A little girl, about the age of seven sat in the garden, or rather, in the flowers. Her blue dress was covered in soil, her black hair had recently been pulled from its braid, and dirt smudges marked her pale face. But this did not bother her, for at that moment she was watching a small green caterpillar make its way across the leaves of a nearby rose bush.
"Ethayne!"
Her head shot up and she jumped up from her spot in the dirt, "Daddy!"
The diry little girl rand over to her father and was swept up into his arms and around in a circle. She giggled, silver eyes sparkling. She settled her in his arms, "And what is my little one doing today."
She grinned, "Watching the caterpillar daddy."
"Oh? It looks more like you were making mud pies," the blonde man said in amusement.
She beamed up at him, "Nope."
"Nope huh," he said, tickling her, she laughed and squirmed in his arms, "Well, why don't you go say hi to Mommy?"
Ethayne grinned, "Can I say hi to Grandpa to?"
He grinned, "Of course."
He set the child on the ground and she ran off. Up the stairs leading to the garden, through the double doors and down the hall.

     Elrond, Lord of Rivendell sat behind his desk with a thoughtfull expression on his face. His eyes flicked over to the door as it opened some and his dirt covered graddaughter skipped into the room. He raised an eyebrow as she came around to his side and spoke, "And is my little Ethayne under all that dirt?"
She giggled, "Yes!"
Her simple joy was infectious and Elrond smiled, "Do I get a hug?"
She hugged him and jumped into his lap, and then spoke, "I was watching a caterpillar crawl and Daddy came and said I could go say hi to Mommy!"
Elrond laughed, knowing what his daughter would do when she saw her dirt covered daughter. She would do what everymother would - Okay, not really. She'd pick her daughter up, laughing and taker out into the garden, where they would proceed to watch Ethayne's caterpillar together, and by the time they were finished, both of their dresses would be ruined. Not that Ethayne's wasn't already ruined.
     Elrond remembered when his daughter had been just like Ethayne. And the little girl was the spitting image of her mother, except that her eyes were solid silver and not purple-silver. He gazed down at the child with love in his eyes and spoke gently, "Your mother is in the gazebo."
She smiled and jumped out of his lap and bounded from the room. Elrond looked down at his dirt smudged clothes and smiled, rising to go change.
     Ethayne ran down the corriors to the gardens, where she jumped over the steps and continued to run until the gazebo came into sight, then she stopped and picked up a small white daisy, and then she continued her run. She bounded up the steps of the gazebo and right over to her mother. She stuck the flower in the woman's face and she looked up, "Hello Little One."
"Mommy," Ethayne, will you play with me?"
Lady Aria laughed, "Of course Little One."
The woman took her hand and led her out of the gazebo. Aria allowed herself to be pulled along to the rose bush that Ethayne had been camped in front of. Aria stopped and stepped into the dirt, sitting in the damy soil and pulling her daughter into her arms. As they watched the caterpillar inch along, Elrond and Boromir watched in amusement as Aria ruined yet another dress.

      The room was dark, lit only by a few candle. Aria stood over by the glass doors that led to the balcony. She was leaning on the
doorframe looking up into the starlit sky. She wore a sheer white nightgown with a thin, royal purple dressing gown thrown over it. A warm breeze blew strands of her long black hair away from her eyes. A slight smile played at the corners of her lips and she closed her eyes.
    Warn arms wrapped themselves around her and warm breath tickled her ear, "Do you realize how beautiful you are?"
She smiled and turned in his arms, gazing up into the soft brown eyes of Boromir, "You tell me that everyday beloved."
"Yes," he replied softly, "because it's true."
"Do you know how much I love you," she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I feel it in my heart," Boromir replied, pulling her closer, "And I love you as well."
"And Ethayne?"
"I love both of you with all of my heart and soul."
Aria smiled and closed her eyes, content to just stay there in Boromir's arms for all eternity.
    They stood there in each other's arms in a loving silence until a scream broke into thier thought. Aria jerked, "Boromir! That's Eta!"
He pulled away, grabbing his sword and dashing out the door all in one swift movement, Aria following closely behind. Elrond appeared just as they reched the girl's room. Boromir threw the door open and ran in. The breeze blew Ethayne's white curtains into her room, and Aria froze as Boromir threw back the covers of the child's bed. It was empty. Aria gasped, tears coming to her eyes, and collapsed. Boromir came to her side and they stayed in that position for a long while.

