"Nonsense!" Gloin exclaimed. "The mighty caves and halls of Erebor far surpass the trees of Lorien!"

Glorfindel let out a short, clear laugh. "Then tell me, friend dwarf, what makes halls of stone more compelling than living, breathing pillars of root and golden leaves?"

"Many things! Let me first say that stone is far more formidable than fragile saplings! And on top of that, fine cut stone is more comely to look upon. In the hands of a dwarven mason any stone can become a masterpiece!"

"But trees do not need to be crafted, they are already beautiful!" Glorfindel replied.

"Ah, but trees do not hide gold or mithril in their boughs!" Gloin said with a hearty laugh, crossing his arms as if he had already won the debate.

"They do not need to hide it, when their leaves are brighter than the finest gold, or when their silver boughs glow in the moonlight," the elf said as he gazed ahead, as if lost in memory.

Gerithor, who had been listening to the discussion, decided that now was the time to join in. "I think we can all agree that both hold their own merits," he said.

"I see no merit in cold halls of stone," Glorfindel said with a slight frown.

"Nor do I see anything compelling about weak, mortal trees!" Gloin said.

Gerithor rolled his eyes. "If both of you are going to be so stubborn, there's no point in arguing about it. Neither of you will listen to what the other has to say."

"Nay, I was listening! He just didn't say anything that would sway me!" Gloin asserted.

"Dwarves," Gerithor muttered under his breath as he rode ahead, allowing the two to continue their debate. As he moved to the front of the line he passed one of his friends, a ranger named Flicker.

"Thank you for coming with us," Gerithor said as he reigned in beside the other ranger. Flicker had been Gerithor's second in command during his watch over the Shire, and during those years the two had grown close. Flicker was unlike most of the other rangers in that he was outgoing and friendly, despite many years of serving in the Grey Company.

"My pleasure, sir!" He replied with a smile. He ran a hand through his unkempt brown hair as he scanned the road ahead. "I know I'm not in command here, but I would recommend looking for a spot to set up camp soon. Much further and we'll be in the Lone Lands."

"You're right," Gerithor replied. "We don't to risk camping in the open. But it's not up to me alone. I'll have to ask Glorfindel and Gloin first."

"Aye, captain," Flicker said with a salute. "I'll make sure the men are in order."

"I'm sure Halbarad is seeing to that, but you can if you feel the need," Gerithor said with a slight smile. Flicker's enthusiasm gave him hope, in addition to a sense of relief. If not for Flicker, Gerithor's job would be much, much harder.

"Glorfindel, Gloin!" Gerithor called as he halted the company. "If you're done arguing, I need to discuss something with you!"

The two warriors rode to Gerithor's side, both laughing. "Our debate is far from over, but we have agreed to show each other the finest examples of our given choices, Lothlorien being mine and Erebor his. Now, what was it you needed to speak with us about?" Glorfindel asked.

"Camping arrangements," Gerithor replied as he raised an eyebrow. "My lieutenant wisely suggested that we camp somewhere in the forest, rather than waiting until nightfall to camp in the Lone Lands."

"Why?" Gloin asked. "The trees hide many evils."

"They can also hide us," Glorfindel replied, catching on to Gerithor's point. "We do not want the enemy to see us, so it would be folly to encamp on the plains. I agree, we should send scouts to find a good place to set up camp."

Gloin let out a reluctant sigh. "Aye, I suppose it makes sense. Let's just hope we don't get ambushed."

"Always the optimist, aren't you Gloin?" Gerithor asked, his voice laden with sarcasm. "We won't get ambushed, not this close to Imladris. Further along on the road however, I cannot guarantee that." He turned to Halbarad, who was waiting intently nearby. "Send out some men to find a well concealed place to camp."

Halbarad nodded and hurried to give his men orders. Although Gerithor was not above Halbarad in rank, the older ranger knew that Elrond had appointed Gerithor as a leader in this quest. And after the death of Gerithor's father, Gerimond, Halbarad had taken the young ranger under his wing, continuing to train him and teach him valuable skills whenever he got the chance. As such, Halbarad was more than eager to help in whatever way he could.

Several rangers departed from the main company, splitting up and scouring the path ahead. So far, the journey had gone smoothly. It wouldn't be long before they found a good campsite, and there had been no sign of the enemy so far. Hopefully our luck will last, Gerithor thought to himself...

==========================================

Caledorn sat atop his horse in silence, watching the rangers disappear into the forest. He had interacted little with the rest of the company, but he had been watching. Not one hour after they had departed from Rivendell, he had seen an unusually large raven perched on a nearby branch. At first he thought nothing of it, but he had seen several more in the following hours. Watching. They had each flown away when they saw him looking at them, which only aroused his suspicion further.

"I saw them too," A voice said out of nowhere. Caledorn turned to see Taliel next to him, looking into the trees.

"What do you think?" Caledorn asked, surprised that she had known what he was thinking about but choosing not to address his surprise.

"Spies. Definitely," She replied. "Though whose spies they are remains unclear to me."

