage obscured them. Brianna remained silent, lost in memories, while Strider cautiously continued onward. They had not gone far before Pippin and Merry hurried back. Fear plastered their expressions like thick cement. Brianna started and pulled Bill to a halt.

"Trolls!" Pippin hissed as he slid to a stop in front of Strider, "In the clearing ahead! Three of them!"

Brianna blinked.

Trolls? I don't smell them, she thought.

"We will come and look at them," Strider said and picked up a stick.

Brianna blinked. Whatever was the best weapon to use against a troll she was certain a stick was about as useless as a gnat. She gently tugged Bill forward to resume his slow plod. Frodo remained silent, almost contemplative.

They reached the clearing quickly. Sunlight streamed through the leaves of red oak trees fading from their beautiful deep green into various colors of red, orange, yellow and brown. In the middle of that clearing stood three trolls completely unmoving. Brianna's eyes, like an eagle's, focused on a little bird's nest resting comfortably on the top of one troll's head. She smirked.

Strider, as if needing to prove a point, struck the leg of a troll and broke the stick. Frodo laughed. Brianna giggled and winked at Strider.

"Shall we add 'Slayer of Trolls' to your list of skills?" She asked impishly.

"Well!" Frodo said. "We are forgetting our family history! These must be the very three that were caught by Gandalf, quarreling over the right way to cook thirteen dwarves and one hobbit."

"That certainly seems dire," Brianna remarked, "Tell me all."

"You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls," said Strider. "It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls waiting for us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird's nest behind his ear. That would be a most unusual ornament for a live troll!"

"Could have been a female troll invulnerable to sunlight?" Brianna asked sweetly.

Strider met her gaze and Brianna was both surprised and pleased to see the corner of his mouth tilting into a half smile. Strider turned his attention to the hobbits. His eyes twinkled with subdued merriment. He ushered them away and the group continued walking. The hobbits' mood lightened and laughed merrily about their encountered. Sam even sang about the encounter with Frodo's infamous Uncle Bilbo.

Brianna allowed the general teasing and merriment to wash over her as Strider led them onward down the track. The hobbits were excited and chattered about Old Uncle Bilbo's great journey with the increasingly interesting wizard, Gandalf, and twelve Rowdy dwarves.

After a few miles they came out on the top of a high bank above the Road. At this point the Road had left the Hoarwell far behind in its narrow valley, and now clung close to the feet of the hills, rolling and winding eastward among woods and heather-covered slopes towards the Ford and the Mountains. Not far down the bank Strider pointed out a stone in the grass. On it roughly cut and now much weathered could still be seen dwarf-runes and secret marks. (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Pg 206 Kindle Edition)

"That's the marker Bilbo and the dwarves used to remind themselves where they buried the treasure!" Merry said excitedly.

"Is there anything left of Bilbo's portion, Frodo?" Pippin asked.

"No," Frodo said, "he gave it all away. He said he didn't feel like it was his as it was from a trove of robbers."

Brianna found herself nodding, "He seems quite wise, your uncle."

"In some ways. In others I fear Bilbo was a grouchy, suspicious old man," Frodo replied laughing.

She snorted, "I know elves who are like that. One in particular has red hair and likes to hit people with big thick books when they're least expecting it."

Strider took the first steps toward the road. Brianna gently tugged Bill's reigns and initiated a careful descent over pointed rocks and sudden dips in the dirt. The road was quiet in that early evening without a traveler in sight. Nothing stirred other than the evening crickets chirping away their happy calls as the last dregs of fall shifted into winter. A cold wind danced across her skin the moment she and the others made it to the road. Silently they tread onward all the while taking stock of the land surrounding them.

The day waned into twilight. Each of them began to look for a place off the road to sleep for the night. Brianna glanced at a small alcove in the right. She dismissed it quickly. The alcove wasn't obscured enough to avoid the danger of being seen.

She drew to a stop startling Frodo and Bill. The others hadn't noticed until a little ways later when Pippin looked back and noticed a gap between them. Brianna hadn't noticed. She was too busy listening to what she, at first, thought were rocks and now could tell in the silence that it wasn't so. They were hooves.

