The Tale of Adulas
by Dinledhwen
Part 21
Suddenly I dropped the dagger as if it were red hot.
“Adulas what is wrong?” Aragorn asked in a worried tone of voice while
quickly picking up the fallen knife from my lap and rewrapping it in
the scrap of cloth before hiding it behind his back.
But I couldn’t answer him for my mind was still reeling from the startling revelation I just had.
“Adulas please what is wrong?” Legolas’s equally worried but gentle
thought voice filled my mind while he once again briefly placed a
comforting hand on my left shoulder.
“I just suddenly realized that the true owner of those daggers in that
wall display had to have been Dûrhen since I saw that dagger
there!” I excitedly replied. “Which meant the young woman obviously
wasn’t living alone there in that house and must have been connected to
him and his brother Herudae! I remember now speaking briefly with a
close friend of mine about my latest walk in the woods and of this
friend inviting me to the picnic during the party. Obviously the young
woman had overheard our conversation and had passed it on to Herudae
for she would have known before the party that he was searching for the
tree. But what I don’t understand was why the Lady Galadriel didn’t see
this in her mirror?”
“The Lady’s mirror seemed unable to hold a constant image for to long
when she was trying to see into your time. This she told me before we
met you for she was concerned of possible encounters with Herudae’s
Uruk-hai,” Aragorn said while quickly placing the dagger back into the
pack he had taken it out of.
“Then why didn’t she tell me?” I asked after him not liking the idea of being left out.
“There is one thing that I have learned Adulas is that the wise will
never tell you everything. Nor does it do any good in asking them why,”
Aragorn replied as he rejoined us. “But getting back to this young
woman you have mentioned. What is her name and what does she look like?”
“I believe her name was Mary. She was a little taller than our dwarvish
friend here with a fair face and long dark brown hair,” I replied.
“Then it should be safe to assume that this Mary would be here in
Middle-earth and possibly possess some magical ability,” Aragorn said
obviously not happy with that.
And neither was I. The thought of having yet another adversary to face
crushed the hope I had had that this attempt by the two Wizards to
resurrect Saruman’s failed plans to rule Middle-earth was over.
“Maybe that is why Dûrhen had wanted to continue to the north,”
Legolas said while sitting down next to me. “You should eat the rabbit
before it grows cold,” I heard his soft voice in my mind.
But I had lost my appetite. The thought of being the center of
attention for a possible sorceress was almost too much for me to bear
since I was still tired from this last encounter. Suddenly I had this
mental image of myself alone in a small clearing in the woods with a
red and white target painted on my chest. Then out of no where this
petite woman wearing a black hooded cloak appeared with the twin to
Dûrhen’s dagger in one hand. But I couldn’t move from where I
stood and watched helplessly while she threw it at me…
“Adulas what is wrong?!” Legolas said clearly worried while trying to
get my attention by tightly grabbing my left arm. “Why did you suddenly
gasp out loud? Are you in pain?”
“I did?” I said still shaken by the nightmarish vision of the dagger as it struck me in the chest.
“Yes you did. Are you alright?” Aragorn asked.
“Well I’m still tired,” was all that I could think to say since I had
no idea as to how I could explain what had just happened or why when I
didn’t know myself.
“Are you sure?” Aragorn asked me before taking a peek under the bandage
over my stab wound. Obviously he was pleased with what he saw for he
smiled. Then he turned his full attention to me. “Maybe there was
something more to that dagger of Dûrhen’s that we overlooked.”
Now that was a possibility but if I agreed with Aragorn, then I
would’ve to explain what happened which was something I didn’t want to
do just now. So I said trying to sound confident “Yes I’m sure.”
Fortunately my acting seemed to have convinced him for he then said
“You had better eat now and then rest. We can talk more about this Mary
tomorrow.”
But I could tell that Legolas wasn’t so easily convinced by the way he
watched me while I slowly picked all the meat from the rabbit bones.
“Adulas something did happen. You can tell me,” I heard his soft voice
in my mind when I had finished eating. I could tell by its tone that he
was going to be persistent with this.
“Yes something did happen,” I thought back. Then I told him about the
vision I saw leaving nothing out. “More than likely it was just a
product of my tired imagination,” I said before giving him a weary
smile.
“Maybe it is and then maybe it is not. Either way Aragorn should know
about this. But I will tell him for you tonight. You really should rest
now.”
