It would not be long now until we reached Rivendell and I was dreading it more and more. I was starting to doubt my decision in coming here. On what grounds would I be able to convince Lord Elrond that I knew what I was getting myself into? I had overheard Boromir talk of a dream back home, that that dream had told him he had to go to Rivendell… and then what? I realised I did not know enough of Boromir's dream and Lord Elrond could easily dismiss me because of my ignorance. So I mustered up all of my courage to ask Boromir more about it.

'Boromir, I hope you will not think me intrusive, but I must ask you something,' I started tentatively. I saw Ryce shift on his saddle and Boromir turned his attention to me.

'Go on then,' he said.

'Could you maybe tell us more about the dream you had?' He looked directly at me now.

'I would much rather tell you more about it once we have made it into Rivendell. I fear we could be overheard,' he made a good point, but I did not give up.

'I share that fear, however you said it will take us less than an hour to reach Rivendell at this point. I think being this close to Rivendell provides us with some security,' he looked at me, but did not say anything for a while. I thought he dismissed the matter, but then he continued.

'Let us halt here then, and I shall tell you what I will tell Lord Elrond,' and so we did. He led his horse to halt next to Tordag so that he was closer to Ryce and me. He faced the road behind us as Ryce faced the road ahead, so I took it upon me to look at the sides of the road, and we kept looking around ever watchful as Boromir spoke of his dream in a hushed voice.

'My brother, Faramir, and I have shared the same dream. He has dreamt it more than me, but together we decided I would seek answers and he would stay in Gondor. In the dream, a voice spoke to me, saying:
Seek for the Sword that was broken;

In Imladris it dwells;

There shall councils be taken;

Stronger than Morgul-spells.

There shall be shown a token

That doom is near at hand,

For Isildur's Bane shall waken,

And the Halfling forth shall stand,' it sounded all too familiar, and halfway through the voice of Boromir changed into one I had not heard before. Or had I? And what was Imladris? Morgul-spells? Isuldur's Bane? Halfling? I had so many questions, but somehow I knew the token was the Ring.

'Imladris is another name for Rivendell, so I set out to find out what that token is,' Boromir added.

'But you already know that that is the Ring. You said so when you were talking to Theodred King,' I said. His face turned to me and he looked confused.

'I never said such a thing,' he then said. Now it was my turn to look confused.

'Yes, you did. I heard you. You said something about the one Ring of power,' I said. He stayed quiet for a bit.

'You are mistaken. My father had his suspicions it would be the Ring, but outside of Gondor I never uttered a single word regarding it,' he then said. How could that be? I was convinced Boromir mentioned the Ring when I overheard him, but now he was denying it. Why? I studied his face trying to find signs that he was lying, but I could find none. I did not know him well enough to be able to tell when he hides the truth.

'We shall see if you are right. Let us speak of it no more outside of the confines of Rivendell. We must go on now,' Boromir said, but something in his tone changed and I could not pinpoint what it was. Irritation? Distrust? Impatience? Ever since Boromir had recited what he had heard in his dream, I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach that did not leave.

He turned his horse around and the three of us rode on. We had stopped at the Old Ford to recover his horse days ago, and I was relieved I was able to ride Hefric again.

'What is a "halfling?"' Ryce then asked.

'My father says it is another word for "hobbit", but I have never seen one,' well, that was not very informative, 'I imagine you have other questions as well. I suggest you keep them to yourselves for now, for I shall only answer them when we do not need to be watchful of our surroundings any longer,' I had so many questions that this request of his was going to be quite the challenge to honor, but I hoped he would be true to his word and tell us more once we were in Rivendell.

We rode on without talking for some time. I took this opportunity to look around and knew we were riding in a valley of sorts. The last couple of days we had to journey over mountains and valleys. I looked down and noticed we were not really following a path anymore, but were riding in between high trees and high grass. Everything around us was very colourful and bright, and when I looked up I saw only the leafs of trees above. I was wondering how it could still be so light and bright down here as the roof of leafs was dense. I was surprised when we stopped all of a sudden and I looked back down in front of us and saw two figures in silver armour, wearing head pieces that covered almost all of their faces except for the bit where their eyes, nose, and mouths were. I saw long and slim bows on their backs and quivers full of arrows. I also saw swords at their sides, but they had not drawn any weapon.

'What is your business here?' one of them asked.

'We have come for counsel with Lord Elrond. We would rather not address the matter outside the safety of Imladris,' Boromir said. It took me that long to realise those two were elves. I tensed a bit.

'We must ask of you to allow us to take your weapons. We will give them back to you once Lord Elrond has agreed to see you,' the other elf spoke. I tensed some more. Boromir, however, jumped off of his horse, which scared the horse and took some steps backwards. Not fond of elves either, I thought as I hopped off Hefric and took Hefric by his reins walked over to Boromir's horse and took it by the reins, too. Boromir proceeded to unclasp his sword, took two daggers out of each boot, took another dagger from his chestplate, and removed a bag from his saddle. Probably more daggers. I looked over at Ryce and saw him following Boromir's lead as he removed his sword and several daggers from hiding places. As Ryce made no attempt to question us having to give away our weapons, I decided I would follow as well and removed my bow from my back as well as my quiver and the dirk from my boot. One of the elves presented a big, silver plate for us to put our weapons on and so we did.

