Here I am with a new chapter ! So sorry for the delay, but I've been suffering from a sweet little thing commonly called "writer's block"... Sorry... This chapter should be lighter than the previous ones ! I really hope you'll enjoy !

Lord Elrond had just finished to saddle his horse when a hurried voice reached his ears :

"Hír Elrond !"

The Elf Lord turned around, recognising the voice of his Chief Counselor Erestor. He was surprised when his eyes met not one, but two Elves, a blonde and a brunette, walking toward him.

"What is the matter, Hír Erestor ?" asked he, confusion written all over his face.

"Hír-nîn, this is Hír Orophin. He came all the way from the faraway Lorien to deliver you a message." said the Chief Counselor.

Immediately noticing his too pale face and the red stains on the Lorien Elf's tunic, Elrond hurried next to him and grabbed his elbow.

"Hír Orophin, what happened ?" asked the Elf Lord to the younger Elf.

"Hír-nîn, Lothlórien has been attacked by the Nazgûls. Lady Galadriel is dying and we have many wounded to treat before their minds pass to the Halls of Mandos. I have been sent here to seek for your assistance in those dark hours."

Hit by the shock these revelation brought to the Elf Lord, nearly an entire minute passed without Elrond, nor Erestor said a word. Then, quickly, the two Elves gathered back their thoughts, and it was Erestor who spoke first :

"Go, Hír nîn. Take your sons and a part of the remaining elves, and go."

Elrond almost imperceptibly nodded his head. Of course, he had to go to Lorien, of course he had to help his friends. But Andúril... He had to bring the reforged blade to his foster son... He had promised his daughter that he would...

The Elf Lord slightly shook his head in dismissal. Now was not the time for questionings of that kind. Every more minute he wasted here was a minute less he had to heal the Lorien Elves. He had to depart rapidly. Valar would guide his actions on the way.

"Erestor ! Go fetch my sons and the best healers in the remaining Elves while I take care of Hír Orophin."

At those words, Erestor immediately bowed and left while Orophin took a small step back.

"Hír nîn," said he, "I am well. Do not waste your time with me."

"With all due respect, Orophin," retorted Elrond, "You look far from well. I do not want to lose another Elf I could've saved on our way to Lothlórien."

The Elf Lord's voice held so much emotion, that Orophin was forced to agree and followed Elrond into the Healing House of Imladris.

The Mouth stared at the frail creature bound on the dark and cold wall in front of her. The man looked so weak. It was pale, tired, pained and sweating. Yet a fierce determination still shone in its eyes. No wonder why the Witch King hadn't yet been able to break through... It was very complicated to break through that kind of stubborn and defiant mind without destroying it... But it was now barely a matter of time before The Lord got the informations He needed.

"My Lord Sauron wishes to make an agreement with you, to save yourself from a lot of useless pain and save us from useless efforts..." the Mouth spoke. Of course this was a lie. Of course the man wouldn't be spared by pain. But who cared ?

"You're wasting your time," answered the man in a raspy voice, "You will not get anything from me !"

Of course... That was expectable. This was what they all kept saying... But eventually, their resolution broke.

"Here is the deal My Master is offering you," spoke the Mouth, as if the man hadn't spoken anything at all, "You will let Him in your mind and let him access to all you saw, see and are about to see. Or else, The Lord will keep torturing you, your brother and father until your mind break, or death ensues."

When she spoke those words, the already large grin on the Mouth's face widened even more. She could see the man slowly losing its composure, the few remaining colours rapidly leaving its face. A lie again, of course. The Dark Lord could not afford wasting his precious strengths to torture the brother and father. But those lies more than often did their trick.

"Y-You... You can't... N-No..." whispered the man, fear written all over his features.

A strange, guttural laugh went past the Mouth's lips. But the laughter died when the man replied between gritted teeth :

"I won't give you anything."

Was this serious ? Of all the few foreseeing men, the one that was interesting them had to be loyal and selfless ? A sigh escaped the mouth and she stared disapprovingly at the shaking with her invisible eyes. This was going to be hard, indeed... Yet, the man's determination had wavered for a moment and tears were now rolling down its face. Hard, but not impossible...

"As you wish, then. I will inform My Master of your decision. Until then, you still have the time to think about this."

With those words, the mouth left the dark, cold and empty room.

Faramir was alone, again, and he was scared. Not scared for himself, for he perfectly knew his captors would not harm him since they needed him. But afraid for his friends and family. Valar knew what the Dark Lord would do to them to get what He wanted...

And suddenly, Faramir felt it... He felt it coming... I had been a long time since the last one, but he hadn't forgot. Closing his eyes and trying his best to relax himself (which was harder than one could expect, due to the position he was in, both mentally and physically). Then, his vision blurred and he wasn't in his cell anymore.

An Elf and a man were both kneeled on the ground, desperately clutching the dirt underneath them. None of them spoke. They simply stared at the grass before them, a silent tear rolling down the man's cheek."Nawaer, mellyn nîn..." [Farewell, my friends] spoke the Elf, softly. Then, the land began to disappear.

