.
~ Road to the End ~
.
To Gondor at last. Elraen had bid a brief farewell to the others, and rode off, alone just as she had started. Eastward for three days she pushed Sunstreak hard for many hours each day, speeding under clear starry skies through the cool air of the waning winter with the snowy White Mountains rising up along her right and watching the sun rise red before her each morning. The road soon became empty, but she kept her cloak on, and rode only at night as Gandalf had advised. Fortunately she could yet cover much ground as daylight was still short. She would place a stone in the road so her companions would know where she lay hid for the day.
Elraen reached the deep shade of the Firien Woods just after dawn on the third morning. It was a wholesome place, she knew, a tiny remnant of the vast forests that she herself once wandered in guardianship countless ages ago. She had a thought to stop and visit the summit of Halifirien, a hallowed place still blessed by the grace of the King and Queen. She wondered if she might stand upon it and feel the presence of the brethren she so missed. But there was no time for such diversions, and so she continued on until she crossed the bridge over the Mering Stream early in the afternoon.
Elraen discovered she had come within sight of the peak of Calenhad, and as she looked for a place to rest she rehearsed in her head what to say if she reached the Wall alone. Gandalf had told her to give his name, and her father's name, and if all else failed he gave her the first password should she find herself at the entry point alone. But there was no need; it was here that the wizard and the hobbit at last caught up to her. They camped only until late afternoon when Gandalf woke them to head onward, and they all set out through Anorien. When the beacons came alight Gandalf pushed onward at strong speed, and Elraen fell behind again, until they stopped the next day. For the last stretch he now slowed Shadowfax's pace for a bit, and they reached the wall together just before dawn.
"The lady here I will vouch for also, for here is a child of Gondor," he explained to the guard, as he gestured to her. The princess pulled back the hood of her cloak as he continued. "Elraen daughter of Prince Marasir of Pelargir, and foster daughter of Lord Artamir, the last ambassador of Gondor to Rohan. She rides with me." The gate guards then looked at them all again in new wonder.
She ended up with someone to speak for her after all. "Greetings, Master Ingold," she said with a nod, as he bid them pass at last. "Long have I desired to look upon the land of my mother and father. By all descriptions the Tower of the Sun brooks no rival in Middle-earth for beauty and grandeur."
His face brightened. "Indeed, lady! So it is said. I think you will not be disappointed," he said, before he finished his conversation with Gandalf.