Chapter 60
“Just don’t be surprised if you wake up in the morning and his hair has gotten darker.” Alice said. “Both of you have dark hair and from Gringotts’ notes, it appears that Dudley and Brenda were both blonde.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Hermione laughed. “Otherwise, I could see Harry having a panic over it.”
“Maybe…” Harry pouted.
~~~
November 29th 2925
“You were warned.” Alice huffed.
“Yeah, but…” Harry whined. “His hair isn’t just a little bit darker, it’s nearly as dark as mine.”
“And so it should be.” Alice shook her head. “You’re his father, now. Not Dudley. We used Gringotts’ parental conversion potions. You and Hermione are Jax’s parents, you might not have given birth to him, but you are his parents, now.”
“… oh…” Harry exclaimed quietly. “I hadn’t realised it was that… effective.”
“Well, it is.” Alice huffed, again, and shut her office door in his face.
~~~
Legolas pointed out the eastern foothills’ way-station to Haldir and Rendarion, commenting quietly on the group of ponies already in one of the pens.
“It appears that one of the shelters is occupied.” The prince said.
“Yes, so it appears.” Haldir nodded in acknowledgement.
“Neither Tauriel nor myself have significant experience with Men, bar those of Laketown.” Legolas added. “Perhaps it would be more prudent, if you and Rendarion were to conduct any discussions with those we meet?”
Haldir studied the young prince and after seeing that he was in earnest, Haldir nodded.
“We would be honoured, your highness.” Rendarion added.
“Perhaps…?” Tauriel hesitated.
“Perhaps?” Haldir asked.
“Perhaps it might be wiser for his highness to not be recognised as King Thranduil’s son, but instead, to be seen as a member of the Woodland’s Guard?” The redhead suggested.
“Yes, perhaps, but not just as a member of the Guard, but a Captain of the Guard, much as Tauriel is.” Legolas offered. “It is clear that I am of high birth, any who know of elven-kind, will instantly see that. But it is fairly common for a younger son to take a commission within the Guard, much as Kressian has done. Allowing people to assume that I have done such a thing, would not be without basis.”
“Will it not be confusing, having two Captains?” Tauriel asked.
“Father has many Captains, Tauriel.” Legolas corrected. “You are a patrol Captain and I… I would be a… Hmm(?)… Perhaps a Divisional Captain would be the appropriate rank, if someone were to take on my duties, in my place.”
“Yes, I believe that would be a reasonable estimate.” Haldir nodded.
“Very well.” Legolas nodded back. “Then as Tauriel suggested, I shall be a Captain of the Woodland Realm.”
“Which would give Haldir the appearance of being the highest-ranking member of our party.” Rendarion said. “Marchwarden of Taur Hith.”
“Taur Hith?” Tauriel asked.
“Taur Hith is the northern section of our Forest,” Haldir replied, “my duties as Marchwarden, would be quite similar to those assigned to Legolas, as a Divisional Captain, but... I’m assuming that you have four patrols under your command?” The latter question was directed at Legolas.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Ah, then yes, I would be one step above a patrol Captain.” Haldir replied. “I have twelve patrols under my command, monitor three patrol Captains, and am the second for Cenephir, who is the Warden for the entire northern defence. I and four others, all report him. He and the other three Wardens, those who watch the East, South, North and West, all answer directly to Celeborn.”
“Unless, it comes to leaving the Forest,” Rendarion corrected.
“Oh, yes.” Haldir shook his head. “If that is required, the four Wardens decide whose second-in-command would be most suitable for that particular task and they are removed from their duties, for the duration of whatever task requires their presence. The Warden will assume control of their March-patrols, until their return.”
“Ah, I see.” Legolas nodded.
“Exactly.” Rendarion nodded back. “And while I’m a Master Healer, a Marchwarden still outranks me.”
“And as the ‘highest’ ranking member of this group,” Haldir sighed, “yes, it is my place to speak to those we meet.”
“Good to know.” Tauriel said quietly. “Then may I direct your attention to the shelters? We are being watched.”
Haldir turned at saw that Tauriel was correct, they were being watched. A human family, huddled behind a Man, who stood beside the door to a shelter on the southern side of the road.
“Greetings this day.” Haldir said quietly and bowed his head to them. “If it will not infringe on you, we would use the shelter and pens, over there.” He nodded to a second shelter and series of animal pens, this time on the northern side of the road.