Slowly she met Strider's gaze and at his nod she pulled Frodo into the alcove. Strider and the three other hobbits followed shortly after. Brianna left Frodo and Bill to stealthily move toward the front of the group. With a breath she closed her eyes a moment and conquered the land around them.

I am the elven queen. I have been given dominion over you for a time. You will allow me to use you to protect these people, she told it.

The land, whatever force sustained it, acquiesced to the demand. She opened her eyes and prepared the flora to launch a series of should-be-fatal-but-probably-won't-Be strikes. Then the sound of bells met her ears and her brow furrowed.

"The fuck?" She asked to no one in particular in a voice as soft as the wind.

"That doesn't sound like a rider's horse," Frodo remarked.

"So we hope," Sam said.

"But, bells?" Brianna asked incredulously.

Strider was silent, but Brianna noticed a growing smile spreading across his face. She thought about asking what exactly it was he was so happy about, but refrained. Deciding to trust him; however, she released her hold on the land and merely placed the tips of her fingers on a knife hidden in her less-than serviceable boot.

The light faded completely and Brianna was left feeling the wind rustle her bronze hair. Moonlight peaked every once in a while from behind slow moving clouds. Clearer and nearer now the bells jingled, and clippety-clip came the quick trotting feet. Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. The rider's cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed.

The rider halted and looked up at them. Clear blue eyes, much lighter than Strider's, stared up at them.

Brianna didn't completely relax, but she did take her fingers off the hilt of her knife. Her tension completely faded when Strider leapt out of the alcove and strode down to the road. The rider dismounted and ran to meet him.

"Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen!" The rider called.

Brianna blinked. She'd never heard that tongue of elvish before. A sense of knowing was there; however, and she could extract some meaning from the strange words.

Like when I heard German for the first time and could pinpoint a relationship with English, she thought.

The elf spoke urgently to Strider in that same tongue. She sighed and moved to grab Bill's reigns.

"Seems like we have nothing to worry about from him," she said.

Frodo stared at her a whispered, "You both glow."

She started, "What now?"

"You and that elf glow this bright light, though yours seems to flicker like a flame," he informed her.

Brianna opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say. Glowing? Sure her skin reflected moonlight at certain angles but she never thought she actually glowed.

Strider beckoned them to come out at that moment and Brianna shook the incident from her thoughts, "Come forth! This is Lord Glorfindel who dwells in the House of Rivendell!"

She gently urged Bill out of the alcove behind Sam, Pippin and Merry and slipped into view. The elf's eyes widened and gabbled something at her in elvish. Brianna shook her head.

"It's best to speak to me in Common Tongue. I am not familiar with the elvish of this world," she replied.

She hadn't thought it possible for a person to look comically surprised, but this elf managed it. He stepped to her swiftly and peered down at her from his great height.

It was her turn to gape. How tall was he?

"Another world," he breathed, "Extraordinary! Lord Elrond saw true!"

"What?" She asked appalled.

He didn't answer but turned to Frodo just as quickly and said, "Hail, and well met at last! I was sent from Rivendell to look for you. We feared that you were in danger upon the road."

"Then Gandalf has reached Rivendell?" cried Frodo joyfully.

"No. He had not when I departed; but that was nine days ago,' answered Glorfindel. 'Elrond received news that troubled him. Some of my kindred, journeying in your land beyond the Baranduin, learned that things were amiss, and sent messages as swiftly as they could. They said that the Nine were abroad, and that you were astray bearing a great burden without guidance, for Gandalf had not returned. There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but such as there were, Elrond sent out north, west, and south. It was thought that you might turn far aside to avoid pursuit, and become lost in the Wilderness. It was my lot to take the Road, and I came to the Bridge of Mitheithel, and left a token there, nigh on seven days ago. Three of the servants of Sauron were upon the Bridge, but they withdrew and I pursued them westward. I came also upon two others, but they turned away southward. Since then I have searched for your trail. Two days ago I found it, and followed it over the Bridge; and today I marked where you descended from the hills again. But come! There is no time for further news. Since you are here we must risk the peril of the Road and go. There are five behind us, and when they find your trail upon the Road they will ride after us like the wind. And they are not all. Where the other four may be, I do not know. I fear that we may find the Ford is already held against us."

