The Wizard's Keep CLOSED

[MajahTR]

The continuing adventures from RobedMerlin



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[MajahTR]

Having taken quite a sojurn, since the great war, ROBEDMERLIN, once again turns his attention to the goings and comings of me...."continuing education courses,at the wizard's school are a drag"says the wizard,sighing deeply..These people cant even master a pink lemonade and marshmellow spell...How can I teach them the more intricate arts?? If not for the help of Majah, that school would have made me batty.........

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Gazing thoughtfully, into the palantir,he sees many matters that cause him concern, and worry.. This haysend group for one; bats with steel talons for claws????his mind drifts back to a former time and he awakes with a start..If his suspicions are correct, there are indeed dark times ahead.....

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The thoughts of starting an inn have been put aside.......Chili(no beans) and ale are a very "explosive combination" when consumed by hobbits.....I had to steam clean the entire keep after the last party........The air was deadly......

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Thinking back to days of the Great War, he has fond thoughts of the dragons..especially the one he sent back to guard the keep. He has made himself a home further up the mountain,so him , and the little green smoker can be close to the wizard if needed again...Dang dwarves messed up all my potions last time they got in here.......speaking of dragons, the "dragon's gate is closed and sealed by the wizard....In addition, having hidden it magicaly,it should be safe,from the meddlings of those who tend to get themselves in trouble......

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Now about them "steel-clawed " bats.......It's not nice to injure the wizard's friends, and Sparrow is one of those..He ponders , what the cause of their incursion might be, and why they attacked his little brown friend....Perilous times may be ahead..perilous times indeed.......................

The light shimmering brightens and forms into an archway..Through this archway comes our esteemed, Mr. Bilbo Baggins.....who immeadiately expresses relief at once again finding Illy.."I wonder what is causing this"; says Bilbo "Indeed a most curious way to travel indeed"... ?'s come out of Illy like water coming over the falls.."Where were you?, how do you come and go from here? And Get me out of here allready. At a pause to catch her breath, Bilbo says "One ? at a time lass" My mind cannot catch all your words at the speed you use them",."As to where I have been..I keep going to a room just like this one,only your not in it""I have a feeling there is some wizard's magic mixed up in this".

Illy pauses and then walks over to Bilbo and hugs him fiercely....You have to stay with me Bilbo......I can't..................................................

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RM has his sister casting one of her drawing spells in an attempt to slow the advance of the enemy....and slowly A wall is appearing across the entrance to the meadow where the enemy must come..It will not hold for a long time, but it will give them extra time to better set up their defenses.As he turns to give some direction to the dwarves who are with his group,A dragon lands, and the wizard goes over to him. After a brief consultation with the Dragon he turns and says to the others ,"I will be right back, keep working"......

A Dragon's sight is not vulnerable to spells and illusions...RM is aboard the Dragon and he is looking through the Dragons eyes......As they turn towards the oncoming enemy.....A look of shock crosses his face, they then turn towards their friends and those they are trying to protect in Fanghorn forest, and he sees.....................................................................

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING !!!!!!!!!! This is astounding to the wizard for, indeed it is not very often ,a wizard can be fooled......He flies back towards the forest defenders stationed at the far end of the meadow on the forest edge...As the Dragon lands,RM hops off and turns to the dragon, and tells him "Remain vigilant....Powerful magic is at work to create such an illusion, I feel the battle is very near"..The Dragon rises and RM goes to join the others......

Sending a runner to the edge defenders, RM tell them to stand down from alert status, but be very vigilant.....He then settles into a discussionm with Lord Elrond, Legolas, and the others....A stranger is in the camp,all hooded and cloaked...his manner allmost royal/regal in his bearing and speech...RM quickly explains that the battle is not yet here......"It's an illusion,there is no enemy at the present...." Gimli asks "How can this be?" Lord Elrond looks at the wizard and says "Magic".."Yes , By looking through the dragon's eyes, I could see through the illusion"; says the wizard...But I have good news as well..When we turned to head back, I looked pas the forest and saw........AT THIS POINT, the stranger stands and removes his cloak and hood to reveal.........................................