The scene slowly became clearer. He was in the stables of a place he rapidly recognised as Edoras. A figure approached. It was a woman. Her golden hair were flying in the soft breeze. She was armoured and bore a face hiding helmet under her arm.Then, the scene blurred and he wasn't in the stables anymore.

He was outside the city, now. Many soldiers stood next to their horses. The atmosphere was... Unusual... Their was some kind of pain that emanated from the very land. In fact, if you looked closely, the grass was tainted in red here and there...Faramir was gotten out of his contemplation by a familiar voice.

"Won't you, for once, gift this poor horse a saddle ?"

"I assure you, master Dwarf, this horse is much better without. Besides, it makes the ride much more pleasant to all of us."

There was something off in Legolas' voice... Something Faramir had never heard from him... Sadness..?

"I can see you are not the one riding on his very back... How long is the ride going to be, Aragorn ?"

"I do not know, my friend. But we will ride as fast as we can, that, I can assure you."

"Aye, we surely will." a voice interrupted. Faramir turned around to meet the determined and hardened face of his dear brother.

If he had been able to, Faramir would have gasped and jumped to embrace him, but Boromir simply walked through him.

This was surprisingly hard for the younger man, to be reminded that he was completely powerless in this state.

"Where's the King ?" asked Boromir.

"Last time I saw him, he was discussing with Lord Éomer," answered Aragorn, "He should arrive any minute."

"I hope so. For I am not wasting anymore time here while my brother is suffering Valar knows what kind of torment in this damned place."

Faramir opened his eyes slowly. A bright smile was shining on his face. His friends were coming for him. He just had to hold on a little longer. But... Lady Éowyn... What was she doing in armour ? Why was she hiding herself like this ?

A feeling of worry and guilt began to settle in Faramir's throat. No, no... She shouldn't be trying to come... It was too dangerous... She shouldn't be doing this...

Faramir suddenly tried his best to keep the feeling at bay. He couldn't worry. Not now. The Nazgûls would feel it and take the opportunity to strike him once more. Yet he couldn't stop worrying, no matter how hard he tried... And now he was afraid... No no no ! He had to stop !

"There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar..." he slowly began to recite the text he had been reading during every single one of his many sleepless nights on the journey since Lady Galadriel had made him this priceless gift. If he could force his mind to focus on something else... Maybe...

"And he made first the Ainur, the Holy

Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made..."

As he went on, Faramir's mind drifted into memories of the first time Mithrandir had read him this text... His deep voice had truly made him fly away and, for a moment, the young boy he had been had pictured himself as Ilúvatar...

Yes, this might very well work...

They were slowly but surely progressing, and if Merry had been scared before, he was now terrified beyond words. The Orcs were literally everywhere in Gondor. How many times had they had to hurriedly hide behind trees or bushes to avoid being seen by the Enemy ?

And now what were they doing ? Hiding of course... How original... Oh no ! Wait ! This time they were hiding from Haradrims... Much better than Orcs indeed...

"I'm scared, Merry..." Pippin shaking whispered from beside his cousin. The two Hobbits were crouched, side by side, behind a thick bush.

"I know, Pip'. I'm scared too. But hush, now." Merry whispered back. Pippin hurriedly nodded before hiding his head back in his cloak.

Merry looked at him worriedly. His younger cousin had never been a very courageous Hobbit, but since the Fellowship had parted, it had grown worse... Like if Pippin had lost his protectors...

Merry, on the other hand, had grown stronger, using this loss to harden himself. Indirectly, the Hobbit knew he was inspiring himself from Boromir. Strong and confident...

Once the cortege was passed and they were completely certain that there were no sentinels behind, Deveron slowly peered out from behind a tree before sharply nodding his head, indicating to his soldiers that the danger was gone.

"Mithrandir..." a voice whispered, making the Wizard turn around to meet Deveron.

"Yes ?"

"Mithrandir, the night will be upon us, soon. It is not safe to keep walking."

"What is your suggestion, then, Deveron ?" asked Gandalf, sensing that the man had something to tell.

"We should head to Henneth Annûn. If there is one safe place left in Gondor, it's this one." answered the Ranger.

"And are you asking me my opinion ? Of course we should ! Do not ask me ! You really need to get more self-confident, young man." replied Gandalf, a small smile on his face.

Deveron nodded and left to his fellow Rangers. Gandalf shook his head. This Second in Command was definitely too similar to his Captain...

At the thought of his dear Faramir, his Geliadan, Gandalf's smile widened even more as his mind drifted back into memories...

There you go ! I hope you liked this chapter as well ! Again, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback (especially to Chiara Meldis and TheDarkChronist for their really kind reviews !)

Also, I'm getting my summer break this Friday (finally !), so the updates may become even more random than they already were (by random, I mean that I can very well post two chapters in two days or two chapters in a month...)