Here is the next chapter of The New Istari. Thank you to everyone who has read it, favorited it, followed it or reviewed it. You have all given me encouragement to continue writing it and to finish this update quickly. I will try to update regularly, at least once a week possibly more.

Please enjoy and review whether you have something good to something bad to say about it I will take it aboard for the next chapter.

I talked for hours and hours starting with the death of parents and the struggles of growing up a slave. Then the astonishment of magic and the joy of friends coupled with the horror of children fighting in a war. He listened when I described my darkest hours during my depression and my achievements while learning under many teachers, just sitting quietly not passing judgement. When I had finally finished describing my journey through the veil a new day was about to dawn.

Standing and stretching from my seated position it felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders and I was free to enjoy this new life and opportunity without the baggage from my past.

Gandalf also stood placing his hat on his head and picking up a finely crafted staff that I had missed before.

"Are you a wizard?" I quietly asked unsure of what his response would be.

Chuckling he answered "Yes my boy I am one of the five Istari in Middle Earth."

"Do you mind if I travel with you, until I get accustomed to my new situation?"

"Not at all" Gandalf said and then he let lose a shrill whistle and two horses came galloping from in between the trees towards where we were stood in the clearing.

One of them was the bright white stallion that Gandalf himself rode yesterday which shone in the early morning rays. The other horse was the complete opposite, it was as black as the darkest of nights and the sunlight seemed to be absorbed into his coat. "This is moonlight" Gandalf said gesturing towards the black stallion that was nearing me.

I started backing away from the horse nervous as I had never seen one this close or ridden one. Gandalf noticing my dilemma chuckled and started talking me through the process of mounting a horse and riding one. After learning the basics to Gandalf's impeccable standard, though it must be said he is a good teacher, it was almost lunchtime but we decided we would start our journey rather than linger here any longer.

We rode in silence for a bit before Gandalf started talking "A long time ago at the beginning of the First Age there were..." I realized then that he was telling the history of Middle Earth so I listened intently as after I completed my NEWTS I had discovered a fondness for history as it was good without Binns droning on, boring people to death.

We continued riding until evening where we stopped and set up camp for the night with a big blazing bonfire and a hot meal. When we arose the next morning we continued our journey and Gandalf continued with his tale of Middle Earth. We continued this way for weeks enjoying a nice relaxed journey. This all ended when the orcs attacked...

Gandalf was stroking his beard while describing the despair and darkness of the second age with Sauron in his might.

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. "

After that a somber atmosphere settled over us and we rode on in silence.

Out in the distance we heard an ear splitting howl. Gandalf straightened up instantly and started looking around as if searching for an enemy.

"Why has a wolf got you so worked up?" I innocently questioned as this is the most stressed I have seen Gandalf since our meeting. However all I received in return was a "shush" and a gesture to pull out my sword and dismount moonlight while Gandalf dismounted his stallion.

Before Gandalf could respond silence fell as the animals fled. Out of the trees in front of us appeared the most disgusting creature I have had the pleasure of meeting. They were squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, bow-legged, with wide mouths and eyes, long arms, dark skin, and fangs. They were armed with various rusty weapons from swords and axes to cudgels.

Almost as one they spotted us and let loose a terrible scream, they charged towards us. Neither Gandalf nor I froze I drew Gryffindor's sword as Gandalf hefted his staff up into a defensive position.

After the first slice the rest of the battle was a blur however I will always remember my first kill. It happened as an Orc ran towards me with his short sword lowered I swung higher and off came his head. The squelch as his headless body collapsed to the ground was lost in the frenzy of the battle as although unskilled the numbers where a problem. Occasionally glancing over to Gandalf I saw him wielding his staff like and expert, breaking necks and knocking out orcs. He seemed to get overwhelmed as orcs surrounded him when a burst of fire appeared burning the orcs to a crisp leaving blackened bodies in his wake as he waded forward to fight his next opponent. Snapping back into reality when a double-bladed axe whistled past my head almost maiming me.

Forgetting about Gandalf's fight I focused on staying alive weaving and dodging away from the orcs. An age of hacking, slicing, stabbing and maiming seemed to pass before I swung one last time and silence had once again returned to the forest.

Turning to Gandalf who I had lost after my distraction, I froze in shock at the number of dead orcs that surrounded us. Wiping my sword on the nearest corpse sheathed it while flicking my wrist making my wand appear in my hand. Swishing and flicking I piled the bodies into a mound, then with one last jab at the pile it set alight.

With one last glance at my handiwork I started the journey to where we left the horses before the fight started. When we had traversed the pools of blood and the odd intestine I was surprised to find that they were just happily grazing seemingly not bothered the fight thy had just ended.

Without words we both mounted wanting to put as much distance between the slaughter and us before night fell. As we rode I questioned Gandalf on his choice of a weapon and he just shrugged muttering something about waiting for the right sword.

Chuckling the friendly atmosphere that we had before the battle was regained and Gandalf continued recounting the history of Middle Earth as if nothing had happened. However we both kept a sharper eye out in case we ran into any more orcs on our travels.

A couple of days later once Gandalf had finished recounting the history of my new world, along with describing all of the races that inhabited it and answering my many questions. We were relaxing around the fire when he stated out of the blue "We are nearing our destination"

"Which is?" I prompted as I knew that the area we were in, the moorlands and foothills of the misty mountains, was inhabitable.

"Why" he exclaimed "The first homely home; Imladris."