    Ethayne couldn't remember what happened, and the child didn't know where she was. Her silver eyes opened and they widened. Where was she? She was outside, she knew that, and she was surrounded by men. They had dark, midnight blue - almost black - skin and snow white hair. The fire flickered and she stared. They had pointy ears like she did, but she had never seen elves like these before.
    One had on robes of black and red, a Necromancer. Two across the fire were wearing blackened fine steel armor, Shadow Knights. Another sat on the edge of the clearing, this one wearing leather and chanmail, a warrior. An archer sat in the tree above her, keeping watch, and he was watching her also.
    He jumped from the tree and approached her silently. She shivered and he wrapped his cloak around her, kneeling in front of her and offering her some bread and cheese. She took the food with wide eyes. He smiled, grey eyes softening, "Hello little one."
"Who are you," the seven year old managed to whisper.
"I am Halden," he replied, "I know you're scared, but I won't let them hurt you."
"Why? Didn't you help take me?"
"Now, that was those two, across the fire."
"WHere's my Daddy?"
His eyes saddened, "You father will come for you. Dalraeik won't get what he wants."
    "Halden! What are you doing over there?"
He looked up, "She's awake."
The robed man walked over and Ethayne stood bravely. He chuckled and took her chin in his hand, "You'll do."
"My Daddy will come for me!"
"I'm sure he will," Dalraeik responded, "And he'll die."
Ethayne jerked her chin out of his hand, drew back, and kicked him in the shin. He howled and she hid behind Halden, tears threatening to spill over. The man chuckled evily, "Oh look Halden, she likes you. She's your responsibility now."

    Two days passed quickly as Aria and Boromir argued and Elornd jumped in suddenly, "You can't go after her!"
"I want my baby back," Aria exclaimed, "I won't stand here and wait for negotiations to take place, I'm going after her!"
Boromir nodded in agreement, "And I as well."
"No! You can't," Elrond exclaimed, "We don't even know what took her!"
"It doesn't matter," Aria said, eyes narrowing, "They took my little girl, and they're going to die for it."
"Exactly," Boromir added.

    Ethayne had spent three days now traveling with them, she had learned from Halden that they were Dark Elves from a land far to the south of Mordor. He had taken to her quickly and had begun to protect her, wlking with her and carrying her when she was too tired to walk on her own. This dark elf was different from the others, he had a good heart, and did not want what his leader did.
    They had kidnapped her in order to get Rivendell for their own. It was a stragetic place in Middle-Earth, and from there they could take the rest of the known world by force.
"Halden?"
"Yes little one?"
"Don't call me that please, only my Mommy can call me that," she said suddenly, "You can can me Eta... My Daddy gave me it."
Halden smiled down at her, marveling at her innocence. She had become fascinated by a bug walking by when they had stopped for lunch, watching it walk by, only moving over as it got too far away. The others had commented that she must have had something wrong in the head, she wasn't able to understand Dark Elvish. But Halden had found it ammusing, and had reminded him when he was little and did the exact same thing.
"Alright, Eta."
She smiled up at him and placed her small hand in his, "How long til we stop?"
"A few more hours at the most," he replied, "Why?"
"I'm getting tired."
"Well, if you get to tired, tell me and I'll carry you."
"Okay."

