The elves and their ranger companions rode long and hard, stopping only briefly to sleep and eat. Now they had entered the Shire, and the company had to travel more stealthily lest they draw attention to themselves. They first attempted to travel through the small forests that dotted the land, but when this proved impossible they decided to travel spread out along the road. This proved to be rather fruitless, for rangers were rare sights in the Shire, and elves even more so. But elves equipped for war... Well, it was all but unheard of in that lazy, green land. A young hobbit lass soon caught sight of them, and before long a crowd of inquisitive and rather restless hobbits had gathered along the side of the road, gawking at the mysterious travelers and murmuring excitedly among themselves.

"This is why I never travel on the road here," Flicker muttered as he cast annoyed glances at the hobbits.

"Are they always this... Excitable?" Glorfindel asked, his expression a comical mixture of confusion and surprise.

"No..." Caledorn replied. "But their lives are as dull as a squire's blade, so I imagine they find elvish knights a wonderful distraction from their work."

Taliel shook her head as a particularly fat old hobbit pointed at her and frowned. "I wish they'd at least pretend they had more important things to do. I feel like I'm in a parade."

Caledorn, who was at the lead of the group, abruptly stopped, forcing the rest of the company to halt as well. He wordlessly dismounted from his horse, drawing a collective gasp from the hobbits. As they looked on, the dark clad elf conspicuously reached for one of his daggers. With a cry the nearest hobbit fled, pushing his way through the crowd in blind fear. The other hobbits soon followed suit, pushing and shoving each other as they ran away as quickly as possible.

When the last hobbit had disappeared into the nearby corn fields, Caledorn turned to the company, and his usually unreadable face was transformed by a slight smirk.

"There's more than one way to deal with halflings," He said with a bow. The others in the company clapped at the elf's display, happy to be rid of the troublesome hobbits. Taliel and Glorfindel both laughed, merriment twinkling in their eyes.

"Did you see that first one run? The expression on his face was priceless!" Flicker exclaimed, drawing a collective laugh from the rangers.

"Well... If we were wanting to remain undetected, we've already failed," Taliel said after the laughing had died down.

"Aye, but at this point it doesn't really matter anyway," Flicker replied as the company continued on. "I'm sure the goblins know we're on our way, they would've had spies all along the road."

"Even in the Shire?" Glorfindel asked, slightly surprised at the indifference in Flicker's tone of voice.

"Even in the Shire," Flicker nodded. "After the massacre at Sarn Ford, there weren't many rangers left to protect the border. What men were left reported seeing goblin scouts in the Old Forest, and one even saw a strange looking Orc."

"Why 'strange-looking'?" Taliel asked. "I thought all orcs were despicable."

"This orc wore rags that covered his face, and he stood upright like a Man," Flicker replied. "We've had reports from our scouts of several such orcs, all strangely dressed and larger than most of their kind."

"Were they Uruks?" Glorfindel asked.

"No... At least, I don't think so," Flicker said, scratching his beard thoughtfully. "Uruks don't often travel this far west." He turned and looked at his men, his eyes suddenly gaining a mischievous twinkle. "Perhaps 'twas my uncle, he was quite an ugly brute of a man."

At this another ranger spoke up. "I think it was me wife!"

The men began to laugh, and all of the elves except Caledorn joined in. He seemed distracted, his eyes cast upon the hills in the distance.

"Are you alright?" Taliel whispered as she noticed his expression.

He suddenly seemed to snap back to attention, his eyes narrowing and his fists clenched.

"Yes. I'm fine," he replied evasively. Then, as if to change the subject, he pointed to her sword. "Second Age work... Where did you manage to acquire that?"

"From my father," she replied shortly. It was a topic that she did not want to discuss, especially not now among the entire company. Fortunately, Caledorn seemed to notice her reluctance, and merely nodded.

"It's a fine sword," He replied simply.

"Thank you," Taliel said. There was a moment of awkward silence before she thought of what to say.

"What about those daggers of yours? They're certainly not ordinary."

Caledorn smiled slightly, running a hand along the hilt of his blade. "No they are not. These I acquired from an Elvish smith in Rivendell. They've been at my side for many a fight."

"Like your fight with the dragon?" Taliel asked.

Caledorn raised an eyebrow. "You know about that?"

"Well, you mentioned that you slew a dragon. And I've heard others speak of it in the past."

Caledorn nodded. "Without these daggers I'd have lost that fight."

"Tell me about it," Taliel said with a smile. Caledorn recalled the memory, and his eyes lit up as he began.

"Well, it was nearly twenty years ago, when Fornost was under attack. Gerithor was just a boy at the time, and I barely knew him. The rangers had gathered in the city and were defending it from the Black Numenoreans. The dragon flew over the city, fire blazing from his jaws..."

The two elves spoke of their adventures until they were out of the Shire, and the sun was setting in the west by the time they reached the Tower Hills. The three towers of Numenor stood tall, their shadows cast across the landscape. Elostirion, tallest of the three, shone in the setting sun, its whitewashed stones bright as polished gemstones. The sounds of the ocean could faintly be heard, the distant roar of the waves and the echoing cries of seagulls traveled across the hills.

