Here's the scorecard on our cast of additional characters

Strider Aragorn's alias

Anborn Faramir's alias

Mattias the eldest son of the witch

Gordash the middle son of the witch

Curtik the youngest son of the witch

Bregus the witch, also called Mother, shuv'ni (another word for witch) and puri dai (tribe elder)

Bäla Bregus' dead husband

Kattica Mattias' wife

Süzika a gypsy woman in the camp

The Hunting Trip

Chapter Eight: The Workings of Spells

Words were uttered. A whispered plea was made. The workings of her magic were intertwined with the thoughts that echoed in her head. She could see them from where she was hidden. She was near enough to hear their conversation. And she could hear the thoughts of those under her spell. She prayed to her gods that what she had planted in their minds, what she uttered for them to say, would hold true. Everything hinged upon the conviction of their words. With bated breath, she watched and listened.

****

"Mother should know about this! An elf is what she has been seeking!"

Legolas looked at Aragorn with eyes widening in alarm. Aragorn could tell he was about to say that they should depart immediately, and he readily agreed. But then the elder of Mattias' brothers recovered his discomfiture. Shaking his head and blinking back his penetrating gaze, he snapped at his younger brother, "Fool! Do you not see what an idiot you are being? You make it sound as if he is the instrument of our salvation!" Then seeming to realize the tension in the air, he sighed and did what he could to relieve it. He smiled. Directing his gaze equally upon all four of Aragorn's companions, not just the elf, he said with sincerity, "Forgive my brother and I. Please. We do not mean to cause you any fears, although I can see that is exactly what we have done. It is just that that we have been traveling hard with Mother for many days, returning only last night. There was a goal in this. She told us when we found an elf, our family's salvation would be at hand. I am sorry we have frightened you. We do not mean to be rude. Truly we do not! We are just elated to find you here. Our journey was pointless, it seems. Had we known you were coming we would have never had need to leave our family," he said with a look that was both hopeful and apologetic.

"Our luck is with us as then," Mattias said to him softly. "Our new friends have told us that we find ourselves in a realm of elves. Evidence of them is all about us."

"Truly?" Curtik asked in gushing disbelief, looking about as if looking for more elves to come walking out of the woods. Legolas and Aragorn both smiled wanly, but their apprehension was still clearly there. "A land full of elves? Imagine it! I had begun to have doubts. I thought certain we were chasing only dreams!"

Aragorn was not so convinced at the honesty in this, perceiving that there was more to their statement than what they were saying. He could see Legolas' distrust remained as well. "Tell me then, please," the Ranger began, "I keep hearing tale that your mother was trying to find salvation for your people and that there is danger for you, but what this danger and salvation are I have not heard explained. What did she say would happen when you found an elf?"

Mattias looked down, effectively conveying his uncertainty to the answer as he peered sidelong at his brothers. Gordash and Curtik exchanged glances, as if trying to discern if it was sage to reveal what they knew. At last Curtik shrugged and said, "She had not told us."

Aragorn bristled. He did not care for this answer. His wariness held true. "But surely you have asked" he began to say.

Mattias looked up and turned to face the Ranger. A stern expression creased his brow. A serious and defensive light shone in the Romany's eyes. Aragorn had not seen this part of the man's personality until now. "It is obvious this puzzles you, Strider, so please try to understand and forgive our exploits: Mother is old. She is puri dai our tribal elder and she has garnered our respect. It is not our custom to question her wisdom. If she says she senses danger, we will believe her. Further, she is our shuv'ni the chief healer amongst us. She is gifted with Sight. Few others of us know or understand this gift, but as much as we can, we do cater to her visions, for truly they cause us no harm, and many times in the past they have indeed been correct. Perchance in this case she is right again? Then we will know we have been of aid and indeed we will have saved our own people. Can you not understand this? A reverence such as this cannot be unique to the Romany people alone? Surely you can think of others among your own to whom you would follow without question?" he asked with conviction. Behind him, Gordash and Curtik stood, their faces belying nothing that would contradict this last plea.