    Boromir's dark bay stallion was pulled to a stop suddenly as its rider's keen eyes spotted something on the ground. The tall man
jumped from the horses back, careful not to step on the muddy prints. E examined them closely, noticing that there were five sets of
prints in all. One was much smaller than the others and he sighed in relief. He ran a hand through his damp hair and looked up at Aria who still sat atop her black mare, "We've found their trail."
A smile crossed her face. It was taught and small, but real, the first smile he had seen from her in three days. He strode to his mount's side and climbed into the saddle, "If we're lucky, we can reach them in two days, since we're riding and they aren't."
Aria's smile faded and she finally spoke, "I have a feeling we'll be following them for a while. Something tells me that they aren't regular kidnappers."
Boromir nodded, reigning his horse around and following the tracks at a walk, so as not to lose them. He still felt the pain of Ethayne's dissapearance as much as Aria did. The image of pulling back the covers to see an empty bed still haunted him, and somehow, he
blamed himself for not being able to protect her. He blamed himself for losing the track once before, when he knew that the rains would have washed them away anyway. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the task in front of him.
    Aria watched the ground closely for any sign of their daughter, her mind screaming things at her. She wore the same clothes she had when the Fellowship had been, and so did Boromir, only now, he wore no shield, and the chain mail under his leather and cloth tunic was much better made. She herself wore only a thin over tunic, because she wore ring mail (the lighter of the two armors) under it. She had her bow strapped to her back and her sword was sheathed on the side of her saddle, a dark greem cloak, like the ones that the
Fellowship had been given by Lady Galadriel, her hair once again pulled back into a single braid.
    They had traveled for three days, losing the track once because of the rain coming down through the tree tops. They had stopped and camped early because they could go no further until morning when they arose to find the track. That incident had lost more than half a day, leaving Ethayne - and her captors - so much further behind.

    "Do you think Daddy will be able to find us after the rain stops?"
Halden looked up at the little girl, "Of course, our tracks will be clearer by walking through the mud."
"But how can you be sure?"
The dark elf smiled at her innocence and replied, "If you are so worried, ehy not leave something behind for them to find? Something either your mother or father would recognize."
At this she fell into silence, thinking hard. And that was how he left her.
    He walked over to the others, where a makeshift council meeting was being held. He sat down and spoke, "Are we changing our course?"
Dalraeik nodded, "Yes."
Marrow looked up at this, "Where? Not Cahradas?"
"No," the necromancer replied, "I do not like the snow. We will go through the Mines of Moria. Only a fool would follow us in there."
"Yes," Thrain spoke, "And only fools would plan to take a child into that darkness. One that small could be lost."
"We will take the mines," Dalraeik said, "We have grown up in caves like those, our cirty is inside similar caverns is it not? Our exellent vision will be an advantage... And if Halden loses the girl, we will kill him."
    Halden remained silent, remembering something Ethayne had told him: 'My Mommy and Daddy are the bravest in the world! They wen't into Moria and came out again!'. THis meant that her parents had been members of the Fellowship, for only they had entered Moria after the Orcs took it and the Balrog was awakened. She had also spoken of her 'Uncles' and a 'Mr. Gandalf', until he knew their names and home addresses by heart - Okay, not their adresses precisely, buut close enough. There was 'Frodo', 'Sam', 'Merry' and 'Pippin' from The Shire, a Dwarf by the name of 'Gimli' that resided under the Lonely Mountain, a 'Legolas' from (or was it of?) Mirkwood, then there was 'Aragorn' King of Gondor. 'Mr. Gandalf's' origins were still unknown.
    He had learned enough about this group to last a lifetime, and he knew that they were the Fellowship - Four hobbits, a dwarf, two elves, two men and one odd wizard. THis meant that Boromir and Aria had begun to follow them alomst immediately. And as soon as the rest of the Fellowship heard of it, they would ride to join Ethayne's parents. They were in trouble, and he knew it... They didn't.

