Chapter two

Selena woke up to sunlight streaming onto her face. She opened her eyes, and blinked. "Am I still dreaming?" she asked herself.

"Nope," said Raeann, who had been awake for a while. Selena started, then relaxed. It was easier to see, but not by much. "Still no idea where we are?"

"None."

"That's what I thought."

"I guess we'd better start walking," said Raeann, and she started forward. She had gotten out of the clearing, and Selena was starting to follow her, when she gave an undignified shriek and plummeted down a hole.

"Omygoodness, Raeann, are you okay?" Selena gasped as she ran to the pit and peered over the edge. Raeann had fallen about nine feet down into a narrow pit. "This is so great," she said sarcastically. "I don't think I can help you up without falling in."

Raeann stood up and winced. "I banged my ankle against something. I don't think I can climb up very well."

Selena grimaced. "This is not good, no it's not, not good at all." She stood up, and felt something cold press against her skin. She turned around to face a grinning…

ELF?

He was tall, and had silver hair. His eyes were grey, and set in a face that was abnormally beautiful. He had a slightly cold grin upon his face. It sent shivers down Selena's spine.

"Suilad," the elf said, and pulled the knife away. "May I inquire as to what you're doing here?"
Then he frowned. "Speaking of which, how did you even get in here?"

Selena was too flabbergasted to speak. She could only stare opened mouthed at him. Finally, her voice came back. It was more of a squeak. "Um…"
'Remember your elvish you got off the Internet,' her mind chided.
"Mae govannen...? We got lost and my friend fell down that, uh, pit thing."

The elf walked past her to the pit. "Did you not see the warning sign?"

"What sign?" called Raeann from the hole. She couldn't see the speaker or Selena, so she had no idea what was going on.

"The three white branches crossed over."

"Look buster, I don't know about any 'signs' like that. And what is this pit here for?"

"To trap deer," the elf said, and threw down a thin coil of rope. Raeann grabbed onto it and started to climb up. When she saw the elf she almost fell back into the hole. He bowed, and said, "Who are you, and what are your names?"

"Raeann."

"Selena."

"Those are outlandish. Are you from around here?"

"No. Definately not. Where are we?" asked Raeann, rubbing her ankle.

"In Mirkwood. I'd better take you back to the castle. I am Celefin."

"Celefin… Silver-hair?" asked Selena, as they followed him.

"Yes. Do you understand a little bit of elvish?"

"Yes, a little. Enough to understand names maybe, nothing more complex then that."

Celefin stopped. "I suppose I should blindfold you now."

"What?" asked Raeann, frowning. "I am not going through the woods with a hurt foot blindfolded."

Celefin looked at her mildly. "I will lead you on a well-traveled path. You shall not stumble or trip."

Raeann sighed, but let him tie a sash over her eyes. Selena glared fiercely when it was her turn. "How do we even know you're taking us anywhere?"

"You'll have to trust me. You'll do better there then here," he smiled, but his eyes held warning. He obviously didn't trust them totally, but evidentally judged them young and naïve enough to do no harm.

Selena started to snap back at him, then remembered what happened to Bilbo and Co. in the Hobbit. "Alright, alright."

Celefin led them on for a while, then deftly untied the blindfolds.

Raeann gasped. They were in front of a magnificent castle-type building, with high stone walls that had elvish inscripted on them. She had never seen a real castle before, and this one was certainly magnificent.

Celefin called something in elvish, and the huge door began to inch open. Selena turned to thank him, but he had disappeared.

"Hey, where'd he go?" asked Selena, looking around wildly. Raeann shrugged. The gates were wide enough for them, and they slipped inside.

A tall elf was standing just inside the door. He bowed slightly to them, his golden hair falling in front of his face. "Legolas eneth nîn," he said, then stopped. "Oh, my apologies. Do you speak elvish?"

"Raeann eneth nîn, but that's about all I can say."

"Selena eneth nîn. She knows more then me."

"You will need rooms for now. Once you are feeling refreshed, someone will be in to ask you how you got here. It has been five years since our last visitors, and after the tongue-lashing Gandalf the Grey gave us, we will treat you with more courtesy."

Legolas- Prince Legolas- led them down along a path to a large stone building. He opened the door, and revealed a honeycomb of hallways. "I have to go. Take the last hallway to the left," he turned his head to the left, "and go to the last door. It should be unlocked."

He turned to go, and Raeann spoke up. "But how did you know we were here? Only Celefin was there."

"There were others with him, you know. But they thought that if need arose he alone could overpower you. They came back while you were talking and told me."

Selena nodded, and Legolas left. Raeann tugged her down the hallway and opened the door that Legolas had told them to. There were two clean dresses on the bed, and a fire was going.

Raeann sat down. "I still haven't gotten over the shock that we're in Middle-Earth. Will we ever see our families again?"

"Well, at least your family is still there for you," said Selena. "Mine kicked me out because I didn't want to go to college. I'll still miss them."

The two friends sat on the bed and wondered about their families. The day had been progressing too fast for any thoughts of that sort, and now they were overwhelming.

"Well, we'd better see what we can do," said Raeann finally, picking up a dress. "Crying won't help us get back."

She back sat on the bed and giggled. "That's the usual brave speech, isn't it? I'll try and make it more original." She cleared her throat.

"Well, a good cry may make us feel better, but it'll embarrass us if anyone elf comes in. Let's get dressed."

She pulled off her lavender dress, and pulled on the dress that the elves had left for her.

"Those elves sure notice a lot, don't they. They got this dress the same blue/green as my eyes! I wonder why they bothered?"

"Mm-hmm," agreed Selena as she tied back her shoulder-length blonde hair. "Mine is the same shade of brown as mine too. Maybe it was a coincidence."

"Awful lucky if you ask me," shrugged Raeann.

Selena was inspecting the cream embroidery on her dress when a loud rap on the door startled them.