Fredericks saw the western Middle-Earth spread out in all its nighttime glory. Towers and cities, mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, plains and woodlands, all he saw, none he could name. Three towers stood on three hills gazing west, the last ray of sunset a gleam in the eyes of their windows. The river streaming wide past a seven-layered city like a wedding cake, with an outcropping of rock piercing it like a cake server about to cut through the six upper layers. Enormous creatures like walking trees in a forest. A spider creeping towards a cave, on a stairway the scale of which suggested that the spider was the size of an elephant.
High over the mountain in the side of which the stairs were carved, a single bright star, or planet, shone between misty clouds. The clouds moved in the wind and for a moment formed the shape of a beautiful woman with very long hair. Her hand seemed to point down at the spider's cave.
Fredericks now found he could see right into the cave, as if it was not pitch dark, as if the mountainside did not stand in the way. The spider moved slowly. It went past yawning tunnels, shredded webs, through one cavern after another, until it came into a chamber the walls of which were all white, covered with webs. There were bundles there, and if his estimation was correct, the largest were the size of a man. One of the smaller rolls of webbing was not all white – some golden threads stuck out. Golden! Golden hair! He got up and ran down the steps, shouting:
"I saw her! I saw the child! I sat on the throne and I saw a spider monster! It's huge, it lives in a cave, there's a long winding stair up this mountain, somewhere in the south, the spider has wrapped her in sticky webs, I think it is her, it's the size of a child and I saw golden hair sticking out of the bundle!"
"How could you see inside a cave? The seat only shows things that are visible through open air!" Minaiwen exclaimed. Orlando defended his friend.
"You mean you and I only saw these things. I did see into some rooms in Rivendell, but only through windows, feeling I was on the outside. How could Pithlit lie – and besides he describes Shelob, and yet has never heard of her!"
"Oh, no! We thought Shelob was dead? You mean she has Elanor? Are you sure that is what you saw?" Minaiwen demanded of Fredericks.
"No, what I saw was a child-sized bundle with golden hair. Could be another child. I doubt it's an orc, though – somehow I can't imagine hair like that on one of those buggers. Mind you, I think I saw something else before that. I saw a star – that star, actually," he pointed at the brightest star visible, "and a cloudy shape, a woman, and she pointed at the spider, as if urging me to look. And then the mountain somehow opened and I could see inside, even though I knew it was dark there."
"Elbereth!" Minailwen exclaimed, "The Queen of Stars herself aided you. Why she chose you I don't know, they don't worship the Valar in Khand, do they?"
Fredericks smiled a dreamy smile.
"I am willing to worship that lady all right. Wish I'd seen her face a bit closer. She was perfect, lovely, she was loveliness itself."
Orlando stared at his friend open-mouthed. Was he faking it? Or had the woman truly had such an impact on him? Was he a lesbian? Then he realized just how stupid that sounded when put into words. Pithlit in Middle Country had always been extravagantly polite to women – kissing hands, bowing and lifting his hat in a flourish, boring them with compliments and so on – just to keep the distance, he supposed. So maybe this was just Fredericks back in the Pithlit role.
"The way I see it, she gave you the mission of saving the child."
"Thargor, you're the guy with the sword. I'm the guy with the brains. Also the guy very much without weapon of any kind, I would like to point out."
"Friends! We are not the only ones who can help the child. There are others, much closer to Cirith Ungol, and all we need to do is get the message there as fast as possible."
"We have a boat, although it would have to be carried past the falls first."
"That would take too long – and besides I can run faster than you can paddle! However, I won't have to, for I was prepared to send a message."
Minaiwen whistled sharply.
From the branches of a tree on Tol Brandir, a small shape parted to fly towards them. As it landed on the elf-girl's left wrist, they saw it was a falcon. Minaiwen, all the time balancing the bird on her wrist, went to get her bag. She rummaged in it and took out a small piece of parchment, a pen and a bottle of ink. Capping the bottle with her teeth and using the smooth stone step as a table, she wrote a quick message. Peering over her shoulder, Orlando saw that the letters were elvish. The girl read out the message, and Orlando realized there was no translation program used in this simulation – he heard the words in Sindarin. In that case, English they were speaking was theoretically Westron.
After the girl had bound the message to the falcon's leg and sent the bird away with another whistled command, he asked her:
"What did you write? I'm not that fluent in elvish!"
"This was my message: Elbereth be thanked, a vision on Amon Hen reveals that alas! A golden-haired child has been captured by Shelob in Cirith Ungol, alive and wrapped in webs. I have met two new friends, Thargor of Laketown and Pithlit of Khand, and will return with them by boat. Yours, Minaiwen."
"And who did you send it to?"
"My lord Legolas, of course. Celegon will take it to him in less than two days."
Orlando was a bit worried that their names were in the letter. He was glad he'd had the sense not to tell their real names. He wondered why Minaiwen hadn't mentioned that the vision was Pithlit's – as it was, the message gave the impression she had seen it herself. Was she trying to take credit for another's achievement? Orlando decided to ask:
"You didn't mention who saw the vision. Is there a reason for that?"
"Oh, yes. I couldn't think of a way I could explain to my lord Legolas why I trust the word of an easterling, not on such a small piece of parchment. When they rescue the girl and prove the vision true, then it is time I reveal who they can thank for the information. I hope you are not offended, master Pithlit?"
"Not at all. The important thing is that Elanor is found."
Fredericks hoped his words didn't sound too false. He was not at all interested in saving a puppet hobbit. For a moment the complexity of Otherland had made him forget he was in a simulation, then the excitement had made it feel like a Middle Country adventure. Now he felt he had had a narrow escape. What if the girl hadn't had the hawk? Would they be even now hauling the boat down the cliffs? He yawned just thinking all that work. It would still have to be done – tomorrow.
The all slept between the four pillars, under the throne. Minaiwen lent Orlando her blanket, she and Fredericks wrapped themselves tight in their cloaks. Minaiwen slept sitting up, leaning on a pillar, her eyes open. A phrase came to Orlando before sleep claimed him; it was about Legolas – 'resting in his mind in the strange paths of elvish dreams, even as he walked open-eyed in the light of this world.'
Please review! I need all the help I can get to continue.