[piosenniel]

They had passed some twenty miles up the coast off Drùwaith Iaur, when Veritas took the wheel from Daisy, who stood by watching his every move. He put the ship as close as he could to shore, and then shouted for the crew to drop anchor.

Pio called for Rose, Cele, and Khelek to accompany her ashore. Two boats were lowered to the water - Pio and Rose in one, and Khelek and Cele in the other.

Once on land, Pio handed each of them a stout hatchet and lead them to an outcropping of trees.

'I need some staves cut, about this long and this large around.' She indicated the dimensions with her hands. 'About ten of them will do. So if Cele and Rose will get two apiece, Khelek and I will find three each.'

Cele and Rose went in among the trees. 'Try to get them as straight as possible!' shouted Pio after them.

Khelek and she went a short way further north before they entered the stand of trees. Their axes rang as they soon found young saplings of just the right dimension. They cut them to length, stripped them of bark. and shaved down all the bumps from little branchings they had hewn off.

When they had finished they sat for a while in the shade. There was an unobstructed view of the beach where they had moored their boats, and Pio kept an eye out for the return of the hobbit and the other elf.

'Angara mentioned,' she said to Khelek, 'that she had spoken with you the other day. Khelek nodded his head, 'yes'. 'She said she had heard you humming a tune and asked you about it.'

He looked at her and waited for her to continue, not knowing where this might lead.

'She said that you had learned it in Minas Tirith. Is this true?'

'No, what I recall saying is that it came to me in Minas Tirith.' said Khelek. 'I think it is a song I heard once long ago, but I can't remember when or where. I do know I was looking at some of the lore books in the library concerning the captives of Morgoth in Angband, when I recalled some fragments from a verse of it and the tune came back to me. I have been humming it on and off since then.'

'Do you know the name of it?' she asked.

''I don't think I ever knew.' he replied.

She asked him to hum what he knew of the tune, and he complied. He had gone through what he knew of it twice, when she stopped him.

'You truly do not know that which you sing?' she asked. He shrugged, and gave a negative shake to his head. 'What is it?' he asked.

'It is "The Lay of Leithian" / Release from Bondage - a song of Beleriand.'

A song of Beleriand, he thought to himself. 'Can you teach me the words?'

'Yes, but not now. Look! Rose and Cele have returned to the boats. We must get back to the ship and on our way.'

They loaded the staves and then themselves back onto the boats and rowed back the short distance to the Lonely Star.

Just before they got there, Rose asked, 'What are we doing with all these sticks, Pio?'

'We're going to practice swordfighting, Rose. And I'm counting on you to help me teach the others, using these as practice swords.'

'So you think we may need swords in Beleriand?' said Rose.

'We may, Rose. So, I want us all to be prepared.'

[ July 20, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]