'Please leave your horses at the stables. They will be well cared for,' one of the elves said. Now I did see Ryce hesitate and we shared a look.

'The elves keep true to their word as soon as we give them reason to trust us. Once Lord Elrond learns who I am, I am certain we will receive the famed Elven hospitality,' Boromir said. Was he also weary of Elves? It must have been clear as day that I was, because I felt like my uneasiness was written all over my face. I looked over at Ryce, but he was not looking at me but was looking around the trees. I couldn't really read his expression, but in the mixture of emotions shown I could not see worry. Or fear, for that matter. With great effort I left Hefric behind as we followed one of the Elves to - where? Enter Rivendell, I guess. Or Imladris. I looked back at Hefric and saw he was already looking at me. He had his ears perked up forward curiously, probably wondering why I left him with these strange creatures. I smiled at him reassuringly and he took a small step forward, neighing softly.

'Come on, we are losing the rest,' Ryce said from my side. I looked in front of me and saw Boromir and the elf walking some steps before us. I looked back one more time and was surprised as I saw the other elf caressing Hefrics nose. What surprised me was that Hefric allowed it. As I was looking at that strange scene I remembered that elves have a connection to animals that is unique to their kind. Still, I felt a bit uneasy. I recited Boromir's words and took comfort out of them, knowing our purpose was true. The elves keep true to their word as soon as we give them reason to trust us.

/ / /

Rivendell was beautiful. Everything was so light that I felt a type of serenity that I had never felt before. Light seemed to emanate from everywhere; from the trees, from the plants, even from the rocks and houses. As I had no clue where we were led to, I instead focussed on the surroundings to take in as much as I possibly could. Partially because I wanted to remember the exact way we came from, partly because it was so mesmerizing it almost felt like I had no choice but to look.

We came across several elves on our way, but most did not even look at us. Immediately I wondered why. Was it because they saw so many travellers that it had become normal to see humans? Was it because they were taught it was polite not to stare? Or was it out of arrogance, that they felt better than three travelling humans? I was inclined to believe the latter. I, however, knew perfectly well my mother taught me it was not polite to stare, but I did anyway. I looked at every single elf that crossed our path. They all looked the same yet all looked different. Two traits they all shared was that they were tall and had long hair. I realized I was trying to find similarities between us humans and them elves as I categorised their hair colours as black, brown, blonde, and red - the same we had. After there were a couple of elves who were bold enough to look me in the eyes, I realized their eye colours were not so very different from our own, but they seemed to be quite the bit brighter than ours. But that could also be because of all the light.

I didn't see any animals, which I thought was a bit strange. Edoras was filled with chickens, cats, and dogs, and even a stray goat or pig was not unheard of. Not to mention our horses. Here, I could hear birdsong, but I did not see any sign of where the songs came from.

'Could you perhaps hide your curiosity a bit?' Ryce whispered all of a sudden. I turned to him.

'What?'

'Your eyes are as big as eggs, and every now and then you make a strange sound,' he said. I was baffled.

'I do not!'

'You do. It sounds a bit like the sound you make when you take offence to something,' I let out a sort of muffled huh sound and Ryce grinned.

'Exactly. That one,'

'At least I am showing some sort of emotion upon seeing this otherworldly place! Your face is devoid of emotion,' I countered.

'That does not immediately mean there are not a lot of emotions coursing through me. I am just better at hiding it than you are,' I said.

'I enjoy introducing Rivendell to newcomers. They make the most interesting observations to matters I sometimes take for granted,' said the elf that was accompanying us. I was dumbfounded. He was waiting expectantly for me to say something, but I stayed quiet.

'Where are the birds? I can hear them singing, but I cannot see them,' Ryce said and afterwards he shot me a glance. He thought I was being rude, I was sure. I know I was.

'They are up in the highest trees. There is no need for them to come down this low, but they sometimes do. They will sit on a branch near the water all the while continuing their song for the day,' Song for the day? Did it change every day? Or was it the same song, sang at different times? Why was this elf speaking like this? I could not read him at all and it was bothering me.

'If you would be so kind as to wait here. I will inform Lord Elrond of your arrival,' the elf then said. The knot in my stomach tightened. There was no way I could be this rude with Lord Elrond, but I just had no idea how to behave in front of elves. I knew of Lord Elrond's reputation, so I knew he could be trusted, but that did not change the fact that I had never had dealings with elves before.

'I think I should wait while you talk to Lord Elrond,' I said to both Boromir and Ryce after the elf had left.

'I agree,' Boromir said to my surprise. So he had noticed my attitude, too. I looked down.

'We will not be long,' he added. I had expected him to elaborate a bit more on why he thought I should not be present, but he didn't. After that we waited in silence until the elf returned. It didn't take long, and he returned with another elf. Another male elf, that is.

'If you would be so kind to follow me,' the other, new, elf said to me. Well, I had not expected that. Was I to see him alone now?

'And for you both, Lord Elrond is ready to receive you,' our guide elf said. I felt even more confused now.

Where was the other elf taking me, if not to see Lord Elrond?