Hi my lovely readers,

Another chapter! We are almost in the homestretch, and this chapter is also a beta testing for another one of my stories, a cross-over if you will.

I hope you all will enjoy it.

Love,

Author

Miriel ran through the maze of hallways blindly until she was out of the Elvenking's Hall and once again in the forest. She collapsed under a nearby tree and, for the lack of better words, bawled her eyes out. The whole process was rather inelegant and involved a lot of snot, tears, choking, gasping, and hiccupping.

Of course in terms of reality, this was normal. Outside of Disney and Hollywood, no one can really cry without snots and hiccups. So there she was with a blotchy red face, streaked with tears and snots, when she could feel a presence in the forest near her. She dried her face with her sleeves, ignoring the way the fabric scratched her blistered skin.

She glanced around the dark forest warily; her fingers curled around a rock on the floor as she slowly stood up.

In one swift motion she threw the rock into the trees. A gasp tore out of her as the rock came flying back seemingly fast enough to break through the sound barrier. She barely ducked her head out of her way and turned just in time to see the rock blow through the trunk of a large and ancient tree before becoming embedded in the tree behind the one it just shot through.

What the…

Miriel looked back to where the rock had come from as a dark form started to melt out of the shadowy forest of Mirkwood. Miriel clenched her fingers into fists and bent her knees slightly. Good lord, she was just in a battle, the actual one, not the emotional one she just had with Glorfindel, why couldn't the Valar just give her a break?

The outline of a heavy hooded cloak became distinguishable as it came into better lighting. Miriel frowned in confusion. What…Nazgûl? No, the figure was too small to be a Nazgûl, an orc or goblin? Or maybe an Urukai?

But what the hell was it doing so close to the Elvenking's Hall?

Is there an impending attack?

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Miriel asked, her voice trembling slightly, and with a good reason. She had no weapons or armors. If this was an enemy, she had no way of defending herself much less gaining enough time to warn the elves.

"You are…human…" the shadowy figure murmured in the raspy and hoarse voice of an old man.

Miriel blinked a few times in surprise but did not lower her fists: "Yeah, so?"

Her words seemed to surprise the hooded figure; it tilted its head to study Miriel, causing her to shift slightly in discomfort. She, of course, had momentarily forgotten that what she had said was not a grammatically correct or common sentence in Middle Earth. But even though she did not notice, the figure did. Thick silence reigned in the forest for a long moment before the hooded figure finally spoke up again, well, actually the figure sang: "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see."

Miriel let out a rather strangled gasp that sounded more like a frog croak; she took a shaky step forward: "you…how…how do you know that song…who are you?" This wasn't a pop song, but it was a song that most of the people knew in her world, in that world she thought she had lost forever.

A leather gloved hand rose and slowly pushed back the heavy hood, throwing the rest of the cloak over the shoulders.

Oh….

Miriel's crimson eyes widened as she took in the figure standing before her.

It was a woman, a beautiful woman, despite the gauntness of her face, and the haunting darkness in her eyes, and the dark runes that marred the fair skin of right side of her face, the woman was still incredibly beautiful.

Physically she was just slightly taller than Miriel, but there was a certain elegance in her bearing that Miriel could never hope to emulate. Her features were sophisticated but soft, like calligraphy strokes. Red, fiery red, hair waved down her back with the bang falling just above her almond shaped eyes, one emerald and the other one strangely pitch black with no distinction between the pupil and the rest of the eye. Her skin was ivory pale, almost translucent, and her lips were cracked and pale.

The woman stepped closer to Miriel with a grace that would have shamed a prima donna of Miriel's world, and as she did so, she removed the long leather glove that had reached up to her upper arm. The black fabric fell away to reveal twisted scars carved into the woman's upper arms and black runes that covered the entire limb.

Breath seemed to have escaped Miriel as she watched the woman raised the trembling hand to Miriel's face. The woman let out a soft muffled cry as her cold fingertips touched one of the welts on Miriel's face.

"You are real," the woman said dazedly, seemingly still unable to believe Miriel was there.

Miriel nodded: "I…I am Miriel Hall…from California." Since the woman had taken the risk and revealed the song, she thought she might as well take some risk as well. Either one of them could be a servant of Sauron to the other, but the risk was worth taking.

The woman's hand dropped to her side and a small smile, that was slightly strained, lifted the corner of her pale lips: "My name is Arin Cala, I was from London."

"Hi," Miriel couldn't help but smile. She had thought she would never miss anyone from her world, but there was a strange sense of warmth and happiness bubbling within her as she looked at the woman standing before her. They were, in a sense, of the same race and the only ones of their race in this world.

