We had crossed the Anduin days ago and were riding next to it up North. Far in the distance we could see Mirkwood on our right side and I remembered being told that Elves live there. I did not want to go near the wood if we did not have to, believing Elves were best to be avoided.

'We are getting closer. It is still a long way, but being this close to Mirkwood gives me a secure feeling. I highly doubt we will encounter any more orcs. We might run into people, so we have to be careful what we say in case we are overheard. Do not mention where we hail from, we have been travelling for years. Do not mention who we are looking for or where we are going. And keep using the words and phrases we talked about,' Ryce said and I nodded.

'What do we do if we encounter elves?' I asked. I had never seen one in my life and I was glad for it. Our people told stories about elves having magical powers, being able to convince others to do their bidding, and being strangely close to animals, trees, and overall nature. They also aged differently than us and I had a hard time picturing that. To my surprise, Ryce laughed.

'You know where we are headed. You are aware that there are elves there?' I swallowed. He meant Rivendell.

'I am. I am just hoping we find him before elves find us,' him being Boromir, 'and then there will be three of us and I would feel more at ease. I am also hoping there are more men there,' I said.

'I do not understand the mistrust we have against elves. Ald- a friend of mine has encountered one not too long ago and did not tell anyone about it because he feared he would upset people. He told me there was nothing to fear, and that they were actually quite agreeable,' Aldin has seen an elf before? I was shocked. Also a bit hurt he did not tell me, meaning he had been afraid of my response.

'Really? Well, maybe that was an exception. Or, you know, our tales are true and the elf ensnared him, forcing him to spread the word elves are agreeable,' Ryce only chuckled and shook his head.

/ / /

We had only lit up campfires to cook food during the day, as it would draw too much attention if it was during the darkness of the night time. This was something I had already picked up during one of the rides, but it did not help that the nights were getting colder. The area around us was open so Ryce was not too happy about stopping for a few hours, but we had to as we were afraid we would tire the horses too fast. We had observed that we would not come across more shielded fields for hours to come, so we made do with a small rock formation that did not even reach higher than Tordag. I had just sat down to drink water and eat some poison free berries.

'If you will excuse me, nature is calling on me,' Ryce said and I rolled my eyes. He enjoyed finding new ways to announce he had to relieve himself. My favourite was that he needed to "tinkle". I was looking over the fields and realized once again how light it was, even thought it was late into the night. It was just that the starlight shone brighter in areas where there were no other lights.

I had finished all the berries and was starting to wonder why Ryce was taking so long. I had not looked where he had gone as that was the appropriate thing to do, but now I could not see him anywhere. I stood up and even looked behind the rocks, but there was no sign of him. I cursed and started walking a bit from the camp, remembering Ryce telling me not to shout out loud in any situation. Sounds could travel far, he said. So I stopped and tried to listen, but after several long moments I gave up listening.

'Raeza,' I hissed while looking around me. I looked at the horses and they were completely unbothered, which usually is a good sign, but now I was not so sure.

'Raeza,' again, no answer came. Where had he gone off to? I swallowed, had something happened to him? I started walking in the direction where we had come from, all the while looking back every so many steps to keep an eye on every direction.

'Raeza,' I whisper-shouted. Nothing. The uneasiness in me grew as I kept searching for him. How hard was it to take a piss?! As I kept looking at my surroundings I looked to the left and saw a dark patch on the ground and thought it looked sort of strange. Rocks? Bushes? Hesitantly I walked over to it and when I was close enough, I saw it was a decaying carcass of what used to be a horse. I felt nauseated at the sight and quickly looked away. I turned around to set in another direction and glanced over at the horses again. It was only then that I saw a shadow moving close to Hefric. Before I could do anything he had jumped on him.

'No!' I shouted, and started running towards where they were. Whoever it was on my horse had heard my shout and I saw Hefric took off, closely followed by Tordag. I cursed out loud.

'Stop!' I shouted and I pushed myself to run faster. They did not stop. I ran as fast as I could but soon I realised I could not outrun them, let alone catch up to them.

