Chapter XVI

17th Cerveth 3002 T.A

Eliel was sick of water. First and foremost she had been following an endless river that made north seem like it did not existent and secondly it had been falling from the sky nonstop for a week now. Her clothes did not get a chance to dry and her hair remained damp because of the wet hood she always kept on her head and the smell of wet horse was making her feel sick.

It took her two weeks to climb down the mountains of Argonath and continued her journey at a low altitude walking across The Wold. She had been walking on the edge of the Rohan Grasslands so she could follow the Great River closely. Too the west she could see the dark forestry of Fangorn and deemed it wise to stay as far as way as possible.

Her lack of sleep was making the journey twice as hard as she wanted to sleep anytime of the day. Many times she had tried to sleep while on Daeroch but proved that was not the best option as he senses that no one is giving him directions.

The sun was going down and she needed to sleep his time and hopefully it will give Daeroch a chance to recover himself. Eliel felt bad for the horse, she did not want to cause him pain by making him continue walking when he was exhausted. She even a couple of time got off him and walked herself so his back could feel relief.

"I think we might be at the edge of The Wold, Dae." She patted his mane "We will make camp soon let's just try to reach it."

He was a quiet horse which gave Eliel a lot of time to sit in silence. While she listened to the vast emptiness she heard faint noises in the distance something that sounded like laughter and chatter, another thing that started to grow as she drew closer was the sound of flutes, drums and percussion on several drums.

'Downsides go up- hey!
Outsides go wide.
With a twiddle on the fiddle
In the middle by the griddle
And the Moon slept till Sterrenday.
Upsides go west- hey!
Broadsides go boom.
With a batter and a clatter
You can shatter every platter
But the Moon slept till Sterrenday.'

The song had reached its end and Eliel was just outside the camp of which the tunes came from. Hidden in the darkness she saw five men, three women and three children laughing and settling down for the night. She wanted to walk past them but also wanted to see if they would offer any food

"Who is that is the shadow Ma?" the youngest girl spoke

The mood changed and the men were alerted and raced to a position of protection. The women clung together and made sure the children were safe. Obviously not trusting the stranger. "Sorry to alarm you." Eliel walked towards the glow of the campfire and removed her hood. She stayed a fair distance away but close enough to be seen.

"What do you want?" One of the men asked.

"I am sorry to disturb you. But you see I am traveling, just me and my horse. I have travelled from Pelargir and it has been a very long trip so far and I have not had anything to eat or a proper place to sleep. I was wondering if I could join you just for tonight." They studied her and her weapon placed on her back.

"We do not-"

"Of course you can" Another man had started but was interrupted by an older woman. "Heddric, she is just a young girl."

"I mean no harm, I promise." Eliel had influenced

"We will not hesitate to kill you if we are doubled crossed." Eliel had nodded in agreement and organized Daeroch with the two other horses that were tied up.

Every one sat in silence, Eliel had obviously changed the mood and she was given a plate of food by the older woman who she was grateful for.

"My name is Ahnissi, this is my son Heddric and Tomas and their wives, Margret and Sudi." Eliel had acknowledge everyone as Ahnissi continued "My two grandchildren Sofie and Francois. This is Runil, Skuli, Thonar and his daughter Dorthe"

"My name is Eliel" She replied being as polite as she could possibly be. Over the next hour everyone had warmed up to the new presence and started to make conversation again.

"So Eliel, was it?" Asked Sudi and Eliel nodded. "Why is a young girl travelling by herself, these areas are not known for safety especially when it comes to teenaged maidens"

Eliel may have only looked nineteen but she was full of knowledge as the next 59 year old and being lowly respected as a youth only annoyed her more "Well my mother recently passed and I am travelling to my father. He lives, well hopefully still lives in Dale." Eliel decided to modify her story and journey a little just for the fact she did not want strangers knowing her business.

"You're travelling to Dale?" someone asked, she was not sure who and saw that everyone was looking at her for her answer.

"Yes I am" She was wondering why she repeated herself.

"So are we" agreed Skuli "We are performers you see, musically of course not theatrically. We are traveling up there to take part of the celebration of victory"

Everyone had finally diminished has tension they had left towards Eliel, which she thought was stupid because they trust to willingly and she could easily steal their gold and food.

"That one the dwarves are hosting?"

"Yes we are quiet looking forward to it. Nothing like we had taken apart in before" Heddric told her "People are coming from all over middle earth to witness it."

Eliel had come over with excitement her wanderlust in full motion. She was glad she had decided to approach these people, at least now she would have company to their destination.