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Chapter six: Rays of Hope
Manke eller a`me`a, eller a` estela
The day passed much as the day before, except that the silence seemed deeper and the air grew heavier. Feavair could feel that her chest was, somehow, pressed towards the ground and the oxygen she breathed inn was harsh and ripped against her lunges.
Gollum stopped more often, he sniffed the air, and then he would urge them to haste on.
They were drawing nearer the Black Mountain. As the third day of their march approached afternoon, the forest opened out and the trees became smaller and more scattered.
They stopped for a moment and stared out towards the field they had to cross to reach a forest again. About them lay long lauds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones. No living creature, beast or bird was seen or heard, and in these open spaces, Gollum grew afraid.
Light was fading when they came to the forest end and they sat under a large oak tree that looked like it was holding on to the earth with its bare will. A deep valley lay before them and on the other side the woods gathered again. To their right the mountains of Gondor hovered over them, to the west where the dark mountains surrounded by a gray cloud.
"Do…do you know where we are?" Frodo asked Gollum who nodded.
"Yes, Master. Evil and dangerous place. This is the road to the Tower of the Moon, down to the ruined city at the shores of the river" he paused and scratched his forehead.
"We should not have listened to the nasty Men" he said "Not so nasty elf and hobbits have come a long way out of the path, must go east and up there now" he waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains.
"And this road will not bring us there, cruel people walk this way, down from the tower"
"Then what shall we do" said Sam "We have walked this far no point in turning around now. Shall we look for some place in the woods where he can hide?"
"No good hiding in the dark, it is in the day the hobbits and not so nasty elf must hide…. under the yellow face" Gollum answered.
"We need to rest for a bit, even if we get up again in the middle of the night. There will still be hours of dark then" Sam said sternly and reluctantly Gollum agreed to this.
Gollum would not rest on the ground so close to the evil road and after some debate they climbed up in a hollow oak tree that provided shelter and a good hiding place.
Night fell and the hobbits drew together. They drank little water and some meat. Gollum curled up and went to sleep.
Frodo and Sam stared at him, and Feavair could guess what they were thinking. They did not dare to sleep, because they did not trust their guide.
"You should rest," she said softly, and they both turned towards her.
"Fear not, for sleep will not close my eyes". The two hobbits hesitated, but soon fell to sleep as the day had made their body and mind weary. Feavair sat still, listening to the wind howling outside and the voice whispering in her head.
They were indeed getting closer.
Just after midnight, Gollum woke up. He listened and then sniffed the air, as if he could smell the time of the night. "Have we rested, all had beautiful sleep?" Gollum asked, without really wanting an answer. "Let us go!"
They hasted on again, Gollum lead them eastwards up the dark and sloping land. The hobbits could see little in the darkness and several times, they feared they would loose their guide.
Feavair would stop then, and wait, while her green eyes illuminated in the darkness. At one point, Frodo stumbled and almost lost his balance; she grabbed his hand and did not let go of it in a long time. Frodo could still feel her cold palm and icy fingers wrapped around his, hours later.
They climbed up steadily for a long time, and when they first halted, the hobbits sat down and exhaled deeply. Feavair turned her head towards the sky and looked at the stars. Their faint presences did nothing to calm her.
"It seems," she said slowly. "That the blackness is eating up the stars"
Frodo and Sam turned their head towards the sky and saw the great shadow looming slowly out of the east.
Gollum turned around and said hastily "day soon, hobbits and not so nasty elf must hurry. Not safe in these places"
They hurried on quicker then before, and the hobbits followed him wearily. Soon they began to climb up on to a great hogback of land. It was covered with thick gorse and whortleberry and low though thorns. Feavair sat down, placed her hand on the ground, and let her fingers comb through the earth.
"There are traces of recent fire," she said and everybody looked up at the mountain.
They continued to walk and the plants grew scares, and the gorse bushed taller and more frequent as they journey higher.
At last day came, only a dead brown twilight. "It seems" Sam said staring at the gray and colorless sky "that not even the sun dares to shine in such a dreadful place"
"Which way do we go from here," asked Frodo "Is that the opening of the Morgoul Valley away over there beyond the black mass"
"We don't have to think of yet, surely we will move no more today…if" Sam looked at the sky again, uncertain "…if it really is day"
"Perhaps not, perhaps not" said Gollum. "But we must go soon, to the Cross roads"
They found a place to rest, and Gollum disappeared quickly, of hunting maybe, Sam said. Feavair sat down, picked some moss and twigs out of her hair, and tossed them carelessly at a spot near her feet. Sam yawned and then he looked at Feavair, and thought of the story she had told them yesterday.
"Feavair…. have you ever been to Shire?" Sam asked. Feavair stopped picking the twigs out of her hair and furrowed her eyebrows, thinking. She shook her head.
"No…I can't say I have," she muttered and Sam's eyes lit up as he got an opportunity to tell about his beloved Shire.
