Gandalf didn't wake me; the sun was setting when I opened my eyes. I blinked and stretched. I hadn't even turned over in the night; my axe was still under my right hand. My bones were very stiff.

"Mithrandir," I whispered before my eyes completely focused. He was sitting cross-legged facing me and his eyes were open. Something about him reminded me of Legolas in reverie. "Mithrandir?" I whispered a little louder.

"I am awake my dear," he whispered back. "I am listening to the Earth; she has much to tell me."

I rose up on my elbows quietly and reached for the remainder of the lembas I'd left out for Gandalf the night before. I was glad to see he'd eaten some. I broke off half of the quarter that was left and ate it. I took a swig from my skin and stood.

The wind was bending the grass and I could see for a little ways; there was nothing but more grass in every direction. A nasty scent floated on the breeze and I ducked back down.

"Yes, there is a band of Uruks some distance upwind of us," Gandalf whispered.

"How far?"

"Far enough. They will bypass us completely, if the wind does not shift and carry our scent back to them. If they pass close enough to Lórien, the Galadhrim will take care of them."

"How far did we walk last night?"

"No more than twenty miles; we shall have to quicken our pace if we are to reach Fangorn in two nights."

"Do I really need to speak or can you just read my thoughts?"

He smiled. "I can read your thoughts, but it seems that it irritates you."

"I wouldn't say it irritates me, but it is disconcerting. I don't know if this is a new thing for you, but I can tell you there are definitely people who will avoid being around you if they find out."

"I have always had the ability to read creatures, but never so clearly. My mind reaches out in every direction now; perhaps you can help me to control it. In turn, I may be able to teach you how to block the intrusion."

"That sounds useful, especially since Saruman has this ability too, and I really don't want him digging around in my head."

"Let us practice as we walk. Think of something emotionally powerful, a song or a poem, and I will attempt to remove it from my focus. It must elicit strong emotions to be a challenge. Then I will teach you how to shield your mind from me."

I tried to think of something that always made me cry, then it came to me, an old Billy Joel song about Vietnam; I began to sing it in my mind:

We met as soul mates on Parris Island
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives We came in spastic like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all our might We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes
And it was dark, so dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together Remember Charlie, remember Baker
They left their childhood on every acre
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight We held the day in the palm of our hand
They ruled the night, and the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks... ...On Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together.

When I finished the song I wiped the tears from my eyes and sniffed. I hoped it was what Gandalf had in mind.

"I'm sorry my dear. I was not able to focus on anything but your song. It was too compelling; I felt I wanted to know it all. The images in your mind that accompanied it were truly horrific. Is this the land you come from?"

I swallowed what was left of my tears and answered, "Not exactly. That song was about a war that was going on when I was born. Our soldiers were sent to a country most of my people didn't know existed before the war and none of them came back unchanged. In fact, that war and the political controversy around it changed my country forever. It was the first time our proud warriors came home and were shunned and treated like criminals for doing their duty. It was a terrible time."

"I see, perhaps you can think of another song that will not be so intriguing?"

It didn't take me long to think of another one, I held strong feelings for it, but I figured Gandalf wouldn't be distracted by the words; it was another Viet Nam War era song:

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just small When Men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's 'Off with her head!'
Remember what the dormouse said:
'Feed your head
Feed your head
Feed your head'

"Yes, that was better. I could separate the song from your emotions and block them separately," Gandalf whispered.

"I thought that one might be easier since I really have no mental pictures to go with it, at least none that aren't LSD inspired."

"'LSD'?"

"It's a recreational drug that causes hallucinations. People say they can hear colors and feel sounds. I never took it myself, but the people who wrote that song were heavy drug users."

"Yes, well that last part would even drive Sauron out of your thoughts. Try another."

We played this game with several other songs that held special meaning to me. We discovered that Gandalf had little trouble blocking out loud rock and roll songs, but had to put forth more effort against softer, dark, moody music.

Around midnight he asked me to try the Billy Joel song again and let the mental pictures come as vividly as I could. He did rather well until the image of the little Vietnamese girl who had been badly burned with napalm came into my head, then he stopped and turned to me.

"What was that image, Elaura?"