The woman's smile widened despite the lines of wariness that marred the corner of her lips: "hi." And for the longest time they just stood there staring at each other in utter silence.

"How…how long have you been here?" Miriel asked, finally breaking the stillness.

"Hundreds and hundreds of years," the woman said, a look of utter agony flashed across her one emerald eye.

"Sorry," Miriel swallowed, "I didn't mean…"

The woman maintained the smile and said calmly: "it's quite alright, and how long have you been here?"

"A little bit more than five years, I arrived when I was nineteen."

"So young," the woman said softly, "the Valar have been cruel."

"Oh no, it wasn't that bad," Miriel tried to reassure the woman, "what about you?"

"Twenty-four, but I died when I was thirty-two," Arin Cala replied with the same tranquility as if she was merely telling a story.

Miriel blinked again: "what?"

Arin Cala merely gave her another smile and started to turn to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Miriel hurriedly grabbed hold of the woman's right arm. The reaction was seismic. The woman's head snapped around and fairly snarled at the younger woman. Five years ago Miriel would have been frightened and let go, but she had seen evil and she had fought evil, and she knew, this woman, was no foul being despite the haunting shadows and the scars, because there had been true kindness and sincerity in her smile.

"Let go," the woman hissed. Her voice which had grown slightly smoother during their conversation now fell back to its previous harshness. The runes on the woman's right arm started to widen and it may be a trick of the light but a faint smoke seemed to be rising from the dark tattoos.

Miriel held on stubbornly, meeting the mismatched gaze of the woman: "no."

The woman snarled again and her other hand went to her back and unsheathed a sword. Miriel reacted faster. Although looking back, she decided she was probably insane at the time, because she did something she never thought she would do. She head butted the other woman before positioning her body so that her right leg was behind the woman. She then pushed the woman backwards forcing Arin Cala to trip over her right leg and sending the red-haired woman falling backwards to the ground.

Miriel fell on top of her, straddling the red-haired woman between her knees with her left hand still firmly around Arin Cala's right arm which was now definitely emitting a black smoke.

"Let go," Arin Cala, despite her frail-looking physique, turned out to be quite strong. She easily flipped the more petite girl so that she was on top of Miriel. She pulled her arm back, the sword poised dangerously at Miriel's throat. "Let go," the woman repeated, "it is for your own good. I am cursed. Mere touch can kill you."

Miriel would be damned if she was going to let go. There was another person from her world, and she would not lose her. "But I am fine," Miriel retorted.

Arin Cala stared at Miriel before looking down at her arm where Miriel's fingers were wrapped around. There was smoke rising from the runes, but Miriel's hand was perfectly unharmed.

"So what is supposed to be hurting me?" Miriel asked blandly. Her words and what was going on seemed to have thrown off Arin Cala. The sword dropped to the ground and the older woman just knelt there, staring at the junction between their hands.

"I…this…" words fell out of Arin Cala's lips incoherently.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want," Miriel said slowly and carefully, not wanting to spook or offend the other woman, "but…what are the runes?"

Another long length of silence reigned until Arin Cala seemed to regain her previous calmness and composure. She stood up and stepped away from Miriel allowing the latter to slowly stand up.

"I am not running away, but I would rather not stand here any longer to have this conversation, so would you let go now," Arin Cala said quietly as she picked up the fallen sword and sheathed it. Miriel bit her lips uncertainly but in the end, acquiesced and released her hold on the woman's arm.

True to her word, Arin Cala merely started to walk back into the forest and Miriel followed as they walked on for hours in silence. They did not stop until they were well away from Elvenking's Hall, and judging by the amount of ground they had cover, they were probably closer to the East Bight than the Hall.

Miriel promptly fell to the ground when they finally stopped. While the other woman looked like she merely took a stroll in the park, Miriel's legs were nearly numbed to the point that she couldn't even feel them anymore. She wasn't sure how she managed to make it this far, especially after following the Urukai into Mirkwood and the battle, but part of it probably have to do with her stubbornness.

Regardless, Miriel managed to make it. As she sat there, massaging her legs, Arin Cala suddenly spoke up.

"I said before, did I not, that I died when I was thirty-two," the red-haired woman said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Miriel gasped for breaths for a few seconds and decided her lungs would likely not allow her to speak yet, so she nodded. Thankfully, her contribution didn't seem to be required at this point for the other woman to continue.

"I was taken by orcs to Saruman," Arin Cala continued in the same calm tone she had used before, her emerald eye hooded, "and tortured and experimented on, by the time I escaped, I was no longer the same," bitterness marred Arin Cala's fair façade, "to this day, you are the only one who has touched me and was not injured by the darkness within me. And I realize, I could not go back to," a tremor entered her voice, which before this had remained steady and flat, "I could not go back."

