Placing her hands on the slender grey railing, she gazed off into the myriad mallorn leaves rustling about her, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. Her hand crept to her throat and drew out a gilded chain, upon which hung a pendant. The pendant, crafted of pure gold, had been wrought carefully into an intricate design, and set with small, twinkling blue sapphires. Just before he had left, Aldamir had hung it about her neck.
�Blue as the sea which washes on the shores of Valinor; blue as the depths of your eyes...�he had said. She fingered it longingly, wishing to be near him again. Closing her eyes, she tried to see him, tried to feel where he was and touch his mind with hers.
�Aldamir, where are you?...�
She saw him suddenly as if in a vision, standing alone in a dark, deep wood. He was walking, looking about as if he feared something, and then suddenly he vanished among the trees. She gasped, but did not move.
Next, she saw him walking straight ahead through a strangely foggy place, as if he were walking through shadows. His jaw was set determinedly, and he did not look aside; his eyes were set on some invisible goal ahead of him...
Then with a gasp, she saw that his cloak was stained with blood, and he faltered as he walked. Then he fell into the swirling mists, and she saw him no more.
�Aldamir!� she cried wildly, but he did not reappear. She felt as if the world was falling to pieces, and then she was running, running through the swirling mists that had enveloped her beloved, searching desperately for him. Her breath came in gasps, and her lungs hurt. Her hair flew wildly about her face, whipped by a foul wind which had come suddenly out of nowhere...it was choking her...she could not find him...
She came back to the presence with a gasp, breathing hard. A hand was gripping her shoulder. �Uruviel? What is it?� asked N�riel, one of her friends.
�Oh, N�riel,� she gasped, trying to catch her breath. When she had regained her composure, she told the dark-haired maiden what she had seen in her vision. N�riel looked anxious, but tried to comfort her friend. �Uruviel, it'll be all right...� she murmured, but her voice faltered and her eyes darkened with fear.
�I wish it was so,� said Uruviel, trying to keep calm. �I wish I knew he was going to be all right... I wish I had never seen that vision...�
Aldamir stopped for a moment, his face distressed.
�What is it?� asked Lindir.
�Uruviel,� he answered. �She�s frightened...I can feel it...� He closed his eyes and tried to touch her mind with his. Uruviel...are you all right? What is it?
I�m all right, he felt her answer, but he sensed that she had just been through something frightening. Don�t worry about me...
Dearest, please... he pleaded. Keep yourself safe...I don�t want to feel you afraid like this...I love you too much for that...
I love you too, Aldamir...please trust me - I�ll be all right. Go on...don�t give up hope, like you told me.
I won�t, he promised. You mustn�t either.
I won�t... she answered.
Uruviel bowed her head. �I won�t,� she murmured softly, �I promised you...but oh, it�s going to be hard...