So I stopped, defeated. I kept looking at the silhouettes of the two horses and the shadow on top of Hefric, but I could almost not make them out anymore. I was panting and felt anger bubble up inside me. Who would do such a thing? Who could ever feel entitled to take what is not theirs? Hefric… The shadowy figure had stolen my horse and Ryce's horse. I started running again, fuelled by anger at the injustice of it all. Not my horse, I thought as I ignored my burning lungs. You cannot have my horse, I felt my muscles burning. Not Tordag, as I squinted my eyes at what I thought was the fading shadow of the thief. I kept running and shut out any thought that would lead me into desperation. Just run. Do not think about what would happen if I lost them. Run. Had the shadow taken Ryce, too? Keep running. How would I get to Rivendell alone, without Hefric? Without Ryce? Just run.

Then I blinked and I could no longer see the horses moving in the dark, they had gone too fast and were now too far. I stopped again and put my hands on my knees as I tried to regulate my breathing again. I felt sick. The world was spinning. I kept my eyes shut until I was master of my own breath and stood upright again. I had to get used to the dark once more and focussed my eyes on the bit of darkness that was just below the sky, just where the first stars popped up behind what I knew were mountains. When I could discern trees from rocks I looked below and saw the glistening reflection of the stars on the river and I realized my breathing had returned normal again.

I cussed and really wanted to kick something. What on Arda was I going to do now? I sighed and gathered my thoughts. I felt fear bubbling up inside me and fought against it, I needed to remain calm and collected. I had my dirk and bow on me, and about twenty arrows in my quiver. I had left my waterskin at the rock formation and decided I would have to go back to collect it. Hopefully Ryce had left some useful things behind as well. I tried not to think about the items that were still strapped to Hefrics saddle and felt a wave of emotion flow through me as I realized all that I had just lost in a matter of minutes. I cursed again and turned around to make my way back.

It felt like an eternity had passed before I had found the spot where we had taken our break, but when I did I found my waterskin, Ryce's cloak as well as his own waterskin. While I was walking back here I felt torn because of the decision I had to make: was I going after Ryce and the horses, or would I continue on my journey to Rivendell? I was yet to make a decision as I postponed it, thinking both those things were in the same direction, so I felt I could decide later.

It was starting to get light again, but only slightly. The first hues of orange were visible in the sky behind the mountains. Normally I would appreciate the beauty of a sun rise, but I felt nothing now. I felt nothing except for guilt. I felt my eyes get teary again and my vision started to get blurry. Roughly I brushed the tears away and suddenly saw movement several yards away. Quickly I looked around for cover but saw none, so I dropped to the ground and prayed to the Gods that I did that without being seen. From here it looked like two horses were riding in this direction, and I immediately thought the shadowy figure was coming back for me. I cursed and moved so that I could take my bow from my back and an arrow from my quiver.

I had been taught how to shoot horizontally, but I was not very good at it. Somehow I could never really tug the cord back tightly enough to send the arrow flying fast. So I had to decide, would I stand up or would I stay on the ground like this? I decided I would wait until they were closer. I could tell I was not yet spotted, as the horses were not coming towards me but were going a little way to my left. The horses were not going as fast as they were before, in fact, it seemed like they were going so slowly I figured the rider had seen me and were now looking for me. I could see the horses clearly now and I jumped to my feet as I recognized them. I felt a bubble of joy burst inside me as I saw it was Ryce who was riding on Tordag and had the reins for Hefric in his hand. He steered towards me, but I ran towards them as I could not wait a second longer.

'Ry-Raeza- Ryce! You are back and you have the horses!' I looked up at him in awe, but he had a strange look on his face.

'I do indeed,' he said. I looked him over but did not see any blood on him.

'But, how? You had not gone that far away, had you? And the thief, he took off so fast…' slowly, the pieces started to fall together.

Joy had made room for anger.

'It was you. You rode away with the horses,'