Julian hops from Chimera's shoulder and lands gracefully on the ground.

Chimera, suspicious of the nearby boat, replies, "I do not know. We should not take any chances, it may be a trick." She begins to pace as she thinks, I hope he does not sense my presence. She looks down at Julian, "Yes, transportation is out of the question."

He looks to her and back to Kingdom. Impatience begins to settle in his eyes.

Chimera drops the sack of food and removes her boots, setting them next to the tree. She takes off her cloak, and lies it flat on the ground. She removes the magic pouch from her hip and places it neatly inside the sack holding the food. Chimera picks up the sack of food and wraps the cloak over it. She extends it out in front of her. Her eyes move dawdlingly from the cloak to Julian's curious and anxious eyes. "Fly close to the ground. Carry my cloak, I am going to swim across the water. Stay low so nobody sees you. I do not wish for suspicion to arise if you are seen carrying items." Sternly she adds, "We cannot use magic once we get to land. I need you to do me a favor, once you get to the shore, look for a small dark boat nearby that we can escape into."

Julian's wings elongate as he rises from the ground. He swoops down to gently pick up the cloak Chimera extends to him. Flying low to the water he heads to Alqualondë.

Chimera watches the hawk glide menacingly close to the water. She sighs as she whispers, "Good luck, mellon*." Chimera dives into the icy cold water. She swims quickly underneath the cold watery surface only coming up for quick breaths of air to aide her pounding lungs. Time passes slowly underneath the frigid water. Chimera goes to the surface to rest momentarily, only keeping her head above the water. This process continues only a few more times until she reaches her destination; Alqualonde. Tears well up in her eyes as she thinks, Bar*!. Non bar* (I am home). Her eyes looks to Julian who stands on a tree stump only a few feet from her. She crawls to the stump and lies down next to it. Wearily she asks, "Did you find a boat?"

"All I was capable of finding a raft two leagues from here." Julian's eyes are full of concern as he looks at the weak she-elf. "Chimera, you look ghastly!" He glides from the stump and lands next to her. His feathered wing touches Chimera's pale cheek. "You are chilled to the bone," he observes. "Do not be afraid, Chimera. I am going to help you. Not with magic, but with my ability of growth." Julian's wings flap rapidly causing the strands of grass to bend as they would in a soft breeze. He begins to grow bigger. His growth stops once his head reaches chimera's shoulder blades. He wraps his wings securely around her shivering body. "This shall warm you up in no time."

Chimera cuddles up closer to Julian as she feels immense warmth iminating from within him. The water drips from her causing a puddle to form around them. Once she regains enough warmth to continue, Julian's wings drop from their encompassed hold around her. She steps back from Julian, and reaches for her cloak lying limply by the tree stump. She places it around her shoulders, clasping it together with the broach. She grabs the sack of food, and digs inside for her magic pouch. Finding it she places it securely at her side. She ties up the food sack and throws it over her shoulder. She looks to Julian, "I know where Meliana is. It may be a bit difficult for me to get there. I need you to be my eyes." Chimera turns and points to a tower that is on the farthest side of the castle. "That is her imprisonment." The tone of her voice begins to waiver from the seriousness it had been since they had transported themselves from Mirkwood. A sly smile fills her face as she continues, "I know another way in there. A secret way." The seriousness comes back to play in her eyes as the sly smile is quickly erased. Her eyes dart quickly to a single tree in the distance. "Go to that tree and allow me to look through your eyes so we can reach the secret entrance."

Julian, willingly, complies with Chimera. His wings begin to flap once more, as he changes back to his normal size. He cautiously flies towards the tree and settles on the highest branch, discretely hidden from sight. His eyes suddenly change to a ghostly shade of white allowing Chimera to see through them. Julian sees three guards inside the top of the tower talking to each other next to an opening. There seems to be five guards on the top of the walls of the castle. Ten more guards stand in the center of the courtyard surrounding an enormous fire pit. There are guards holding torches marching up and down the tower, but they are unsure of how many there are.

Her eyes clear from what she viewed in Julian's. Chimera quickly accesses the situation as she walks briskly towards some shrubbery in the distance. The hedges are tall and reach up to her midsection. Bright, magenta pea-sized berries cling to their trimmed leaves. Once she reaches them she hunches over. The brush conceals her from the guards in the distance. She continues to briskly walk through them. Chimera finally reaches a well hidden by the shrubbery. Her head peaks out from behind the bushes and looks to Julian She waves her left arm, beckoning him to come to her.

Julian swoops down from the tree and lands on the edge of the empty well. Chimera begins to descend down the well, grabbing a hold of a rusty metal ladder inside of it. She continues climbing down the ladder until she reaches a faded gray brick. She smiles, thinking to herself of the times she had snuck out of the castle when her father had forbidden her to. She presses the brick which causes rumbles and creaking sounds to iminate from within the well. A tiny passage begins to appear before her eyes. It is a crawling space approximately three by four feet. The bricks fall back momentarily to reveal another ladder to climb down. Her head cranes upward to Julian still perched on the top of the well. She calls to him, "Quickly, Julian, this passage only stays open momentarily." She takes the sack containing food from her back and holds it out in front of her. She places it on the crawl space and shoves it back until it falls down the small hole. Chimera pushes herself into the crawl space and maneuvers herself onto the new ladder.

She climbs down the damp passage, as Julian swoops down into the well following behind her into the secret passage. "Stay close to me, Julian, I will be our eyes through the dimness down here." Julian perches himself onto Chimera's shoulder.