"I was confused as well. It seems unlikely that the dragon would have any sort of alliance with the birds."

"Perhaps Sauron sent them?" Taliel suggested. "After all, if his forces are in Fornost they'd be watching the forests around Rivendell."

"For some reason I think not," Caledorn replied as he narrowed his eyes. "These birds had a strange aura about them, it reeked of dark magic. Perhaps this sorceress' reach has stretched further than just Mirkwood..."

"If that's indeed the case, we'll have to be more wary..." Taliel said. As if in answer a chill wind blew through the trees, rustling the skeletal branches eerily. Both elves glanced upwards as the sky darkened and the sun was blocked by dark rain clouds.

"I hope they find shelter soon, a storm's brewing," Caledorn said as he pulled his dark hood over his head. As he looked at the clouds he realized that his words spoke of more than just them. A storm was brewing, and it would soon cover all of Middle Earth in shadow. If Sauron's grasp extended even to the forest outside Rivendell, their plight was much worse than even Caledorn had thought.

=============================================

An hour later the rangers had returned, leading the company to a meadow that sat in between two hills. It was well concealed by dark conifers, and the clearing itself was large enough for a decent sized camp. By the time they had set up tents, a steady rain had begun that drenched the entire company. Gloin was complaining loudly as he chopped wood, and most of the rangers were sitting around their tents listening to the dwarf's colorful curses in quiet entertainment. Gerithor was sitting with Halbarad and Flicker, and the three rangers had lit their pipes and were now talking quietly amongst themselves.

"So far so good, I'd say," Gerithor said.

"Other than the rain, that is," Halbarad muttered as he attempted to protect his pipe from the rain. Flicker laughed as his pipe went out, and he threw it back into his pack.

"I suppose I'll just wait to smoke until this weather lets up!" He exclaimed. "But other than that I agree, this whole venture has gone smoothly so far. I usually run into some dreadful mishap on the first day of my journeys."

"You mean like that time with the fake farmer?" Gerithor asked with a laugh as he fondly recalled the memory.

"Aye!" Flicker replied, joining in laughing.

"Mind filling an old man in on the story?" Halbarad asked with raised eyebrow.

"Sure thing gaffer," Flicker said, winking at the older ranger. "Well it was back a year or two ago... Gerithor and I had set out from Bree-"

"Archet," Gerithor corrected. "It was Archet."

"So it was," Flicker replied. "So we weren't more than two hours out from Archet, when along comes a farmer and his family. They seemed right frightened, so Gerithor and I came out of the woods and approached them. The man, he seemed to think we were bandits, so he stepped in front of his wife, armed with a pitchfork.

"'We don't got no valuables!' He shouted at us. 'We don't want no trouble with you!'

"So Gerithor and I set our bows on the ground and told him we meant him no harm, that we were rangers and not bandits. At our mention of being rangers he immediately perked up.

"'Rangers, are you?' He asked. 'I don't have nothin' in the way of gold, but I'd be in your debt if you helped us. You see, along the road we were set upon by wolves! Not normal wolves either, these ones were twice the size and far fiercer. We escaped by the skin of our teeth!'

"So we agreed to help, and the farmer pointed us in the direction of the wolves. We set off right away, eager to help. But no sooner had we left the path then the trouble began. I was walking ahead of Gerithor a short distance, listening more than looking. And I walked right into a quicksand pit! Within a few seconds I was waist deep in the stuff! Gerithor thought it was rather funny as I recall..." Flicker glared at Gerithor for emphasis before continuing.

"But I knew we were down the Rauros in a wooden canoe, if you get my meaning. For there I was, sinking in quicksand, without a way of getting out. And if it couldn't get worse, at that moment we were set upon by bandits! I realized then that this whole situation had been little more than a trap, for I recognized one of the bandits as the farmer who had sent us in the first place! Of course, they hadn't expected Gerithor to be a skilled warrior. Gerithor disarmed them all without harming a single one of them! In fact, he managed to cut the belt of the fake farmer, causing his trousers to fall down around his ankles. You should have seen him! He kept getting up and trying to run, only to trip a few steps later. He eventually got so scared that he got turned around and ended up falling into the quicksand right next to me!"

"And that brings us to the best part," Gerithor said. "Flicker climbed up onto the bandit's shoulders and leapt out of the quicksand! And Flicker's not a small guy. So as soon as Flicker jumped from his shoulders he fell face first, like a falling tree, right into the sand."

"Of course, we helped him out afterwards. But at the moment it was quite entertaining!" Flicker finished, leaning back with a satisfied laugh.

"Sounds like quite the adventure!" Halbarad exclaimed. "I remember a few adventures of my own... But those are for a different time. We should all get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day."

"Aye, we set out at first light," Gerithor replied with a nod. "Rest well, my friends. The road awaits!"

Hey everyone! Sorry if there are errors in this, I'm going to go back and re-edit this tomorrow. I'm tired so I may have missed some stuff. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter! What do you think the ravens are doing? Who are they spying for?