* * * * * * * * ***

"Father! Father!" Arwen yelled.

"What's the matter?" Elrond asked, arriving n the doorway.

"She's gone! Lishmi has disappeared!" Arwen screamed.

"she's probably around some where," Elrond said. The amount of times she had gone missing for a few days, she always seemed to come back un harmed. Which is more than can be said for a set of twins.

"What's going on?" Elladan asked sleepily. "Where's Lishmi?" he asked as he saw the empty bed.

"I don't know," Arwen said. Erohir Arrived behind his brother.

"What -?" he started. The children all looked at their father. But he had a blank look on his face. He had no idea where she was.

** * * * * * * * *

She stopped. The sun rose high above her. Lishmi looked into her bag to see what food she had brought with her.

Suddenly she looked up. She sensed some thing. Looking around she saw nothing except for the grass and the trees that were dotted about. She ate her sandwich while she walked.

She sensed something again. There was a cry, and in the distance Lishmi could see a beautiful grey horse next to a tree. It was clearly in distress. She sprinted down the steep hill over to it.

One of the mare's back hooves had been tied to a branch. Once the horse spotted Lishmi, it stopped kicking. They stood their for a while looking at each other. Slowly, Lishmi edged forward, and the horse never took her eyes of her.

Lishmi untied the rope. It was a trap. Who would put a trap out here? And who was it for? The horse cantered around the tree in large circles, and her beautiful mane flew out behind her.

Lishmi decided she better hurry on. The horse trotted up behind her.

"Go back to where-ever you came from." Lishmi said as she turned towards it. The horse shook her head. "Don't you have an owner?" Lishmi asked. In reply the horse lowered it head, as if bowing to Lishmi.

The horse, and its new owner, looked into each other. "Dea-gil," Lishmi mumbled, "shadow-star." Dea-gil looked into Lishmi's dark blue eyes, and Lishmi into Dea-gil's black, no brown, no blue, no, red?

Lishmi broke the connection. Just in time. An arrow flew out of nowhere. She looked around. There was a figure on top of the hill, where she had just come. More came up behind it.

Orcs.

Lishmi expected more arrows to come, but nothing. The orcs, instead, charged at her and Dea-gil.

Lishmi immediately jumped onto Dea-gil and tried to get away as fast as she could. But the orcs were catching up fast.

TBC..