"Well, as you've probably gathered by now that war was fought in a jungle. The enemy hid easily in the thick overgrowth. Someone developed a substance that not only burned anything it touched but was very sticky. That image was of a girl who was inadvertently caught in the spray. Her clothes were burned off completely and her picture was taken as she ran down a road."

"It is a very powerful image. You say your people developed this weapon?"

"Probably, we definitely used it. Everybody got caught in it, our soldiers, civilians, as well as the enemy. That isn't the worst thing my people ever created by a long shot. Would you like to see the most frightening thing we came up with?"

"Yes, show me," he said gravely.

I concentrated on the footage I'd seen of nuclear weapons testing and the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The color footage as well as the black and white. After three or four images I finished with something I'd seen in an animated music video of the earth burned black with molten cracks.

Gandalf stepped back and gasped. "This is the world you come from?"

I hung my head, "Yes. That last image is what I believe would happen if all the countries that had those bombs were to use them at the same time."

"Was this a possibility? Even Sauron could not bring about this degree of destruction."

"I was born into a world where this was a probability, though cooler heads prevailed and since then the likelihood of global annihilation has been lessened somewhat. May I show you some of the nicer things from my world?" Suddenly I had the feeling I was in a scene from The 5th Element.

"Yes, I think you should."

I looked into his eyes and I thought of the best song ever written (in my opinion) and let it come to my mind exactly as the Great Louis Armstrong sang it, with beautiful scenes of every country I could think of:

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' 'How do you do?'
They're really saying 'I love you' I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world Oh yeah.

The last image I showed him was of my goddaughter Eliora being born. I was maid of honor at her parent's wedding and when they came to Korea I stood in for the wife's mother in the birthing room. The beautiful baby girl was named after me and it was the most wonderful experience of my life having been there when she took her first breath.

I'd closed my eyes as I heard the song in my head and when I opened them I saw that Gandalf's eyes glistened with tears in the moonlight. He smiled.

"You see Gandalf, the terrible and the wonderful go hand in hand in my world. We can destroy everything in a heartbeat and we can send people to the moon and beyond. We live in great fear, but we have insurmountable hope for the future as well."

"Thank you for giving me a glimpse of your world," he said and touched my cheek lightly; then he turned and we continued our trek.

As we walked I felt warmth in my chest that wasn't coming from the inside. I peeked down my shirt and saw that the Bloodstone was glowing brightly.

Interesting; strong feelings cause it to glow? I was about to ask Gandalf about it when he spoke, "Now I want you to try and prevent me from reading your thoughts."

"How do I do that?"

"I suppose there are two ways, the first is to try and force me out by using strong nonsensical emotions and images, like that 'rock and roll.' However, it might be difficult to maintain and may give an enemy a path to tread back into your mind."

"And the second?"

"Attempt to layer your thought; bury what you are actually thinking under something inconsequential."

I thought of a couple of horrible songs and decided to try to combine the methods and began to sing "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" over and over in my mind. After a few verses I tried to think of something else while I kept that song in my head.

It was difficult at first to keep a train of thought, but eventually I started doing multiplication tables along with it.

Gandalf suddenly shuddered, "Stop, please!" he whispered sharply.

"Tell me what you could discern," I said excitedly.

"Besides that horrible song?" he asked.

"Yes, I was thinking something else, too."

"I caught a few numbers, but I could not make out any sequence."

I smiled. "I was doing multiplication tables in my mind under the song."

"Ah, very good. Shall we try again? With another song, perhaps?"

I chuckled, "Okay, try this one." I went over a few verses of 'The Song That Never Ends' and then tried to think of something else underneath it. I listed all the characters of Tolkien's books that I could think of, starting with the Fellowship and then Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and Men. My success was more spotty this time.

"This test was not as good as the first, Elaura. I recognized many of the names you were thinking about. Very disturbing."

"I was afraid of that, is there a way to just clear my head entirely and keep it blank?"

"It is possible; the difficulty lies in not allowing your thoughts and feelings to encroach on the nothingness. It is the same with the layering method; you must repress all of your true consciousness."

"The imagery seemed distracting to you, what if I tried mental pictures instead of sounds?"

"It would be just as effective, but you must not completely distract yourself either. You must stay aware of your surroundings while focusing your thoughts on the diversion."

"Back to layering again. The problem with layers is keeping two trains of thought completely separate; they tend to blend."

"Yes."

