Her hands shaking slightly, Poppy lit a lantern, and gave the gold to Nardol, before she and Nardol stepped forward and into the ominous dark of the castle. The light of the lantern she carried could only provide a little light around them, and Poppy gradually felt more and more suffocated by the heavy darkness, and the eeriness she felt creeping up her spine. More than once she looked back towards the door, longing to flee, but the tall body of the elf beside her kept her walking on.
Ahead of her she saw the Great Hall, and the wispy form of Maladil awaiting them. She remembered his harsh condescending words to her, and courage and determination to prove this ghost wrong, rose in her heart. Keeping this firmly in her mind, she walked into the Great Hall, Nardol by her side, and Poppy felt far safer than she would have been alone. Nothing she had imagined on the journey prepared her for the experience of meeting Maladil face to face, alone or otherwise, and she felt cold.
Maladil advanced towards them, as Nardol placed the gold in front of him, offering it to the ghost.
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'It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them' ~Frodo
"Life is hard. After all, it kills you." - Katharine Hepburn
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