The morning had an air of wrongness to it. The girls were seriously disinclined to getting out of their nice warm beds, which Chelli pointed out that they weren't really nice because they were on the ground. The boys had been up at the crack of dawn discussing the direction of the next journey. Their bickering was what finally made the girls (and Jared) get up and walk away.

"I miss home," Chelli commented. "It just seems like this adventure is getting darker and darker."

"I wonder what my parents think have happened to me. Maybe they think I'm dead!!!" Michelle wailed. "I didn't tell them I loved them before I left, and what if we're stuck here forever!!!"

"We'll get home. We've just got to!" Jennifer yelled as she dissolved into tears. The rest of the girls joined her, except for Katie who was unable to cry.

The girls were too busy crying to hear the brush breaking behind them. Each one found herself being lifted and carried back to camp one by one by none other than Boromir.

"I just want to go home, and have everything be the way it was!" Ashley cried in anguish as Boromir transported her.

"That's all anyone wants, Ashley. I'll find a way to end this soon. We'll finish the suffering," Boromir responded thinking of his own home far away.

He finished transporting the girls back to camp and passed out chocolate. He left them to comfort each other. The conversation about where to go next continued quietly while the guys were watching sadly the emotional struggles going on all around and inside them. The girls soon fell back to sleep missing the excitement of finding both Boromir and Frodo missing.

The girls woke up slowly. Hands rubbed still drowsy eyes, as the girls became aware. The silence of the forest was unbreakable for the first few minutes after they woke up. The girls quietly went about dressing and getting ready for the soon departure.

"Everyone knows where to go and what to do during the battle?" Esther asked as they assembled once again after getting dressed. There were nods all around.

"Is there anything else we need to know about?" Paige asked generally. "I don't want to be caught unawares"

"I do not like the scent of magic that's hanging in the air," Katie shuddered.

"Isn't there some sort of way you can get rid of it?" Paige questioned.

"Not a chan…" Katie responded as a war cry pierced the air.

"What exactly was that?" Michelle wandered after a period of stunned silence.

"Run." Jennifer ordered.

"What are you talking abou…" Jenny began.

"Run!" Jennifer yelled again, this time as an arrow flew by Chelli's ear. The girls stared aghast at the arrow buried in the sand for a moment before they all panicked and broke into a run.

"Where do we go?" Chelli yelled over the sounds of battle that had quickly ensued after the girls had began to run.

"Away from the battle! Duh!!" came Ashley's voice clearly above the clamor.

Suddenly a cloud loomed ahead of them. "We can hide there!" Michelle called as she went clamoring into it. The rest of the girls followed. It wasn't until Katie touched the cloud that she realized the problem with this brilliant plan.

"Guys get out of here! This is magic!" was all she had time to say before she passed out.

Chelli woke up to a familiar voice.

"Chelli, wake up. What happened? Where's everyone else?" a panicked elf questioned as his head came into Chelli's vision. She sat up and glared at him. Waking up nearby were Jenny, Esther, and Ashley.

"Ick! Get away from me!" Esther yelled as Aragon tried to help her up.

"What's wrong with you?" Aragorn asked in concern. Esther just glared at him before stalking off way from the group. She only got so far before she was forced to stop.

"The bonds!! They're back! Arg!! Ashley wake up!" Esther yelled while nudging the prone figure of Ashley with her foot.

"Ugh! Gimli? My dear sweet Gimli?" Ashley cried after looking around for her dwarf.

"He's over there you twit!" Chelli snarled before lying back down. "I'm surrounded by idiots!"

"Legolas, Gimli," Aragorn called, and they came toward him. "I think there's something new wrong with the girls, but I think we need to rescue Merry and Pip and who ever else is with them." Legolas and Gimli nodded in agreement. "Let's hunt some orc!!"

A/N: Well that's the end of the first book. I'm not fond of this story and so it takes me forever to crank out ideas. Then everything is forced and badly written, but I've been threatened by friends to finish. I've already started work on the first chapter of the next book. You have permission to bug me if it doesn't come out soon. I love you all J!