Aragorn sighed. He did understand. The customs among these people were obviously different from his own, but not so far as to distrust the wisdom of an elder. He could think of several beings he had encountered over the years whose wisdom he had trusted without question. Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, to name a few. Many others would say he possessed this power as well. Perhaps this was what these people felt. It really was not his to ask or push for more, and with the respect he felt for the examples he conjured, he felt shame for having questioned the brothers' motives so. The earnest expression on Mattias' face conveyed much to him, and he knew pressing the three brothers for better answer would not endear him to them. He looked to Faramir, who silently read him and nodded his agreement. Aragorn would postpone his questioning until he met 'Mother'. Only she could really answer his concerns, he decided. And most likely they would find the case here to be related to superstition, and his worry for naught.

However, with a wince he thought, it would have helped to appease him more if Curtik were not persistently gawking at Legolas. He glanced again at the youngest brother with a hint of a frown. Legolas had already looked away from the men, apparently tired of being the object to such scrutiny.

Gordash saw their looks and grimaced as he glared at his younger brother. Utterly humiliated for the disgrace of his sibling and growing red-faced for it, Gordash cuffed him to the back of the head. "Curtik! Stop staring!" he said with annoyance. And with that, everyone about them, including Legolas, chuckled at the comic gesture. Partially amused at the innocent awe of the youngest man, and partially embarrassed for their own part in the tense situation, the four companions smiled to one another. The group around them began to murmur. Sheepishly Gordash said directly to Legolas, "Forgive him, please, Master Legolas. Sometimes I think we found him under a bush."

Laughing with renewed vigor, Legolas said, "I understand," and gave a look of pardon as he said, "I too have many questions I would ask. Mayhap you will tell me more of yourself, Curtik." He accompanied this statement with the full intensity of a direct elven stare. The youngest brother squeaked in answer, turning a bright shade of red, and nearly tripped over his feet as he backed away. Again, everyone laughed, and the mood of the gathering was greatly lifted.

"Did you see his eyes?" the youngest loudly whispered to his larger brother. "Like they could see right through me!"

Gordash winced and simply shook his head, sighing, as if in dismay of the continual humiliation his brother was bestowing upon him. Mattias looked chagrined at his brother's behavior as well, and Aragorn suspected he might have a few words to say to the younger man after they left. For the moment though, he laughed and the Ranger felt the wariness that had been attacking him diminish. It was replaced by a growing like for the three brothers. He found their candor refreshing. Glancing back at his companions, he could see the mood lightening among Faramir and Gimli as well, but Aragorn felt his brow crease again when he looked at the face of the elf.

Legolas appeared troubled. There was a look of question and concern written on the fleeting glances he flashed though the camp. He made eye contact with Aragorn before turning away to continue the survey he did of the camp.

Gimli noticed his friend's reaction, and began searching with his eyes too for the source of concern. "What is it?" he asked.

Legolas voiced his worry with a frown. "Dogs," he said with an air of certainty. Then he looked to Mattias and Gordash for confirmation. "You have dogs."

"Yes. We use them for large hunts and to help protect our camp," Mattias said, though he seemed to read the elf's confusion. He too began to search, his brow creased with trepidation.

"They are not barking," Gimli stated, perceiving what it was that troubled his friend.

"Would they not be alerted to strangers in your camp?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn saw that Gordash and Mattias were upset by this truth. The dogs were not barking, and he knew that by nature they should have sounded their greeting bark when the hunters had neared the camp, alerting the residents that there were strangers about. But they had not.

The two older brothers began searching, peering about, looking under the wagons for the beasts. Curtik fell back, returning again to his work, though Aragorn and his friends followed behind the other two. It did not take long to find the wolfhounds. The dogs laid beneath the meal wagon. But curiously none of them moved as they approached. At a glance they all appeared to be sleeping, panting deeply in their rest. But then one dog whimpered and crawled forward. It rested its head before the foot of Gordash as it emerged from beneath the wagon and he stooped down to examine it. "This dog is ill," he said as he scrutinized the animal. Glancing at the dogs more carefully, he said, "They all are ill." With a worried look, Legolas bent down to investigate as well. The animal at Gordash's feet opened its eyes briefly, then whimpered again at his touch.