“Aye, sir.” The Man nodded. “We figured it best to keep to one side for other travellers. But you’ll not likely need to share, it be late enough in the day, that it be unlikely that people still be coming up the mountains and we were the only ones coming down from the crest.”
“You’ve come from Crest Camp?”
“Aye.” The Man nodded.
“And how many hours from here, would you say it was?”
“With them long-legged beasties of yours, I’d say… four hours, maybe less.” The Man replied. “Our cart-horses took eight, but they was having to hold back two big wagons.” He nodded towards the two large wagons butted up to eastern side of the shelter.
Haldir threw a quick glance at the horses in the southern pens.
“Well, at least your horses are strong enough to bear the weight.” Haldir said. “Any smaller and it might have been a different tale.”
“Aye.” The Man nodded, again. “Them Rangers at the last way-station said the same thing. But only about three, though. They said that one of ours weren’t big enough. Pointed us to a local farmer that buys and sells horses to and from travellers. Even better, the rangers gave us a rough idea of how much we should be paying, for what type of horse.”
“Good to know the rangers are supporting both the locals and those travelling.” Haldir said, approvingly.
“Oh, aye, they do.” The Man agreed.
“Leave to ‘em to settle they’s ‘orses, Nip.” The Man’s wife ordered, when it looked like the Man was going to continue to talk.
“Aye, mam.” The Man ducked his head and gave the elves a bashful smile. “The pump on the well, works. I sent me lad over ta fill the trough, as soon as we sighted ya coming.”
Haldir smiled and gave the Man a pair of sovereigns. “One for the lad, for the water and one for yourself, for the information, sir.”
“Thankee, kindly, sir.” The Man blinked and quickly handed a young blonde boy one coin. “Keep that safe, Brin, ya’ll want ta buy ya own wagon, soon enough.”
“Yes, pa.” The boy tucked the coin into a pouch hanging from his belt.
“I’d best give a hand, or my husband may decide that, as I didn’t work, I shouldn’t eat.” Haldir presented a far more relaxed attitude around Men than he did around elves, few Men knew the intricacies of Elvish-court manners.
“Aye, sir, never anger them that does the cookin’.” The Man laughed and headed for his own wagons.
~~~
November 30th 2925
“Welcome to the Whomping Willow’s Pond, Miss Battenby, Mr Battenby.” Isengar smiled at the two hobbits. “Master Harry will be meeting us at the stables. He suggested leaving your wagon there, until Miss Battenby chooses her home and shopfront’s location.”
“Call me Begonia, Mr Took.” The hobbitess ordered.
“And I’m Busby.” Her brother added.
“Then I’m Isengar.” Isengar offered as he led them through the Livery Yards and into the stable yard. “This is Squire, he and Vrdollen manage the stables. They’ll tend to your pony while we view the homes that are available.”
“We surely will.” Vrdollen was bright and cheerful as he stepped forward to the pony’s head, while Squire went to assist Miss Battenby from the wagon. “This here is a fine lad.”
“Aye, Brick’s good pony.” Busby agreed.
“I’m here…” Harry said as he drove Raven into the stable yard, in the larger Matron’s cart.
“No Onyx today, Master Harry?” Vrdollen asked.
“No, she’s a little too close to foaling, for me to be comfortable putting her in harness.” Harry confided.
“You do baby those mares.” Squire smile in amusement.
“Oh, hush you two.” Harry waved a handful of reins at the hobbit.
“Miss Begonia, Mr Busby, this is Master Harry, he’s one of founding residents.” Isengar interrupted the familiar argument. “He, Mr Lee Jordan and Miss Alicia Spinnet are predominantly in charge of our new residents and getting them settled. He’s going to show us a few options for Miss Begonia, both in shopfronts and in smials.”
“There’s a choice?” Busby asked.
“Oh, of course.” Harry said. “We’ve eight smials already built, four are traditional… underground, I mean… and four are above ground. As Miss Begonia will be living by herself, we’ll only be looking at four smials today. Each of them are two bedroom, with attached bathroom, we felt that we should leave the larger smials for those with families, you understand?”
“Surely, Master Harry.” Begonia replied.
