Got an action-packed chapter here for you, and it's quite a bit longer than the last. I tried to find a spot to cut it, but found it made more sense to keep it all together.

What will they find in Lhaid Ogo, and will the messenger still be alive to be rescued? Read on to find out!

Chapter 50

I said farewell to Elrohir, and gathered the others to me. "Everyone have their lanterns?" They all nodded, and I held in a sigh. I was not looking forward to this. "Then let us depart. Nona, after you."

Without a word, Nona turned and walked purposefully towards the entrance to Lhaid Ogo, and we followed behind. There was no cover as we crossed the road, so we moved swiftly. Only once we were standing outside the entrance did I sense some unease and hesitation from Nona. I went to reassure her, but instead she said, "Let us go inside," although her voice was shaking slightly.

I knew Nona could fight, but did she have experience against foes such as these? Would there be other things besides the undead inside?

Confused as to why I felt so afraid of entering, I relaxed a bit as I felt Candaith's hand slide into my free one. He squeezed it, and I whispered, "Thank you."

"You are welcome, meleth." He murmured. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lothrandir raise an eyebrow, but when I narrowed my eyes at him, he grinned but did not comment. The lighthearted moment made me feel a little better, and I helped Nona move the stone that was partially in front of the entrance.

Once we were all through, we moved the stone back into place but not quite enough to cover the entrance; we needed it to be somewhat easy to move when we exited. If we exited a traitorous voice echoed in my head. I frowned and pushed away that train of thought.

We lit our lanterns and crept forward slowly. I noted the unfortunately familiar sight of skulls and tombstones lining the walls, and wondered what the writing hewn into the rock meant. Could it be Dunlendish?

The first things we came across were two Kergrim; they were of average size, and Candaith and Lothrandir were able to cut them down quickly without too much fuss. The best way to describe them would be to compare them to what the human children called "Big Foot", except they were covered in slimy, leathery hides. The trick to defeating them was to attack with speed so they were unable to let out their loud cries, which would alert others to come to their aid. I mused that Calenglad would have been a good choice to bring with us if he had been present at the camp; Evendim was crawling with Kergrim, and the rangers there were very skilled at defeating them in the blink of an eye.

Moving forward through the circular chamber, we were forced to turn left as the passage going right was caved in. I wondered how often the layout changed due to the unsteady, sandy soil. Defeating another, lone Kergrim, I saw Radanir examining something. "What are you looking at?" I asked curiously.

He sighed and answered, "These look like the remains of a person who was recently here and killed…but how recently, I cannot tell." His unasked question was whether or not this was the messenger we were searching for. Nona came closer and assessed the body closely. "This is no Dunlending," she said. I waited to see if she would expand on this, but she turned away and kept moving forward…

…and was ambushed by two wights with swords. She crashed to the ground, and the rest of us rushed forward to help. From my experience, the only ways to defeat a wight and not allow it to just put itself back together were to stab or shoot it directly where its heart would be, or to burn it. We did not want to waste the oil of our lanterns if we could help it, so we went for the other method. Candaith pulled a wight up by the ribs and held it in place for me to run my knife through its chest. I held in a shudder as it gazed at me with its empty eye sockets before it crumbled to the ground into dust. Lothrandir and Radanir took care of the other in a similar fashion, and the former pulled Nona up from the ground, who had lain there in place, frozen in fear it seemed.

"Are you all right?" I asked, concerned at the paleness of her complexion, but she shrugged off the hand I had put on her shoulder and growled, "I'm fine. Let us go." Lothrandir looked a little miffed at her lack of gratitude for us saving her life, but I shrugged and kept moving forward, eyes closely monitoring our surroundings and looking for the messenger.

Forced to go right, we turned and were confronted with a line of limrafn, which were eerie balls of glowing, fell light that would follow you and obscure your sight. Despite their harmless-looking appearance, if they were not defeated, they could blind you if another enemy attacked, so it was necessary for us to get rid of them. They were easy to dispel; you just had to slice your sword through them and they dissipated. I moved forward and swung my knives back and forth as we walked, cutting them down without difficulty, but I felt a chill go down my spine as I got to the end of the corridor. I looked down and noted that the ground had been recently disturbed.

Candaith stood next to me. "It looks like something heavy was dragged up this slope," he muttered, his brow furrowed. "Could it be the Dunlending we are looking for?"

I shrugged, trying to ignore the strange coldness on the back of my neck. Candaith looked at me with some concern. "Gwin? What is it?"

"Do you feel something?" I asked uneasily.

