Do Not Go Gentle

A Man of Many Names

Dearest Readers,

Two more chapters (after this one) until this part of the story is finished. What a ride. And Persephone's journey in Middle Earth is only getting started! I hope you like her interactions with Aragorn, even if she has no clue what his actual name is. 

Stay tuned for more Glorfindel. Don't worry, he will show up one of these chapters... ;)

XOXO Ally Layne

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The next thing I remember, I was leaning back against a large, warm body while riding a horse. Not the most usual place I would think about waking up, but I don't think that I had anything to do with this current predicament.

"Ah, so she awakes," the deep voice chuckled behind me. I felt his chest move with every breath he took, and something about it just didn't seem right.

The next thing I remembered after that, was just exactly how I winded up into this mess. The assholes trying to kill Tira. Strider showing up all rugged and Ranger-like. Tig being a dipshit who should've been killed. The bloody aftermath of my rage. So it goes.

I looked around to see were amongst a large, hilly valley with rolling green fields. There were small rock formations along the slopes of the hills, which made for interesting scenery.

The horse in a trot was jarring my aching head, but I couldn't complain. It was better than being forced to walk.

Wait, if I'm on a horse-

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice sounding like someone who had just woken up from death.

That chuckle sounded again. "We are on our way back to Imladris."

Just the two of us. No one else. Where did the others go? Where did Tira go? Is she okay? Is she still alive?

Strider seemed to pick up on my growing anxiety. "Do not worry for the others, they are being taken care of by an entire squadron of my Rangers." I felt my body relax. "They will be given a proper escort to their homes and after a long fight with the young woman named Irene, they will all be allowed to send messages to Imladris to check up on your health."

I balked. "What?"

He chuckled yet again. I wondered if I was just some sort of amusement for him, which is why he chose to stick around. "You saved their lives, Lady Persephone. They know that, and I know that. It is logical for them to want to make sure you are well."

I let out a sigh but felt slightly confused as to why the pain wasn't as bad as it should be. My ribs... I could have sworn they were broken. I immediately placed a hand along the caged bones and hissed when I pushed too hard on a few.

"Careful, I would not like it if you undid all the work I did earlier," Strider chastened, then slowed the horse to a stop in the middle of a valley. He helped me off, much to my annoyance, I am the daughter of the god of horses for crying out loud, but when my feet hit the ground I nearly fell at the weight on my legs.

"Easy," he reminded me, as he guided me over to a stray rock from the hilly fields.

The horse walked further away to go graze the fields but seemed to be relatively in-tune with its rider. I didn't need to be listening in on the horse's thoughts or emotions to know that there was a good bond between the two, proving to me that Strider must be a decent person.

There are so few of those, it was starting to bother me.

"Do you know who told the men about you?" Strider then asked as he knelt down in front of me with a familiar bag in hand. "You were not surprised to hear what Tig spoke of to you." It wasn't a question, but a statement.