"Only the wraiths?" Brianna asked sharply.

Lord Glorfindel frowned, "I am not sure. A shadow has followed me since I left the bridge, but I have yet to meet with it."

She frowned, "It wasn't only the wraiths who assaulted us. Dark beings from my world have crossed over along with me and maybe even before my arrival."

The elf lord began to pace to and fro with a hand on his chin, "This is concerning. Lord Elrond felt a shift in the world, but he couldn't divine what it was. I felt something strange, a darkness of a sort that was foreign to me, but I hadn't thought…"

Brianna's attention shifted to Frodo who slumped in his seat. She moved to him and touched his shoulder. The hobbit smiled a bit though a shadow of disappointment lurked behind.

He's exhausted, she thought.

"My master is ill," Sam said, "He can't go on riding in the night."

Brianna nodded, "I agree. But if the enemy's moving then we probably should go. I can carry Frodo."

Glorfindel stood beside her and helped lower Frodo to the ground. There he knelt and inspected him while Strider described the attack on Weathertop. Brianna didn't interject she was busy watching the elf inspect Frodo's wound and the knife incision she had made to act as an infusion drip. Strider handed him the knife hilt and Glorfindel took it only to shudder. Brianna didn't blame him. The thing felt sticky like it filled the air around it with tar.

"There are evils marks on this blade, though you may not be able to see them," Glorfindel remarked.

Brianna paid him no mind. She'd seen the blade enough to know what sort of dark artifact it was and knowing that there was something written on the damn thing wasn't going to help her with Frodo's wound. She watched the elf hand back the blade and moved his attention to Frodo.

"Keep the blade," he said, "Though there is little I can do for him. The wound is beyond my skill. Lord Elrond will be able to do more."

She didn't know what he did but focus seemed to return to Frodo's gaze and he was able to move his arm and shoulder a little bit. Glorfindel helped him sit and turned to the party.

"This is all I can do, but the enemy lurks along our path. We can't rest for the night. I propose we let Frodo ride my horse in case the enemy finds us before we reach the bridge," he said.

Frodo looked horrified at the thought and Brianna interjected, "I will ride with him. Should my enemies follow him Frodo will be defenseless."

Strider grabbed her arm, "You will be directly in harm's way should you do this."

"That's the point, Ranger," she said softly, "My enemies will follow me; especially, as they have a particular reason to hate me."

Strider didn't argue further, but he did stand back and stare at her through a frustrated tilt of his brow. Brianna grinned and helped Frodo onto Glorfindel's large white horse. She climbed up behind him and took the reigns.

"Thank you, Bri, but what about the others?" He asked.

Brianna gently tapped on the mind of the horse, proved herself a friend and asked it to walk forward. Glorfindel uttered a few awed exclamations in the elvish tongue she couldn't understand.

What is their magic like here? Subtle pulling of power? Why does he act like he's never seen an elf before? She wondered.

"I suspect you and I will be distraction enough," she replied to Frodo, "even if they were assaulted I think Lord Glorfindel and Strider will prove capable."

The elf lord tread on before them. All were silent as the concern of enemies lurking about lived in the forefront of their minds. Brianna didn't like riding; especially, with a wounded Hobbit in front of her. The need for her with Frodo was clear even if Strider, who walked a few paces before them, didn't much care for the idea. To Brianna it didn't matter what he thought. The gravity of the situation changed when it became apparent that her enemies were in this world.

Why are they here? What do they want? She wondered.

Such thoughts plagued her as the company plod on. The hobbits were weary. Frodo has long since passed into an uneasy slumber. Even Strider's shoulders slumped forward and he briefly rubbed his eyes every now and then. For Brianna's part her mind was too charged to sleep. Too many conundrums befuddled her for weariness to claim her mind. There was little doubt in her that at the moment of arrival she would be completely spent.