“Excellent.” Harry grinned and opened the cart’s little door. “Climb on up and we’ll head out. Smials first, then on our way back here, we’ll check out the shop options. There’s quite a few of those.”
“I don’t need much space for that.” Begonia explained. “I mostly work on a desk or table, with a set of shelves for tools and materials. I suppose… if there’s room, I could have a display cabinet.”
“Oh, there’s room.” Harry said. “Plenty of room.”
As he spoke, the three hobbits had climbed into the cart and once they were settled, Harry directed Raven out of the stable yard and onto Pond Lane.
Two hours later, they returned to the stables.
“If you like, we have a surplus of teens and tweens,” Harry started, “all of whom are magical and all of whom have yet to start their latest year of formal education. They can assist you in transferring your things from the wagon into your smial. The group I’m thinking of have all finished their OWLs, the minimum standard needed to be allowed to be free to use their wands, in any way they please. Most of them will be returning to the Quad, come January, to undertake their NEWTs, the advanced levels that are recommended for any that wish to use magic on a more than day-to-day basis. The local equivalent would be… OWL students would be… apprentices and NEWT students would be Journeymen. Few magicals work towards a magical Mastery, but as we’re short on them, we’re going to be encouraging our students to consider it. As you’re a new resident, there’s no cost to you while you’re still getting sorted. Once you’re in, you can barter with a magical exactly the same as you would with a hobbit, for anything you need or want.” He’d given both hobbits a public Disclosure as they viewed one of the smials.
“Oh, that would be very helpful, Master Harry.” Begonia beamed at Harry. “If you’d send them along to the cottage, I’d be most appreciative. I’ve got some sweet shortbread biscuits and some lovely savoury rolls, that I’ll happily share, if I can get the smial ready to sleep in tonight.”
“I think they can do that.” Harry grinned. Begonia and Busby had both been awed by Harry’s effortless displays of magic and were excited to see how it could be used to make the moving process easier.
~~~
December 1st 2925
The mountain crest shelters were both empty, allowing Rendarion and Legolas to inspect both shelters, before they decided on the southern shelter. The six horses were by this time quite happy to huddle together for warmth, under the low roof, while they waited for Haldir and Tauriel to see to warm mashes for them.
Inside the shelter, the other pair were setting to work to put together a warm meal for the horses’ riders.
“Do you have any idea why we have been sent west?” Legolas asked. “All I know is that father called for volunteers to investigate something that Lady Galadriel Saw in her Mirror.”
“Not in her Mirror.” Rendarion corrected. “You know that she can mind-speak to others? Good. She has seen that at some point in the future the peace we are currently enjoying, may… deteriorate. How and who is responsible, she can’t See, but because of them she keeps a weather-eye on the West. She’s Seen something. Something that is causing ‘ripples’ of magic. But what it is and why it is where it is, she doesn’t know. We’ve been sent to investigate. Is it an item? Is it a person? Is whatever it is, dangerous? Does it belong to the Enemy? Is it a gift of the Valar? Is it something that one of the Istari have done and simply forgotten to tell her about? Has a new Istari been sent to Middle-Earth?”
~~~
Harry was quite surprised to see that instead of the large-ish group of magicals that he’d sent to assist Miss Begonia, there were only three magicals present. The three girls, Meredith Owens, Erin Westin and Emily Fraser were happily levitating Begonia’s furniture and possessions wherever she wanted them.
“Wotcha, Harry!” Erin called, as she escorted a beautiful bedhead through the living room and into a hallway.
“Master Harry?” Begonia popped her head out of the kitchen, to frown at Harry. “Is something wrong? Can I help you?
“No, no, no.” Harry shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. “I just wanted to drop off a residents and business directory, for you. The Master-copy of the directory is in Isengar’s office, any alterations that he makes will automatically happen in yours.” He held out a small booklet.
“Oh, lovely.” Begonia beamed, then blinked. “And who is this fine fellow?” She nodded at the baby carrier covering Harry’s chest.
“This Jax, my son.” Harry replied. “He was asleep yesterday and my wife was watching him.”
“Ah. And today you have him?”
“Oh, I have him far more than Mione does. I decided to adopt him before Hermione and I married.”
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry.” Begonia whispered. “I thought he was your child.”
“He is… now.” Harry answered. “Magicals have a way, for adopting parents to actually become the blood parents of any child they might adopt.”