"Shire" he said dreamily "There are no greener, peaceful or happier places in Middle earth, except perhaps maybe Lothlórien. It lies just west of the Brandywine River and a little east of the Far Downs, it has been the homelands for the hobbits since the seventeenth century of the Third Age of the Sun. The fields in Shire are green as far as the eye can see, ocean of wheat and corn and trees as old as they can be and water blue as the clearest crystal" he said proudly.
"It was founded by Marcho and Blanco as a gift to them and their followers by king Argeleb II of Arthedain."
"Argeleb II" Feavair said cutting him off and Sam nodded. She counted on her fingers and then a small smile appeared on her lips. "It is a small world indeed. Argeleb was the tenth kind of Arthedain, son of Araphor, and direct ancestor of Aragon"
"Hey, did you hear that Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked and Frodo nodded. "We owe Strider our lands….why…." he trailed off muttering to him self.
"Please" Feavair said hurryingly, "continue."
"Shire was divided into four farthings, North, South, East and West in late 2340 I think it was…. The hobbit family called Oldbucks, crossed the Brandywine River and settled in what is now called Buckland. Of course Shire is very well adapted to the ways of a hobbit" Sam said and Feavair arched an eyebrow guessingly.
"That's right…." She said thoughtfully. "You live in holes in the ground"
"Yes….cozy little holes with many rooms. Hobbits are well known as gardeners and Shire is perfect for farming. One of our chief products is the Halflings`leaf…or tobacco as it is more commonly called." Sam sighed blissfully and looked sadly down at his pipe.
"Shire is a real peaceful place, like a small world cut off from the other parts of Middle-earth" Frodo said. "You must come and see it sometime….that is if….we ever get out of here" he added sadly. Feavair looked at the darkened sky and sighed drearily, she knew she would never see the green fields of Shire or her homelands again.
The afternoon, as Sam supposed it was, wore on and the full and shadowless world was slowly fading away. A cold wind started to wash over them. Feavair had fallen into a deep and restless sleep, and she was tossing and turning, twice the hobbits thought they heard her speak a name.
Time seemed to just drag on and on. Suddenly Gollum returned creping out of the darkness on all four, peering at them with gleaming eyes.
"We must go quickly at once, wake up sleepies" he whispered. "Wake up, no time to loose, hurry" his whisper grew more urgent and he started to claw at Feavair. She sat up quickly and looked around, wondering where she was.
Gollum continued to urge them to get moving and Sam stared at him suspiciously, he seemed frightened even panicked.
"We must go now!" he hissed and no other words could they get out of him.
Very stealthily, Gollum led them down the hillside, keeping under cover wherever it was possible and running almost bent to the ground over open places. However, the light was now so dim that not even the keenest hawk would be able to spot the huddles figures moving in the shadows.
For about an hour they went on silently in a single file, Gollum first, then Frodo, Sam and last Feavair. They spoke not and the only sound they heard was a faint humbling of thunder in the distance. Feavair felt that she grew colder in the dim light, her pale skin had gotten shades of blue, and her fingers were had turned bony and skinny. She shuddered and bit her lower lip as she hurried on.
"The Cross-roads, yes" whispered Gollum, the first word he had spoken since they left their hiding place. "We must go that way" turning eastwards, he led them up the slope and then suddenly there it was. Before them they could see the Southward Road windings its way about the outer feet of the mountains until it plunged deep into a great ring of trees
"This is the only way," whispered Gollum. "We must make haste and be quiet, be very silent"
As quiet as an animal hunting they crept down on the road and stole along its westward edge under the stony bank. Finally, they reached the trees and found that they stood in a great roofless ring. In the very center four roads went.
"Before us lay the road to the Marannon" said Feavair. "To our right is the road from the old Osgiliath and it passes eastward. I guess the fourth road is the road we must take"
"Are you sure you have never been here?" Sam asked suspiciously and she nodded.
"Yes, but I am beginning to wonder if my guardian ever was"
Standing there, dread suddenly filled Frodo. He had actually never imagined that he would get this far, but here he was at the crossroads. It was no or never, after this there was no turning back.
Beyond the arch he saw the road to Osgiliath running almost as straight as a stretched ribbon, down, down to the west far away beyond the sad Gondor, now overwhelmed in shade, the sun was sinking and fell into the ominous fire. The brief glow fell upon a huge sitting figure, still and solemn as it had been for many ages.
The years had gnawed on it, and hands without care had violated it the great statue was missing its head. At the statue's feet were carved foul symbols that the maggot folk of Mordor used.
Suddenly small rays of sun fell on the statue head and for a moment, the light glittered in gold and silver.
"Look Sam" said Frodo startled by his own voice. "The king has a got a crown again" the sun blinked and vanished as if at the shutting of a lamp, black light fell.
"Manke eller a`me`a, eller a` estela" Feavair said, "Where there is light…."
"…There is hope" Frodo finished.
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