Following the events at Pontgar, the Company deemed it best to avoid the towns of Bree in case the enemy had more spies there. Instead, they circumvented the villages by passing across the Eastern Bree-fields and then through the forest known as the Chetwood, which would bring them to the Weather Hills.
The journey through the fields was uneventful, as the war had not yet reached those lands. Strolling through the calm snowy hills and meadows, the mood of the three Companions lightened greatly. By the time they reached the northern edge of the Chetwood, they had all but forgotten about the unpleasant events which transpired in Pontgar. It was a beautiful forest, and though the trees were different from those in her beloved Annúndir, it reminded Thorneth of the woods she had called home for many years.
Imrathien clearly felt at ease as well, for she began to sing:
A! Ivon, A! Cevedhrían,
galol na i orthelian
o cae aglar tâd geledyrn!
Il gwî, o edhel na lavan
vi parth, aegas, egor eryn,
Palathamar, le linnatham
Laegemel, le egleriam!
However, she stopped after the first stanza and came to a halt in her stride as well. The two Dúnedain stood behind her, looking around with concern. When neither spotted anything out of the ordinary, they turned their gaze to the Elven scout and Thorneth whispered, “Do you see something?”
“The sounds of the woods,” Imrathien replied. “They are not right.”
The Dúnedain took a moment to listen before Dínendír spoke, “It all seems regular to me. The birds are singing, the branches are rustling.”
Thorneth meanwhile, with her greater affinity for the wild, heard what the Elf was referring to, “No. The calls of the birds are warnings filled with fear. The branches move with the wind; the squirrels and hares are hiding or trying to remain silent.”
Imrathien called back to the birds and a raven descended from the treetops. For a few moments she spoke with raven before it took to the air once again. The Elf ran after the bird, trailed closely behind by Thorneth and Dínendír.
The raven led them onto a hilltop upon which they had a good view of the surrounding forest, especially with the trees leafless in the heart of winter. From here, the Company easily spotted a group of five wargs which had moved into a wolf den. Some of the local Chetwood wolves still prowled around the den, likely having submitted to their evil brethren after their pack leader was slain.
“Do you think the Witch-king sent them ahead?” Dínendír speculated. “Could he have some inclination of our plans?”
“I doubt it,” Thorneth said. “They were probably sent here to raid the Bree-folk, or came of their own will to cause suffering, as wargs are cruel and unnatural beasts.”
“No matter their purpose, we must slay this pack,” stated Imrathien. “Wargs are skilled hunters, and it is only a matter of time before they find our tracks or catch our scent. Then they will either stalk us themselves or report to their Angmarim masters.”
The Ranger nodded in agreement, “Better we deal with them here and now.”
Leaving Caranhelf the mare upon the hill, the three companions moved towards the wolf den. Though they were silent and stealthy, the wargs smelled them as they approached. The pack leader rallied the others, warg and Chetwood wolf alike. Seeing that the enemy was on the move, Imrathien clambered up a great oak nearby while Thorneth concealed herself behind the trunk of another tree, and Dínendír behind a large rock.
When the pack approached, Thorneth and Imrathien unleashed their arrows. Two of the wargs were struck and slain, but the rest closed the distance swiftly on their four legs. Before they could reach Thorneth, Dínendír leapt down from the rock he had hid behind, landing on the back of one of the wargs and driving a dagger into its neck.
Thorneth drew her blade and joined the fray. Rolling off the warg he had just felled, Dínendír stood back to back with the Ranger as the wolves encircled them, cutting down any who came too close. Atop the tree, the enemy was unable to reach Imrathien, who picked them off as they focused on the Dúnedain.
With his wolves collapsing around him, the pack leader grew desperate. He overreached in an attempt to bite Thorneth’s arm and the Ranger drove Dagúl into his open jaws and through his throat. Seeing their leader dead, the last remaining warg pulled a retreat. He did not get far as one of Imrathien’s arrows found its mark in his head.
Two of the Chetwood wolves fled back to the den and the Company pursued. One of them tried to put up a last stand and was quickly dispatched by a flurry of Dínendír’s blades. Imrathien notched an arrow for the last, but Thorneth held up her hand as she saw the wolf lowering her head and curving her back. The Elf lowered her bow and the Ranger sheathed her sword as she approached the whimpering creature.
The wolf backed away from Thorneth at first. She spoke to the beast and soon the wolf relaxed, crouching before the Ranger with her tail tucked beneath her body. Thorneth smiled, reaching forward to set a hand on the wolf’s neck. The wolf stood, moving beside the Ranger.
“This wolf is of no threat to us,” Thorneth said, turning back to her companions.
“How can you be sure of that?” asked Dínendír.
“She has no love for the wargs,” stated the Ranger. “They slew the leader of her pack, so she submitted to them, as is the way of wolves. Now I have slain the warg leader and she acknowledges my strength.”
“But you are no wolf,” the Guard pointed out.
“She has no wolf pack any longer,” said Imrathien, “and this winter is cold and harsh. There is nothing left for her in these woods. Following us is her best chance to survive. She will not betray us.”
“And having the senses of a wolf will aid us in avoiding further threats such as these wargs,” Thorneth added.
Thus, the wolf departed the Chetwood with the Company, becoming its newest member. Metharafel they named her, the Last Wolf, both for being the last of her pack and because they were the Fellowship of Last Hope. She aided them in hunting for food as they crossed the frozen Midgewater Marshes, and Dínendír quickly grew to trust and even enjoy the companionship of the wolf.