“Heavens…” Begonia shook her head. “That would have a blessing to Busby and I. Our father was a dreadful hobbit, liked his drink he did and when he drank, mother, Busby and I, often felt the back of his hand. At least… we did until he drank a bit too much and decided to try and steal a bull from a farmer on the other side of town. The bull took objection, as did the farmer and father died in disgrace. Mother remarried to a wonderful hobbit, who adopted us and gave us his name. Being his child, in truth? That would have been a marvellous thing.”
~~~
December 2nd 2925
Coming down from the higher levels of the mountains always gave Haldir a headache. Something to do with air pressure, Galadriel had told him, but as she usually did so while he had such a headache, he could never remember the full explanation and that meant he didn’t actually understand the why’s of it. By the time they had reached the western waystation, each step that Tittamin took was like a hammer to his temples. Not even Rendarion ‘s healing skills could ease it. Without Galadriel’s talent for magic, it would likely be a week before his head eased.
A quick and quiet conversation was had between Rendarion and Legolas, resulted in Rendarion taking public command of their travelling party. The raven-haired elf spoke quietly to the patrol leader, explaining Haldir’s predicament and requesting permission to camp a little further from the station, to avoid exacerbating the blonde’s condition with the volume of noise from those camped around the station, that waited out the winter in relative safety.
A message from the rangers had been waiting for them, stating that Arador and Arathorn would meet them at Rivendell, while Arameth was still on patrol. Arathorn would escort them to meet with his brother, who in turn, would accompany them on their search for whatever it was that Galadriel Saw...
~~~
December 3rd 2925
Haldir had resorted to tying a silk scarf around his head to ease the pain that the bright morning gave him, knowing that his headache had yet to reach its worst and trying to limit how severe that would be.
The lack of rock and the soft moistness in the air, helped the darkness and the sun’s warmth to ease the tension in his shoulders, even if they were not enough to ease the pain in his head.
Due to his condition and Rendarion doing what he could to make the journey less painful, it took them five hours to reach Rivendell. Immediately upon arrival, Haldir was escorted to the healers’ rooms and placed on a bed, a bevy of healers fluttering around him.
As the sun reached its peak, Elrond finally cleared his duties and entered the healers’ rooms. Seconds dragged into minutes, minutes dragged into an hour and still Haldir’s pain had not eased.
Rendarion and Elrond conversed quietly, before the Lord of Rivendell left.
“Well?” Haldir grunted.
“He can’t sea any reason for you headache, love.” Rendarion whispered. “There’s nothing showing up on your exam... or any of the tests he did... Nothing that shouldn’t be there, anyway.”
“So, I just have to wait it out…” Haldir grunted.
“Yes.” Rendarion answered. “But…”
“But…?”
“But there’s a storm coming from the south.” Rendarion replied. “If we don’t leave before nightfall, we are going to be stuck here, for weeks. At least two, more likely three, but possibly the rest of the winter. We have to be west of the Trollshaws and the Mitheithel River, before it hits, if we wish to avoid that.”
“… ooh… that’s going to hurt…” Haldir whined.
“Elrond seems to think that one of his numbing balms, that’s used on severe wounds, may help, but as all it does is block the pain for a length of time… Once it wears off, you’re going to hurt for that much longer.”
“But we won’t be stuck in Rivendell for most of the winter.”
“True. And once past the Trollshaws, it’s a gentle ride to Amun Sûl.” Rendarion explained. “Elrond says that if we stay on the East-West Road, we’ll skirt around the Midgewater Marshes. He seems to think that the insects there, could actually make your condition worse, so we’re going to try and avoid that. Arameth has sent word, he’ll me us at a village called Willow’s Pond, a mixed dwarven and hobbit settlement. They have a very talented healer and apothecary, maybe their medicines may help.”
“Worth a try…” Haldir sighed. “If we’re not staying here, tonight, help me up.” He held up a hand. “The sooner we leave, the further we can get by sunset, the better.”
~~~
December 4th 2925
Elrond’s balm worked well, very well. Haldir was able to ride and if he occasionally winced when Tittamin landed harder than he liked, he was still able to tolerate the impacts. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to the balm wearing off, though. He wondered if a dwarven healer could do anything, as they had a very different approach to treating wounds and headaches.
