"But I must be alone." She whistled, and soon Aátrius was on her arm. Curiously Faroth watched her communicate with the small animal. "I should return within the hour, if anything goes wrong, Aátrius shall let you know," she informed the group. With quick graceful movements, she was gone.
"Such a faithful friend," Faroth said, stroking Aátrius' small head.
"We should rest. Aátrius will wake us if anything happens," Andúin suggested.
"Yes, sleep," Faroth agreed, yawning for effect.
Andúin tried to stop Lhach. She dove in front of Jnían but it was too late. His blade went straight through her middle.
"No!" Andúin screamed…
Her eyes snapped open and she shot up. She was drenched in sweat, and her palms were clammy. The only sound she could hear was the crickets' song, and the steady rhythm of Faroth's breathing. Andúin looked around, and everything was as it should be, except Jnían had not yet returned. She spotted Aátrius, alert, next to the fire.
"Faroth," Andúin said loudly.
Drowsy with sleep, Faroth lifted his head. "What is it?"
"Jnían," she answered quickly.
"But Aátrius is still here. She must be—"
"I'm here," Jnían stated, surprising them, as she lowered herself from a tree near the camp. Andúin ran to her and pulled her close. "Andúin, you are trembling," Jnían observed.
"I had a nightmare," Andúin managed.
"I'm fine," Jnían reassured her, "and I've had a little bit of luck with the clue."
"Truly?" Faroth questioned, "What is your progress?"
"Well, being of Elvin blood, I'm partially fluent in Quenya. I managed to translate it, but I'm sure it will take all three of us to understand it."
"What does it say?" Andúin inquired anxiously.
"I believe I have it correct," Jnían started, "It reads:
'Travel east on the path
Avoid Evil's wrath
The eastern most sea
Holds the final key'
"Faroth, you know the East exceedingly better then us."
"First we must rest," Faroth stated distractedly, "we'll need it."
They set out the following morning at a steady pace. "We need to return to Meshía and retrieve the original two pieces," Jnían stated.
"Why do we just not get this piece, and then retrieve the others?" Faroth asked.
"No," Jnían replied, "We are already pressing out luck by leaving them there now. I fear we are also running low on time for the Black Smoke itself. Rohan is out of our way to return to Gondor with the final piece. We could return with the complete staff."
"We cannot let the smoke reach Gondor," Andúin interjected.
"Rohan is not very far from here. It will not be a wasted trip."
"Then let us ride!" Faroth said gruffly, urging his horse forward. They rode hard most of the way to Rohan, stopping for only a few hours' rest each night. Finally, Meshía's small hut came into view.
"It has been so long since we were here to retrieve Andúril," Andúin said wistfully. "How I miss Minas Tirith…"
"Wait, look closer," Faroth said sharply. "The building appears to be deserted."
"It always looks that way," Jnían said, but her voice sounded unsteady. They dismounted and approached the building. She knocked on the door as she always did, but there was no reply. Faroth moved forward and sharply threw his weight against the door, throwing it open.
"Meshía?" Jnían called softly, walking through the darkness cautiously. "Meshía, are you here?" They went into the adjoining room.
Jnían froze. "Oh, no," she said softly, her hand going to her mouth. Meshía's limp body lay facedown in the center of the room, her dress in tatters and her hair bloody. She rushed to her fallen friend's body, cradling her head in her lap.
"Meshía, I am so sorry," she sobbed. "I Melain berio le, my friend."
Jnían rose to her feet, Meshía's small body in her arms. "I will return shortly," Jnían choked out. Faroth and Andúin watched silently as Jnían exited the small hut door.
"Stay here, Faroth, and wait for Jnían to return," Andúin commanded curtly. She soon disappeared underneath the trap door. Faroth, now alone, glanced about the room. Things had been knocked over and broken. He felt remorse for the unknowing old woman. Jnían entered so quietly, she startled him. She was no longer crying, but her cheeks were stained.
"Are you well?" Faroth asked her softly. Jnían looked at him and made no reply. "I am sorry," he added.
She smiled. "Thank you, she was a dear friend."
"Come!" Andúin suddenly shouted from below.
"What is it?" Jnían asked.
"The pieces are gone."
"Both of them?" Faroth questioned hoarsely.
"Yes, both," came her reply.
"Wait," Jnían started to think, "She may have…" she wandered into the other room. Curious, Faroth followed her.
"Jnían?" Andúin called as she returned to the surface. She then saw her against the wall in the corner. She watched the Elf sidestep three steps to her right, and then three steps forward. She stopped, and kneeled down, carefully lifting the floorboard. Jnían put her hand inside, and after some time, her hand emerged with a wrapped cloth. She unwrapped it carefully.
"The base," Andúin realized.
"Yes," Jnían agreed, "but there is only the base. Lhach must have the other piece. At least we are a step ahead."
"A step ahead?" Andúin repeated her, "Last time I looked, Lhach was a step ahead, especially with Hwesta."
"Look, Lhach knows there are four pieces, and he believes we only had two. He knows nothing of the base. He thinks we possess now only the one we found in that cave. By now he has realized that the one I gave him was a false one, and he now has the real one from here. He probably believes that is the one we found in Gondor, for he did overhear us saying that a piece was there. The one in Rivendell he never found out about, he only believed we were there because of my heritage, or to just find a clue, not a piece. Thus, he believes we have only found two, yet now only possess one, and we are after the third rather then the fourth and final piece."
"I see," Andúin was beginning to understand. "So where do we go now?"
"East," Faroth interjected.
The group replenished their waning supplies at a nearby nomadic family's campsite, who luckily for them, were willing to part with supplies for a very small price. Again they found themselves on a 'treasure hunt' for the final piece of the staff.
"Do you have a very good grasp on where we are going exactly?" Andúin asked Faroth as they crossed over Rohan. "I will admit that the lands in the West are of more common knowledge to me than the East," Faroth shrugged, "But my guess would be the Sea of Rhûn."
"That is where I suspected as well," Jnían interjected.
"The difficulty is the lands around it," Faroth continued. "There is little known of them, as most never survive to plot them. There could be anything from mountains to forests to ice. I would prefer to avoid Mordor as much as possible, though it is nothing more then a barren wasteland again, I doubt it is completely abandoned of those things foul that prosper in such dark places."
"That is probably what the clue meant by 'avoiding evil's wrath' anyway," Andúin said. "But that proves inconvenient. This passage may prove more difficult then first expected."
"Each day I worry about Hwesta," Jnían said suddenly. "He may be a hardy fellow, but what they did to me almost killed me in a matter of days, and Hwesta has been missing much longer."
"We have to keep our hopes up, they are all we have," Andúin said.
"And they will have no chance of finding out next destination without him. Hwesta doesn't even know, anyway," Faroth remarked.
"But still, perhaps we should split up," Jnían replied.
"I'm not so sure," Faroth warned. "Splitting up can cause serous problems. Well, we must go north anyway, so we might as well go together. Once we again reach the path we'll see about splitting." Jnían and Andúin nodded in agreement. So the three began their journey north.
"Andúin, could you let me see the clue again?" Jnían requested.
Andúin lowered her hand into her side satchel. "Its not here," she said, her voice empty.