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"Dang" says Illy......"everytime I start to talk serious to that hobbit,he dissappear....I wonder if all men are like this".....as she stares at the fading light shimmer where Mr Bilbo Baggins was......she wonders to herself, "how will I explain to the others,living in the shire? What will my family think?"

Illy shakes her head and says "wake up woman.......what are you thinking?"
"Am I actually falling in love with him?""Stormie, Sparrow, and the others are gonna have a fit" ..She then sits down on the Bunk and returns to thinking of how she is gonna get herself out of here................................

The hood falls back to reveal King Aragorn, who has traveled to Fanghorn Forest,because of a certain little Sparrow, with whom he had lost contact...At mention of this , both Lord Elrond and RM raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.The king looks around the area at the people assembled, and begins to speak; "My Friends.Once again, we are imperiled from the enemies of darkness.....Evil again, rears it's ugly head upon the lands, we know as ME. I am here not to take charge of things, but to , along with my armies, lend any support that I can....Come let us together find a way to save our peoples , and achieve a victory." At this point, the King sits back down, and beckons all present to do likewise....At this point, RM speaks......"This is what I saw when I looked back, past the forest,on my flight back here." The King looks in amazement at the wizard but says nothing ......Lord Elrond then says," Come let us eat and plan as we do so, for I feel the battle is near" ..............

The group settles down to eat, when a vicious roar of rage comes from the forest, and the Black Dragon rises from where she has been guarding the Entlings, and Sails off towards the direction from, which the King has recently arrived...It appears the battle is indeed closer then any have thought, dinner is over, the time for planning is past........................................

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Illy, whom has been sitting on her bunk, trying to figure out an escape, is startled into alertness, as the Roar of the enraged dragon, reaches her ears, even inside her prison........."That's a mad dragon,or I am totally going crazy".........As the dragon roars again, Bilbo re-appears, and says "Come, there is no more time to waste or wait......" As the words wait for what form in her mind, a glow surrounds her, and "poof" the cell is empty and she is gone..............................

All around Illadria is cloudy whiteness........She cannot even see anything in this place......All she feels is the hand of Bilbo leading her on, Where is this place she wonders, and wherre is he going with me, she opens her mouth to speak ,but no words come out.....She can only continue on...................

Illadria continues to follow the lead of Bilbo, as the journey through the whiteness continues..Off in the far distance, she can pick up the sound of a faint, but steady beeping, but she can not make it out yet..


Illadria is starting to wonder when this trip will ever end, the beeping is getting louder, and suddenly she wakes up, looks around, and sees she is in her own home,in her own bed, IT WAS ALL JUST A DREAM.....There is no prison, no Bilbo Baggins,just RL to once again, intrude upon her fantasys...

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Thus ends chapter 1 of the Wizard's Keep....I hope you have enjoyed it...I plan too start Chapter 2. VERY SOON..... The only ? I have is.............

WHO'S NEXT ??

[MajahTR]

Chapter 2

The sun shining down upon the hill, warms the solitary rider sitting upon the white horse. The rider gazes down into the valley,hidden by mountains, Eyes scanning for , and after a short time finding, the ruins of an ancient fort......To the trained eye ,signs of a battle long ago fought,stones strewn about, no signs of any humans about. The rider reaches within their cloak , to again look at the withered document,recently received.....Could this be it ? The wind blows cold and the rider ,with thoughts of food and shelter for the night, turns back in the direction came from..A town, about an hours ride back,where food shelter, and perhaps information could be found..But this kind of enterprise allways brings danger..Caution will be the key operative word here...........