They were able to let the horses run, not quite at a full sprint-gallop, but even a hand-gallop enabled them to cover significant distances. Meaning, that they had passed the Trollshaws and crossed the Mitheithel River, or the Hoarwell, as it was called in the Common tongue, before the sun set. It was almost full dark when they finally stopped for the day on the western bank of the river.
“Well we’re clear of the Mitheithel, but even so…” Arathorn grimaced slightly, “the western edge of the storm is still going to hit us before morning. That balm of Lord Elrond’s is supposed to last four days, but only if you can keep it from being washed off.”
“I’ll get Rendarion to cover it with whatever we have, that might limit how much water can reach it.” Haldir replied.
“That will help, but we’d best plan on it wearing off early.” Arathorn agreed.
“By how much?” Haldir asked.
“I’ve no idea.” Arathorn admitted. “I’ve never used the balm, myself. I have a bad reaction to feverfew and orangeroot.”
“And they’re in the balm?”
“So I’m told.” Arathorn shrugged.
“Wonderful…” Haldir sighed. “Alright, let’s get the nags fed and I’ll get ‘Dar to strap me up.”
Arathorn twitched his lips, but otherwise made no comment.
~~~
December 5th 2925
It had been a tense night, although Haldir had slept wonderfully for the first half, but Arathorn had been right and roughly three hours before dawn, the storm had rolled over them. Gusting wind and unpredictable squalls of rain, took turns hammering at the travellers.
By the time dawn arrived, the seven riders and their horses just wanted to get out of the rain.
For the first time, Haldir had experienced what the other elven horse handlers went through when trying to harness up Tittamin. And his husband was no help, Rendarion spent the time deliberately not looking at the blonde elf and his currently foul-tempered steed.
Finally, Haldir lost his patience and grabbed the stallion by the ear and twisted until the animal went still.
“If you continue with this… this stupidity…” Haldir snarled, “so help, I’ll give you to Chadlin.” He pushed the grey’s head away from him and let go of the horse’s ear as he did, leaving the stallion off-balance and forcing him to stagger a couple of steps to regain an even footing.
“That’s a bit cruel, isn’t it?” Rendarion asked.
“He has stepped on both of my feet, at least twice for each foot,” Haldir said, his voice a forced calm, “bitten me three times and dumped my pack twice. If he’s not perfectly behaved for the rest of the day, I’ll ride Nórima.”
“I see…” Rendarion had never seen Haldir so… annoyed… with a horse before. Maybe it was the headache bleeding through the numbing balm? Or maybe the numbing balm was already losing its efficacy?
Either way, the Marchwarden’s comment must have been understood by the grey stallion, as he suddenly became the most well-mannered of all of their horses. Either that, or he was pleased to be moving away from the storm.
An hour later and Arathorn had sent two riders forward to scout out their path, while the rest of the travellers followed behind them. Again, travelling at an easy hand-gallop enabled them to cover many miles. At this speed they would reach, and possibly pass the Weather Hills and the remains of the watchtower of Amun Sûl, before they ran out of daylight.
~~~
December 6th 2925
They passed through Bree only minutes before midday, stopping only long enough for the elven horses to devour a quick meal of high-protein-high-energy compressed mash-pellets, while Arathorn and his riders swapped out their tired horses for fresh mounts. Then they made their way through the town and back onto the East-West Road.
For the first half hour, they let the horses walk before slowly increasing their speed until they were once again running at a hand-gallop. Haldir really hoped they’d reach the village that they were aiming for before dark, as he could feel that Elrond's balm was breaking down. It wasn’t gone yet, but he could feel that without some sort of treatment, in a few hours he’d be in agony, again.
Cresting the rise and seeing the village spilling out over the valley was a massive relief to both Haldir and Rendarion.
As they moved through the village, Arathorn spoke for the first time in hours.
“Master Healer, I suggest that you take the Marchwarden to the hospital and that the Captains come with me.” He nodded in the direction of the blue-roofed building a few yards away. “We’ll notify the Mayor’s Office of our presence and why. Cardor, Joplin. See the horses to the stables, please.”
“Warn them. Tittamin can be… difficult.” Haldir bit out, Elrond’s balm having well and truly worn off. The last five miles have been excruciating, but Haldir was determined to get the day’s travel over with.
