In her cabin, Pio rummaged through her pack and found the small bottle she had hoped would be there. Holding it up to the light, she looked carefully to see if any fluid were left in it.
'Aah, there is some, then!' she said to herself, and gently shook the bottle to remix all the ingredients. This was an elixir for preserving papers, gotten from one of the elves who had managed the Great Library at Rivendell.
She had brought the rude bag back to her room, along with the disintegrated pieces of parchment that had been exposed to air. She shouldn't have been so hasty in taking them out, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
Her object now was to try to pull out intact that small piece of papaer she had felt in the bottom of the bag as she pulled out the stone carving.
She carefully opened the bag top just enough to place three drops of the elixir within. Then she closed it quickly and placed the bag and its precious contents into a dark box for the night. By tomorrow, she should be able to see what was on that last scrap.
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.
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