The rider approaches the town slowly, he rides along the treeline,to better blend in.., As he watches from the shadow of the trees, the town seems normal..People come and go,children play on the grass, but yet something bothers the rider. There are no gates or fences....This area has been a scene of great battles in the past.One would think they'd see a wall at least,but there seem to be no barriers at all.Finding the inn, the rider decides to approach the inn to find an evening meal....After hiding the horse in an old outbuilding,Hidden by the trees, he walks down the hill and enters the town.
As he aproaches the front door of the inn, he hears the noise of an argument, coming from within. Then someone ,or something, comes out the window,headfirst, and lands near his feet...After dusting himself off, he looks to see who or what the person is, but they are allready scrambling up , and running away. His instincts tell him to just go inside and eat, but there was something very unusual , whoever had come out the window, had been wearing NO shoes, and had hair coming out of his toes....LOTS of it....The stranger's curiousity wins out , and he turns to follow in the direction the person who'd come out the window had gone.................he turns the corner,near a second inn and.......................................................


He finds himself in an alleyway off the second inn, where the creature who flew out the window, was now face down in the alley.....There is a small bit of blood trickling down the side of the creature's head.He approaches and ,cautiously turns him over, he is human-like in appearance but much shorter...He doesn't look like he's missed too many meals... Upon hearing people approaching,he picks up the creature and ducks into the side door of the inn.....He has come into the kitchen,where the cook gasps in surprise..The rider quickly speaks; "I mean you no harm..I found him in the alley, and saw he was injured,The people who chased him out of the other inn were coming so I ducked in the first door I could Find."At this point, the little man stirs,and moans, and the cook motions the rider to come this way...She takes him to her room off the kitchen, and has the rider lay him down on the bed....She then speaks; "I am Rosalinda,My family is from beyond a place called the Shire, where this young man is from...His name is Pipham, he also calls himself a hobbit,says his grandfather was famous,even rode in the branches of a talking , walking tree,myself, I think he smokes too much Pipeweed." Then as an added thought , she then asks, "Who are you?" But as she looks back to the place where the rider was standing, he had allready dissappeared......

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The rider did not dismiss what the cook shared about the hobbit's ramblings, for not only did he know the tree's really existed, but he knew the hobbit's name as well..It was one of those he'd been warned about, but why was he warned?


The rider walks into the inn, and looks at the inn-keeper , behind the bar.With barely a nod, he walks over to his normal table..positioned in the darkest corner of the common room,,with a view of both doors,(front and kitchen), and a commanding view of the stairs as well, his father had taught him all the skills of a Ranger,and he had honed and refined them through his own experiences....It was on his own family's business, that he was about. To recover a precious family item, lost and found, then lost again during the purported battle that had occurred near here. His mind replays the events of earlier this evening,with the hobbit(Pipham)....Things were certainly curious..
As the Ranger prepared to eat his meal,Just delivered by the serving maid, A commotion rose up outside, a slight movement(unseen by all) loosened his weapon.Suddenly , the main door to the inn burst open, and in walked ........................

The most beautiful woman he had ever lain eyes on, and also one of the tallest.....Thorn ,son of Aragorn, had heard of women like this, but he had never seen one..As he refastened his weapon, and withdrew his hand from within his cloak, The woman made eye contact with him , then began to walk over to where he was seated....She seated herself at his table and began to speak. "You are Thorn, a ranger "..It seemed a statement more then a ?...."I have need of your services, and I can pay you well." . We do not hire out our services, especially to ones whom we do not know at all...Can I order you something?" . I will listen to what you have to say said Thorn,but I cannot make any promises, for I am allready engaged in a serious manner."" And Just how do you know who I am ?, For I have never seen you,and I, certainly would not forget such a beautiful face."At this, the woman smiled,.................................

[MajahTR]

Thorn awakens to find himself in his room , at the inn, the lady sitting in a chair....His first thoughts, of how could he have been taken that un-aware, is pushed aside,as the woman speaks "Now , Are you ready to listen to me?".The ranger says "Who are You?".."A fair ?, replies the Lady....Some call me Majahheart, others just call me a wizardess....Majah will be fine., Now I have need of your services." "How may I help ?(Thorn has learned to listen to this woman).....I have heard your name before,My father has spoken of Wizards who have helped him in the past....Gandalf, Robedmerlin," Yes, replies Majah, They are my brothers."And Gandalf , as you know sailed into the west, with the last of the elves from Rivendell....And some hobbits , whom you might have heard of........My business with you concerns my Brother Robedmerlin,He is missing, and his last known whereabouts were near here...He was investigating something near the ruins you were at today...Do you know what they are?" Her information has confirmed his suspicions about the ruins...."Yes they are the ruins of Helm's Deep,But how did you know I was there, I saw no evidence of others present?"As soon as he says this, he realizes how silly that sounded, That woman is a powerful wizardess, by all accounts...Majah lets the comment pass.....What was your Brother here for?, asks Thorn.."I am not sure but............................................................................................


