Tess just arched her brow at him, "really, a witch?" Then she burst out laughing as she added sarcastically, "if I was a witch, you think I would have been a prisoner to the elves? I would have turned them into toads or something. How dumb are you?"

Celegorm flexed his hands into fists at her words and dismissal. "Forgive me," he drawled. "It must be common for all humans of this age to carry around metal that can light up. So silly of me."

Rolling her eyes at him, Tess just said, "it is where I am from. It's not magic but science. Here, give me your hand."

He blinked at her but didn't move fast enough as she reached out and yanked his hand towards her metal piece. He snarled at her, but she just shot him a look. He relented after and sat next to her with his hand in hers. Next, she took his finger and tapped on the metal piece. It lit up again, and she dragged his finger across the metal, and a black bar followed. He heard a click, and then the metal changed. Small squares were laid out evenly, and then she moved his finger and tapped one. It grew bigger until it took up the entire space of the metal. Then he saw words across most of it. He looked at her in sheer shock and surprise.

Tess let go of his hand and said, "it's called an iPad. Don't ask me why, as I didn't create it. It can do a variety of things, but I mainly use it for reading books. It can store thousands of books that I can read wherever and whenever. It's not magic, it's technology, and anyone can use it."

Tess took over then and clicked furiously on the metal piece. After a minute, she flew through words as they appeared and disappeared across the metal. Then she stopped at a small map. She scooted closer to him as he looked over her shoulder. She pointed at a few things and said, "we should be here. This is Mirkwood." Her finger trailed along a large forest until it went over a mountain range to a small area of woods. "Here is Rivendell. We need to go around Mirkwood and through the gap of Rohan and then up."

Celegorm was in awe at the map and the sight. Then Tess held onto the sides, and the whole piece lit up again, and a small map appeared on the bottom. Tess pushed the small square at the bottom, and the map disappeared. In its place were the same small squares that he had first seen. His head spun as she tapped again on a different square, and portraits came up. Moving closer, he saw stunning, clear portraits of her and others along with the map. Tess tapped the small map, and it expanded until it covered the whole piece.

No matter what she told him, this was magic. "Magic," he mumbled. "This is magic, not science."

Tess shrugged, "whatever helps you sleep at night. I'll see if I can find some other maps in the books that I have. Do you think we should try for Rhun? We might be able to get a horse there, and the journey would be quicker. We could follow the river south, and it should lead us there." Her finger traced along the river as it went south. She stopped at a large lake as it had the words written on it as Rhun.

Celegorm was out of his element, but having a map of any kind was helpful. "How long would it take to walk versus horses? Is there any place we can stop along the journey?"

Her finger moved again as it trailed over to the forest's edge. "This is Dol Guldur. We need to avoid that area, as that used to be Sauron's lair, and it's filled with evil." Her finger moved a little more to a small, isolated forest. "This is Galadriel's realm, and you definitely will not be welcome." Moving her finger again, she rested on a spot in the mountain range. "Moria was the stronghold of the dwarves, but a balrog drove them out. We should avoid that area at all costs."

Moving north, her finger rested on another spot in the mountains. "This is the area of the great goblin town. Thousands of goblins live in the caves and hunt along the mountains." Her finger made an arch along the mountain range as she said, "I am not sure what all lies in these mountains, but I know there are lots of orcs and trolls. We should avoid that also."

Finally, she made her way all the way south to a large forest called Fangorn. "Ents live in these woods. Did you ever see any in the first age?"

He shook his head. The Ents were thought to be a myth, but he had heard stories when he lived in Nargothrond from Finrod, who spoke with humans. They claimed to have seen them wandering in the wild forests over the mountains. He didn't care at the time, but now, he was curious to stop and see them. Tess kept going as she stopped at the end of the mountain range. "This is Isengard. Home to a wizard, but we should avoid him."

He arched his eyebrows at her at that. "Why?" he drawled. "I thought you wished to find a wizard."

"Gandalf," Tess corrected. "I wish to find Gandalf, not Saurman, who lives in Isengard."

"Why is that," he questioned.

"He cannot be trusted."

Tess moved her finger again and spoke about Rohan and horses, but he knew she was trying to move on. She was very knowledgeable about these lands and had books on them, but she lived in a hidden city far away. It was strange. Tess asked him another question about their route, but he wasn't paying attention. "What?"

An annoyed look spread across her face as she said, "am I boring you? Seeing as I am trying to show you the map and give you information about this world, and you're not even paying attention."

Celegorm gave her a slight smirk, "my mind is in shambles at your magic piece of metal. Give me some time to understand your magic before you bombard me with information."

"It's not magic. It's metal and glass, nothing magical about it."

"Magic," he smirked. Just as he said it, Tess got visibly upset again and snarled, "fine. It's magic, then. Whatever helps your small brain comprehend it. Can we please pick out our route now, so I can go to bed."

Without hesitation, he replied, "south to Rhun. There we will gather supplies and horses and make our way to the gap of Rohan. Then head north to Rivendell. Easy."

