"No, I want to be with you," the gentle Melody retorted.
She blushed and lowered her head, unable to meet Sheyan"s eyes. But in the end, she still pouted and said with a huff.
"Besides, Sire Vilya has masked my Elvish appearance and aura. It can also return me to Dawn City anytime I wish. What"s there to be worried about?"
Melody shouldn"t have mentioned this matter because all it did was to aggrieve Sheyan further.
Dawn City was just established and was just entering its developmental phase. The Dwarves and the Elves had only entered into a rough agreement which was still fragile. There were a lot of things that had to be handled. The absence of Melody would cause a lot of difficulties in matters such as receiving visitors and signing agreements.
However, as Sheyan"s eyes fell upon the innocent face of Melody with those huge eyes and that sweet smile, he swallowed back the admonis.h.i.+ng words that he was about to utter. Honestly, deep down in his heart, he also hoped for Melody"s company on this journey.
Under the protection of Vilya, Melody still exuded innocence, but her Elven features had been covered up. Her Elvish aura had also been changed into a human one. That was why Sheyan dared to take her along.
Sheyan didn"t dare to bring a strong group of Dwarven warriors and Elven mages to Angmar. Now that Reef and him had killed Elrond, they would need to deal with the dark side for the main storyline quest.
If he brought too many Elves and Dwarves with him, then it might be misunderstood as an attack and they would attract the attention of the Nazgûls. But if he only brought a few, then as soon as the Elven and Dwarven auras appeared within the territory of the Dark Lord, they would just be a.s.sasinated.
Melody"s battle strength was currently not that strong. Sheyan had specifically asked her to prioritise unlocking the defensive abilities of the Ring of Air first. She also had to spend a large amount of magic power to coexist with the ring.
Her battle abilities mostly consisted of buffs and healing abilities. Currently, her only method of directly causing damage was with her bow, which means her damage output was not much different from other Elves her age.
But as Sheyan watched her smile, he felt incomparably happy and peaceful. He took her hand in his to give it a kiss, then turned his head away and said.
"How long will it take before we find a place to rest?"
Sheyan directed the question towards the guide of the caravan that they were riding with. With the help of Segimli, they didn"t take much effort in finding a caravan heading for the s.h.i.+re that they could board. From the s.h.i.+re, they could pay to use the teleport formation to reach a place in Eriador that was only 200 km away from Angmar. From there, it would only take a day of journey to reach their destination: the residence of the Grey Dwarves on the outskirt of Angmar.
Technically speaking, Angmar was also within the territory of the Misty Mountains. If one were to draw a straight line from Angmar to Moria, the distance was not that far. However, to travel in a straight path, they would have to go past the defensive line formed by the orcs and Uruk-hai. They might even meet with big bosses such as Lurtz or the Nazgûls.
The faction of the Dark Lord was notorious for backstabbing among themselves, so Sheyan didn"t expect them to welcome him with open arms just because he had considerable Fate points. So, he chose to take a huge detour. There was no need to gamble with his life just to save some time.
Fortunately, they went the extra mile in completing the mission by killing Elrond, and each member of Ace party obtained 2311 Fate points of the Dark Lord"s faction. So on the 20th day of their stay in this world, they were presented with the following options:
A) To reach the destination in time and obtain additional rewards, or
B) To prolong their stay in this world for 10 days without additional rewards.
Sheyan chose option B. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have enough time to take this longer, safer route because he spent too much time on the matters of Dawn City.
The caravan guide beamed as he answered Sheyan"s question.
"We"ll be there soon. Even though the climate around Weathertop is dry, there is a spring to the west of the hill. We normally stop there for rest and to refill our water. There will be at least a day afterwards without another fresh water source."
Melody grew up within the lush greenery of Rivendell and had never seen a barren place like the Weather Hills. The curious new environment coupled with the presence of her loved one at her side put her in a good mood. She couldn"t help asking.
"This isn"t a desert. Why is there no fresh water?"
