[Eruwen]

Eruwen walked through the mist blindly and barely able to hear even her own footsteps. She looked around in every direction as she walked, but she saw no one. Ah, maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she thought to herself as she continued on.

As she walked on slowly, she began to hear breathing around her. Eruwen removed her dagger from its sheath and began to follow the breathing...hoping to find a member of the company. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her left arm, but the voice she heard follow was, thankfully, a friendly one.

"It's me! Taurëwen!" she heard the Elf say.

Eruwen sighed and returned her dagger to its sheath as she replied, "Taurëwen, can you see anything at all?"

"No, not a thing, this is not a natural fog!" Taurëwen replied uneasily.

The two Elves walked on for a short moment but stopped when they heard another voice rise above the silence in the forest.

"Taurëwen! Eruwen! Is that you?" an Elf said coming up to them.

"Yes!" the two elf women answered together recognizing Gilbereth's voice.

"Are any of the others with you?" Gilbereth asked.

"No," Taurëwen sighed.

Eruwen soon became frustrated with all of the fog, and cried out loudly.

"Ceros! Ihwesta!" she shouted, but no reply came.

"Arie! Ainemetion!" Gilbereth added, but still there was no answer.

"Reynion!" Taurëwen yelled finally.

Sadly, once again, they realized they were indeed alone. Eruwen lowered her head and sighed. How had they gotten lost this fast? She thought. She knew eventually it would happen, but she did not think it would be so soon. Now what are we supposed to do? She thought again. It is only we three, and who knows if the others have found each other.

"What will we do now?" Gilbereth said breaking the silence.

"We have to try and find the others!" Taurëwen said.

"I too wish not to remain here waiting for what ever is out there to find us! " Eruwen added nervously.

"All right it is decided," Gilbereth answered trying to sound confident in his words. "We will go on and try to locate the others."

Eruwen nodded, though it would not do much good for they were blind even from each other. Nevertheless, they continued on silently into the mist. Eruwen listened to all that she could hear around her, which was not much, and began to think hard about different things. I wonder what it is, she thought to herself as she anxiously walked on. Taurëwen was right. This is no natural fog. But what unusual fog this is! Eruwen held her hand out in front of her face, or so she thought. I cannot even see my hand. Oh, I wonder how the others are doing. Are they wandering alone, or have they found one another as well? Are they even still alive?

Suddenly Eruwen’s thoughts were broken by a faint sound in the distance. She had heard it before, but she was beginning to wonder if it was only her imagination. After all, it was extremely muffled by the fog, but...it was almost as if she thought to hear something in the trees.

"Does anyone hear anything?" Eruwen said.

"I have heard nothing for hours," Gilbereth replied. "Why, what is it?"

"I’m not sure," said Eruwen. "But I think that I hear something, though I’m not sure if the sound is real or not. I’ve heard it before though...have we come by this place already?"

"It is not anyone of our company, if that’s what you’re thinking," Gilbereth said. "It’s hopeless. We will not find them!"

"We’ve been here before," Eruwen added. "I'm telling you we are going around in circles."

"Stop!" Taurëwen yelled suddenly.

Eruwen jumped at her scream, and waited curiously at the Elf’s motives for the sudden halt. She felt a hand grab her left arm again, and listened as she tried to hear what Taurëwen was doing. Ah, no use, Eruwen though. The fog is too thick.

"Ah ha!" Taurëwen exclaimed as a lemony smell filled the air. "Here, chew on this."

"What is it?" Eruwen asked reaching forth for the leaf. She heard Gilbereth ask the same.

"It’s simple lemon balm," the Elf told them as they each chewed on the leaves. "It will rid you of the despair that you are feeling."

As Eruwen chewed on the lemony tasting leaf, she soon felt her sadness leave, and they all continued out into the wood. Every once in a while, one of them would call out the name of a member of their company, but no reply ever came back. Though Eruwen indeed felt well again, the strange sound that she thought she heard never left her mind, and fear continued to dwell inside her.