Lord Glorfindel finally called halt and they rushed into a place off the road covered thickly in heather. Brianna helped make sure Frodo was comfortable and asleep before she turned to leave.

"You could sleep a moment," the elf lord suggested softly so as to keep from waking Strider Who was a light sleeper.

Brianna smiled wryly, "No, I can't. This… this plot of the enemy troubles me as I can't think of exactly what it is."

He looked thoughtful, but nodded all the same, "I will rouse them in five hours time. Proceed with caution. The enemy is close."

She smiled gravely, "That's why I'm going. Maybe I'll deal with them sooner rather than later?"

"You look for a fight," he noted.

She shrugged, "I'm a Huntress, elf lord. I will stalk my prey and I will kill it just as efficiently."

With that she moved into the night and stayed just above the road searching for enemies.

Strider woke after two hours to find Glorfindel watching the night. His expression was grim in the dim light, but the night seemed not to touch him. Gingerly the ranger rose and moved to sit beside his friend. They sat silently for a time and gazed into the darkness.

"Brianna is gone," Strider said after a while.

"She seems to be hunting our enemies," Glorfindel replied.

This didn't surprise him. Brianna had done so ever since Weathertop. It worried him for a reason Strider couldn't quite understand. This elleth seemed reckless to a fault. Her need to exact a certain amount of ferocity to her enemies allowed very little need to hold back her power however considerable it was.

"She is a powerful wielder of the magic of the Maiar. I liken her power to what I know Mithrandir can do should the need arise, yet she uses it more," Strider explained.

"I know. I felt her subdue the land before I rounded the bend in the road. Had I not placed bells on Asfaloth she would have likely killed me without a thought. You may think she's rash, but if her enemies are here she might feel that she needs to be. Darker forces are at work in Arda than any we have seen. Lord Elrond has seen this though he knows not of what to make of it. He and I felt her come through. I know it was her now that I've met her," Glorfindel said.

Strider didn't reply but sat silently to think about the implications of this. The great elf lords felt her enter Arda. The land accepted her presence, or she made it.

"No elf here has her power," Strider remarked.

"No, we do not and I suspect we will be thankful for that in the coming days," Glorfindel replied.

Strider took that for the rebuke that it was and stared silently at a short tree. He closed his eyes. It had been a long time since she had won his trust in regards to her reliability as an ally. The expanse of her power; however, was another matter. He didn't trust such wild magic. It certainly seemed she had control of it, but if she didn't then what? They knew little of it.

Brianna materialized before him after an hour. Strider didn't start as he once did. She was an elf and she moved as one would when returning from a hunt. Her eyes looked concerned and as she drew closer Strider beheld blood on her clothes. He straightened and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

She hastily waved him down and sat beside him. Glorfindel moved from them though Strider couldn't fathom as to why. He studied her and noticed her body was rigid with tension. Despite this she looked beautiful in the way her skin glowed with the moonlight. Her hair was loose, no longer tied in that serviceable braid, and hung around her matted and dirty yet still glinted bronze as the moonlight bathed her for only a moment.

"Erebus sent a vampire and twenty naga after us. I killed them. No sign of the riders or Erebus himself, so they clearly don't know where we are," she said.

Strider marveled at how matter-of-fact she was about killing dark creatures. It was strange to hear from an elf maiden. Few in Arda actively fought and many remained behind to guard their homes. It was known that an elleth, including the maidens, had power enough to through back the forces of the enemy if they so chose. It was why they stayed behind and fought anything that invaded. This seemed to not be so from wherever it was Brianna hailed from.

"Some comfort Indeed," he agreed.

Glorfindel rose and began to raise the hobbits from their slumber. Brianna sighed and stood. Strider wondered how tired she was. In the days she traveled with him when had she the chance to mourn the loss of her World alone?