All the riders dismounted, Haldir’s grunt coming out more like a groan as he landed on the ground. The two quiet rangers gathered up the reins and lead the horses back around a large-ish pond and over a stone bridge.
“They’ll bring our packs back with them.” Arathorn assured the elves. “Either meet us at the Mayor’s Office or send word there.” He pointed to another blue roofed building.
Rendarion waited until Haldir nodded, before he eased an arm around Haldir’s waist and began a careful trip across the grass to the hospital’s entrance. Once inside the building, he spoke quietly to the young dwarrowdam that was sitting at a reception desk.
“Altitude sickness… maybe?” The dwarrowdam thought before nodding. “I’ll notify Healer Alice.” She wrote something on a sheet of parchment and waited a few seconds. “Ah, she’s sending a nurse to fetch you.”
Rendarion blinked and turned to exchange a confused look with his husband, only to have to catch the blonde, as his legs gave out.
The next few minutes were frantic. He yelled. The dwarrowdam yelled. A nurse ran. A Healer appeared. Two more healers appeared. A floating bed appeared and his husband was loaded onto it and raced into a treatment room.
While he answered questions, a dwarrowdam leant over Haldir and pressed down on his body in different places, twitching her fingers and snapping orders at her aides.
By the time things quietened down, Haldir was face-down on the bed, bags of some sort of grain that steamed gently, were laid across most of his back and hips, while a smaller bag that emitted icy frost vapours, rested on the back of his neck.
“I need to relax the muscles in his back and reduce the swelling around the nerves in his neck before I realign his C-1 atlas..” The lead healer informed him. “It's that being out of alignment, that’s causing him to be overly sensitive to altitude and atmospheric pressure. The muscle relaxant will help and once the packs have warmed his muscles, it’s a simple matter to realign his neck.”
“Then what?” Rendarion had never heard of anyone realigning a neck before. Putting shoulders and fingers back in alignment, yes, but not necks.
“He’ll need to stay here for a few minutes.” The healer answered. “Just to ensure that he doesn’t have muscle spasms, as soon as we know he won't, he’s free to leave.”
“And he’ll have to have his neck… realigned… how often?”
“Unless he injures it, again… Never.”
“The treatment is… permanent?”
“Of course.” The healer nodded. “I don’t have time to treat idiots every time they subluxate a joint, so the potions and treatments target the muscles and ligaments around the bones and pull them back into the correct position, which lets them hold the bones where they should be. Yes, injuries can mean that someone needs a chiropractic alignment, but like I said, I don’t have time to waste on repetitive treatments. Granted, some people have suffered for so long that the muscles struggle to do their jobs properly. Those require additional potion treatments. Not having any idea how long Marchwarden Haldir has been suffering from this misalignment, I felt it better to add those potions into his treatment. Even if this is a recent development, the potions won’t have an adverse effect on him.”
“So, this is… It?”
“I’d like him to pop back in, in a few days, just for a check-up, but yes,” the healer nodded, “that’s it.”
Rendarion blinked. It had been less than fifteen minutes since he’d watched his husband dismount in agony and now he was told, it was a minor thing that this healer had potions to deal with.
“Can we get a course of the potion treatment to take with us, just in case he relapses?”
“Most of our potions only last a few days.” The healer warned. “Unless you have a stasis cabinet to keep them in.”
“Stasis cabinet?” Rendarion had never heard of them.
“When he comes back for his check-up, I can have Lily or Katie show them to you and explain how to use them.” While she spoke, she was standing at Haldir’s head, holding his neck. There was a sharp crack and Haldir gasped before groaning in relief. “There we are. All done. Give him ten minutes and he’s free to go. Katie, if you'd keep an eye on the Marchwarden, please? I have a baby to deliver.” The healer gave Rendarion a smile and bustled out of the room.
“So quick?”
“Healer Alice doesn’t mess around.” Katie grinned. “You can roll over and sit up, whenever you’re ready, Marchwarden.”
As they left the hospital a few minutes later, Haldir stood where he’d dismounted and lifted his face to the late afternoon sun.
“Feels good?” Rendarion asked.
“Feels grand.” Haldir sighed in pleasure. He opened his eyes, looking at the willow on its little island, as one of its finer branches reached out and stroked the arm of the dwarf that was puttering around its trunk. He blinked a few times, before gasping. “A, taran ni, sercë-rya Entling!”
~~~