"I'll practice for a while."

We walked in silence until morning. I tried clearing my mind and layering my thoughts alternately, all the while I listened to the sound of the grasses blowing in the breeze.

We'd eaten on the fly and kept up a fast pace. By the time the sun came up I could see the dark trees of Fangorn in the distance if I jumped.

"We will rest here until dusk," Gandalf said. "You may take the first watch, if you don't mind."

"I'm good; I'll wake you if I feel sleepy."

"Do not wait past noon; you need your rest, too."

I smiled, "No problem. The last thing I want to do is fall asleep with nobody watching over me."

Gandalf laid down to rest and was soon snoring quietly.

I dug through my pack for the cleansing oils the Elves of Rivendell had given me. I wiped my face, neck, and hands and stuffed the tissue back in my pack. The piney scent of the oil helped me stay more alert and I occupied my mind by going over battle tactics in my head.

I envisioned myself with my axe first, then the hatchets; one in each hand. I'd block and thrust, dodge and weave; it became a choreographed ballet. I pulled down three blades of grass and braided them as I went over the movements in my mind. Eventually I switched to my knife and sword.

It dawned on me that I was layering my thoughts automatically. Weaving with my hands and fighting in my mind. It's a start. I pulled down four more blades of grass and worked a more elaborate weave. When I'd finished that one, I tied the ends of a single piece together and practiced cat's cradle; all the while I fought my imaginary foes.

I looked in the direction we had come and saw that we'd left little or no trail and realized the braided grass was about as big a street sign as I could leave. I carefully pulled the pieces I'd been working with out of the ground at the shoots and tucked them away in my pack. Not that I wanted to carry them, but I couldn't very well leave them behind.

I noticed I wasn't casting a shadow and looked up at the sky; the sun was directly overhead. When I looked down, Gandalf was already in a sitting position.

"Reading my thoughts again, or do you have an internal alarm clock?"

"Most probably both, my dear."

I laid down to rest and handed him the second half of the square of waybread we'd started on the night before. I pulled my hood up over my eyes and lay down on my left side with my right hand on my axe.

I awoke to a crack of thunder and jumped to my feet, my axe at the ready. I knew immediately that it wasn't thunder because the sky was clear. I looked around for Gandalf and saw him or rather I saw a brilliant white light about ten yards back the way we'd come. The smell of burning garbage and a thick smoke blew to me from where he was standing. I raced toward the light and found him in the center of it with his staff raised.

The grass in front of him was on fire and the wind was blowing our way. "We've got to get out of here!" I yelled over another crack of thunder, which tore at my eardrums, and the light that accompanied it blinded me for a moment.

Gandalf lowered his arms and spun towards me. His eyes were flashing and I got the feeling he didn't recognize me at first. "Mother of God! Come on! The fire is coming towards us! If that thing," I motioned to his staff which was still glowing, "doesn't double as a fire extinguisher we're about to get cooked!"

I turned and ran to my pack and grabbed it without stopping. I glanced over my shoulder and Gandalf was running behind me with the fire licking at his heels. Shit! If the wind doesn't change we'll never make it! What the hell was he thinking?

Gandalf got ahead of me and took point. We ran as fast as we could; the smoke and heat enveloped us. I could no longer see the flames, but the crackling sounded like it was coming from all sides. I could barely see Gandalf's white robes and was terrified to let him out of my sight. When I thought I couldn't run any faster a wave of heat blew over me and I found that I could. I felt almost as if I was running above the ground when I finally caught sight of Gandalf again.

His form got very close very fast and if he hadn't caught me I would have run straight off a steep embankment into the River Limlight. He pulled me back on to solid ground and I spun around to see where the fire was; it was only a few yards away, we were caught.

I looked up and down the riverbank and saw no sign of a bridge. The river was wide and no doubt ice-cold this time of year. Without a word, Gandalf took off toward the west. I followed him and at one point we had to pull our cloaks around us to shield us from the flames, but eventually we got on the other side of them.

We didn't stop running until the forest loomed over the far side of the river. It began to narrow and about a quarter of a mile ahead of us the forest crossed the Limlight and we hurried into it without so much as knocking.

The tree branches closed over and behind us, blocking out the sunlight above and the smoke behind. Gandalf turned around and looked pointedly at my axe, I put it in my harness immediately and closed my cloak to hide my hatchets.

