The Daughter of the Moon Volume I

Chapter 19 : Debate

The others of the company went up, although the three elves of the Lorién looked at Gimli with suspicion.

Soon the hobbits, the dwarf and the men fell asleep. Even Aragorn, who hadn't been sleeping peacefully for several days, was able to rest.

Legolas started a discussion with Rùmil, Haldir and Oraphin.

While they were chatting happily, Elenwë moved away and leaned against the railing, several metres away from the merry group.

She contemplated the starry skies, her gaze getting lost between the stars of such delicate beauty.

Haldir finally joined her and joked a little about the night escapades of his childhood.

Elenwë finally laughed at this memory and she was surprised to find that Legolas seemed to be watching their conversation.

There was a regular amused glow on his face.

The morning dawned pale in the east. As she grew older, the light filtered through the yellow leaves of the tree, and he

It seemed to the Hobbits that the first rays of sunshine were shining on a cool summer morning.

A pale blue sky showed through the moving branches.

Looking out through an opening in the south side of the flounder, Frodo saw the whole valley of the Silver Stream stretched out before his eyes like a golden sea of tawny gold gently undulating in the iridescence.

It was still a cool morning when the Company set off again, now guided by Haldir and his brother Rumil.

-Farewell, sweet Nimrodel! exclaimed Legolas.

-I shall return," whispered Elenwë.

Frodo looked back and saw a shimmer of white foam among the grey trunks.

-Farewell, he said.

He felt as if he would never again hear such beautiful running water, forever blending its countless notes into an ever-changing harmony.

They returned to the path that continued along the west bank of the Cours d'Argent, and there they stood for a while, heading south.

There were orca footprints in the ground. But soon Haldir moved aside into the trees, in whose shade he stopped by the river.

-Here is one of mine, across the river, though you can't see him," he said.

He made a call, like a slight bird's whistle, and an Elf came out of a grove of saplings, he was dressed in grey, but his bonnet was thrown back, and his hair sparkled like gold in the morning sun.

Haldir skilfully threw a roll of grey rope over the stream, which the other caught and tied the end to a tree by the river.

-The Celebrant is still strong here, as you can see," said Haldir, "his course is fast and deep, and it is also icy.

We don't set foot as far north as we should, other than when we have to. But in these times of vigilance, we don't build bridges. This is our way of crossing. Follow my lead!

He tied his end of the rope to another tree, after which he ran lightly along this improvised bridge, just like on a road.

-We can follow this path with Legolas," said Elenwë at the time, "but the others don't have this address. Do they have to swim across?

-No, says Haldir, laughing slightly. We have two other ropes. We're going to fix them one on top of the other, one at shoulder height and the other halfway up, holding them, strangers should be able to cross carefully.