A Decision
As I closed the door of the hut behind me, I realized that what the old woman just told me changed everything. My hope was no longer just that, it had suddenly became real in the few minutes we had been talking. And that made all the doubts I had on the way here suddenly become as small as if they never existed.
Gimli must have recognized the excitement on my face, because he stepped forward as soon as I had pulled the door of the hut shut behind me. "Well?"
I couldn't produce more than a nod, the extent of what the woman had revealed to me still making my thoughts spin wildly. The dwarf placed a hand on my forearm and said, "Perhaps it can be better explained if we sit down." With that, he pushed me toward a tavern that lay at the end of the road. Legolas followed us. The local contact had apparently already left.
The taproom reminded me fondly of the Golden Crow, and the looks we got from the barmaid were all too familiar. She was trying to assess whether we would cause trouble.
I quickly sat down on one of the benches that stood by a table as far away as possible from all the other occupied ones. Gimli and Legolas joined me. Even before our drinks arrived, I said, "I think we hit the mark."
"Hit the mark?" asked Gimli, giving Legolas a questioning look.
"It was worth it," I said, to clarify what I meant. And then I told them everything I had learned in the little hut: that the woman, like me, had fallen to Middle-Earth, that a piece of stone was also responsible for that, and that she, too, had been lured here by another person.
As soon as I mentioned the stone and the fact that she had given me her half, and that the two seemed to match one another, Gimli perked up. "Can I see the stones?" he asked.
"Of course." As I was still in the process of pulling the pouch out from under my skirt, Legolas objected, "Maybe we'd better not do that here."
"Why?" Gimli looked at him. "You don't think anyone is going to ambush us, do you?"
"There are all sorts of people hanging around taverns. Who knows whose fingers will grow too long when they see the stones."
To cut the discussion short, I said, "I'll give them to Gimli under the table and he'll look at them in such a way that no potential thief can get the wrong idea."
The Elf tilted his head, approvingly. He had sat down next to Gimli and thus to the aisle and across from me. The dwarf sat by the wall, as did I, because I had slipped through to the end on my bench.
Carefully, I unfastened the pouch from my skirt and handed it to Gimli. He reached for it and I heard him open it. Not wanting to draw too much attention to him, I picked up my ale and sipped it. Legolas, who had obviously learned from his experience in the Golden Crow, had not ordered anything. Our eyes met briefly before I let mine continue to roam the taproom. The elf did the same. Both of us were looking for people who could possibly be dangerous to us. Even though I didn't know why. Except perhaps the fact that the stones could be considered valuable.
Yes, they might be the key to solving my problem. But just the stone pieces themselves were not going to get anyone anywhere - including me.
"This is extraordinary," I heard Gimli mutter into his beard. He was taking great pains not to be too obvious in his handling of the stones under the table, but something had occurred to him that made him forget this endeavor. "You should have told me about your stone sooner, lass. I could have let you know right away that it was part of three."
"I wouldn't have thought the stone could become important at all until just now," I admitted. Legolas, who had been watching the dwarf as intently as I had, nodded. "You also didn't tell me about being guided to our world by a woman when we... when you told me about your origins."
"That's true," I replied. "Do you think the woman had something to do with the stone?"
The elf looked indecisive. "I could speculate, but there surely is some connection between the two."
"The stone is a crystal," Gimli intervened. He still held the two pieces in his hand. "And it looks like... like it's a stone within a stone."
"What do you mean?", I asked.
"Well," the dwarf frowned. "The crystal surrounds a stone that seems to be stuck inside it.
This inner stone, in turn, is covered with a thin layer of crystal at the breaking edges. So I'm only touching the outer shell, if you will."
"Could the stone have magical powers?" Legolas suggested.
Gimli simply nodded as he slid the pieces into the pouch and handed it back to me. "I was just wondering about that, too." He looked at me. "Do you know the legend of the Arkenstone?"
I thought about the question for a moment, but then shook my head. "No, sorry."
"The heart of the mountain," Legolas mused. "Indeed, it may be, my friend."
"What is it?" I looked at each in turn until Gimli explained, "The Arkenstone was found in Erebor, long ago. It was a stone of extraordinary beauty, shimmering in all facets of the rainbow. It was the greatest treasure of the dwarf kings beneath the Lonely Mountain."
