Chapter IV: Strangers in Lorien
  �Aldamir, Haldir wants you,� said Rumil to the young Elf one morning. �He has a task for you.�

   �Willingly,� replied Aldamir, getting up. He had been resting that night, leaning against the mallorn�s supporting trunk and letting his thoughts drift away. �Where is he?�

   �He is with Anurion, on his flet.�

   �Thank you, mellon.�

   Aldamir found Haldir studying a map of Middle-earth. �Rumil said you wanted me.�

   �Yes.� Haldir rolled up the map and stood up. �I have a task for you. I would like you to go all the way to the edge of the woods, and take a look around. We defend the forest well from here, but I want to know what is going on just outside our borders, and I figured you might like that task.�

   �Yes! I�ll do that.�

   �Hannon le, mellon. Be back by nightfall.�




   On reaching the edge of the Golden Wood, Aldamir paused and looked about carefully before leaving its protection. Seeing nothing about, he stepped quietly from the woods, and ran a little ways away from the trees. However, he couldn�t see very far from where he stood.
�I�d better go to the lookout point,� he told himself. �It�s easier to see anyone approaching from there.�

   The lookout was a high point a little ways into the woods; the only way to reach it was a small, narrow, winding path leading up and down the hilly forest. Young trees and old ones bordered it; moss covered it, making it easy for Aldamir to run soundlessly along it. Reaching the top, he halted and gazed out over the land. The point commanded a wide view all around, and Aldamir used to say, �You can almost see to the eastern gate of Moria from here!� Many dismissed as an exaggeration, but it was true. Caradhras, and its two sisters, underneath which Moria lay, were clearly visible from where he stood. With his Elf-eyes, he could almost see a ruined tower which had long ago been built and used by dwarves. Now little remained of it.

   Scanning the horizon in all directions, Aldamir stiffened suddenly as he looked toward Moria. Were his eyes tricked, or could he see some small figures running in the direction of Lorien? Shading his eyes, he half-closed them and focused on the things. There could be no doubt: there was someone there. Many someones, rather. Aldamir could not be sure of how many; at first he had thought there were four, one smaller than the others, but when he looked closer, there seemed to be three or four more figures, very small ones. Aldamir frowned. They couldn�t be orcs. That was impossible - or was it? But orcs did not travel with children! Besides that, one of them looked and ran rather like an Elf.

   Aldamir was confused. It was the small figures who puzzled him most. He suddenly realized that the sun was falling lower, and the figures were drawing steadily closer to Lorien; it was obvious that the Golden Wood was their goal. �They will be here before nightfall,� said Aldamir under his breath.

   Turning, he ran lightly down the path. Reaching the bottom, he quickened his step and ran swiftly back to the border posts, passing like a sliver of grey through the mallorn trees.

   Haldir saw him coming, and ran forward to meet him. �You are back already!� he exclaimed. �Why are you in such a haste?�

   Aldamir slowed down, and quickly related his tale.

   �Orcs?�

   �I don�t think so. Some of them were very small.�

   �Odd.� Haldir stood silent for a moment, as if in deep thought. Then he shook himself and motioned to the
others. �Get your bows and set arrows on the string; we will give these strangers a greeting which they do not expect.�




   Noiselessly the Elves made their way through the trees, to the point where they knew the strangers would come sooner or later. Then taking up their posts, they melted into the landscape, veiled from sight by their grey cloaks.

   For a while they waited, motionless.

   Then, not too far off, the sound of soft voices came to their ears. They stiffened. Was that not the voice of a dwarf? Aldamir frowned. A dwarf, walking in the Golden Wood! Haldir motioned them to remain where they were.

   The group came into view; eight of them, there were. Two men, an Elf of Mirkwood, a dwarf, and four small people only half the height of the others. �Are they not Halflings?� wondered Aldamir. �Halflings have sometimes been spoken of here...�

   The company drew nearer, until they were walking through the trees behind which the Elves were hidden.

   The dwarf was speaking. Haldir�s face darkened as he and the others realized that it was of the Lady Galadriel
he was speaking - saying that she was a great sorceress, and telling the small ones to stay close to him. �Here�s one dwarf she won�t ensnare so easily,� he was saying. �I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox!�

   A slight, contemptuous smile spread over Haldir�s face. He gave the signal, the Elves stepped forward, and the next moment the company found themselves surrounded by the sharp points of the Lorien arrows. They looked about in shock and surprise, but one of the men, who Aldamir recognized as Aragorn of the Dunedain, didn�t seem as surprised as the others.

   Haldir stepped forward. �The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark.�

   Not a stir passed through the watchful Elves, but Aldamir was hard put to restrain a smile.
   Aragorn spoke quickly with Haldir in a low voice. Aldamir could not catch the words, but evidently it was a plea for help, which Haldir was reluctant to grant. Aldamir gazed at the small ones, or Halflings, and almost hoped that Haldir granted it. They looked so tired, and one of them, with darker hair than the others, had eyes filled with bitter grief. Aldamir looked closer at him. He was different from the other three; the Elf sensed that at once. He had been through more than them - he could see it written in his eyes. And to Aldamir, a faint light seemed to fill him, as if.......his thoughts were cut off by Haldir.

  He was permitting the strangers to come further into the wood, but the dwarf was to kept under special watch.
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