And she fell silent.

Miriel wanted to ask 'go back to where' but felt at this moment it was best not to push. There was so much sadness and so much pain in Arin Cala's green eye so much so that in the back of Miriel's mind, she felt ashamed at how badly she had handled her own issues.

This woman had dropped into Middle-Earth during the prime of her life and then was subsequently kidnapped and tortured. Yet, here she was, still standing straight and strong despite her pain, her sorrows, and all that has happened to her.

Arin Cala turned back around to Miriel and gave a smile, but this time her smile was less strained and less weary: "this is the first time I've spoken to someone for a while, and also the first time I've told anyone about this, thank you for listening."

Miriel, with her eyelids heavy from exhaustion, nevertheless kept her eyes open and looked up at Arin Cala: "why are you thanking me? I think you are ridiculously brave and strong. I…I…" she chuckled wryly, "I can even begin to imagine what you have gone through much less surviving it."

The bitterness returned to Arin Cala's face: "but I did not survive it, I died the day they took me from Greenwood."

Miriel's eyes widened: "you…you lived in Elvenking's Hall."

The blankness returned to the older woman's green eye and she did not reply.

"When you escaped, you didn't go back?" Miriel asked softly.

"How could I?" Arin Cala asked, a bleak look crossing her face. She extended her right arm outward and touched the runes on the right side of her face with her left hand, "the person I was…I am no longer. I…how could I face…him with this darkness in me, a darkness I cannot control?"

Miriel stood up shakily and walked over to the older woman. The woman was in love. Miriel recognized the signs because it takes a woman in love to know a woman in love. The sorrow and the pain in the woman's eyes were because of her love.

"Does he love you?" Miriel asked quietly but firmly.

The woman's green eye looked at her blankly, but Miriel refused to look away and she held the gaze until the pained emotion returned to the green orb: "Yes," the older woman whispered, "he loved me, but not anymore, not if he sees what I have become."

"That's not true."

"How would you know?"

The sharpness of the woman's tone did not deter Miriel either.

Miriel looked down at her own hands that were tightly intertwined with each other: "you are right, I do not know. I do not know what was between you and this person. I do not even know who this person is or what he is like." She swallowed and clenched her fingers tighter until her knuckles turned white, "but I know what it is like to…to like someone so much that I would do anything…anything to just see him and be near him. And how much it hurts…it hurts so bad that my heart would ache until I think it stopped pumping oxygen and my body would turn numb…when I have to leave him."

"You don't understand. I am evil. I have a darkness within me that threatens to consume my entire being with every breath I take," Arin Cala said, her voice no longer calm, instead it was rising in volume and tension, "I can't be anywhere near living beings. I haven't talked to a human, an elf, or anyone for hundreds of years. I cannot go back!"

Miriel raised her head to meet the green eye wild with fury on the right that contrasted sharply with the cold, flat, and emotionless black orb on the left. Miriel's lips trembled but she forged on determinedly. She may never get her happy ending. She may have ruined Glorfindel's life and taken away his chance at happiness. But the Valar had given her a chance to save someone else's happiness. This woman, this beautiful and strong woman, standing in front of her deserves to be happy, and Miriel will make sure Arin Cala gets her happiness.

Call her naïve, optimistic, or even silly, but she had to make her amends somehow.

"You are talking to me now, aren't you? And if touching you is one way to die, we just figured out it doesn't work on me," Miriel said crossing her arms, "and if the runes are a curse then there should be an anti-curse, a way to dispel it."

"I've lived with it for centuries, if there was a way I would have found it," Arin Cala snapped, black smoke starting to rise from her right side again.

Miriel's eyes started to sting; she clenched her fingers tightly: "so what are you going to do? Just wonder around Middle Earth alone forever?" She grabbed hold of Arin Cala's arms, "you said he loved you. If this person really loved you for you, then he will still love you now because he would have loved you for you. He would have loved you for your bravery, for your strength that even I can see, and I just met you."

The red-haired woman shook her head, her one emerald eye crazed with grief: "you don't know that! How could you?"

"Then how could you?" Miriel asked as a drop of tear fell down her cheeks, "how do you know? Why would you just leave both of you miserable by not even trying? How do you know for sure that he would not love you now? You guys loved each other, doesn't that mean something? Isn't that worth trying for?"

Another drop of tear fell down Miriel's cheeks: "a lot of times we fall in love, but that love is unrequited or the person we love passes. Love is rare. Love is precious. It sounds like the person you love is still alive so why won't you just try?"

