ARWEN

"Arwen."

Aragorn's soft voice in my ear caused me to open my eyes and see his face hovering above me.

"Radona is gone."

I quickly got up and scanned the area. "What? How… where is she?"

"When we woke up, she was gone," Naligor said. "She was an elf. Probably stolen like the others."

"But… does anyone else know how to get to Gondolin?"

"I'm lost," Aragorn said. "I know how to get there, but not from here. I have never traveled from Dadroc to Gondolin."

My heart sank. We would surely die. We would wander around in the desert until, one by one, we were stolen or starved.

"How do we get back to Dadroc?" Ohtar asked.

Aragorn pointed to my left. "We came from the east, but we turned much and followed no road or path. We would need great fortune if we hoped to find our way."

"It's our only chance," I said. "We must try."

"No," Legolas said. "We may stray further."

"What choice do we have? We could turn around or press forward, getting lost either way. Or we could stay here and starve."

"We should go forward," Ohtar said.

"No," said Aragorn. "Turn back."

I noted Legolas's worried look and felt pity for him. He had reason not to want to do any of these things- he did not want to leave Radona behind. I said something on his behalf.

"She may escape," I said. "I do not know Radona well, but thus far she has proven herself defiant, brave, and determined. And if she does find a way out, she will come here first."

Legolas cast me a grateful look. "Yes," he said. "We should wait, at least for a day."

"The longer we wait, the more lives taken," Naligor replied.

Aragorn patted his friend on the back. "It's OK," he said. "If we knew where to go, I would feel differently, but we do not. Wherever we go, it will get us even more lost than we already are. We should wait for our guide."

At that, everyone seemed to agree. We waited there all day, with no sign of her. We'd reluctantly agreed to move on in the morning, but for the night we would stay where we were. We'd all gone to sleep except Aragorn, who was keeping watch.

"Psst!"

I awoke and sat up. It was so dark that I could see nothing but dim shapes, but I was able to hear something in the bushes.

"What is it?" Ohtar asked.

Legolas took aim. "I don't know."

Then a figure walked out. It resembled…

"Radona?"

"Run!" Radona said. "They're right behind me! Run!"

We didn't need to be told again. All of us lept up and bolted, and seconds later I heard battle cries behind me, like nothing I'd ever heard. They resembled screams of the dead, coming back to haunt their killers. I didn't dare look back.

But whatever they were, they were faster than us. They'd caught up to us, and I was sure we would die, but they didn't seem interested in taking our lives or even capturing us. They seemed to weave in between us and break us up, which is why Aragorn grabbed my hand tightly and refused to let go.

It was chaos. Chaos! It was so dark that I couldn't tell my friends from my foes until they were inches away from my eyes. I felt lucky to be alive, but at the same time… suspicious. Our lives were in their hands- why weren't they taking advantage of it?

We were all running forward in a tangled mess. I was too afraid to think, so Aragorn did that much for me. Still gripping my hand tightly, he moved to the side and I followed, until we were out of the mess of creatures.

"They want us alive," he said. "For whatever reason, they want us alive."

"No," I replied. "If they wanted us alive, they would try to capture us. They were trying to break us up."

"Then it is more important than ever that we stay together. Our very lives may depend on it."

I watched the sea of creatures running away from us, chasing our friends. "We should go after them." I said.

"We will never catch up," he said firmly. "We must trust that they will be al right, and try to find them later."

I wanted to argue with him and say that he was wrong, but I couldn't. Because I knew he was right.