Chapter Seven
Treebeard trudged through Fangorn forest with Merry and Pippin on his shoulders. He was telling the hobbits of the Ents, but whenever Merry or Pippin asked a question he would answer: "Don't let us be hasty" carry on.
"How much further is it, where we are going?" Merry yawned, who was getting bored of the monologue.
"Not far now, young master hobbits. Hmm, the forest grows restless. There are too few of us Ents left now."
"Why are there so few of you when you live for so long?" Pippin asked. "Aren't there any Ent children?"
"No, there have been no Entlings for terrible long years. You see, we lost the Entwives." Treebeard droned softly in his slow careful voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry. How did they die?" Pippin asked.
"Dead, no they're not dead. We lost them, and now we cannot find them. Say, you haven't seen any Entwives in the Shire, have you?" He asked hopefully.
"Can't say I have, you, Pip?" Merry said slowly.
Pippin thought for a moment. "What do they look like?"
"Gandalf! Impossible!" Gimli gasped for the second time that day.
"Gandalf. Yes, that was my name, Gandalf the Grey. I am Gandalf the White."
Legolas knelt on one knee. "I am sorry, Gandalf. I mistook you for Saruman."
"There is nothing to forgive."
"Tell us how it is possible for you to stand here, alive, before us, my old friend." Said Aragorn.
"I have passed through fire and water since we parted. I have forgotten much I thought I knew, and learned much I have forgotten. But it is not of urgent importance. Tell me of yourselves and of the girl that collapsed at the sight of my face."
Gimli wheeled around. "Oh, no!" he cried.
"She is Ello, and that is all we know of her name. She fell to Middle Earth from another world, Gandalf, she has only been here for a week. And she is a leiveia. Maybe the last of her kind. She has seen Frodo and Sam, and has told us that they are together and strong. And she has told us some of Saruman's instructions, although she should explain that herself."
"If she ever wakes up that is!" grumbled Gimli. "What's wrong with her?"
Legolas swooped down and lifted Ello into his arms, and she groaned and stirred.
Gandalf looked at her closely. "She will be fine, I believe. How much sleep has she had while she has been with you?"
"Not two hours, the day and a half she has been with us. I do not believe she had much before, either."
"Exhaustion and shock do not make a happy pair." Gandalf murmured. "And it pains me to have to wake her." He gently shook Ello's shoulders and her eyelids fluttered. Slowly she opened her eyes, and stared at Gandalf, who watched as her eyes grew larger and larger. Then they narrowed as if confused as they stared into Gandalf's eyes.
"How? She breathed, but Gandalf shook his head; his eyes were narrowed as he studied her face.
"Now is not the time for my story. Now tell me; how old are you, what is your surname, how do you know Saruman's instructions and where do you come from?"
"I turned fifteen years old one and a half weeks ago, two days before I fell.…" Legolas and Gimli exchanged glances; one so young could never have done what she did. "My surname is, is… Evans. I do not use it, as my father left my house on my eighth birthday, with no explanation, and no one saw him again. My house went to pieces, and I was forced to look after my baby brothers, while my mother wasted away." More looks, this time of horror, passed between her superiors. "I come from Earth, which is six hundred years ahead of Middle Earth, though magic is Myth, and Men and Beasts are all that roam our dying world. There we have cameras that record plays for people to watch, and I guess a load of cameras came here. I saw Saruman instructing the Uruk-hai." She sighed, and hung her head; she had exhausted herself by getting angry at her parents, and saying so much.
"How much sleep have you had in the week since you got here?" Gandalf instructed.
"About eleven. The amount I used to get in a, a night-" with that she passed out again.
"Exhaustion. Yes, I do believe that is her problem."
"When can we see those dear young hobbits?" Legolas cried, unable to bear it any longer. "You sound as if you know where they are!"
""Merry and Pippin are quite safe, with Treebeard and the Ents-"
"The Ents!" Aragorn broke in. "The legends of tree shepherds are true, then? I believed that they were a legend of Rohan!"
