Born to Love Again, Again, and Again Part 7

I awoke to the sound of "Ahem.....". There was Gimli putting down what looked like a small sack on the floor of the cave. "Legolas, what.....?"

"Gimli, shhhh, the lady is asleep."

"No, I'm not. Legolas, you have saved my life. Gimli, what did you bring into the cave?"

Just then the bundle began to move. Gimli said, "I found this woman who appears to be a Hobbit. How did this Hobbit come to the Green Isle?" Legolas got up and put his shirt and cloak back on and moved toward the little woman. He picked her up and brought her nearer the fire. She was tiny and appeared to be waking from an unconscious state, and she groaned.

"She is a Leprechaun," I said. "Where did you find her?"

"In the hills," answered Gimli. I found a whole settlement up in the rocks, and it was destroyed just like yours.

"We always knew Leprechauns were somewhere in the hills, but they stayed out of sight. It is a wonder that the Raiders found them."

"Evil people have a way of seeking out targets. You are lucky that they did not discover this cave, even though it is well hidden. Illuvatar must have spared your lives for a reason."

The tiny lady began to move and regain consciousness. I spoke to her in my native tongue and asked her where she was hurt. She pointed to her head. I asked her if she saw any of the Raiders, but like me, she was away from the settlement. She had fallen and landed on some rocks and injured herself badly. Her name was Ainslee, and she had flaming red hair like mine, but her eyes were brown, and her skin was pale.

Gimli and Legolas attended to her wound and I explained to her what little I knew of them. She seemed less frightened as her pain subsided. Both Ainslee and I feared the Raiders would return and kill us all. The elf and dwarf had a ship a little way off shore and had traveled to our isle by a small boat which they carried aboard their ship. After Ainslee and I recovered enough to be moved, I asked to see the ship and wished to stay there because it would be safer. They agreed to take us there. It was a fair size ship so I asked how they managed to sail it all by themselves. Legolas explained that he needed only two or three hours of sleep, so someone was always alert, and with his exceptional eyesight and sense of hearing, they were able to sail just about anywhere they wanted to go.

The day came when they were ready to sail and Ainslee and I have recovered. I overheard Legolas and Gimli talking about us. They seemed to want us to stay on the ship and leave the Green Isle with them, but they thought we would not be willing to do so.

Legolas came to me and asked if I wished to go back to shore and look for a clan to take me in and take Ainslee with me. I replied that I did not wish to join another clan because the closest clans were not friendly to mine and my fate may not be how I wished to spend the rest of my life. Personally, I felt as if I had been too traumatized to ever see the ashes of my village and my people again. I asked if we may remain and travel with them until we could find a suitable community to take us in. Gimli and Ainslee had become quite close and were content with our decision to travel until we could find an acceptable place to stay. I cleaned the entire ship for them, washed their clothing and cooked. Legolas taught me to make Lembas which was eaten at every meal.

The two made bunks for us in the bow of the ship and they stayed above deck most of the time. Legolas slept so seldomly that I became concerned for his health. AIt is this way with all elves,@ he said. One day I asked Legolas to tell me about the healing heat that came from his body. He told me the healing power comes from an unseen force. He had studied healing with Lord Elrond of Rivendell and with Lady Galadriel of Lothlorein.

We started sailing west. Legolas and Gimli wanted us to see a very special sight unlike any on the Green Isle or in Middle Earth. We came to the land of ice. Glaciers reached up towards the blue sky. The sun shone on the ice making it sparkle like glass. This was like nothing Ainslee and I had ever seen before. Gimli and Legolas did everything they could to make us forget the terrible tragedy that happened on the Green Isle. Nightmares filled with smoke and fire came to me and Ainslee. The dwarf and elf wanted to take us to distant shores and to see many sights to help us forget. Each night Legolas would massage our temples a few seconds and nightmares lessened. Slowly, but surely the healing heat of his fingertips comforted us.

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