"We should stop here," Glorfindel said as he raised a gauntleted hand. "We can ride for Mithlond at first light."

"Agreed," Flicker replied. "That way we'll be well rested for the fight to come."

Glorfindel nodded in agreement.

"Set up camp and get some rest! Tomorrow we ride hard for Mithlond!"

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

The rangers and elves quickly set up their tents, and as they did the sun quickly disappeared behind the darkening hills. Soon it was night, and a nearly full moon illuminated the landscape. All of the rangers and elves had fallen asleep, anticipating the coming battle... All that is, except for Caledorn.

The tall elf stood atop a nearby hill, gazing absently at the three towers whose dark shapes stood out against the night sky.

He thought about his strange episode several nights before... And of how afraid he had been. His life had not been an easy one, and because of this he had become skilled at keeping his fear at bay. But it had not saved him when he had seen his father... When he had seen the Dark Lord.

Why was he seeing these things now? He knew that Gerithor had visions, was that what it was like for him too? No... It couldn't be. Gerithor said that his visions happened when he was sleeping. What Caledorn had seen had been as vivid as if the phantoms had been standing before him.

But they weren't real... Otherwise Taliel would have seen them too. Was he going mad?

The soft tread of a footstep caused Caledorn to spin around, facing the intruder with a hand on the hilt of his dagger.

"It's just me," Taliel said as she raised her hands in reassurance. Caledorn relaxed slightly and looked back toward the towers.

"They say that one of the Palantiri still lies within Elostirion," He said, quietly observing the tower.

"Is that true?" Taliel asked.

"Yes. But it is cursed, or Sauron has taken control of one of the others."

Taliel raised an eyebrow questioningly. "How do you know?"

"I looked," Caledorn replied. "All I saw was a great eye of fire, and a strange woman's voice came into my mind questioning my intent. Something evil holds sway over the seeing stones."

"Perhaps the goblins have used it to spy on the West," Taliel suggested.

"No... They are not strong enough of will to see into the Palantiri. Otherwise I would deem it unsafe to have kept it there unprotected."

Suddenly a light flashed in the west, and both elves glanced at each other in surprise.

"What was that?" Caledorn asked.

"I-I do not know," Taliel replied, her eyes turning back to the light. "But it came from the direction of Mithlond."

"It would have to be a massive light for us to see it from so far away," Caledorn said, still looking at Taliel.

"We should tell the others," Taliel replied as she made her way back toward the camp. "If it truly did come from the Havens, it might be prudent to set out now."

"You're right," Caledorn said, falling into step beside her. "It might also be easier to sneak into the city at night."

"The dark will only help us against the Corsairs," Taliel said. "The goblins will certainly see us."

"True. Still..." Caledorn mused. "Better to only face one enemy than both."

"Agreed," Taliel replied simply. By now they had reached the outermost tent, the tent that Glorfindel had set up. It was slightly more elegant in design than the others, but no bigger. Glorfindel was more of a warrior than a lord after all, and he found it more agreeable to live in the same conditions as the men under his command.

"Who is it?" A voice inquired from within, alert and fully awake.

"Caledorn and I," Taliel replied. "We need to speak with you."

A few seconds later Glorfindel emerged, in full armor and wearing a grim expression.

"If you're here about the fire, I already know. One of the rangers was sent to scout and returned with news of it."

Caledorn nodded approvingly. "What did he learn?"

"The corsairs have apparently been sending ships into the harbor, unmanned save one troll. The trolls have been crashing the ships into the elvish fleet, and evidently the ships are filled with explosives of some sort. Half of Cirdan's fleet is at the bottom of the bay by now." Glorfindel pinched the bridge of his nose, stress evident on his face.

"We should ready the men," Taliel asserted. "If we start now we'll be there by dawn, if not sooner."

"I agree," Glorfindel said with a sigh. "But I do not know if there's anything we can do to change the tide."

"If Mithlond falls, we lose the West," Caledorn replied forcefully. "If we're going to make a stand somewhere, the city of our kin is just as good of a place as any to die fighting."

"And perhaps the messenger who sent us in the first place will muster reinforcements from Rivendell," Taliel said, a slight tinge of hope in her voice.

"We cannot trust in that," Glorfindel said. "We must rely on what we have at present."

"Then let us make the best of what we have, and ride forth at once." Caledorn's eyes narrowed, his expression grim but determined.

"If Edhael were here, he'd say that we should make it a battle worthy of song," Taliel said, a slight smile playing across her face at the thought of her friend.

"And let us make sure to be alive so we can hear it!" Glorfindel exclaimed. He raised a great horn to his lips that had been at his belt, blowing a single clear, ringing note upon it.

The rangers scrambled to gather their scant belongings, and Caledorn mounted his steed. If this is to be my end, he thought to himself, at least I will be able to look upon the sea one last time. He steeled himself and looked ahead... Battle was on the horizon. 

Hey everyone! It's been forever since I've updated, I'm really sorry about that. I hope you're all still interested in this story! Updates will still probably be relatively slow, but hopefully not more than a week in between.