A noise in the hall interrupts the wizardess, as she is about to explain.Thorn starts to go to the door, but Majaheart motions him to wait.....Taking a purple crystal from beneath the neckiline of her robe.She says a few words, which Thorn does not recognize......" Now you may open the door Thorn, for whoever was spying at our keyhole is now asleep..." Thorn opens the door, to find Pipham, asleep and holding onto the latch...."This is the fellow I saw chased from the inn upon my arrival to town..I have been warned he is not to be trusted, but I wonder what he thought he would hear?.................."

"Now as for what my brother was looking for, I am not exactly sure, but i do know that your Father and You are involved, and now my brother is missing, and I want to know what you know." As Thorn starts to speak, Pipham stirs and moans." I must get him somewhere else before he sees you .Where can I find you later? Majaheart says " I will find you" And vanishes in a haze of purple smoke. Thorn picks up the Hobbit and uncerimonisly(sp) drops him into a hay wagon, currently under his window.....The driver approaches with horses and startrs to hitch them up..By the time Pipham wakes up,he'll not know where he is.......

Meanwhile : Across ME , clear on the far side of mordor,lies an ancient ruin, From the midst of this ruin rises a dark grayish black mist,A combination of Sulphur, and brimstone......that curls the nose hairs of most denizens of ME, but...A small group of shadows stand around the rising smoke as if they revel in it...A voice rises from the mist; "Find it...Before they do....And find that wizard and kill him before he realizes what, and where we are.....................................

The Hobbit awakens with Sun streaming about his face..Pipham wonders what, and where he is....He hears the sound of pigs,.......Suddenly, he hears the angry voice,that all hobbits know when raiding fields..lol..Pipham has wound up in the area of the Shire.lol More specifically in the farmers fields.......He runs back through the fields and woods heading towards the Shire, but will they welcome him there? After the last time .........

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Thorn leads his horse out of the stable, He mounts the horse and heads back out towards the woods,which lead to the ruins, As he heads towards the woods,the last of the town recedes out of his sight......As the trees surround him, He hears a heavenly voice,and sees Majah appear..."I wondered if you were gonna sleep the day away"..Thorn speaks and "I sense a difference in the woods today....We must be vigilant.." ... Majah looks about and clutches a purple crystal worn around her neck..After a brief time of intense concentration, she turns to Thorn,but Thorn has allready drawn his sword...

Trouble comes............................

[MajahTR]

A small band of dwarves come out from behind the trees,running across Thorn and Majah's location, but they just yell "RUN", and they keep on going. Thorn cries "HOLD"."Why do you run?"Dark Elves comes"says one of the stragglers, as he runs on by..Thorn and Majah decide to cover the Dwarves retreat.....As the noise of the dwarves fades, an arrow whizzes by Majah shoulder and By Thorn's head as well....Majah turns to say "Take Co...v...... The rest never comes out..Thorn takes her behind a nearby rock but can find no wounds....But Majah is as cold as yesterdays pizza....Seeing she still breathes, Thorn realizes that this is some kind of enchantment,And quickly gets their horses going in the direction of the ruins..They should be able to hide there. But just as quickly he says ,"Dark Elves do not know this kind of enchantment,and a voice answers,but I DO"................Thorns soon sleeps on his horse just like Majah, and the man with the voice comes out from behind a tree, and takes the reins of both horses, and moves out................................