Arin Cala's knees wavered, and the beautiful woman fell to the ground, sobbing. Clear tears fell down the green eye, but inky black drops fell down from the black pupil-less eye and they hit the ground with a hiss, withering the grasses.

Miriel knelt down, ignoring the poisonous liquid, and wrapped her arms around the other woman: "I know what it is like to be alone, and no one, no one should have been alone for so long. No one should be so cold, fall asleep through so many silent nights, and unable to share the beauty of each day. So don't…don't do this to yourself, please."

The older woman didn't say anything, she just cried with streams of clear and inky tears falling down her face, staining Miriel's shirt black before burning through the fabric, but yet the tears did not hurt Miriel, not even a scratch.

Miriel bit her lips but tears roll down her face with no less fervor either; Miriel's heart ached for how long this woman had to cry alone, fearing what her or her tears would do to living beings. Miriel hugged the woman for hours as she cried and cried until Arin Cala fell into a deep slumber, and then Miriel allowed weariness to finally win and takeover, and fell asleep as well.

When Miriel finally woke up again she was alone in the forest. She scrambled up and glanced around in a panic.

"Arin?" Miriel called out anxiously.

Silence.

"Arin?!"

"Stop shouting," Miriel turned around to see Arin Cala standing there with a light of amusement in her green eye, "Sauron could have heard you from Mordor."

Miriel let out a sigh in relief and said sheepishly: "sorry, I thought…"

"I don't enjoy being alone," Arin Cala said as she walked over and handed Miriel a basket full of berries, "and I am," the woman's lips curved up in a soft smile, "I am grateful for your company not just because you seem to be immune to the darkness within me, but also we seem to have much in common."

Miriel flushed slightly: "Th…thanks, you're super…direct."

Arin Cala laughed as the two woman sat down to a breakfast of berries: "you did not beat around the bush last night either."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be obnoxious," Miriel said, flushing bright red.

"You weren't," Arin Cala sighed as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"So…so would you go back to Mirkwood? To…to whomever you…" Miriel stammered uncertainly.

Arin Cala let out a slow and measured breath: "I do not know; it has been so long," her voice turned wistful and wry, "as time passed I think I lose more and more of my courage to go into Greenwood. Your words, they make sense, but I do not think I have the courage to find out the answer even if I wish to." She closed her eyes with a sigh, "I wish…I wish we met sooner."

Miriel reached out a hand and gently touched the other woman's arm: "we've met now."

"There were a lot of times I've wondered if things would have been better off if I never arrived here, or if I did, I died a few days after I got here. Then I wouldn't have met…met him…never…never had those memories…and it wouldn't hurt this much now." Arin Cala said, her voice started to shake.

"No," Miriel said quietly but unwaveringly, "I," she took in a deep breath and continued, "things have not been great," she gave a short laugh, "I just graduated college and was going to start my graduate program when I suddenly landed here. And then I ended up in this really cold place and then, anyways, what I am trying to say is…" she halted as she tried to figure out what she was trying to say.

Miriel looked up and met Arin Cala's now opened eyes: "the warmth, the kindness, the good memories…I thought they were painful too, because I might never experience them again yet I know they exist now. But…I suppose…I think…even then…I would still want to have them, because…" Miriel struggled slightly as she tried to search for the exact words she wanted, "because now I know," words started to flow smoother as understanding slowly dawned upon her, "now I know that someone out there cares about someone like me. And as hard as it is to not have that anymore, I would not give that up, because…because that warmth, that…that…I want to remember that warmth forever."

"And…and," tears fell down Miriel's face, "if I could even have a chance of having that forever, without…without hurting anyone…I would, but I can't…" Her hold on Arin Cala's arm tightened, "please, just…just try?"

Arin Cala did not give a reply, instead, she just smiled and patted Miriel's head: "Enough about me, tell me about yourself. Where did you land in Middle Earth and how did you end up in Greenwood?"

"You are deflecting," Miriel said pursing her lips.

Arin Cala shrugged and leaned back against a nearby tree: "I've blabbed a lot, and now it's your turn."

Miriel paled slightly and her hand dropped from the other woman's arm. She interlocked her fingers together and gave a small nervous chuckle: "my life has been pretty boring."

"I saw you running out of the Elvenking's Hall, crying. What happened?" Arin Cala persisted.

Miriel shook her head and managed a rather weak and wobbly smile: "Don't worry about it," her gaze moved to the long wet red tendrils of the older woman's hair, "you took a bath? There is a stream nearby?"

"Have a lot of experience detracting yourself, I see," Arin Cala said with a soft laughter, "well, fine. There's a small spring just a few feet off that way," she said with a tilt of the head behind her.

