An hour or so went by. When Feredir woke, Caran handed him some food and water. Feredir thanked her before quenching his hunger and thirst. Caran moved away from the group and gave a small whistle. Argo rode to her side. She patted his flank gently. Caran gathered her belongings and placed them in Argo's saddle bags. Once Feredir was ready, she mounted her steed and waited until the others were ready.

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Lona mounted, silent. Her eyes never leaving the surrounding trees. Her thoughts were only focused on the task. Now more than ever she needed answers.

Caran urged Argo forward. She continued down the path, her eyes darting around uneasily. Her hand, as always, rested upon the hilt of her sword. Caran listened carefully, and singled out the sounds of her following companions and listened out for anything more; anything following them or approaching them. There was nothing as yet, but she remained alert to the sounds of the forest.

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"If Beleg returns, please do me a favor. He obviously does not trust me. And instead of creating bad blood among comrades, I wish you to act as though I am your prisoner. He will not be happy any other way. Being unhappy,as we saw, makes him do foolish things." she kept her eyes straight forward.

"That will be unnecessary Lona. You had your reasons for your actions and Beleg will have to accept them or leave. Although I do not think he will return. He has his duties with the Captain...whether he trusts the Captain or not." She spoke softly and quietly.

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"We shall see." she too spoke quietly. The situation at hand was new to all of them. She would not be surprised it Beleg returned.

"He is of my blood lady, and no fool," Feredir replied shortly "If he returns only to see you as our prisoner, what example do I set for him?" His nephew's newly discovered, well 'powers' was the only word he could find to fit what he had seen, unnerved him. He believed that magic and non-magic folk shouldn't mix- He knew the Lay of Luthien and had had his own short-lived elvish love- If loving something so pure could bring so much misery, what evil would playing about with real magic bring?
He felt slightly ill, worried about the young man he had grown to love so fondly before leaving his settlement in the North.

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

"Let us take peace that Beleg is not with us right now. Let us cross that bridge when we come to it. We need to focus on the task at hand." Caran glanced round at her fellow soldiers and offered them a small smile. "It will not be long before we are staring at the black gates of Mordor...Or at least what is left of them. We need our wits about us."

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Lona watched them as they spoke, and for the first time, the guilt left her eyes. "Please," she addressed Feredir. "it's just Lona." she was no lady. "Caran, is there not a back way towards the borders?" she suddenly had an idea.

"There is, but it has been a long time since it has been used. I fear it will be hard to pass through it." She glanced at Lona, raising her brows. "Why?" Her head tilted quizically.

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"It may be safer..." she looked at Caran, communicating with her eyes. No one would suspect it! She was willing to take the extra bit of time.

"Very well." Caran's brows remained raised at Lona. Eventually she shrugged her shoulders and adjusted their course.

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She turned her horse in that direction, praying her judgment was right.

Feredir followed silently. The closer they drew to the borders, the more he felt his flesh begin to crawl. He had no wish to enter the dark land of Mordor, the dangers that lurked there were far worse than those that could be found in the dark places of the world. Would they still pass by the ancient meeting point? He did not know. It was too far to still be used regularly, but he still held some hope that they may rest there a short while and recuperate.

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

Lona slowed Andreus and finally stopped him, holding up a hand to signal her companions to do the same. They were close now. Too close for horses. "We go on foot from here." she said in a low voice. "If we were right, and there is something here, horses will get us noticed."

Caran's bones felt more and more chilled the closer they drew to Mordor's border. She looked around, constantly alert. At Lona's signal, Caran dismounted. She took her belongings from Argo's saddle bag and gave him a pat on his flank.

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