Julian whispers to Chimera, "I see you have been through these tiny crawl spaces quite a few times. Let me guess, your father instructed you not to go out and you would disobey his orders?"

Chimera turns her head to face the hawk on her shoulder. A sly grin beams from her lips revealing the truth in Julian's words. Once they touch the bottom of the ladder Chimera picks up her sack and they begin their journey though the darkness. They are silent as Chimera walks up the narrow path. Julian thinks of the times he himself had been inside these secret passages long ago.

Chimera's voice quickly awakens Julian's wandering mind from the pleasant memories that haunt him. "This leads to the tower that Meliana is being held in." A soft giggle escapes Chimera's lips, "If I tell you a secret about Salogel and Meliana, will you promise not to tell?"

Julian perks up at Chimera's strange request, "Secrets you say? About Meliana and Salogel? Perhaps what you know is not a secret. Salogel may have already told me, but do tell." Julian blushes slightly thinking of all the things he and Meliana had done.

Chimera's cheeks redden as she begins to tell Julian, "Well, I never used this secret entrance once Meliana told me of what she and Salogel came down here to..." She pauses as she notices Julian's eyes widening at her revelation. "Yes, well, you get the gist of it."

Chimera continues to walk up the path. "Odd, how I have forgotten her mentioning him." She ponders quietly to herself. "Hmmm. No, I remember now." She states matter-of-factly as she turns her head to face Julian as though pieces of her fragmented memory come together. She pulls the silver cord attached around her neck, up out from her tunic revealing the stone necklace. "I remember. You see, after Legolas and his father arrived at Alqualondë, Salogel came."

Chimera continues in a whispered tone, speaking more to herself than to Julian, "Very odd that Salogel came. Almost as though he was running away from something." She is quiet momentarily, and then realizes that she was not finished with the information she was telling Julian, "Oh, forgive me, Julian. My mind wandered. Now where was I? Oh, yes, I remember! Salogel came for Legolas. He stayed with Legolas and Thranduil in the castle. That is how he and Meliana met, and became quickly... er ... acquainted. Only Legolas called his cousin Salogel. Meliana did not. She called him by his true name, Sulgul. If I am not mistaken Legolas could not pronounce his cousin's name, so instead he called him Salogel. I suppose that is what he has been referred to since. Meliana told me how the four of us spent that summer together, yet I had not remember any of it. He is not at all what I expected him to be! He is positively and completely horrid!"

The narrow path leads them to a dead-end. Chimera exclaims to Julian in a whispered tone, "We are almost there!" On the wall is a metal, cone shaped device that is used to hold torches. Chimera reaches for it and pushes it down. A section of the wall moves back revealing a sliver of light. Chimera tilts her head to Julian and whispers, "It is the entrance to the corridor which leads down to the chamber where Meliana is. I need you to peer outside and tell me if it is safe to venture out."

Julian hops off of Chimera's shoulder and over to the opened section of wall. His head scans all around in the light, as his eyes adjust to the brightness. He hops to the end of the wall and cranes his head down the corridor where he hears voices. Shadows dance off the walls from the couple of lit torches. Julian sees an iron door guarded with two figures in dark hooded cloaks They guard the door with axes. They hold the long wooden staffs as their axes come together forming an X-shaped intersection. His eyes scan the menacing foes and their surroundings. Quickly, he scuttles back into the entrance where Chimera patiently awaits for him.

Julian, hurriedly, speaks to Chimera of what he saw. "It does not look good. There are two guards, heavily equipped outside. I could hide in the shadows from where the torches do not reach any light and..."

Before Julian can finish his sentence Chimera interrupts him, "I have a plan.. It is risky, however, there seems to be no other way." She takes the sack of food off from her back and pulls out a few fish and a loaf of bread. She places them on the ground and digs around inside her magic pouch and pulls out a leaf folded into a very tiny square. Chimera opens it up. There is a clear powder inside the folded leaf. She pours the powder onto the fish and bread. It quickly discenegrates. She looks to Julian, "Sleeping powder. The non-magic kind. The only downfall is it will take longer for the effects to work.."

She pulls the hood of her cloak over her face, and picks up the fish and bread. "They will think I am an apprentice serving them their dinner." She leaves the security of the entrance and walks down the corridor to the guards. Chimera nervously hands the fish to them. Her cloak hides her face in the shadows. With the most manliest voice she can muster Chimera speaks, "Your supper, Me Lords."

The first guard is taller than the second. His hair is a light brown color that looks as though it has not been washed in months, and his shoulders are broad. Once they see her figure approaching they drop their weapons to their sides and lean up against the brick wall. The taller guard scratches his head with his dirt-smudged hand, "Eh? What's this?" He looks from the fish and bread, to Chimera, "You new here, page?"

Chimera, keeping her head lowered meekly responds, "Y-yes, Me Lord."

The taller guard pokes the other guard in the side of his ribs, "A young one he is, brings back memories, eh Narogian?"



The shorter guard,Narogian, replies, "That it does, Thadian." He smiles instantly at the small hooded figure in front of them greeting her with a yellow-stained toothy smile. Greedily they grab the food from Chimera, as they both devour it instantly.

Chimera's heart beats quickly as she speaks, "I'll be off now, Me Lords." She turns from them and begins to walk away until she is interrupted by the voice.

"Eh, wait a minute, page." Narogian's voice startles Chimera as she stops dead in her tracks.

Elvish Translations:

Mellon: Friend

Bar: Home

Non bar: I am home