Author's note: I do not own any of the characters from The Lord of the Rings. Elvish translations can be found in brackets.

October 20, 3018

She could hear a voice beckoning her, telling her that she must come quickly. Looking up, she saw a bright light at the end of the long, narrow hall. Upon hearing the voice call to her once more she began to sprint down the hall.

Normally she would be wary of following the direction of a strange voice while wandering around a strange place. After all, had her father not warned her to be wary in these times? But there was something about this stranger's voice that she knew she could trust. As she got closer to the light she could see the outline of a figure. When she finally reached the end of the hall she noticed that while she was standing mere feet from this stranger she could still not see them clearly.

"Who are you?" she asked with trepidation.

"There is a great darkness coming. You must prepare yourself to face it," the stranger replied.

Listening carefully to the stranger's voice she was able to discern that she was speaking to a man.

"You have yet to answer my question."

"That will be revealed in due time. For many years you have resided in the peace of Imaldris. But this peace shall not last. Soon you shall discover the power that lies within you."

The light around her quickly began to fade. She tried to take a step closer to the figure, but found that he was quickly disappearing."

"Wait! What does all this mean?"

Despite her pleas she received no response. With the man's disappearance she was left to stand alone in the darkness of this foreign place. She again wondered out loud as to the meaning of all this.

As she took a step forwards, she discovered that she was standing upon a precipice. In her shock she lost her balance and fell over the edge. It seemed as though she fell for ages until she neared the fiery depths.

"So much for facing the great darkness he spoke of," she thought to herself.

Closing her eyes, she prepared to meet her impending doom.

With a heaving gasp, Bellethiel bolted forward in her bed. She looked around only to see that sun was beginning to rise over Rivendell. After recovering her breath she quickly leapt from her bed to wash herself of the sweat that glistened down her neck and back.

As she bathed she attempted to recollect the content of her dream. However, all that she could remember were the bright light and the mysterious man that had spoken to her. His words were all lost to her except for his initial warning.

"There is a great darkness coming. You must prepare yourself to face it," she repeated aloud to herself.

Perplexed, she set herself to getting ready. So deeply immersed was she in her thoughts that she almost did not hear the hurried knock on her door as she pulled on a simple green dress.

She barely had time to open the door before a young elleth came barreling in.

"That is hardly an excellent display of manners for someone who is training to be a lady of the court," she reprimanded the girl before her.

While the panting girl caught her breath Bellethiel put the dream aside and took a moment to observe her.

"Seler," she prompted. [Sister]

It was alarming to see her sister so somber. Nithpantiel was known for being jovial and carefree, more so than most elves.

"Pan! What has happened? What is wrong?"

After quickly recovering herself, her younger sister looked up at her with sad eyes.

"Your presence is requested immediately at the healing house to aid Lord Elrond with a patient."

Bellethiel was confused. It was not uncommon for Lord Elrond to ask for her assistance in caring for patients. She had been his apprentice in the healing houses for near two thousand years now. So what was so urgent about this case and why would it upset her sister so?

Noticing this confusion, her sister offered to walk with her and explain on their way to the healing houses.

"A young hobbit has just been brought here," began her sister as they made their way out the door. "He was stabbed on his way here."

"What was a hobbit doing making his way here on his own?"

"I can only assume that he was meaning to visit our dear friend Bilbo. He is Bilbo's nephew. As for traveling alone, nay, he was not. There was a party of three other hobbits that accompanied him."

"Have they made it here safely, then?"

"They have yet to cross the river. But they shall be safe, for they have Aragorn as their guide."

"Then they are fortunate indeed."

"His quick thinking surely helped to save the hobbit's life until he could be brought here. It was wise of him to use athelas to treat the wound. It gave the poor hobbit time before Glorfindel was able to find them. If he had not he surely would have crossed into shadow."

At this Bellethiel stopped suddenly and stared at her sister in shock.

"He was stabbed by a Morgul blade?" she queried.

"Aye," Pan responded solemnly. "Asfoleth's speed barely allowed them to make passage into our realm without the Nine taking them."

Bellethiel proceeded onward once more, with great urgency now that she knew the severity of the poor hobbit's injuries.

As they neared the doors of the healing houses, Pan turned to her sister.

"Arwen has asked to speak to you when you have finished your duties with her father."

"Le hannon," she replied before entering the room in which the hobbit was being cared for. [Thank you]