They traveled into the day. The sun climbed high. Brianna rode with Frodo in silence her head bowed and eyes partially closed. Listening as Glorfindel likely was. Strider would have pressed on once night came, but the hobbits couldn't from the way they continued to stumble about as darkness blanketed the sky. Glorfindel was distressed by the notion, but little could be done when Frodo declared his arm and shoulder worse.

Brianna stayed with them this time and remained awake throughout the night ready for the moment when their enemies converged upon them. Strider woke in rounds as he, himself, couldn't sleep and stayed next to her and Frodo. Neither said a word only guarded the Hobbit together.

Brianna felt the change in the air when she roused Frodo from his slumber. She could hear the signs of horses following them as well as the crash of feet, clawed and dull and heavy, scurrying through the brush and scraping across the expanse of the road.

Our peril will be greatest just ere we reach the river," said Glorfindel; "for my heart warns me that the pursuit is now swift behind us, and other danger may be waiting by the Ford."

The road steadily tilted downward as they approached the river at the valley below. They continued until mid afternoon when they came upon a dark copse of trees. As they entered within she heard the tell tale signs of hooves plodding in a canter behind them. She tensed. Frodo felt her unease and looked at her.

"They follow us," he breathed.

"Yes," she whispered.

Ahead, Glorfindel turned. Brianna urged the horse into a brusque trot and nodded to him.

"They're hear!" She snapped.

"Fly!" Glorfindel cried to the stunned hobbits.

They broke through the trees and hastened through the clearing when the noise of galloping resounded behind them. Brianna wheeled the horse around and raised her arm, hand clenched into a tight fist. The pine branches attacked the two Wraiths that emerged with a ferocious hatred she'd allowed the land to express. Behind rode Erebus who snarled at her, red eyes glinting in undisguised rage.

"You want him?" She cried, "Come and take him, then!"

She whirled the horse around and bade him to ride like the wind. He seemed to get the message because suddenly the beast sprang into a hard gallop and took them through the upcoming trees like an arrow. Brianna willed the trees to move with no small an effort. Frodo was groaning as the pain in his shoulder cut through his nerves like ice and her monitoring of his welfare distracted her from the ride. But Glorfindel's steed did not slow nor did he neglect to avoid the thickest of landscape Brianna forgot to move. Together they worked in tandem with one goal in mind: get to Imladris.

The river looked before them and with a sweep of her slim arm the river parted for them. As they road across the dry riverbed Brianna heard snarling as animalistic shape shifters followed close behind. Just as the horse sprung onto the the river bank Brianna released the water and washed them away. The Riders and Erebus were close behind and as they reached the high bank began to cross the rushing water. Brianna pulled the horse to a stop and dismounted.

"Bri!" Frodo cried weakly.

She paid him no mind, but kept her attention fixed upon the Riders and Erebus. The Knight Elf was grinning at her the cruel grin of one who knew they just won the race.

"Go back! Go back to Mordor and follow me no more!" Cried Frodo drawing his sword.

The Rider in the lead hissed and held out a dark hand. Frodo let out a croak, but the horse did not let the Hobbit fall. Brianna formed a flaming whip in her hand and lashed out at the rider who screamed. She hit him again.

"Leave this place in the Name of the Triune! Leave now before I make your suffering great!" She yelled.

Erebus road into the river and said, "There is nothing more you can do, Huntress. Leave the Hobbit to us and I will spare you."

"Bullshit!" She snarled and directed the whip at him.

Erebus held out his hand to block the fire, but hadn't anticipated her to change direction at the last moment. His horse's scream was heartbreaking, but it had to be done. It's leg burned and the horse reared and threw the knight elf out of his saddle and into the water. He rose, sputtering, and coughing. She smiled.

"I will make your suffering great!" He said, "I will cause you such pain that you will beg me to take your miserable life!"

She distinguished her flame and drew out her fighting knives. Brianna fell into a guard stance and laughed. It felt good to be able to actually fight something.

"You wouldn't be the first You fucking corpse!" She taunted.