"Was?", I echoed.
"It rests with Thorin Oakenshield in his tomb."
"So these pieces of stone can't belong to that Arkenstone," I concluded.
"You're right, they can't," Gimli said. "Unless... no." He ran a hand through his beard. "Thorin's tomb is untouched."
"Are you certain?" Legolas asked. "The dwarves of Erebor buried him deep beneath the mountain. But they also dug deep... and in the process may have awakened something that was just waiting to get the stone."
Gimli exchanged a glance with his friend. Then I said, "But even if they did: That doesn't explain how it got split into three pieces, and why at least two of them ended up in the future."
"No," the elf said, "I do agree with you on that one."
I took another sip of my ale. It was as terribly strained a brew as the one we sold at the Golden Crow. Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask about how far the speculation on the Arkenstone had taken us, Gimli said, "But none of you know about one particular lore."
Legolas furrowed his brow. "Does it also have to do with the Arkenstone?"
The dwarf nodded. "I have just remembered it: After the Arkenstone was found, it was highly honored by my people. But it was also said to do... things that no gemstone - however extraordinary it might appear - should have been able to do." He paused for a moment. "It was said that the stone was not only very rare, but that it had inherent powers far beyond the value of a mere gemstone."
"Indeed, I have never heard of such a thing." Legolas looked at his friend warily. "I'm sure my father would have mentioned it."
Gimli winked at him. "Do you think it would have been in our best interest to tell Thranduil how valuable that stone actually was?"
A smile played around the elf's mouth. "Probably not."
I had leaned forward. "So what powers were said to be in it, exactly?"
As if Gimli had remembered again that he hadn't finished telling the tale, he replied, "He was said to have the power to split the world into three parts: Present, Future and Past. That was one of the reasons he was given to Thorin to take to his grave. He was too powerful."
"Time travel?", I asked.
"If you want to put it that way, yes."
I stared at the pouch that lay in my lap. "But if the Arkenstone, as you say, Gimli, is still in Thorin's tomb, then this one cannot have the powers you described."
Legolas had leaned forward as well. "If there is more than one Arkenstone, that is entirely possible. But finding out if your stone does indeed hold those powers would probably only be an option if you had all three pieces in your possession."
And that's where the dog was chasing its own tail. "Which I don't have," I said in resignation. "And if what you said is true, Gimli, then the third piece could be anywhere - maybe nowhere, not in Middle-Earth."
With my lips pressed together, I stared into my ale. And even if I had all three pieces together: Who told me I'd be able to travel back with them? I wasn't a wizard. I was just a woman who, by some strange coincidence, had slipped into an adventure whose dimensions I could not even comprehend now. Nevertheless: Didn't I have to try it at least? Now we had gotten this far... should I really stop here?
All this time, a memory had been drifting close to the edge of my consciousness. I hadn't really been able to grasp it until now, but as I watched the foam on the ale slowly collapse, it came back to me: The second source we had found in Minas Tirith. The one that had been written in Khuzdul, the dwarven language.
It had also talked about a woman who seemed to have fallen out of time. What if she was the third time traveler? What if the third part of the stone had not disappeared somewhere out of reach, but was waiting in Esgaroth to be discovered by me? Could I then pretend that it was nothing and just crawl back to Minas Tirith out of fear of failure?
No.
I couldn't.
The face of the old woman, who was sitting at her table less than thirty meters away in her hut, appeared in front of my inner eye. If she had the opportunities that I have, she would not have hesitated for a second. This was exactly what I had been working towards for four years. Why was I so reluctant?
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed both Legolas and Gimli watching me closely. As if they were waiting.
For a decision.
From me.
I raised my head. "I cannot ask you to walk to Esgaroth with me," I said. "Your obligations are waiting for you."
"Don't be silly, lass. Of course we will accompany you. Won't we, Legolas?"
"Yes, of course," he hastened to say, but I noticed his pause. Still, the enthusiasm that flashed in Gimli's eyes made me forget the elf's hesitation. If he was right, then I had come closer than ever to a way back to my time today.
I quickly hid the pouch back under my skirt and then stood up. "I heard there's still a tour of the Glittering Caves waiting?"
"Coming right up," Gimli replied with a broad grin.
