The Exile's Daughter

To The North

There was silence for a long time as we cantered through the rough grasslands. Aragorn's face was pale and drawn. I dug my heels into Calanon's side and we broke into a gallop.

However, Aragorn abruptly pulled his horse to a stop after a little while. Legolas and I followed him. Calanon lifted his front feet off the ground slightly, tossing his head grumpily at the sudden stop and snorting in indignation, while I copied Aragorn and jumped from my mount onto the dewy grass. He seemed to be staring at an apparently unremarkable patch of ground. I knelt down beside the ranger as Legolas dismounted too, and he pointed to a circular patch of mud which was not so damp as everything else.

"Fire", he muttered, bending lower and smelling the air. "It's recent. Covered up early this morning, I wager".

To the untrained eye, this sign might have looked like nothing at all. However, all three of us knew better than that. "It is well hidden", Legolas commented.

"Which means that whoever sat by this fire does not want to be followed", I mused, unsheathing my brother's dagger and brushing some of the mud aside with the blade. Below a layer of dirt, there were scorch marks and the remains of wood.

"Indeed" Aragorn said. "I wonder". He fell silent, staring down at the marks unseeingly.

"What?" I asked after a minute or so.

"I cannot tell whether this fire was created by friend or foe, but if we are very lucky, Gandalf has heard of our plight and is heading north even as we are".

"Who is this person you keep speaking of?" I questioned, unable to keep my curiosity in check any longer. "You have mentioned his name so much this week, but I have never heard of him".

"He is an old friend of mine with power enough to aid us" Aragorn answered. 

"Gandalf has walked Middle Earth longer than any of us. We need him if there is to be any hope of winning the battles before us". Legolas contributed, his eyes sweeping the landscape as if Aragorn's powerful friend might somehow spring out of the ground. We mounted quickly.

"Then let us hope it is him ahead" I said, digging my heels into Calanon's side, trying to persuade him to stop grazing as the others rode off. He broke into a grudging canter and soon I had caught up with the boys again.

I was pleased, overall, with how my riding had improved. I still struggled to use my swords on horseback, but I could shoot accurately from the saddle, and I felt confident controlling Calanon at any speed. We jumped over a stream with little effort, soaring through the air with that feeling of freedom only flight could bring. However, as I chanced a look at the ground ahead of us, I frowned. I was a little ahead of the others, but there were already prints in front of me.

"Dar!" I called back, holding up a hand. The others reigned in their horses and I swerved to avoid crushing the tracks. Aragorn dismounted again and bent to see what I had discovered, while Legolas and I watched from horseback, exchanging a wary glance. (S: Stop!)

"Horse prints" Aragorn thought aloud

"Ahead of us" I finished for him, raising my eyebrows. "Either your friend is only hours away or we are unwittingly following something malicious".

"It could be a ranger", Legolas pointed out sensibly. "They often ride if they can".

"I suppose" I said thoughtfully, slightly annoyed that I hadn't thought of that as well. Why was I being so anxious? Was it just in my mind, or was there really something dangerous ahead of us? These days, I could barely tell the difference between instinct and unfounded fear.

However, at that moment, I noticed with my keen eyes something that Aragorn had not. I jumped from the saddle and walked a few feet to my right, bending to see a second set of tracks while the others watched me. "There is more than one."