Note: Hi everyone. I am on a writing frenzy this week, although unfortunately it is not for a good reason. Well for weeks I have been wishing that I had more time to write, and now I am suspended from work pending my disciplinary, at which I expect to lose my job. But now at least I will be writing.

This chapter corresponds with 'Nariel the Red' Chapter 75

The nightmare that Athriel mentions in this chapter can be found in Chapter 52

Athrana (Wandering Shadow)

Chapter 55- Short-lived Calm

TA 3019 March 8th Early Hours

As comforting as Nariel's presence had been to Athriel over the last couple of days it was doomed to be short-lived. The two friends were destined to go their separate ways.

Athriel snapped awake. She had felt the world shift. Something was wrong, something evil was here. The bodies on either side of her had also awakened at the same time. The three had gone from sleeping peacefully to standing alert in a single second, and they weren't the only ones. Legolas and Nariel were also awake as was Gandalf. Then all six of them ran towards the hobbit Pippin just in time for his agonised scream to wake the mortals.

Gandalf quickly covered the Palantir with his cloak. Instantly Athriel felt better. The evil she had felt was gone. "He was here" she said. "We felt it too" Elladan said and Elrohir nodded. Pippin was lying rigid on the ground staring unseeing up at the sky. All of them could feel the anger radiating off of the White Wizard, although they could also feel his concern.

"The Devilry! What mischief has he done – to himself and to all of us"

As Gandalf knelt beside the hobbit he gestured to Nariel, but she moved reluctantly. Athriel knew why she was so reluctant. Nariel was afraid of what she could do. The young wizard had a talent for reading the minds of others and unlike her other talents the Istari shied away from it. It had been too easy for her to manipulate Grima Wormtongue into killing the wizard Saruman. She was afraid of what she would become everytime she pushed inside anothers mind. That was a feeling the elf could identify with.

Athriel knelt beside Nariel and whispered into her ear, she repeated the very words Nariel had said to her, not so long ago.

"If you don't use what you have, how will you ever learn to control it"

The Wizard nodded slightly before putting her hands beside Gandalf's on Pippin's head. Athriel stood up and walked away from the group. The hobbit would be fine and the wizards would find out what he had told the enemy. She sat down with her back against a tree and grinned when she felt Elladan and Elrohir sit down on either side of her. "What did you say to the wizard Athriel?" Elrohir asked eventually as they watched Gandalf question the hobbit. "None of your business" She said with a smile. Despite the grave danger they were all in she was in a good mood. It may have been small, but she felt as if she had helped Nariel. It was as if she had repaid her somewhat. "You still haven't told us what you two talked about the other night." The smile slipped from Athriel's face. No she hadn't told them, and for good reason. She had told Nariel things she wouldn't dare tell them, they were too close. But by not telling them was she hurting them more. "You used to tell us everything." Yes, that was true. They never had any secrets before, before she kept her very existence a secret, before she had begun to fear their rejection.

It wasn't fair of her, she knew that. They had never once cast her aside, and they had been nothing but supportive when she had come home. Well, they hadn't exactly welcomed her home with a hug and a smile, but that hadn't been because of what she was or what had been done to her, but because she had lied. She had lied to protect them, to stop them from seeing her as a monster. But not once had they treated her like that. Not once had they questioned her presence in their lives. They were the same as they always had been. What had changed was her.

"We talked about what happened, with the orcs, And about the nightmares. She's helping me work through it all." She felt their disappointment and knew where it came from. Although they had been helping her with her nightmares they had never once talked about them. She had always refused to talk about it and they had respected her privacy. But that wouldn't do anymore. She would have to be completely honest with them from now on. She caught Nariel's eye as the wizard stood up, she nodded and Athriel took a deep breath.