A/N: That's me, playing Evenstar :) The piano is very old (older than me, actually) so you can hear him creak when I use the pedal... Sorry.
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It was quite crowded on the courtyard of Rivendell. There were three Hobbits, four Humans and five Elves, so of course; there also were twelve horses, which they would use until they reached the Misty Moutains. From there on they had to go on foot, but the horses would know their way back to the valley of Imladris, and Lindir had promised to take good care of the horses when they came back. Victoria just hoped her horse Zara would follow the others, and would not wander off.
They had all enjoyed a great feast last night, but if they wanted to make it on time to the Feast of Starlight; they had to leave today.
The travelers were checking if everything was fastened and if they hadn't forgotten anything. Aragorn smiled at Arwen, who was standing at the other side of her white mare; making sure she had taken enough Lembas and other food with her to reach the Great Elven Halls of Thranduil. But then she noticed him staring at her and she stopped with what she was doing, just to glance back at him. You could almost hear the theme music of their love playing on the background, but what they had was what everyone should seek for in live; true and unconditional love from both sides.
But anyways, they all turned their attention to Elrond who decided to descend the white, stone stairs to say goodbye, with Lindir following - of course - a few steps behind. Now, the courtyard was even more crowded. They just hoped the other inhabitants of Rivendell would stay in the buildings and look at them from there.
Lord Elrond halted next to his sons and looked them deep in the eye (not at the same time, of course, that would be impossible). "Take good care of your sisters."
Elrohir nodded and answered their father, while Elladan grinned. "Of course, father,-"
"- nothing will happen to them," Elladan assured him.
Norin sighed. "Adar... How many times do we have to prove we can take care of ourselves?"
"Besides," Livianna added, "we're with twelve men. Who on Arda would attack such a big group?"
Merry and Pippin tried not to think of the Nazgul who didn't mind how big their Fellowship was years ago. And Elrond couldn't help to feel as if there was something terrible going to happen, he rather would not let any of them leave, but he hadn't had the power to do so. Not anymore. His children were all grown up, and he figured he had to embrace the fact he couldn't always be there for them when something happened. It was time they carried their own weight and discovered what the future had in hold for them. Elrond just hoped they would all return home safely.
"All right, then. Safe travels, my children," Elrond said and he smiled at them all, looking at them one by one.
"Well, nice to know we matter as well," Esmerelda muttered, but she forgot Elves could hear very well. Lindir gave her disapproving look while Elrond granted her a smile.
"You're right, Esmerelda. Safe travels to you all, as well."
Esmerelda's face had become a bit red when she had realised they had heard her, but she nodded at Elrond in gratitude.
The twelve travelers mounted their horses and excitedly, they left Rivendell, off to the Misty Mountains. Not knowing what adventure was laying in front of them...
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The Shade Caligo stepped out of his cave when he heard a lot of noise outside. His eyes were red as wine and his hair was red as blood. And thereby also came his pale skin that would make a dead body look tanned. Just looking at him would give you the creeps, and his army feared him; just as Caligo wanted. The Urgals fell silent when he appeared. His eyes were shooting daggers, demanding them to tell him why they were making so much noise. It was easy to hide an army into the mountains, but not if they continued to make so much uproar!
Two Urgals pushed their way through the others until they were standing in front of their leader.
"We were attacked," one grumbled. (A/N: Timey wimey; remember when Elladan and Elrohir returned from the Orc hunt? Yeah, these two escaped.)
Caligo fought the urge to stab one between the ribs. "How did that happen?" he snapped at them.
The two Urgals were trembling on their legs because of the danger in his voice. One started to make up an excuse. "Well... We were -," but Caligo rolled his eyes, which made the Urgal stop talking.
"You creatures can't do anything right, can you?"
The same Urgal was about to answer that rhetorical question, but Caligo didn't even let him start. "Shut up," he growled. He didn't want to hear their poor excuses, he only wanted to know one thing. "Did you manage to bring Him the message?"
Silence.
Caligo let out a furious roar and the two Urgals spontaneously bursted out in flames. They let out horrifying screams while their flesh burned away from their bones.
"Make it stop!" one Urgal begged for mercy, but Caligo had none. He watched them burn, not even moving a muscle. The agonising screams of the Urgals echoed over the rocky surroundings and they could be heard from far away. But now, Caligo didn't care if someone heard them. Maybe this would send out a message to Him, and it certainly would send out a message to the rest of his army. The camp was filled with the scent of burning flesh and most of the Urgals cringed at the thought of what kind of pain the two failures had to be in. Their screams slowly started to fade away as their vocal cords became damaged because of the fire. It wouldn't take long before their lungs and hearts would give up...
None of the rest of the army of Urgals wanted to experience the same, but they all knew, deep down in their heart, that the Shade was hard to please and they would have to work and fight hard to not to end up the same as the two now dead Urgals on the ground.
Without even glancing at them, Caligo turned around with his head held high. He walked back to his cave, but just before he could disappear again into the darkness, he halted in his pace. "Let this be a lesson to all. Do not fail me." And with that, he strode away, leaving his army in shock and terror.
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A/N: Bonus points to the one who knows what Caligo means!
So... Let me know whatcha think of this chapter :)