"Feel something? What do you mean?" he replied.

"Ah…it is nothing," I said, breaking eye contact and feeling foolish. Perhaps I was just imagining it.

He tipped my chin up to look at him, "It is clearly not nothing, meleth." Before I could respond (although what I was going to say I had not yet decided), I felt a dread so intense that it brought me to my knees. Looking through watering eyes, I noticed that no one else seemed to be affected, and all turned to me with some alarm. Candaith kneeled at my side anxiously, "Gwin! Tell me what is happening!"

"I…I do not know," I choked, but I had a sneaking suspicion as I started to see tendrils of darkness coming out of the ground. Only Nona had seen them before, and was so afraid that she could not stay in Zudrugund while I was there; she would be of no help to me.

"T-the lanterns," I gasped. "Put the l-lanterns a-around me." I had no clue if this would help, but everyone hastened to obey. With the five lanterns next to my kneeling body, I noticed through my blurry vision that the darkness started to dissipate, but not completely. The question was, what would happen once we tried to move forward, and everyone had picked up their own lanterns once more?

Luck was with me perhaps, for torches in brackets I had not noticed before roared to life. However, the flame was an eerie blue, and did not radiate warmth. I hoped the added light would help push away the strange darkness, but found it likely would do little else but aid in our vision. Shadows flickered ominously on the walls, and made it seem like enemies were surrounding us…perhaps they were.

Suddenly, worms and beetles started crawling out of the ground beneath our feet, and as my companions defeated them, I knew it signaled the approach of a larger force of enemies, a powerful creature, or both. They almost always appeared when the undead were present.

Out of the surrounding darkness, five wights appeared. Instead of ambushing us, they moved slowly and more carefully. One of them was 'dressed' in a flowing cape and scraps of old fabric. Nona gasped and I actually saw her kneel in…reverence? "Nona, what are you doing?" I whispered harshly. "Get up!"

It seemed as if it took all of her strength to do as I commanded. Was this Chieftain Ogo? Candaith pulled me to my feet and stood slightly in front of me, careful of the lanterns on the ground. I felt faint and leaned heavily against the wall, but had my knives in my hands once more. Radanir looked at Nona with some suspicion, and I could tell he did not trust her due to her actions. Would she turn on us in order to 'protect' her ancestral Chieftain? Did he have some sort of hold on her mind?

I had no time to think on this as the possible Chieftain spoke, his voice grating horribly in our ears. "Who dares enter our domain?

Seeming to gather her courage and push aside the strange reverence to the wight, Nona replied, "One who would reclaim one of my kinsmen. Release him." I was surprised at the commanding tone of her voice.

If the wight had eyebrows, I bet he would have raised them. "Why should we obey you?" he responded, and the bone-chilling sound of the other wights laughing made me cringe. "I am the Chieftain here, little one."

Desperately wishing Elrohir was here to help somehow with his healing light, I decided I needed to try and be the leader I was supposed to be, "Because he does not belong here among the dead, as he is of the living." I sounded weaker than I had hoped. "Who are you?"

The wights all turned towards me, and the leader replied, "I am Chieftain Ogo, and these are my halls." He moved closer, and Candaith moved his body even more in front of me, trying to act as a shield. "What is an Elichthi doing here? Your people fear the darkness, or so I hear."

Hating how right he was, I shoved those fears away and said, "As yourkinswoman said, we are here to fetch another Dunlending, who wandered into this place on accident." I had no clue if it was an accident, but it was a good guess.

"Ah, but Elichthi, none who enter here ever go out again," he said softly, and it made the darkness seem ever closer. "This will be your home now, whether you acquiesce to it or not." His voice echoed ominously, and I was getting tired of it. I had defeated enemies more powerful and eviler than him, and I would not let him stand in our way. A huge, rusted but deadly-looking sword appeared in his hand, and he looked arrogant. Well, as arrogant as a skeleton could look.

Some strange, hidden strength abruptly surged within me and came to my aid in that moment, and I moved forward, shoving my way in front of Candaith, and snarled, "You will not get in my way, wraith!" He seemed taken aback at my tone, and did not expect the knives that went through his chest, where his heart would have been. Crumpling to the ground, he disintegrated into dust before our eyes. The other four wraiths reacted and converged on me, and I was whirling around in a circle, my knives protecting me as I swung and stabbed them rapidly. "Stay away!" I shouted, as I could see the others moving forward to help. "I can handle this!"