Tess only gave him a nod before turning away from him and lying down in the dirt. She moved her bag under her head and then rested against it. Celegorm watched her for a while until he heard her breathing even out, and she was asleep. He reached over and grabbed the magic metal beside her as quietly as he could. He tapped it softly, and then it lit up again. He dragged his finger along the bottom by the black bar, and it returned again to the square pieces from before. He tapped the same place Tess did and saw the portraits come to life.

They were all so tiny, but then he tapped on one, and it grew larger. It was a portrait of Tess with unparalleled clarity. It was like he was looking right at her, and he stared at it in amazement. He saw other small ones at the bottom and tapped on those. Each one grew bigger, but they were all of her. She was beautiful; there was no denying it. Right now, as she was sleeping next to him, she was covered in a layer of dirt, and her hair and clothes were a mess. In these portraits, she was clean and in clothes that fit her snugly to accentuate her figure. He groaned softly as he stared at her, and a tightness formed in his breeches. Absolutely not, he thought.

He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed out deeply to calm himself. When he opened them again, he was better, but he wanted to keep looking. He tapped the small portrait towards the end and noticed that they moved to show more. Curious, he slid his finger across, hoping that it would work like before. It did, and the portrait was replaced with another. Grinning to himself, he kept sliding his fingers through the portraits of Tess until he came to one where she was outside.

She stood in a large garden wearing a dress that was too short, but what caught his eye were the buildings in the distance. They seemed to grow up into the sky. He slid his fingers faster through the portraits as he took in more of her city. The buildings he could see looked very tall compared to her and the other humans in the portraits. They all looked different, but he could spot a lot of similar architecture. He was in awe of it all and wanted to go to this city someday. He had never seen anything quite like it in his long years, and there were plenty of things he had no idea what they were. He wrote off all the strange things in the portraits as other inventions of her city. These humans seemed to be far more advanced with magic than even the elves.

He browsed through a lot of portraits, but he seemed to pick on a few concerning details. The first was that she was always alone. He had not seen a portrait of her with other people. There were some with humans in the background, but never close to her. The other was that she had a lot of portraits of gardens, forests, and quiet places. Tess had liked portraits of landscapes, and he was grateful as it gave him a glimpse of her city. It was concerning, though, as if she wished to be alone.

Not needing much sleep, he kept going through them all. He sped past the ones of flowers and forests as he looked for some clues that she had friends or family. It was a long time before he found one of her and another woman. Tess looked much younger and more carefree than she was now. She and the woman were arm in arm as they both held glasses in their hands. He moved through a few more until one of them started to move.

The sound was loud as the portrait seemed to show the past. He heard Tess's laugh and then the women's as they danced together in a dark place. Whatever it was ended quickly, and he tensed as he looked over at Tess. She was still snoring softly, so whatever noise it made did not wake her up.

Eager to continue exploring, he got up and moved away from her. He walked a short distance in the plains in case there were more, so she wouldn't hear. He continued to move through the portraits, and now there were more of the moving ones. It was fascinating to him, as it was like stepping back in time to that moment and seeing what was happening. The women showed up in many of them, but there were others with just Tess. Then he came upon one where she was naked, and he dropped the metal piece in shock.

It fell on his lap, but it didn't move beyond the portrait. Tess was spread out on a bed in her naked form, and the portrait was intoxicating. He felt himself get hard at the sight, and he knew he had gone too far. He thought about stopping, but he realized he was already going to get in trouble with Tess when she found out. So he decided to see if there were more. He was in for a surprise as he continued to go through other portraits of her on the bed.

They were well done and tasteful. In some of them, she was wearing a few small pieces of clothing, while in others, she covered herself with her arms, hands, and blankets. When he got to the end of them, he realized they were well done, and it almost seemed like they were created for someone else's viewing. He grew slightly ashamed at that as it was probably for a lover or maybe a husband. Celegorm thought back to what she told him, but he remembered her saying she didn't have a husband or family anymore. Perhaps they were all gone, and she was alone now. That killed any remaining hardness he had, as he knew he had gone too far. The portraits were still at the bottom, and he started sliding the other way to go back.

While he did, he froze as he wondered if Tess would know. He groaned at his own stupidity as he realized he had no idea how this magic worked. She might be able to figure out that he had been looking all night. He sighed as he reached the end where the map was. He spent a little more time looking at it, so he could get a better understanding of this new world. His eyes found a small island off the coast, and he froze at the name. It couldn't be, but then he found the mountain range, and he knew. Himling, his brother's stronghold and his home for many years.

He got a jolt of surprise but also hope. If any of his brothers found a map and were here, surely they would go there. He would have made his way there if he had ended up alone in a strange place. He surprised himself as he hugged the piece of metal close to his chest. It was the first time that he had been re-embodied, that he was given something to lead him to his brothers. Wherever Tess was from, and whatever she did, he was glad that they had met.

