I could feel the tension from Adiwen as we approached Rivendell, though she knew there was really no choice in the matter, we needed to rest. After our time in the Misty Mountains, a place of warmth, good food and a comfortable bed was more than welcome.
Once lodgings had been secured and some brief rest was taken, I was eager to go and explore the place I had heard so much about. My travel companion, less so. She told me she had things to discuss with Maerstan, though I am pretty sure that even if she didn’t, she would have remained firmly in her quarters.
It was even more beautiful than the descriptions I had received. The air tasted sweeter and cleaner, and the place had a calmness that penetrated my soul with every breath.
After wandering by the water for sometime I looked towards the trees, and headed that way. Following the path, my thoughts were absorbed by the sounds of the forest. I followed and watched with a smile, as a pair of squirrels danced and jumped along the path ahead of me then darted up the bough of the one of the trees. It was only when they had disappeared into the foliage and my concentration returned to the path ahead of me, that I noticed a hooded hunter, sitting quietly in a small clearing.
I think he realised his presence he had startled me, as he lowered his hood slightly and made some gentle comment about the squirrels delivering messages amongst the trees. Now, at that moment, I should have just acknowledged him and turned straight back and gone to my room. In fact I could hear Adiwen’s voice screaming in my head to do so, but there was something about this dark haired stranger – I felt in no danger from him.
We chatted for a while, as he lit a small fire. He told me tales of the forests, and of the creatures to be found in them. I told him of the journey I had been on so far, and that we were now on our way to Bree. This seemed to amuse him, as a curious smile came to his lips as his eyes once more glanced at the squirrels overhead. He mentioned that our meeting had indeed been serendipitous, as he had a message that would require delivery to Bree, and wondered if I might indeed be willing to take on this task. I was warned however that there were dangerous people wanting to intercept this message, so it was not a decision to be taken lightly.
I watched the flames dance as he spoke. I was going to Bree anyway… and for sure, I was not in a place financially to turn down any work right now. And who would even know I had this message anyway? I looked at the hunter. “I will take it. Where will I find it’s recipient?” He told me not to worry about looking, that the recipient would indeed find me. I would just need to wait at a certain Inn – The Hammer & Harp. The job was agreed. As he rummaged in his belongings for papers and ink, I continued to watch the flames leap and swirl above the crackling twigs.
The stars had begun to appear dotted through the trees. “I should go. She will be worried”. The hunter held out the sealed note for me to take. His eyes, I could see from his eyes that this was important to him, and that was backed up by a small resistance to hand it over. “I will keep it quite safe and get it to it’s destination” I said as I took the paper from his hand, and placed it in my bag, along with the payment. “You can trust me” I added, hopefully reassuringly.
As I headed back down towards our lodgings I determined not to tell Adiwen of any of this. For a start, she would just chastise my carelessness of being in the forest alone with a stranger. But more than this, if there were to be people looking to seize this message, it made sense that only I knew about it’s existence.