Sure enough, I destroyed them all. After they were defeated, I was breathing heavily but the adrenaline was still rushing through my veins. I glanced at them, and my friends looked startled; something in my eyes must have frightened them. "Do not fear, I am well." I said firmly. "This is what I have done for the past year, when I could rely on no one but myself to stay alive. I am no novice to fighting hordes of enemies at once." My voice sounded gruff and unfamiliar to my ears, and I turned away from them all to collect myself. "Let us continue. Pick up your lanterns."

With some hesitation, they did as I asked. We came upon a few more Kergrim, and I cut them down before anyone else could rush in to aid me. I had no fear, and felt almost invincible. It was as if I was going through the motions and not even thinking about what I was doing. My vision was honed into cutting down enemies, and nothing else, and my mind was blank. Dimly I hoped the others were paying attention to our route so we could get back safely.

I felt like the strange dark smoke, or shadows, or whatever they were, impacted my behavior. It was not the same as either of my experiences with it in Zudrugund, but I still noticed that my thoughts were somewhat scrambled, and I could see the tendrils of darkness on the edge of my vision. I wondered if the others could see it. Would they attempt to encase me, as they had tried before? Candaith had a hand on my shoulder, but if I went to fight an enemy, I would shrug it off. Yet, whenever he was touching me, I felt some of the fogginess fade. It was comforting but odd.

We came upon a broken, wooden bridge, and while I was considering how we should cross, I heard a muffled yell down below. Looking at the others, we swiftly clambered down, but carefully made our way to the cavern where it came from. Sure enough, there was a Dunlending cowering in the back, and a giant Kergrim and three smaller ones were looking at him hungrily. "P-please, don't eat me!" the man cried, clearly terrified.

I swiftly took out my bow and shot them one by one mechanically, and they were all dead or dying in a few seconds. I finished off the biggest one with my knife and strode forward purposefully towards the Dunlending, blood dripping from the weapon. He looked at me with wide eyes, which held no less fear than before. I didn't really care what he thought of me, but I knew I needed to get him to trust us. I took some deep breaths and tried, with great effort, to soften my appearance so I was less threatening, actually managing a small, but forced, smile. The man automatically started to relax, and actually smiled back. "What is your name?" I asked, putting some warmth into my voice. I wondered if it was convincing enough.

"I…my name is Anirin. Who...who are you? I need to...to see the Brenin...at Lhanuch..." he said faintly, but with some urgency.

Before I could answer, Nona made her way over to us, and Anirin was surprised but looked pleased to see another of his people, despite being in different clans. Nona stood next to me, and said, "We will bring you to my Brenin, as I am of the Uch-luth."

He sighed in relief, "I thank you."

"How did you end up here?" Nona asked.

Anirin gestured towards the largest Kergrim, "This great beast attacked me as I was passing the entrance to this cave, and I could not get away. Thank you for saving me! It is fortunate you were passing by...and so far from habitation!"

"We heard of your capture from a tip," I replied, eyeing him with suspicion. "Do you know of someone named Ergothorn?"

He furrowed his brow in thought before shaking his head, "The name is unfamiliar to me."

Disappointed we were no closer to uncovering Ergothorn's identity, I continued, "He told us you had a message for the Brenin of Lhanuch?"

He said rapidly, "I bring a message from Lheu Brenin of Tûr Morva, in the south: he urges Glynn Brenin not to believe the lies of the Wizard Saruman! The Wizard has sent agents to my Brenin to try and buy his loyalty, and he is worried that other clans may have accepted these offers."

"Glynn Brenin declined the offer of Saruman's Emissary," Nona assured him.

Anirin's eyes lit up and he replied, "Oh, good fortune! You must bring me to Lhanuch at once!"

I motioned toward the rest of the group, and said, "Our party will escort you there. Do you need healing, Anirin?" My voice sounded flat, despite my attempts to keep up the warm façade I was using. Hopefully Anirin wouldn't notice.

"My leg is mildly hurt but I should be able to make it with your aid," he answered, and I noted his right leg had some dried blood on it. "Will one of you help me stand?"

Nona let him put his arm around her shoulder and she pulled him up. I looked seriously into his eyes, "Anirin, we killed many enemies in here, but more still may be lurking." I handed him a dagger I had stored in my boot. "I hope you do not need to use this."

His face was white with fear, and I noted he likely was not much of a warrior, but he nodded.

"Let us make our way into the sunlight," I murmured, noting the strength which had come upon me fading. I was finally starting to feel some fatigue but unwilling to let the others know. Candaith, however, was able to read me like an open book, and I let him put my arm over his shoulder and he put his around my waist, and we carefully made our way through the winding passages with the aid of Radanir, who had been paying close attention. Luckily, we only ran into a few bats, which Lothrandir and Radanir took care of easily. I wondered if the defeat of Chieftain Ogo caused the other wights to flee.

