When the three arrived to the edge of the woods, the ashes were still smoking. Gimli poked around the ashes with his ax and found a Lothlorien belt given to the hobbits. When Aragorn was given the token, seeing no other signs of the hobbits, he belted a scream of anguish into the sky that would have rent any heart that heard it unless they were already broken by the signs at their feet.

Aragorn fell to his knees, fatigue and sadness finally taking its toil as hope faded. Legolas whispered an elvish prayer to the deceased.

However, Aragorn was now crawling, running his hands over a faint, obscured trail. 'They crawled away,' he said breathlessly. He then held up a length of cut rope and an orc knife. 'Their bonds were cut,' his head rose, following the trail, 'and they went into the trees.'

'Well, why would they want to go in there?' Gimli asked incredulously after looking into the dark shadows. 'How were their bonds cut? Not by an orc, though the knife does lead one to think that.'

Aragorn shook is head and put the knife in his belt. 'We'll have to ask the hobbits when we find them.' New hope had energized Aragorn. 'We must follow them into the woods.'

'You must be joking,' Gimli said but Aragorn and Legolas were already running in. 'Ohhh,' he grunted as he picked up his ax and followed a trail blazer that did not heed danger.

Meanwhile, the hobbits had found friends amongst the trees, in a tree. They were discussing attacking Isengard, and Treebeard said 'I will need your help in convincing the others, gentle hobbits, for you know more about the wide world than we Ents who have lived withdrawn from these current events.'

'Of course, we'll do all we can to help,' replied Merry, though then to Pippin, whispered, 'I wish Gandalf were here, or at least Anna. She always showed her dislike for Saruman, more like fear but either would help.'

Pippin nodded in agreement and said, 'She would have something to tell these Ents that would move them to Isengard in a flash.'

But Anna was not with them, or with any one of the members of the fellowship. Eomer had left her at a Rohirrim town, trusting the master of the house she stayed in to send her the rest of the way to Edoras in the morning. She sensed Eomer did not want to go to Edoras just by how he looked in the direction of the great city. He was avoiding it rather than staying in the fields where he stated he was needed.

The rest of the household was asleep and Anna had shunned the bed she was given. She did not need sleep, she said and walked outside. Being that she was a strange creature, a legend only whispered about, no one questioned her. There she now stood, outside the home, still and unmoving as a stale breeze prickled her flesh.

She looked out across the flat lands, her arms folded and her thoughts traveling the lands.

How could Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli leave her here with strange people? He had ordered her to go into a town; something she never would have done on her own. She did not trust these townspeople and waited for the time when they would kick her out of the village or show their mutiny in another way. She did not belong here. Did not Aragorn know that the first time she showed herself to the Company was a wild leap for her? Who knew such a leap would be so dangerous and take her so far?

As she wondered where the three of them were now and what they found of Merry and Pippin, she shut her eyes. She could not think about Merry and Pippin if she was useless and inadequate to help, miles away from where she could do anything. In a way, she thought if they died, it would be her fault. Those orcs were her master's and she had known about them before that night. She left her thoughts on why she did not say anything to the rest alone.

She hated being shunned away like this. Why did Aragorn leave her with Eomer? Truly he could have struck a promise with the Riders for the horses without her. There had to be another reason. Did Aragorn really want her out of his hair, or did her want her as far away from Saruman and his servant as possible? It was true, Anna wanted the same distance as Aragorn wanted between herself and the white wizard but that would be her choice, not his. And when it came to it, something told her she could not spend the rest of her life away from the twisted wizard.

The need to do something and an act of defiance drove her to get the horse, Dagnir. She had grown close with the creature, whispering many of her secrets into its ear. As she jumped into the saddle, a last thought trailed to Frodo and Sam, wherever they might have been then. 'In a way, Sam and I are complete opposites,' she whispered to Dagnir. 'He is ever loyal and will probably have only one master throughout his life. I will never be burdened with such fate.'

With that thought, she spurred the horse to Isengard, letting the rest of her thoughts fade away into the leagues behind her.