"A legend of Rohan! Every Elf in Mirkwood has sung songs of their long sorrows, but even among us they are a memory. To meet one walking in this wood should make me feel young again." Legolas cried.
"But what of the hobbits!" cried Gimli, uninterested in whatever these 'Ents' were.
"Indeed Gimli. As I was saying they are much safer than we are about to be. Alas, for you shall not see them now, for it goes ill at Rohan, and we are very much needed there, although the people of Rohan do not know it. For Saruman's grip over King Théoden grows strong."
"Then our journey was in vain, and we shall never see those dear hobbits again!" moaned Gimli. "My poor feet ran all that way for nothing!"
"Have heart, my friend, for we may yet see them again. Am I right, Gandalf?" Legolas declared.
"Oh, you most probably will see them again." Gandalf chuckled. Then his voice took a more urgent tone. "Now, let's be off. Aragorn, can you ride with the girl on the front of your horse?"
Aragorn nodded. "Without a doubt, I can. We will have to explain it to her when she wakes. She has intelligence beyond that of anything I have seen on Middle Earth, but not the knowledge. It is hard to explain; she knows little, but learns fast, and understands things at the speed of light. She is an extraordinary creature, Gandalf. She is female, yes, but she ran better than Gimli did, and she has not complained once. It is easy, sometimes, to forget the natural weakness in Women and children, when you look at her. She is, well… But there is something odd about her. After an hour of being around her, I felt prepared to die for her, and I do not know why."
"I understand you, for I, too felt the exact same thing. You do not think she is bewitching us, do you Gandalf? It is hard to think ill of her, but…" Legolas trailed off, ashamed.
"Yes. I understand. But you have no reason to fear. Before Saruman went putrid, he expressed and unparallel interest in the leiveia, (I now have a shrewd guess why) and I learned from him that the strongest of their kind have a talent; when they find someone they trust, like, and have good intentions towards, and two-way bond is created, a bond that would usually take years, and that, is what you and I, yes, I too, are experiencing now. They also have an instinctive idea of who to trust, although it will be unlikely for Ello to act on that, she will be very confused and unlikely to trust her instincts, especially when we believe that it is safe."
"You feel it to?" Gimli gasped.
Gandalf chuckled. "Yes, Gimli, I agree she is an odd creature and a powerful one too."
Gandalf whistled loudly, and a startling white horse galloped into view.
"His name is Shadowfax. He is Lord of all horses, and has been my friend for many, many years." Gandalf smiled, as they mounted. For a while they rode in silence. A few hours later Ello awoke to the powerful thud of hooves, and the rocking motion of the horses gallop. She was told where they were going, and she silenced immediately. Aragorn could not understand why, but there were a lot of things that he did not understand about her, so he did not ask. She probably was still tired, but soon she voiced her true fear.
"Rohan is a land of Men, right?" she began apprehensively.
"Yes, what is the matter with that?" Aragorn asked. "I am friendly with the King there, and he is perfectly fine."
"I thought you said that Men were told that my ancestors were enemies to yours, and that there were legends… what will happen to me?" Ello whispered. Gandalf and Aragorn looked at each other darkly.
"It will be very unlucky if they have heard the tales of old," Gandalf began. "But if they have, we should be able to convince them of your innocence. Sauron began the rumours that spread like wildfire to create the downfall of your kin. I suggest that you take the guise of an Elven child, until we are sure of Saruman's removal, and Théoden's allegiance."
"What if they do not believe you?" Ello's voice began to shake, and Aragorn gave her arm a light squeeze.
"We will not let them. You are fifteen and young enough to be called a child. Even remaining convinced of leiveian guilt, it would be impossible to say that your ancestors of three thousand years ago have spilt blood on your hands." Said Aragorn firmly.
"Their prince is dying." Ello murmured softly, and they looked at her in shock. She gazed back sadly "I saw it when I slept. He was badly wounded. In about half a day he will die. I could see it."
Silently, the speed of the horses increased.