Miriel scrambled up with a curt nod: "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, ready to lit out of there like a jackrabbit.

"Wait," Arin Cala laughed, shaking her head at the younger woman. She easily climbed up one of the trees and came down again a few seconds later. She handed Miriel a bundle of clothes, "here, your clothes are not really presentable anymore. These should fit you somewhat."

"Oh, ok, thanks," Miriel mumbled as she took the clothes before she turned and ran off.

Despite the fact that Arin Cala was a few inches taller, the clothes fitted pretty well even though they were different from the ones she had worn before. The tunic was made with leather and lined with a soft fabric, cinched with a leather belt. The leggings were also made of the same material, and the entire outfit was dyed black, pitch black. Even the leather boots were dyed black.

The leather was incredibly soft and the stitch work was amazing.

Arin Cala looked up as she returned: "I'm glad it fits."

"Thank you, for the clothes," Miriel said with a light pink flush on her cheeks, "I really appreciate it."

Arin Cala laughed: "you are quite a polite young child aren't you?"

Miriel blinked and then chuckled: "I'm not that young," and then she caught herself, "well, okay, so I guess I'm young compared to you even without the whole hundreds of years thing."

"Alright, come here," Arin Cala said as she pulled out a vial.

Miriel went over dutifully. The older woman dumped some of the content of the vial onto her hands and rubbed them into Miriel's face.

"Oh…that's cold…" Miriel said in surprise.

"Yes, there's some mint in here along with other plants. It'll be good for you. You have eczema, do you not?" Arin Cala said as she rubbed the oil into Miriel's arms as well.

Miriel laughed: "now I definitely know you've stayed here for a while. Your grammar structure sounds kind of like how elves speak, and you know how to do all these wonderful stuff with plants."

"You did not believe me before then?" Arin Cala asked as she finished and tucked the vial back into one of the packs on her belt.

"You are human; I mean it's just…just kind of hard to believe you've been here for so many years," Miriel said carefully.

"Yes, yes, I suppose it is," Arin Cala said wryly, unperturbed by the younger woman's comments.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean…"

"Do not worry yourself over such things. Even now it is difficult for I to believe that so many years have passed." The woman's voice was again devoid of any emotion; it was as if she was talking about someone else rather than herself.

The red-haired woman suddenly moved to climb up the tree she had previously ascended again, and Miriel followed suit, after debating silently with herself for a few seconds, albeit with much less grace and speed than the older woman.

After many minutes, Miriel finally made it to the top of the tree where she found the woman standing on one of the branches and staring up at the night sky.

"Lonely, the path you have chosen. A restless road, no turning back. One day you will find your light again. Don't you know. Don't let go, strong. Follow your heart. Let your love lead through the darkness, back to a place you once knew. I believe, I believe, I believe in you. Follow your dreams. Be yourself, an angel of kindness. There's nothing that you cannot do. I believe. I believe, I believe, in you. Tout seul. Tu t'en iras tout seul. Coeur ouvert…" Miriel watched in awe and surprise as the older woman started to sing. The older woman's voice started off low and husky, but as she continued her voice grew softer and higher.

A gentle smile slowly lifted the woman's lips, erasing the track of time and hard life on her face. And under the silvery moonlight, partially veiled by the black laces of clouds, her auburn fluttered and glowed like roaring fire about her like the wings of an angel.

And for that moment, Arin Cala no longer looked like an old and tired ghost. Instead, Miriel she could see the beautiful and strong lady this woman once was.

Miriel could tell Arin Cala was singing about the being she love. She could feel the depthless tenderness and the aching sadness in each word. This wasn't just a song; this was what gave the woman strength in the darkest time.

Follow your heart.

Let your love lead you through the darkness…

Someday I'll find you.

Someday you'll find me too.

And when I hold you close.

I'll know that is true.

A tear slipped down Miriel's face unbeknownst to her. She took in a shuddering breath as she pressed her hands to her heart, trying to ease the ache the song had incited.

Lonely.

The path you have chosen.

A restless road.

No turning back.

Miriel raised her chin and held her head high in the dark night.

It's time to let go.

Glorfindel wasn't hers. He loved another no matter what he had done for her. The gentleness and the warmth did not belong to her.

What had been done, had been done. She would be strong, like Arin Cala. She would give whatever strength she has and whatever grace she had been blessed with to help the free people of Middle Earth and Arin Cala, her kin.

If this was a story, Arin Cala, this strong and beautiful woman, would be the main character, not her, not Miriel Hall who could never be as strong or as beautiful.

But that was alright, because…

It was time to let go.