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We flash to a nearby campfire, where a small group of creatures,of a shadowy substance confers with the Dark Elve party.........The Dwarves had alerted the Ranger and the lady,(who were the real targets anyhow) , Someone got them away........A flash of light and smoke, and the bearer of the bad news is no more......A voice of pure evil speaks...FIND THEM, or you will join your late leader..Failure will not be tolerated................And the assembled minions of evil grow quiet................

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

TEXT

As light begins to fade from the sky,,We can see a myterious , Shrouded Man, leading the still sleeping on their horses forms of Majah and Thorn ....The cloak, and an aura of mystery seem to shroud him from anyone's view...He is heading straight for the Ruins ,, which the ranger had espied on his previous trip...He heads towards them without the least bit of hesitation..As if He lives there.......He dissappears inside the outer walls, (or what's left of them), taking the others and their horses with him.....Soon it is as if no one ever passed by there.......

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The Dark Elves and the other shadowy creatures, have disopersed and are talking amongst themselves...None seem brave enough to voice what most of them are thinking,"How did we get into this?" .. A stark reminder ,just witnessed, of the price of failure, seems to further darken the mood......The elves are for pressing on now tonight, but the Orcs seem hesitant..,

Suddenly a banging on wood sounds, which brings a "Quiet You, or we'll eat you now,instead of later" Only a single fading word comes from within the box, "Hungry" , then silence returns

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

Majah is the first to awaken..She looks around to find herself in a warm room... She looks around to see Thorn still slepping..The horses are tethered nearby, contentedly munching hay........As she hears the Ranger beginning to stir, she turns back towards him to see him raising his head up....They make eye contact...Then Majah Speaks; " I sense no harm or evil here, at the moment....But I am not quite sure just where here is."
Thorn says;" This place seems rather familiar, if my Father's descriptions are correct, This is a common room, used by the people who stayed here..This is part of Helm's Deep, which was my destination anyway....So how did we end up here?" Majah then surmises; " I have not ever been overcome by that spell before, There are only a handfull who know how to cast it.....I dont know who, but if they meant to harm us, we would not be here now..."...." Agreed" Thorn replies.....They both decide to look around a bit,but first, Thorn breaks out some Lembas Bread.." I am not willing to risk a cook-fire yet....."..They eat and then prepare too look around. What they will find,no one is sure.............

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Author's Note - I want to apologize for seeming slow between writings, but work has been rather crazy lately...I appreciate all the kind words that have been spoken And I hope you continue to enjoy..PEACE

RM

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

The hour is late, and the fire has died to a few dull embers.....Inside the box,the prisoner turns over to peer out a crack.Seeing the sleeping guards, and no one up and about, The time seems right..He withdraws a small sharp object from his cloak and begins to work on the contraption that passes for a lock, at least the back side of it..He hopes to get it to open up so he can make his escape.....The last of his Lembas bread gone,several days past, he has to find a way out of here soon......A noise from outside the box awakens one of the guards, so he stops and listens.....It is just the relief guard...But he stations himself right at the door to the box.....So for now he has to stop trying the lock..But hunger causes him to fade,and sleep overtakes him again.........................

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The Shrouded MAn watches from a safe distance......He wonders if they truly realize what dangers lay, ahead, for this is just the beginning of their Journey...

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

Majah can sense something..A somewhat familiar feeling permeates the air around her and Thorn,she cannot quite sense what it is yet, but feeling no danger,she continues on.....As they round the corner, Thorn speaks" I Know this room, My father talked of it many times..This is the room where they planned the first phase of the fight,after He arrived here....He told me of tossing Gimli across a space to help protect that remnant of a gate over there......" Majah thought to herself"Dwarf Tossing"? She finds it hard to believe that it is possible, and says " Gimli??? Who and what is Gimli?" , "Gimli is the dwarf who fought alongside my father, Legolas, and the others.", said Thorn.....

As He started to explain further, a noise from across the room, near an oak door reached them." Thorn looks and says" hide Majah, we are not alone"...Never one for hiding, Thorn draws his sword and heads for the oak door......A shadow encased figure steps through the door, and says "Put away your sword.If I wanted to harm you,I would have allready done so"...the mists part and out steps.........."Brother !!!!! Majah yells"...

