Ugh! Another cliffy…ha ha! This wasn't supposed to be a cliffy, but it just kind of turned out like one. Thanks for all the reviews! Please review again! :)

Enemies Advance

Aragorn flew out of the dining hall and rushed to his bedchambers; expecting Arwen to be comfortably sleeping in the big, fluffy bed. When he entered the room he found that the bed was neatly made and no one was in the room.

Franticly, he ran to Susan's guest suite, but the only person there was Brie.

"Have you seen Susan?" Aragorn inquired.

"No milord." She replied, folding a wool blanket. "Why?"

"I was just wondering." He concealed his worry. "If you see her could you tell her to come see me?"

"Of course, milord." She curtsied as he left the room.

After about an hour of searching and asking around, Aragorn came to the conclusion that Arwen and Susan were missing. Without hesitation, he called an emergency meeting to be held in the council hall. Soon, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, and Gandalf were all seated at the large, rectangle table made of a dark cherry wood.

Merry (who loved to sleep in late) was half awake when he sat in the tall chair. "Aragorn why are we here?" he groaned.

"Yeah," Gimli put in while smoking his pipe. "What's going on?"

"My friends," Aragorn started. "As most of you know, I met Queen Susan of Narnia last night. While we were eating, strange things started happening. Arwen and Susan both complained that they felt dizzy and then they suddenly passed out. I guess I did too, for when I awoke, I found that the dinner had long since been cleared and Arwen and Susan were both gone."

"Gone?" Pippin exclaimed in horror, sitting stalk straight in his chair. Merry gasped.

"Yes." Aragorn answered. "I have searched the castle and found no trace of either of them."

"Do you think Susan got someone to help her kidnapped Arwen?" Gimli asked.

"That's a horrible idea!" Merry defended Susan.

"How could you even think of such an idea?" Pippin stood by his friend.

"It was just a thought." Gimli shrugged.

"No." Gandalf said. "I don't think Susan could kidnap Arwen. Aragorn, did you say that they both fell unconscious?"

"Yes. I did as well." He nodded.

"You also said that the dinner had been cleared when you awoke did you not?"

"Yes." The king furrowed his brow. "What are you concluding, Gandalf?"

"Drugged." Gandalf murmured to himself.

"What?" Merry cocked his head.

"Drugged." Gandalf repeated louder. "My guess is that you three were drugged."

"But why would anyone want to drug them?" Pippin asked.

"That, Pippin, I do not know." He responded, seeming deep in thought.

"What should we do?" Merry vexed jumping out of his chair.

Suddenly, an arrow flew into the center of the company, struck the middle of the table, and drilling into the table. Everyone looked at each other.

"Where was the arrow shot from?" Gimli burst out. "Who shot the arrow?"

Merry and Pippin erupted; jumping to conclusions and asking a bunch of questions.

Aragorn put his hand up. "Does anyone recognize the arrow?" He inquired.

"I recognize the shaft." Legolas said quietly. All eyes turned to fix their gaze upon him. The room fell deathly silent. "It belongs to Susan."

--

I awoke with a ferocious headache and a strange taste in my mouth. My tongue was very dry with a metallic taste. Stretching my sore muscles, I sat up and looked around.

The first thing I noticed was that I was in a really dark and cool room. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that a pale, faint light glowed from down a tall narrow tunnel. The room was more like a dungeon with thick bars that ran from one rock wall to the other. The dungeon seemed like was in a secluded place away from the central living area. There was only one cell which was very odd because if this was a fortress or a prison they would have more than one cell. The whole place seemed to be underground or in a cave.

A faded blue blanket that was dog-eared around the edges lay under me on the hard stone floor. Arwen was lying beside me. She was lying on a gray blanket and she had her eyes closed.

"Arwen?" I shook her gently.

She didn't respond and I guessed that she was still cataleptic. So I sighed and sat back against the uncomfortable, jagged wall. The temperature started to drop; I grasped the blue blanket and rapped it tightly around my shoulders, but the cloth was so thin that it didn't keep the cold at bay. I wonder where we are…where is Aragorn? Is he here or his he still in the citadel? What happened last night?

"Aragorn?" Arwen's melodic voice floated through my thoughts as she rolled over towards me.

"Aragorn is not here." I replied moving closer to her.

"Where are we?" She asked pressing her hand to her forehead. "O-oh I have a headache and I feel sore." She moaned.

"I feel the same way." I answered. "I don't know where we are, but I know we are not in Minas Tirith."

"What happened?" Her voice sounded like she was fading again.

"That's what I have been trying to figure out," I said, "but I don't even know what time it is." There was no reply for she had gone unconscious once again. I leaned back against the wall and sighed.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps advancing down the tunnel. A person or creature was coming to check on us.

Who is coming down the hall? Is he the thing that captured us? Is he going to question us? Is 'he' even a human? Believe me or not, but I was almost too scared to look when the person walked closer to the entrance. Is an Orc coming down the hall to kill us? The thought leapt into my head. Don't think about what this thing is… Don't let your imagination run away with you! As hard as I tried, my imagination wouldn't stop its flow of wonderfully horrific ideas. I suppressed a scream of panic as the frightening thoughts flew through my head.

I held my breath as something dark and foreboding stood in the shadow of entrance. A torch was burning in front of the 'thing' so I couldn't identify if it was man or beast.