    "Boromir wait," Aria called as her husband prepared to leave the cold camp they had stumbled upon. The fire had been cold for two days, and he knew they were still to far behind. He turned to see Aria on one knee holding a heart shaped silver locket in her hand, watching it spin in the air.
"Aria, now is not the time to look at pretty trinkets," he said.
She glared sharply at him, "It's not a 'pretty trinket' Boromir. It's the locket you gave Eta for her birthday."
He walked over at thos and looked aand she handed the silver necklace to him. There were silver roses engraved on the front right side, and they surrounded an engraving: Ethayne: the Star of our Hearts.
"Oh hell," he said softly, "It is her locket! Clever girl!"
Boromir stood and put the necklace in his belt pouch, "With her leaving trinkets behind it will help us to know that wer're following the right track."
"Wait," Aria said, moving into the thorn bush under which she'd found the locket, "There's something else here."
She pulled out a pouch and extracted a damp peice of rolled up parchment. Unrolling it she sighed, "I can't read it, it's to blurred."
Boromir took it and scanned the page, he was used to reading things like this, he'd had to when Gondor was at war.  "It reads:
Boromir and Aria of Rivendell~
I have written this in the hopes that you will find it
and be able to track us to where we are going. My
comrades have made a false trail leading to the pass
below Charadas. DO NOT follow it. We have taken to
the paths of stone and make our way to Moria...
Come for Ethayne before it's too late - Or I decide to
kidnap from her kidnappers and keep this bright star
for my own....
~Halden"
"How do we know if we can trust this 'Halden'," Aria questioned.
"As Frodo once told Merry, Sam and Pippin 'because we have no choice'," Boromir replied.
Aria sat down on a log and sighed, "What do we do. I dare not enter Moria without anything short of a magical light."
"If I know the others - and your father, then they will already be on their way to join us. Send Kes to tell them where we are going and have them meet us there. It will take Ethayne's captors days to get through Moria without knoing the true path, and having to find another way to the bridge... We will get there in time," Boromir said.
Aria nodded and called into the sky. The falcon replied and landed on her wrist, Aria took the message that Boromir had written quickly and tied it to Kes' leg and then launched her into the air.

    Ethayne jumped slightly as she watched in wide eyed wonderment as Dalraeik used a magical fire to meld a door into the ruins that had been the sectret gate into Moria. Her eyes kept flashing to the water, feeling like something was watching her. She shuddered and quickly removed the silver braclet that Legolas had given her. She jumped as the necromancer said to get moving. Halden gently took her hand and began to lead her into the mine, but not before she managed to throw the bracelet into a nearby bush, where it sat, glittering in the sun.
    The darkness of Moria frightened Ethayne - Or rather, terrified her. She clutched Halden's hand for all she was worth, and would not let go. The caves smelled foul and there were skeletons all over the place, it was horrid, and she hoped that they would make it through quickly. The two other members of the party (whom she learned were called Marrow and Tharin) mumbled to each other. Sh caught snippets of the converstations. Something about Orcs and a creature called a Balrog? She didn't understand, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.

    When they reached Moria, Aria and Boromir were shocked to find a doorway melded in the rubble that had been created seven and a half years ago. They immediately dismounted and began to scan the area, looking for signs that Ethayne and her captors had been here. And, sure enough, Boromir came across fresh footprints, one set was that of a child. Aria however had to hand it to her daughter, she had learned well from both her father and herself when they had gone out into the forest. She had found another of the seven year old's trinkets, this time a silver bracelet with her name engraved on it in elvish, a gift from Legolas.
"Boromir?"
"Yes," he replied looking up from the tracks.
Aria tossed him the breaclet, "Just what did you teach Eta when you took her out to learn to shoot a bow?"
The blonde grinned and placed the braclet in his pouch iwth the locket, "She asked questions, I gave her honest answers."
"And good thing too."
    They unpacked their gear and let their horses loose, still tacked, knowing that the beasts would find their way back to Rivendell on their own, and up on the low ridge above the lake, where they could see the doorway and down the path a camp was set. A roaring fire was soon lighting the area around them, and as they watched the path for signs of the rest of the Fellowship, they also watched the water, knowing what was in its dark depths.

