Chapter 9

Gandalf entered Elizabeth's room very early Christmas morning. Elizabeth had received many presents from her friends the night before and was going to use all of them.

Elrond had given her a sword, handcrafted to fit her size perfectly. Gandalf had given her a bottle a miruvor for cold nights on their quest. Legolas had given Elizabeth a bow and a quiver full of arrows made to fit her size and strength. Aragorn gave Elizabeth a pretty elven tunic that could be used for traveling and then turned inside out and used for special occasions.

Frodo and the Hobbits (including Bilbo) had given Elizabeth a small pendant worn by many of the Shire children, which Elizabeth was wearing still. Arwen had given a beautiful pendant, not of the Evenstar, but of white gold and diamonds, which Elizabeth wore under her shirt with the other pendant.

Elladan and Elrohir gave Elizabeth a small suspicious bottle that they said was hair dye for whenever Elizabeth needed a good laugh. The twins had given Elizabeth a string to loop around the bottle so Elizabeth could wear it around her neck or attach it to her belt. Glorfindel had smartly sent his present ahead to Lothlorien, telling Elizabeth that it wouldn't be needed on the quest but it would be in Lorien.

Gimli had grumbled something about how dwarves didn't celebrate Christmas, but had given her a necklace made of mithril anyways.

"Elizabeth. Elizabeth, wake up." The old wizard said as he brought out a tunic, a warm cloak, and some leggings for her.

Elizabeth moaned and turned over. "Five more minutes, Mommy."

Gandalf raised one eyebrow and looked sternly at the small girl. "Elizabeth. You need to wake up. The Hobbits and Aragorn are waiting for you."

Elizabeth's eyes snapped open, but she still was exhausted. She stared up at Gandalf, wondering why he'd woken her at some odd hour.

"Go brush your teeth and wash your face, young lady." Gandalf said.

Elizabeth slowly pushed herself out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. Gandalf could hear the water running as she did as she was told. When she'd finished, Elizabeth got herself dressed (with the help of Gandalf) and had a small breakfast of oatmeal, then met everyone out front.

Elrond turned to her and shook his head disapprovingly.

"I shall have to remind Glorfindel to take all children to bed by nine o' clock." He muttered. Elrond faced the fellowship, now completed by Elizabeth. "The Ring-Bearer is setting out on the quest of Mount Doom. On you, who travel with him, no oath, nor bond is laid to go further than you will."

Elizabeth looked up at Elrond and cocked her head to one side. Elrond stared back at her, strait into her eyes.

'If you change your mind about this, I will always be here for you. You have special powers. Take care of not only them, but yourself also.' Elrond's voice echoed through Elizabeth's mind.

Elizabeth's eyes widened, but she chased the look away and nodded firmly. She took a few steps forward and hugged the elf lord, who kneeled down and hugged her back.

'Will I ever see you again?' she asked, trying to see if Elrond would hear her.

To Elizabeth's surprise, Elrond nodded. "Now be off!"

Elizabeth smiled and ran to Gandalf's side and just as the Fellowship was leaving Rivendell, Elrond called to the girl again.

"Elizabeth?"

She turned to meet a mischievous look in the elf lord's eyes.

'Make sure Gandalf doesn't get into too much trouble.' Elrond thought spoke, glancing at Gandalf. He pulled out a small bottle. "This is a very powerful healing mixture. Make sure you use it only when the time is right."

Elizabeth took the bottle of healing medicine and giggled as she ran back to Gandalf and took his hand.

The Fellowship walked and walked and walked and walked. Over mountains and into valleys they walked. They did not stop and when Elizabeth began to slow down, no one seemed to notice.

It was Aragorn who noticed first that Elizabeth was about twenty feet behind him. He looked up and down the line of travelers and frowned, noticing that there was no little girl in front of him. Aragorn turned around and noticed Elizabeth dragging her feet along. He sighed and strode swiftly over to her, picking her up in his arms and quickly catching up.

When the Fellowship did stop, Sam cooked some sausages; ham and other meat and Elizabeth ate it quickly. She then sat herself down on a rock facing the setting sun.