As one Erebus and the Riders advanced. She readied herself and sought to draw in the water. Only, someone else seemed to have done so already, and Brianna almost dropped her stance in astonishment as the river's current echoed a faint roar. Without actually thinking about it she scrambled back up the bank and stood next to Frodo and the horse to watch in growing awe as a Great Wall of water rushed towards Erebus and the Riders.

Brianna, at that moment, felt that the Riders were probably smarter than Erebus. The leader turned and charged back to the other side of the River. One Rider made it over the bank only to come face to face with a raging Glorfindel who knocked it off the black horse he was riding and push it around like a sack of potatoes. Erebus tried some sort of dark shield – she wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to do – but to no avail. At the last second the water morphed into the image of charging stallions and crashed into their enemies.

She grinned. That was probably the most beautiful thing she ever had the pleasure of seeing. Brianna turned to make a smart remark about their unforeseen triumph to Frodo when she saw him sag to the side. She reached up and grabbed his right arm and tugged him into her and off the great horse. He was light and fading fast.

The sound of light footfalls startled her and she held up the one hand that still held a knife. Around the bend walked two men. She squinted. One was an elf and the other was an old man.

"Who are you?" She asked harshly.

The elf held up his hands and replied, "Peace Be with you, Lady, I am Lord Elrond and have been expecting Frodo's arrival. This is Gandalf, friend of the hobbits. Let me see him."

She watched him for a moment, untrusting, but decided to relieve the burden of the sick Hobbit from her shoulders to his. Lord Elrond took Frodo gently in his arms and laid him upon the ground. There he inspected his wound and began to whisper and work magicks she knew little about. A faint song filled the air and Brianna blinked. Was song the median between the world and the natural powers that shaped it?

How strange, she thought.

"You are Gandalf" she asked the old man cloaked in grey with a fuzzy grey beard.

He smiled fondly at her, "Yes, and you are the elf maiden who calls to the elements and tells them what she wishes them to do whether they want it or not."

"Arguing with trees takes too long in a crisis," she replied primly.

He laughed, "All too true."

Brianna heard splashing and saw Glorfindel, Strider, and the hobbits attempt to cross. She held up her hand and cleared a path for them that closed behind them as they crossed the Ford. Strider met her first. Quickly he grabbed her hands and chin to inspect each cut and scrape she received. Brianna pulled a face.

"I'm not hurt, Strider!" She said.

He smiled, "So I see, but the Riders and Erebus followed close behind you and cast dark curses in your direction. I wanted to be sure nothing hit you."

She blinked. Erebus tried to curse her? It wouldn't have been the first time and she opened her mouth to say just that, but thought better of it. Something about the degree of intensity laid bare in his earnest blue eyes told her it wouldn't be appropriate. In fact it might have alarmed him.

"Thank you, Strider," she said instead.

"Aragorn. We are in Lord Elrond's lands. You may call me Aragorn," he said.

Her heart jumped and dread filled her belly. Did he expect her to reciprocate? Aragorn looked at her a moment longer before turning away to look at Frodo.

"How is he, Lord Elrond?" Aragorn asked.

"He is not fine, but I have reached him in time to be effective," the elf said breaking his song.

A few bars more and Lord Elrond allowed the song to trail off into the growing evening. He lifted Frodo into his arms again and swiftly launched himself onto Glorfindel's horse.

"I will ride Asfaloth to Imladris and tend to him. Glorfindel, if you will guide the rest of them in safety to my house?"

Glorfindel inclined his head, "Willingly, Elrond."

With a nod to them all Lord Elrond launched into a canter and rode away. Brianna watched him go before allowing a shiver to run up the length of her spine. Such magic disturbed her. It wasn't evil, but it went against her nature. There was too much precision and control. While she, indeed, had her own version of it she could insert her will more readily when the need arose. This was clearly different.

I don't like the idea of staying in a world where nature has a mind of its own, she thought.

"Gandalf! Merry exclaimed, "you're here!"

The wizard grunted, "Indeed! And not a moment too soon, so it seems!"

Brianna cast her eyes to the sky. The wizard was enough like Maf to make her feel comfortable around him at least.