    It was not until that exact time a day and a half later when Aria spotted the Fellowship coming up the path. She signaled to Boromir and slid down the slope silently, standing in the center of a patch of path in the shadows. Boromir dissapeared from sight of their camp and all was quiet.
    Soon the unmistakable sound of a pony's hooves could be heard and once by one their friends apeeared in the light of the full moon. She stepped out of the darkness directly in front of Gandalf, who jumped slightly and said, "Fool of an Elf! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
She smirked, "Hello to you to Gandalf."
"Aria," four voices shouted and she was tackled to the ground by four happy hobbits. She laughed and hugged them and then stood, brushing herself off. She leant down and hugged the Dwarf, who complained loudly and looked sour and the show of affection, then she hugged Legolas and turned to Aragorn, hands on her hips, "Took you long enough brother."
The dark haired man smiled, "Aye, but I had a long way to go."
"Did you? Or are you just making excuses," Boromir questioned from above. The group looked up to see him illuminated by the glow of the fire, "And how are the Hobbits doing?"
    Soon all of the greetings were done, the pony set loose, hungry mouths fed and as they sat around the fire Merry spoke, "So what's this new adventure all about? All we really heard was something had happened to Eta."
Agreements were heard from the others and Aria's face fell, but she spoke, "Ethayne was kidnapped a week ago. We wnt after her when dawn came.... Father tried to stop us, but when he couldn't he obviously sent for all of you - leaving his messages short and very vague, as usual...."
Boromir picked up as she fell silent, "It rained two days later and we lost an entire day trying to find the trail again. When we did we were led to a camp and founs Ethayne's locket in a thorn bush, and we knew she left it for us since she refuses to take it off... But Aria also found a note from a member of the party, stating that the trail to Charadas was false and that they were headed to Moria. We could do nothing but trust him. We sent Kes to you and rode here. Where we found fresh tracks, a new doorway and the bracelet Loeglas gave her. We've waited here for two days."
The group remained silent until Gandalf spoke, "Do you have any idea who her captors are?"
Boromir shook his head in the negative but what Aria said shocked all of them, "Dark Elves..."
"What?!"
"Only dark elves would dare venture into Moria without knowing the way," she said, "Not even the Dwarves will set foot here, and they built the place."
Gandalf nodded, this seemed logical, "How long ago did you figure this out?"
"The day we got here. The note suggested it to me and I had thought about it. Now I'm positive of what they are and where their going."
"Then we wake at dawn and go after them," Aragorn said.

"Lost her?! What do you mean you lost her?!"

Dalraeik's voice thundered through the caverns over Moria, making those with him flinch unwillingly. Halden nodded slightly. Dalraeik fumed for a moment before cursing vapidly in Dark Elvish and glaring at the other Dark Elf. "Find her! And don't come back until you do!"

Halden backed away into the shadows, thoughts creased. Ethayne was smart, and would probably find somewhere on their path behind them to hide until her parents found her. He could double back to the entrance of the mines and wait for Boromir and Aria there, keeping an eye out for Ethayne as he went. Dalraeik would camp out in the main hall of Dwellen Dealth until he returned, which meant he really didn't have to worry about them. So now, all he really had to worry about was not getting his head chopped off while he tried to gain the Fellowship's trust.

~ * ~

"Talk about a trip down memory lane." Pippin muttered to Merry, who shrugged.

"How do we know they're not already on the other side?"

Boromir looked back at Frodo. "They have to spend time finding another path to the bridge, then they have to figure out how to get across it."

"Point taken."

A stone falling in the darkness caused all of them to freeze. Boromir and Aragorn drew their swords as Gimli hefted his axe and Gandalf brightened his magical light to cover more of the darkness. Legolas and Aria pulled their bows and waited. Frodo pulled Sting from its resting place at his side and sighed in relief to see that it wasn't glowing.

"Hail."

The deep voice came from the darkness. "Don't shoot. I'm not here to kill anyone."

"Who are you." Aragorn demanded.

"My name is Halden."

"Put down your weapons." Boromir ordered, sheathing his sword as Aria lowered her bow. "Where is our daughter."

The Dark Elf emerged from the shadows, looking rather relieved that he no longer had so many weapons pointed at him. "I don't know. She ran off early yesterday, I was ordered to look for her."

"Then why are you here instead of looking for her?"

Halden turned his malachite gaze to Aria. "Ethayne is a smart little girl, she would have doubled back and hid somewhere along the path we had taken for you to find her, and I did keep a look out while I came to you."