It was a long time before he pulled the metal from his chest, but it was black. He tapped it, and it lit up with the same portrait as before, with the black slider at the bottom. Not wanting to press his luck anymore, he returned to Tess's side and put it back next to her.

Then he rested against the rock and let himself drift off into sleep. He was still aware of his surroundings, but he needed some rest. When the sun rose above the horizon, he blinked awake to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful sight, and he thanked whoever was listening for bringing Tess into his life. He probably would have been stuck in Thranduil's halls for years.

A little while later, Tess woke up and then rose to stretch. Their eyes met, and Celegorm felt his cheeks flush. Tess raised a brow at that but didn't comment. He had to look away from her as his mind conjured the portraits he had seen the night before. When Tess was done stretching and all packed up, she stood next to him. "Ready to go?"

He just nodded as she offered her hand to him and helped him up. They started walking towards the river, but he couldn't meet her eyes. Tess was much too brilliant for him as she said nonchalantly, "did you have a filthy dream about me last night or something?"

Celegorm stumbled, and Tess roared with laughter. "You did, didn't you? Well, I'm flattered, but I really don't mind."

He snarled, "no."

Tess just grinned and kept laughing at him as they walked. Feeling the need to own up to his mistakes, he mumbled out quickly. "Isawyounaked."

"Come again," Tess asked, amused.

"I SAW YOU NAKED. THERE, I SAID IT," Celegorm huffed. He ran off ahead in case she started screaming at him. He walked by himself for a while until Tess caught up with him. Neither one of them spoke, and he had thought the worst was over. It was midday when they reached the river, and Tess stopped near the beach for a break.

She looked up at him and asked, "when I was sleeping, you went through my photos?"

He did not know what the photos were, but he said, "I looked through the portraits. I watched as some of them moved, and then I saw the ones of you naked. I felt like I was intruding on a private moment for a lover or husband, so I stopped."

Whatever he thought she would do, he was unprepared for what happened next.

"Well," she drawled. "Seeing as you saw me naked, I should get to see you."

His jaw dropped, "what?"

"What?" Tess asked innocently. "I think it's only fair. You saw me naked, and now we are by a stream for you to wash. You should strip, so I can get a good look."

They stared at one another until he replied, "you are enjoying this. You don't even care that I saw you naked? You just can't wait to see me."

Tess shrugged, "I know I am pretty and have a good body. I take care of myself and work hard for it. The photos you saw were for an ex-lover who was an asshole. I love myself the way I am, and I kept them as a reminder to always put myself first. I honestly don't care what you saw. We are going to be traveling together for a while. You are bound to see me naked eventually, and I, you."

Without a word, he stripped off his bow and arrows. Next, he dropped all of his knives, and then he stripped his tunic. He watched as Tess's eyes bulged from her head. The slight guilty feelings from last night and this morning had melted away. Now, they were replaced with eagerness and anticipation. He felt no shame in Tess seeing him, and he enjoyed teasing her as he stripped. He took off his boots next and set them next to his tunic. All that was left was his breeches, and he slid his hands down the side as his hands hooked the band. With one final push, he slid them down to his ankles and off his feet. He stood naked in front of her in all his glory.

Tess's eyes roamed up and down his body, and he felt his cock twitch. He saw the heat and lust in her eyes as he chuckled and turned towards the stream. The water was cool but warmer than he expected. He had no soap to wash, but a week's worth of dirt and grime rinsed off his skin from the running water. The water felt good, and he scrubbed his skin as well as he could.

When he was finished, he turned around, expecting to find Tess watching him. He was a little disappointed to see that she was staring at her magic tablet again and ignoring him. He climbed out of the river and got redressed in his clothes. When he sat next to her, he saw she was looking at another map that was more detailed. He leaned over her shoulder and saw that it covered the forest and a little bit on each side.

He pointed out a road through the forest that led right to Rivendell. "Why can we not go this way?"

"It's enchanted if I remember right. An elf could find it and stay on the path, but I would struggle. You would have to watch me the entire way to make sure I wouldn't run off. Plus, the forest is home to massive spiders, and I don't fancy running into them anytime soon."

Celegorm shivered as he remembered a massive spider long ago. He was not keen on meeting them again, so he just nodded. "Well, the road that we chose is fine. I will get you to Rivendell, as a deal is a deal."

Tess smiled at him and then swiped back to the other map. He reached out and pointed to the small island off the coast. "What do you know about this?"

She frowned and then looked at him with a little bit of guilt and sadness. "I'm sorry. I forgot about that. The island is all that is left of Beleriand. It was your brother's home, wasn't it."

"Yes," he breathed softly.

"I don't know much," Tess admitted. "Just that is a lone island off of the coast. There are elves in Lindon, and I think if your brothers are here, they will go there too. The elves in Lindon would probably know the most. Is that where you want to go after?"

He nodded.

Tess smiled happily at him as she stood up and dusted off the dirt. "Well, we better get a move on then. It's a long journey."