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The guard standing by the door of the box, looks at it suspiciously..He thought he heard a noise, but it is simply whoever inside snoring....He does not know who it is nor does he care...He just wants nothing to happen on his watch..He was a eye witness, to what happens to failures earlier..And he needs no repeat reminders.

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Gandalf's Sister simply looks at her brother, and wonders how he has gotten here..Last she had heard, he sailed into the west, with the elves.But here he stands....Majah makes the introductions, then stars to speak, but "Gandalf interrupts saying "There is no time for small talk now..There is much danger in these old ruins..Come i have a safe place up ahead"

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

My apologies to all...I shall now continue with my tale, and i hope you will continue to enjoy


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The Sun,or what can be seen of it, from inside the box, has risen..Hunger is still acutely reminding the hobbit of his predicament...as he peers through the cracks he realizes there is no guard on his box, for that matter, he hears no voices or noise of any kind..He pulls out his piece of metal and soon he frees himself from the box...he rises and looks around.He quickly moves to some nearby trees to hide himself...He has to find food,and get out of here, but just where ? , is here ,.

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[ROBEDMERLINTR]

Majah , Gandalf, and Thorn are quietly making their way through the remains of what was once Helm's Deep.
An errie silence permeates the entire area.....As they make their way towards the back.Gandalf leads them to the cave..(the back way out,mentioned in the movie..lol)
Thorn starts to question why they are leaving, when suddenly ; Gandalf takes a hard left and , with a wave of his staff, a door to a small, but livable area, opens...the wizard waves them inside...Majah starts to speak but stops as her brother , again waves his staff, and the door closes.........

"Only the King and I knew about this room..It was "created" during the defense of the keep..." says the wizard,,,"Now , to the reason why we are here"
I have returned from the west too .................................

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Pipham realizing his predicament,heads for the Shire.. And soon wonders about his choice, for doors and windows close as he passes by.....He comes to the house of Old Sam....But their is no one about...In his mind, he wonders if Sam is still alive....Knowing there is only one way to find out..He knocks at the round door..
Hearing no response, he turns away and starts to ponder what to do next..Suddenly the door opens and a hand reaches out and snatches Pipham jacket color, and drags him through the door saying: "Get in here before someone sees you".................................

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But someone has seen..for as the door closes, a shadow emerges from the shade of a tree, and flys off towards the land called Mordor...

[ROBEDMERLINTR]

"Why are you here ?" Pipham turns around slowly to see the "Ghost-Like" image of Old Sam , himself...Recovering his wits, it was the only thing to do that I could think of...He briefly informs Old Sam about the goings on near Helms Deep, including the Ranger, and a lady of power......I was listening at the door , and boom,i wake up in Farmer Maggots fields..And the farmer being out and about, I headed for here....

Old Sam thinks carefully for Pipham has never been one for being "truthful".....Old Sam however,realizes there is some truth to what Pipham has been saying......In addition to the forboding sense of evil walking upon the land again...He thinks to himself: "I am too old for this" ,but aloud he says nothing....."Come Pipham ,sit by the fire with me for we must talk.There are things you need to know ,while there is still time.............

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[ROBEDMERLINTR]

As the trio settles in, Majahheart looks around,and without thinking, says outloud ;"I sense power in this room,And I dont mean you and I brother"..Gandalf looks at her, and then at Thorn saying : "yes and that is part of the reason I am here."We had no time to explore the meaning ,or the scource of this power, during the war, or the days after......We set,what we thought were adequate safeguards and Went on to other matters"........But others have been here,including those with the taint of Mordor still within their hearts.And that is why I am here".. Then Majah speaks."I went looking for ROBEDMERLIN......He was said to be headed this way,but never arrived"....I found Thorn on my way here"....Gandalf then turns towards Thorn.........but the Ranger says nothing...............Then ...........

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Author's NOTE: This will get real interesting in a short while.......My work schedule has been crazy..But My mind is full of ideas..So stay tuned..RM