"How many are in your party?"

"Four including myself. The twins are both low level Shadow Knights, and prefer the sword to magic. Our leader however..."

"Why do I get the feeling we're not going to like this?" Questioned Pippin.

"Dalraeik is a Necromancer of the higest order. None of you would be able to get close enough to strike him without being blasted by a wave of dark magic." Halden explained.

"A Wizard's Duel then." Gandalf said. "All right then, I will take him on. But first, we have to find Ethayne."

~ * ~

Ethayne however, was ahead of Dalraeik, exploring the pillars and rooms of the main hall. She turned a corner into a room whose door had been obliterated and gaped. The bones of Dwarves lay decayed on the ground, many of them crushed. Goblin bodies lay all over the room, rotting and a rotting Cave Troll lay face down next to what could only have been a coffin of some sort. The stone walls were shattered in places, and the smell was horrible. This must have been the place that her parents had fought in seven years ago, which meant that she was standing in a place that was so much a part of her parents that she was in awe.

Her awe however turned to terror as the orange light of fire appeared in the entrance of the side door. A roar filled the air and a blast of hot, foul air came from the doorway. Was this what she thought it was? She had heard stories and seen pictures but never had she thought she would see one. Besides, this one was supposed to be dead. Wasn't it?

Another roar came, only closer to her than before, causing Ethayne to jump a mile high, scream shrilly and decide that it was safer with the mean Dark Elves than here on her own. She spun and bolted.

~ * ~

Ethayne came running into the Dark Elf camp screaming as she was followed by an eerie glow. She dove behind Thrain who drew his sword and traded a look with Marrow. Dalraeik stood and glared at the glow before his eyes widened.

"It can't be..."

What they needed was a high level Beastmaster. There was no way anyone could tame a beast such as this apart from a Master in that craft.

"A Balrog...."

"What was that?"

"I don't think I liked that sound..."

"Nor do I. Stay close together - "

A shrill scream cut Gandalf off and Aria's head snapped up. "Eta?"

"Aria don't!"

Aria didn't listen as she bolted through a doorway and down a long set of stairs. She vaulted out into the main hall of the Dwarf City and stopped, gaping as she recognized the orange glow coming from the other end of the hall. She looked around and spotted a fire, three figures and a smaller one. She began running over, looking for her. "Ethayne!!!!"

Ethayne looked up, eyes wide, before she began running to her mother. "Mommy!!"

Aria dropped her bow and scooped Ethayne into her arms. Holding onto her for dear life. The trio of Dark Elves stared for a moment before Thrain brough his
sword to Aria's throat. She set Ethayne down and rose, drawing her daughter behind her. Dalraeik moved closer. "Move one muscle and he'll slice your throat."

Aria raised a brow. "Oh? I don't think so."

In a flash Aria had punched Thrian in the face, drawn her sword and disarmed Thrain, holding both her sword and his to his throat. Marrow stared as Aria brought
Thrian to his knees and the rest of the Fellowship ran up. She glared at Dalraeik as BOromir picked Ethayne up. "You don't get it. You're not messing with
someone you can just bend to your will. I am daughter of Elrond Half Elven, and the tenth member of the Fellowship of the Ring. Don't pisss me off."

Dalraeik stared, but before he could reply, Aragorn stepped forward. "I hate to inturrupt, but, Balrog?"

"Uncle Aragorn!"

Aragorn hugged Ethayne, a smile on his face before he became serious. "Gandalf... What do we do? We cannot run this time."

Gandalf stepped forward. "Go. Get Ethayne out of here. I will face the Balrog."

"Gandalf!? You can't! Yoou'll be killed!" Frodo exclaimed.

"No... I cannot die Frodo... You know that."

"But - "

"Come Frodo... We cannot help here." Legoas spoke as Boromir picked Ethayne up and the majority of the group began to go back ht ethe direction from which they had come. Legolas began to lead the Hobbit away, and Gandalf gave him a reassuring glance before he turned to face the Balrog.