She noticed a dark wisp of cloud coming fast towards them. She noticed Legolas' feet standing next to where she was sitting.

"Legolas?"

"Yes, Lady Elizabeth?"

"Not 'lady', silly! Just Elizabeth. Anyways, how come that cloud is moving towards us if the wind is moving away from us?" Elizabeth asked innocently.

Legolas frowned and looked up towards the cloud. His eyes widened in shock.

"What is that?" Elizabeth heard Sam faintly ask.

Elizabeth almost fell over backwards suddenly, but regained her footing. Legolas frowned down at her.

"Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered and rolled up as she practically fought with herself.

"He wants Frodo…and me." Elizabeth said in a whisper. Suddenly her eyes widened in shock. "Gandalf!"

Gandalf slid off the rock just as Elizabeth fainted forewords.

"Grab her!" Gandalf shouted. Legolas grabbed Elizabeth around the waist and jumped off the rock as he spoke a warning.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas shouted. He quickly hid under a bush and quickly tried to revive Elizabeth.

When the Crebain had passed, Legolas carried Elizabeth's body out of the hiding spot and laid it on a rock.

Gandalf was at Elizabeth's side immediately, worried look about his face.

"She feels the power of Sauron." Legolas said softly. "When I caught her, there was a power surging through her that is far beyond any power I have ever known."

"And that is why Sauron must not get his hands on her." Gandalf said firmly. "With Elizabeth under his control, Sauron would only need the ring for unlimited power. And with Elizabeth in his power, getting the ring would be very easy."

Suddenly, Elizabeth's eyes shot open and she began to scream, but was stopped as Gandalf put a hand over her mouth.

"I hope that you forgive me, Elizabeth, but you cannot make any loud noise." Gandalf said. "Promise me that you will not scream."

Elizabeth nodded quickly and Gandalf removed his hand.

"What were they?" she asked.

"Spies of Saruman. The passage south is being watched. We must go through the pass of Caradhras." Gandalf announced.

Elizabeth wrapped her cloak around her and still shivered. How many days now had it been since they left? Elizabeth had lost track. Elizabeth had once thought that it would be fun to see snow, to play in it. But not anymore. All Elizabeth wanted to do now was be somewhere warmer.

"Boromir. Give the Ring to Frodo."

Elizabeth looked up when she heard Aragorn's words.

'Give it to him.' She thought in her head.

Boromir walked towards Frodo and held it over his hand.

'DROP IT, YOU STUPID MEANIE-HEAD!'

Boromir gave the Ring the Frodo and turned around to see Elizabeth standing in front of Legolas.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?" Boromir asked angrily.

Legolas immediately put himself between Elizabeth and Boromir and stood his ground.

"Move, elf, that girl needs to learn some manners!" Boromir exclaimed. But Legolas held him back.

"What are you doing?! Elizabeth has done nothing inappropriate!" Legolas said loudly.

Boromir seemed to realize that Elizabeth had shouted her thoughts in his mind. He stood back and smiled.

"I see now. Breaking into my mind so that I seem like the villain and you are innocent?" Boromir realized. "I shan't have any more of that."

"I didn't mean to!" Elizabeth exclaimed, hiding more and more behind Legolas. "It was an accident; I didn't mean to break into your head!"

The minute Elizabeth had finished her words; she regretted them, because now, everyone was staring at her.

"Perhaps it would be best if Elizabeth spent some time up front with myself." Gandalf said, breaking the silence. Elizabeth took in the wizard's words and ran to him, hugging his legs.

"Come, child." Gandalf said. "Come help an old man."

Gandalf began walking up the snowy mountainside once again and the others followed.

"Elizabeth, when did you find out you could speak with your mind?" Gandalf asked gently.

"This morning, Elrond told me to take care of you. But he didn't move his mouth and no one else seemed to hear." Elizabeth told the wizard. "Am I in trouble?"

"Trouble? No, no, dear, you aren't in any trouble at all." Gandalf answered. "Just let me be the first to know when you discover anything like that, all right?"

"Ok."

"Good. Now why don't you go and walk with the hobbits?"

((ok, that was a lame-o attempt to end a chapter. oh well))