In the Healing Chamber, Tuor the healer had arrived and was in the process of reviving Linnah. Adriel and Meena stepped aside as he worked. He began by first placing a small bowl of hot water next to the nightstand near the bed. In this he dropped some fragrant leaves of asëa aranion or "asthelas" as it is called in the noble tongue of men. The room was at once filled with the light and aromatic scent of this delicate plant. Linnah stirred fitfully in her darkened sleep and Tuor watched her for a moment. He then placed one hand on her forehead and with the other, felt her wrist. He frowned to himself and walked across the room to use a desk to lay out his assorted vials.

Adriel and Meena watched him silently, not wanting to interrupt his concentration. Tuor reached into his large pouch and placed a large empty vial on the desk. In this he poured some of the contents of a small vial containing a yellowish liquid and then added some of a bluish liquid from another. Searching with his hand inside the large pouch, he brought out a small container holding a brownish powder. He spooned a tiny amount of this into the mixture. Holding his palm over the opening in the vial, he closed his eyes and chanted softly, swirling the contents around. The liquid in the vial began to glow with a golden hue. The Healer then looked at the vial and nodded to himself.

Meena asked him as he walked back to Linnah, "Will she be alright?"

"Let us see how she responds to this," he said kindly, slowly tipping the vial to Linnah's lips.

Just before this, as she slept, Linnah had been dreaming of the dark man, Qadir, her Father. Qadir was speaking to her in this dream, reminding her that his blood flowed in her veins, binding them together forever and making it impossible for her to hide from her fate...He was going to take her away from the elves and bring her to his Master. She would be a gift, he explained, his offering of loyalty to The Dark Lord. He said not to be frightened, that the Master would teach her the dark ways of magic and she would be glad to give herself over to him; that the rewards of her service to the one true Lord would be beyond comprehension.

As these words were spoken to her, she had felt her body lighten, as if floating in water. A cold, tingling sensation ran its way over her limbs, just underneath her skin. The feeling was not at all that unpleasant. In fact, when the next word was spoken to her, she became almost aroused by the feeling.

"YES," said a voice. It was no longer Qadir that spoke. She did not recognize the voice, but it frightened and excited her at the same time.

"COME TO ME," said the disembodied voice.

Linnah replied silently in her head, not being able to control her response to the voice. "Yesss, I am yours...I will serve you, my Lord, ruler of all." Suddenly she felt an ache in her heart. Something didn't seem quite right. Awareness crept into her mind like a distant beacon in the dark and she began to resist. "Wait! This is all wrong. Where is Legolas?" she thought suddenly. Things started to brighten in her mind, as if someone had lifted heavy draperies from a sunlit window.

But along with this realization, all the pleasant sensations left her. There immediately became heaviness upon her, covering her like a blanket of despair, as if something or someone was fighting to pull her back into the darkness. Linnah felt trapped in her own body and it was getting difficult to breath. The dark voice then invaded her mind once again.

"COME TO ME." She resisted and the feeling began getting worse. She felt like she was drowning in the very air she was trying desperately to breathe. She turned her mind toward Legolas again and thinking of him made her feel better.

But then her thoughts were interrupted. As the golden liquid, now being fed to her by the Healer, passed her lips and made its way down her throat, Linnah at once opened her eyes. The voice and the dark presence retreated and were gone. She was disoriented and didn't know where she was. She sensed nothing familiar and for a few moments she was both blind and deaf.

"Linnah? Can you hear me?" asked Tuor softly. "Linnah, come back to us."

She started to see a shape take form. At first blurry and dark, the shape slowly came into focus and she realized it was the castle healer. He was moving his mouth, but she could not hear what he was saying.

He gave her a little more of the mellifluous golden liquid.

"Linnah?" He repeated. Finally she started to hear him. "Linnah can you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you." she responded weakly and then drifted back into this time, a healing, dreamless sleep.

Adriel and Meena both looked at Tuor worriedly, but he spoke to them with a positive tone in his voice. "Do not worry yourselves, this is to be expected. The immediate danger has passed, but she will probably not awaken again for two or three days."