"Middle Earth?" Jamie looked at Legolas incredulously. "Right. And next you're going to tell me that you're an elf."

"Well," I said, "He does have the ears for it."

"Lina!" Jamie turned and looked at me. "He's clearly come kind of nutcase," she hissed.

"But a cute one if he is," I muttered, looking over her shoulder.

"I assure you I won't harm you," said Legolas, "Please, let me take you to Gondor. The race of Man live there."

"You're taking this Lord of the Rings thing a little too far," Jamie said.

"Lord of the Rings?" Legolas looked confused. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"Excuse us one minute," I said. I grabbed Jamie's arm and pulled her a few feet away from where we had been standing. "Are you crazy? I don't think he knows what you're talking about and you just keep insulting him."

"You just want us to follow him so you can flirt with him."

"I want to get out of here as much as you do," I said, "But I don't think we're going to be able to do that unless you trust him."

"He's some sort of Lord of the Rings freak. One of those…I don't know what you call them. They're like Trekkies except for Lord of the Rings."

"I don't think he is," I said. "I think we really might not be in our world anymore."

"And we fell into Middle Earth. Right. How could we go from our world into a fictional place?"

"I don't know. I just have a feeling that we need to trust him. I think it's the only way we'll get out of here."

"He appeared out of nowhere, Lina," said Jamie, "One minute we were all alone and the next he was standing right there."

"So? He's an elf. I don't think elves stomp around letting everyone know that they're coming." I sighed. "Look, we have two choices. Go with him and trust that he'll take us to someone who can help us get home or wander around this place by ourselves and take the chance of someone less…nice-looking…finding us."

I looked at Jamie. "Fine," she said shortly. "But if he ends up killing us, I'll never forgive you."

"Promises, promises," I muttered as I followed Jamie back towards where Legolas was standing.

"My name's Alina and that's Jamie," I said, as we followed Legolas across the beautiful landscape.

"You are not from Middle Earth, are you?" Legolas turned his head to look at me.

"We're from Earth," I said, "But not Middle Earth. At least…I don't think so anyway. It's hard to explain."

"How far is this place we're heading towards?" asked Jamie.

"A few days' walk," Legolas answered.

"A few DAYS?" Jamie's mouth fell open. "Oh no. We need to get home ASAP."

"Jamie, I don't think we have any choice. It's not like we can call a cab or fly there or anything." I was getting tired of her being so stuck up about everything.

"How are these Gondor people supposed to help us anyway?" asked Jamie.

"I'm not sure," Legolas admitted. "I would have taken you to Lord Elrond in Rivendell, but he has gone to the Gray Havens as have many of my kin."

Jamie looked like she was about to make some sort of nasty comment to that, but I silenced her with a look.

We walked in silence. Before we knew it, the sky was growing dark.

"We shall stop for the night," said Legolas, "It is too dark to continue."

I was grateful for that. My feet were beginning to hurt from all the walking.

"We must get an early start tomorrow," the elf continued, "But for now, please rest."