The guide had a weather-beaten face carved full of wrinkles. He smiled as he answered.
"That"s because the land and water around here were all cursed by the devils. Even if there is water, it will taste so sour and bitter that even the horses and cows wouldn"t drink them. Only the area around Weathertop has fresh water because it was a place that used to be protected by the G.o.ds, even though the G.o.ds had abandoned the place due to prolonged war."
As they chatted, the caravan climbed along the road that whirled around Weathertop.
The horses and cows in the caravan were carrying heavy goods. Some of them showed signs of slipping as they climbed up slowly. The leader of the caravan was worried that the burden on the beasts might be too heavy, so he ordered his team to unload half the goods and left some people there to stand guard. He planned to take 2 trips.
Sheyan"s group of 4 followed the first group to the peak. The weather was sunny so the view was clear from Weathertop. They pointed out to Franklin the tall tower that the Hobbits built in Buckland. It was once the symbol of the s.h.i.+re.
(T/N note: As far as I know, there are no tall landmarks in Buckland besides the High Hay but that"s what the author wrote, so we"re gonna roll with it.)
Weathertop looked steep, but it"s peak was actually a plateau, as if the hill was cut across. The plateau looked like a pocket-sized plain.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they arrived at the top. The guide brought them across the ancient ruins and continued trekking west through the gra.s.sy camp road. There lied the only fresh water spring within a few hundred miles.
Even though the sun was strong, the wind here carried a chill that pierced into their bones. Coupled with the sight of the abandoned ruins and forts, it made one think of the cruelty and sadness of the world.
Melody suddenly pulled on Sheyan"s sleeve and whispered to him.
"This place emits a strange aura. I suspect there are ghosts here."
Even though the guide repeatedly insisted that the trade route was very safe, Sheyan didn"t believe him. It was exactly here that Gandalf the Gray was attacked by the Nazgûls and a large number of spirits. Even the old man could only run away.
Melody was an Elf borne from the breath of nature, plus she was the owner of the Ring of Air. The strength of her sense of perception couldn"t be questioned. Sheyan nodded after hearing her. He didn"t plan to disturb the caravan with this news. He merely raised his awareness and prepared himself for anything unexpected.
They soon reached the spring. It was obvious that the spring was regularly visited. The paths to the spring were trampled into roads. A few straw sheds and a clearing lied to the side of the spring.
The goods were unloaded from the horses and cows. The animals were left to rest on the ground and to graze on the dry gra.s.ses.
It was the turn of the caravan workers to get busy. After unloading the goods, they had to fetch water for the beasts. Then, they had to mix some salt into the gra.s.ses to feed to the animals. After the animals recovered their strength, the workers had to bring them back to the abandoned goods and escort the rest of the goods over. Only after putting the beasts to rest could the workers themselves rest.
Sheyan took the opportunity to approach the old guide to ask where they would spend the night. The guide gave his "VIP guest" a strange look as if he was trying to read Sheyan"s intention, before he answered uncertainly.
"Normally, the caravan would spend the night here if we arrive in the afternoon."
Sheyan appeared to have something on his mind as he enquired.
"Have you heard of anything strange occuring around the area?"
The old guide searched his memory before he answered.
"I didn"t hear of any strange news of the place around here, but I"ve heard stories of corpses constantly popping up at the crossing of the Marui river which we pa.s.sed earlier. Why, is there a problem?"
Sheyan nodded his head but he didn"t tell the guide what Melody sensed. He lacked concrete proof after all. It"s not like Sheyan could say that his girlfriend was a Twilight Elf wearing the Ring of Air and she could sense something was wrong....
Of course, Sheyan could choose to leave with his group. But Goots, the owner of the Caravan, was a friend of the Gimli tribe and treated Sheyan and his group well throughout the journey. Sheyan also heard that he was someone of high standing in the Chamber of Commerce, so he could sometimes get his hands on some good stuff. Sheyan couldn"t just leave the caravan to its fate.