I stopped and attempted to catch my breath. I spoke between pants, "What happened back there? Why did you start a fire with the wind blowing towards us?" I was whispering, both out of habit and because I didn't want to make any loud noises or sudden moves.

"The wind shifted while you were sleeping, I smelled a band of Uruks approaching fast. At least fifty. I set the first two on fire and their running and thrashing set the field ablaze."

"Why did you look at me like you didn't know me?"

"You looked to be a small black shadow in the light. I thought at first you were an orc who had slipped by me. It was not until you spoke that I realized my error."

"Thanks a lot! That might be something you'll want to work on considering the likelihood you'll be glowing like that in battle someday, Geez! Talk about your friendly fire."

Gandalf took a deep breath of the dank, moldy air, "Ahh, it feels good to be in the old forest again. I am quite looking forward to seeing Treebeard. He makes me feel young."

"You are young, Mithrandir. You're what? Four maybe five days old?" I said and grinned at him. He chuckled and I looked around at the creepy trees. I heard the moaning and creaking of the forest and was not as enthusiastic about the next leg of our journey.

Gandalf must have seen my trepidation, "Not to worry, my dear. This forest holds no malice toward me. You will be safe as long as you stay close."

"Let's just hope the trees can see the difference between you and Saruman." I glanced at his shining white robes.

"Quite right, quite right," Gandalf said as he closed his grey cloak around himself.

I tugged at my jacket collar; the air was suffocating, heavy, and warm. "Could you ask them to back off a little? I'm feeling a tad claustrophobic."

Gandalf chanted something in a very low and ancient-sounding rumble and the trees instantly pulled back their branches from our path.

I stood up straight and took a deep breath. "That's much better, how do you say 'thank you' in tree?"

"Unpronounceable to the untrained tongue," he replied. "You had better leave the conversation to me until we meet Treebeard."

"You are definitely the boss, Mithrandir," I replied and fell in step next to him.

I hummed the tune to "Summertime" as we walked; it cheered me up and relaxed me. "Is it safe to sleep in here? I seem to remember something about the trees trying to swallow people who stay in one place for too long."

"Listen," Gandalf replied.

I stopped in my tracks and focused on the sounds of the forest. There was no wind and at first it was deathly quiet. Then I began to hear, or rather feel a deep rumble and I put my palm against a nearby tree trunk. I definitely felt it then; the trees were vibrating.

"They are spreading the news that we have come. Treebeard will know very soon that we are here if not already. We will not spend a single night here without his protection."

"But the sun was setting when we got here; I can't tell but I'd say it's probably night already."

Gandalf winked and smiled and pointed a long finger behind me; I turned around very slowly. Right where the last set of footprints I had made should have been was a fifteen-foot high hoary oak. There was green-grey moss growing on its top and trunk and its roots resembled feet.

"What have we here? Hrum, Hoom, it opened what I took for two knotholes and spoke through a mouth that had just recently looked exactly like a crease in the bark of its trunk. "The White Wizard and a lady? It has been long since female roots have touched the soil of Fangorn."

"Treebeard, my old friend," Gandalf replied. "This is Elaura."

"You are not young Saruman; you are Gandalf the Grey! What a pleasant surprise! Hrum."

I bowed low to Treebeard. I figured he was as much due my respect as any creature I'd met so far. "It is an honor to meet you, um, Sir," I said.

Treebeard leaned over me and I realized it was a sort of bow, "Hoom, lovely manners. I apologize for forgetting my own. As I said it has been ages since I have made the acquaintance of a woman. The last female to grace my lands was that sweet little elfling Galadriel. Hrum."

"We beg safe passage through your lands, Treebeard. We have much to do and little time to do it in," Gandalf showed no sign of the recent peril we'd been in and he also showed no sign of staying to chat. I wondered what it was we had to do.

End of Chapter 2.

Chapter End Notes:

* "Goodnight Saigon" lyrics by Billy Joel Released by CBS, album: The Nylon Curtain, 1982.
** "White Rabbit" Written by Grace Slick, 1966. Released by Jefferson Airplane, album: Surrealistic Pillow, 1967.
*** "What a Wonderful World" written by songwriters Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, first performed by Louis Armstrong, and released as a single in early 1968.