After an agonizing moment…the 'thing' stepped into the light.

--

As soon as Lucy opened her eyes she found that she was in a hushed and beautiful forest. The trees were so tall that she could not see the tops of them. Fern type plants with tiny purple flowers grew around her feet. A calm breeze wafted strange, lovely smells of a flourishing wood underneath her nose as birds serenaded the setting sun's golden rays.

That's when Lucy noticed that Lady Galadriel was standing silently beside her. She had long golden hair with piercing cerulean eyes. Her gentle and pure spirit radiated from her like the sun admitting its rays. Lucy smiled and gave a little curtsey.

"Welcome Queen Lucy to the fair golden wood of Lothlórien." Galadriel spread her hand out as she spoke of the vast forest.

"Thank you." Lucy smiled even brighter.

Suddenly, Galadriel turned her head a bit as if she was listening to something that was far away. "We must go. Battle is at hand." She said urgently. Then she turned, picked up her skirts, and melted swiftly into the wood.

Lucy had no clue what was going on, but quickly trailed the Elven queen; clutching her dagger. As they ran, the trees seemed to thin out and more sunlight filtered to the forest floor. After about a league, Galadriel stopped and held up her hand. Lucy almost smacked into her.

Then she swung herself gracefully into a tree. Lucy scrambled up behind her in a not so elegant fashion. They climbed high into the tree and then sat on a branch; peering down.

An arrow whistled past Lucy's ear, she turned and saw that an Elf was perched on a limb in a nearby tree. She found that down below strange creatures were on the forest's edge shooting arrows at the Elves.

"What are those?" She asked her companion; cringing at the sight of war.

"Orcs. They were servants of Sauron, but that is a long story." She said staring intently at the battle.

Then something was shouted in another language that Lucy couldn't understand. Presently, Elves started leaping from the trees with knives in hand. They charged forward and plunged into the ranks of the Orcs.

Galadriel and Lucy remained in the tree, watching the combat. Wasn't the lady of light going to do something? Lucy asked herself, but she did not realize that Galadriel was using her mind speaking gift to give orders and to warn Elves.

"The leader is Haldir." She explained, referring to a blond haired Elf that was at the front of the Elven line, but Lucy wasn't listening. She was focusing on something on the ground.

Abruptly, the Valiant Queen clambered down the tree and rushed over to an Elf lying on the ground. She checked his breathing. Finding that he was still alive, she withdrew her cordial and placed a drop on his arrow wound.

"Lucy, there is no hope for him. That arrow is poisoned." Galadriel whispered from behind her.

"Wait," was her only reply.

His breathing slowed to a natural paces and he opened his eyes. Lucy grasped the arrow and tugged on it slightly. The shaft came out with almost no effort.

Suddenly, a cry arose from the battle. The ladies both looked towards the sound. They saw that Haldir had fallen with two arrows in his chest.

Galadriel and Lucy both gasped. Lucy took action and started running towards him into the midst of the battle.

Galadriel caught her arm and said. "Lucy, do not go out there. The Orcs may kill you."

"I have to try." She answered in a worried tone.

"I am not asking you to risk your life for my people." She said.

Lucy broke free and sprinted towards the fallen captain. She reached his side and immediately administered the cordial. In a moment he was fully healed. Looking about she saw that the battle was almost over with the Elves defeating the Orcs. Standing up she glanced about to see if she could find anymore injured. As she stood an Orc arrow hit her skirt and passed through her garment leaving her unscathed. She shivered at the thought of it piercing her skin.

She ran about the battleground, even after the skirmish had ended, attending to the wounded. An hour later, the injured had been healed and their loss had on been merely two Elves.

--

Eowyn and Faramir entered Eomer's council room that was adjacent to the throne room.

"Welcome, Faramir and Eowyn." Eomer greeted them.

"What did you wish to discuss with us?" Eowyn asked as she and her husband took a seat at the solid, cherry table.

"Halindin has returned from scouting. He brought reports of Orcs running free in our land." Eomer replied. "Even Frodo, Sam, and their foreign friends were attacked by a host of the villains."

"What do you propose we do?" Faramir asked.

"Be on the watch for anything out of the ordinary or strange people." Eomer warned.

"Do you think Edmund and his brother are behind the attacks?" Eowyn inquired.

"I don't believe so. There is something more sinister going on; something that has not yet been revealed to us." Eomer mused. "It would be best to be on your guard that all times."

Suddenly someone burst into the room. The trio looked up to see a Rohirrim boy.

--

Edmund was sitting beside Peter talking to him when a dark shadow obscured the open window.

"Is there a storm coming?" Peter queried.

Edmund jumped over to the window, peered out, and gasped.

"What? What is it?" Peter said jumping out of bed and running across the cold wooden floor to the window.

"I know not." Edmund squinted at the sky. "It is something large, dark, and winged."

"I have never seen anything like it in all my life." Peter commented when he reached the sill.

Suddenly, a great croaking noise came from the creature's mouth. Peter and Edmund covered their ears; their faces contorted. Finally, they were able to regain their equanimity as the evil flew away to the northwest.

"What was that?" Peter breathed heavily.

"I don't know, but I suggest we go speak with Eomer immediately." Edmund proposed.