Finally, we shoved the stone out of the way and I felt sunlight on my face; I almost cried with relief. It took all my willpower to keep it together for the short distance we walked to our camp. Elrohir ran to me and, with a questioning look to Candaith, pulled me into his arms. "Are you well, penneth?" he whispered, and he pulled back a little to look at me. His brow furrowed, "Gwin? I sense something is not right." I was leaning on him with almost all of my weight, and he held me firmly by the shoulders. I imagined I must look a state.

I sighed, "Can we not speak of it just now? I must rest." Elrohir frowned, and allowed Candaith to guide me up the hills to where he had set up my tent. I felt like my legs became heavier and heavier as we walked, and I would have fallen to the ground without Candaith's arm firmly around my waist. We entered my tent, and I stumbled as I removed my weapons; he gently helped me sit down. "Gwin, let me help you with your clothes; they are covered in blood."

"Are…are you trying to…seduce me?" I mumbled, and a flicker of a smile was on Candaith's lips.

"While I would love nothing more, now is the time for rest, meleth," he said softly. Exhausted, I allowed him to undress me down to my undershirt and briefs, but they were sweaty and itchy. He hesitated and looked at me uncertainly. "Would you like me to hand you your sleeping clothes and turn around?"

As tired as I was, I could not help but smirk, "How modest of you," I said with some amusement. I considered this carefully. Part of me wanted him to see…all of me, in a more romantic setting. However, I knew he had already seen everything; after my assault, him and Saeradan had dressed me, and they surely saw me completely naked when I was still tied to the tree. The reminder made me frown, and Candaith took my face in his hands, looking at me which such emotion that it took me aback. "Meleth nin, I will not judge you for whatever you decide. I will not love you any less."

It seemed so silly; it was just clothes, right? It didn't have to mean anything…right? I was so tired, and motioned for him to hand me my clothes. "Help me?" I asked faintly, although I was unable to stop the blush on my cheeks as he did so. He was gentle, and although there was nothing physically romantic about it, the whole thing felt intimate.

After he tucked the blankets around me, he rose to leave. I was shivering, and felt a strange chill. Suddenly feeling afraid, I asked, "Wait, Candaith?"

He turned around slowly and with a questioning look. Taking a shaky breath, I said, "Will…will you stay here with me?"

A fond smile graced his handsome face, and he nodded. "Can I change out of these dirty clothes first?"

I tried to smile and said, "Do not take too long."

"Shall I send Elrohir in while I am gone?" he asked, clearly concerned for my well-being.

I nodded, and a few moments later, Elrohir ducked inside and settled himself next to me. "Are you wanting my permission to allow Candaith to stay here with you?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"I do not need your permission," I said, scowling. He laughed musically, and it made my heart lighter. Pausing for a moment, I added, "Will you sing for me?"

His laughter died down and he smiled, "Of course, penneth." I sighed happily as his lovely voice sang a light-hearted, soothing melody. It was in Sindarin, which always was pleasant to listen to in verse, and spoke of Imladris and its many beautiful features. I closed my eyes, imagining the waterfalls, and the bridge over the Bruinen that was covered in flowers. I could visualize the many trees, and the market bustling with people. It even spoke of the pass leading up to the Misty Mountains, and the viewpoint where Arwen would sometimes go, which overlooked the valley. My heart ached for it a little, but it did not bring me sadness; truly, the darkness that had been hovering in my mind was fading away like smoke. Elrohir had taken my hand while he sang, and I felt waves of healing warmth flow through me. I squeezed it in thanks.

My eyes were still closed when I felt Candaith sit on the camp bed by my feet, and Elrohir's voice faded naturally. Squinting, I saw the two of them share a long look that I could not interpret. After this perplexing moment, Elrohir stood and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight, muinthel," he said softly, and I smiled as he left.

I scooted over and made some room, and Candaith slid under the blankets next to me. I laid my head on his chest, and was comforted by the steady sound of his heartbeat. He put his arm around me and held me close, and I fell into reverie, feeling more peaceful than I had in a good while.

So, they all survived, although perhaps not entirely unscathed. Looks like the darkness still continues to impact Gwin; too bad Elrohir wasn't there to help at the time. Will it continue to impact her behavior, or can she find a way to fight it? Lots of questions that need answering! Thanks for reading, and leave a review if you have a moment!