Druadan

A week later, as planned, I found myself in front of the city gate. I was excited, I felt it not only on my sweaty palms, but also because I was constantly on the lookout for Gimli and Legolas. I hadn't seen the latter since the incident in my room. At first this had worried me, indeed I had feared that his offer was no longer valid. But about three days later, Gimli had been sitting in the Golden Crow, ordering homebrew. He asked me to join him and had explained why neither he nor the elf had been in the library for the last three days: They had organized the trip. He made it sound as if Legolas had simply been so busy that he hadn't had a minute to inform me of their actions. I had taken it as such, but actually we both knew that was utter nonsense.

The elf had been avoiding me. And that was answer enough.

Briefly I had thought about what this meant for me: Would it be better to simply cancel it all? The prospect of traveling with Legolas under this conditions were anything but inviting. But I had quickly pushed that thought away. I wouldn't let something like that stop me from finding a way home. If he had a problem with it, so be it. That didn't have to apply to me. The fact that I was making it very easy on myself with that and ignoring the nervous fluttering in my gut that I felt every time he was around, I tried to push away as best I could.

I would make this journey. Because I had sworn to myself to find a way back to my time. And this was the first, the best chance I had had since the day I arrived in Middle-earth.

Gimli had made sure that everything would be the same after my return: my room would be waiting for me, as would the job in the tavern. Girdis had had to be convinced with a bag full of Castars, but in the end she had agreed. Even though, after Gimli had left, she had taken me aside and asked if it was all by choice. I had assured her that neither the dwarf nor the elf were forcing me to do anything, and that had been enough for her.

And now I stood here waiting.

With every minute that passed, I became more restless. I watched the people coming in and out of Minas Tirith. At one point, I was so busy studying the faces of the them that I didn't notice Gimli or the elf who came to a stop next to me. "Aspen."

I lifted my head and there they were, both on their horses. Where Gimli's was more of a pony, from which he just climbed down with amazing ease. With a smile we nodded to each other, Legolas I gave only a quick glance.

If I was honest, I wasn't angry with him for getting carried away with something he hadn't wanted to continue. Who hasn't had that happen to them? To me, at least, countless times. What I was angry about was the fact that he had punished me for something I was not responsible for. Because it had been him who had let the situation escalate. So it would have been up to him to clean it up, too. Instead, he had left me stranded like a fish out of water - with the fear that my just-found hope for a way home had disappeared just as quickly as it had come. I had also worried about whether what had happened between us would cause Legolas to forget his promise and tell someone about who I really was. It wasn't until Gimli had shown up at the tavern that I had been able to bury those fears. But again: Why had he sent his friend ahead? Why hadn't he come himself?

"We brought you a horse," Gimli said, jerking me back to the present. "I hope you can travel on horseback."

"More bad than good," I admitted. "But I've had the pleasure before." It had been two years and I'd hated every second of it, but I'd managed somehow.

"This will do," the dwarf said, and gave me a wink. Together we stowed what little luggage I had in the saddlebags and then we set off.

Legolas rode ahead, still as silent as if he had lost his voice, and as we left the city gate behind us, I was struck with something like a bond with the city that I had cursed for so long, because it had been the epitome of my unhappiness. Would I really miss Minas Tirith? Had I grown fond of the city and its inhabitants - as the elf had grown fond of mortals?

I shook my head. Why did my thoughts kept returning to that one, brief moment in my room? It was more than clear that Legolas wished it had never happened, and for me, too, it had been just a moment. One that I was going to forget in a few weeks.

With a squeeze of my thighs, I brought my horse level with Gimli's pony. "Our destination is Helm's Deep, I understand that much. But where will we rest today and for the next couple of days?"

Before the dwarf could answer me, Legolas dropped back as well and said, "Our goal for today is to leave the Druadan Forest behind us."

"Druadan?", I asked, turning to Gimli again. Oh no, I wouldn't make it that easy on the elf. I wasn't usually petty, but maybe he would understand that his behavior wasn't polite when he tasted some of the very same medicine.

The dwarf looked back and forth between the elf and me for a moment before replying, "The wild men." He looked concerned. "Or as they are called, the Drúedain. Aragorn appeased them and granted them the forest, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous."

I raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't it be better to bypass the forest then?"

Gimli shook his head. "No, the Great West Road is the most direct route to Rohan, and it cuts right through the forest."

"Well," I said, "then we must hope we do not meet any Drúedain." A brief silence stretched between us before I asked the next question, "And after that?"

"After that," Legolas said, apparently still not having given up, "we follow the Great West Road until we have left Anorien. On the border we cross the Mering, which lies at the foot of Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains, and from there we ride on through the East Fold to Edoras."

"It is only about a day's ride from Edoras to Helm's Deep," Gimli added.

I quickly called up the map of Middle Earth in my mind's eye and had to admit that the two of them had picked out the most efficient route. The Great West Road was the equivalent of a highway in Middle Earth: The route was developed, we would not have to fight our way through inhospitable and undeveloped landscape. That was well worth the dangers that defiantly lurked along the way.

"All right." Pause. "I trust you two. You know this country like the back of your hand."

"Don't worry, lass." Gimli emitted a deep laugh. "True, Middle-earth is still wild, but it is in no way comparable to the time before the fall of Sauron."

"Yet dark creatures roam Middle-earth even now," I pointed out.

"Indeed," the dwarf tapped his axe. "But that's why you have us with you."

With that all said, we spurred our horses to a hurry to reach and cross the Druadan Forest before the end of the day.

As the first foothills stretched out before us in the early afternoon, my shoulders tensed. Up to here, the Great West Road was a more or less well-developed path, occasionally even covered by cobblestones. As we passed the entrance to the forest, however, this changed abruptly: suddenly the road was barely recognizable and there were countless turnoffs that could lead us astray if we weren't careful. We had dismounted and were leading our horses by the reins; there was no other way to find our way.

"Look here," Legolas said as he steered his horse beside mine. "Sometimes a signpost can be seen. Like that one there."

I followed his gaze, and sure enough: overgrown by plants, I could just make out the outstretched index finger of a stone hand. "Apparently."

He seemed to want to say more, but thought better of it. Was this his way of apologizing? If so, that wasn't enough. Before I could decide to address the elephant in the room, however, I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. I wasn't the only one: Legolas was holding me back while his hand wandered to his knife, which he always carried. He was almost as close to me as he was in my room that night. "They are following us," he said as tense as I felt.

"I can see that," I replied, searching the forest again with my gaze. Gimli had also stopped, his hand closed tightly around his axe.

But even though the wild men seemed to have noticed us, they had obviously decided to let us pass. We remained in the same place for a few more minutes before moving on.

In the evening, we finally left the Druadan Forest behind us and with it the imminent threat of being trapped by its inhabitants between its leaves and tree trunks. I knew that I had probably never been in serious danger with Gimli and Legolas - nevertheless: I was glad to see the forest become smaller and smaller behind me.

When only grassland and the mountains towering to our left remained to be seen, we stopped. The first stars had already stolen into the sky. Hastily we lit a small fire, shared our supplies, and then got ready for the night. Although I kept feeling Legolas' gaze on the back of my neck, I was so tired that I fell asleep almost immediately. Tomorrow was a new day.