Mattias looked troubled, and then began looking frantically about, as if seeking something or someone. He called to one of the nearby women, "Do you know where Kattica is?"

"Ai! There," she said as she pointed to a pregnant woman emerging from the woods. The eyes of Aragorn and his companion turned to look at the figure. The girl was rather young. Aragorn would guess her to be in her early twenties, with straw-colored hair and fair skin. She walked with a pronounced limp that made the bucket of water she carried slosh with each step, though she appeared not to notice. She looked tired with dark circles beneath the cast brown eyes. She seemed to be locked in deep thought. Her brow was creased. Rapt was her distraction as she noticed not her surroundings nor the people about her. Her attention seemed focused entirely on something within her while her body toiled on in its labor. She looked up only when she came near the cook fire. Then startled and frightened by the strangers before, she dropped the bucket she carried.

Water melted away into the crushed pine needles at her feet as Gimli stepped forward. "Allow me to help you with that, Lady," he said. She looked unbalanced and shaken at the sight of him as he bent down to take the empty vessel.

She stumbled backwards and bumped into Mattias as her eyes grew round to the shock of her encounter.

"I would like to introduce my wife, Kattica," Mattias said, wrapping an arm about her waist to steady her. The girl tried to regain herself, growing red-faced for her awkwardness, but she nodded politely as they were each in turn introduced. Still, she remained frightened by the chance meeting, and Aragorn thought it might be best if she sat for a moment.

"Are you well?" he asked.

"Yes. Yes, I am fine," she softly responded, though her pallor and trembling voice said otherwise.

Mattias watched her carefully as he spoke, concern written on his face. "The dogs are sick," he said grimly. "Do you think you could tend them?"

Regaining herself, she looked directly at him and calmly she said with a somber expression, "I am already seeing to it. I was just attending to Yulli's wound, and I will look to them now. I already know what ails the animals."

"What is it?" Gordash asked cautiously from where he knealed.

"Poison," she said flatly.

"Poison?" Faramir asked loudly.

She glanced down, as if realizing again she stood among strangers and was ashamed to admit this before them. But then they saw her lips curl upward, giving her face a crooked smile. Shyly she looked up and said, "It was a mistake really. Something silly, my husband."

"How is a poisoning silly?" Mattias asked.

"Süzika and I were cooking some mushrooms we had found this morning," Kattica began, nodding her head to one of the women near the fire. "We were uncertain if they were poisonous as I do not know the vegetation yet for this region. So we decided to test them on one of the dogs.* Unfortunately" she glanced to the animals laying beneath the wagon, "they were a greedy lot today, and not one, but all of them, ate the vile food. Actually, that is probably to their benefit. I can cure them. Had it been but one beast who had eaten them all, he would probably be dead by now," she said as she squatted with difficulty near Gordash and Legolas. She looked carefully into the eyes and mouth of the animal before her.

Mattias shrugged toward Aragorn and Faramir. "So we have it. Not such a mystery really," he said. Smiling at the serious look of apprehension Aragorn, wore, he continued, "Have no fear for the animals, my friend. My wife is a shuv'ni apprentice. She is quite gifted in healing skills. Although I will confess, I have some concern regarding her cooking. With her aid, we could quickly run out of dogs, and I might find myself directly on the receiving end of some of her experiments," he teased. "Come. Our meal awaits us."

Aragorn nodded as he allowed Faramir and himself to be led away. "There will not be mushrooms, will there?" Faramir asked with a small grin. Gordash laughed as he rose to join them.

Looking back at his friends, Aragorn asked, "Will you join us?" Without looking to the other for answer, simultaneously they shook their heads to the negative. He need not have inquired. He already knew their answers before even asking. It was very apparent to the Ranger that Legolas would remain, choosing to see the animals healed before taking any personal comfort. And Gimli, he was certain, would want to be of aid to the girl, especially given her present condition. The gruff exterior of the dwarf belies a soft spot for helpless maidens, Aragorn mused.

The men gathered at the makeshift table where they were to dine. They hastily took places and gestured Aragorn and Faramir to sit alongside them. As the food was placed before them, Aragorn noticed a seat at the head of the table that remained empty, and he wondered if that was to be 'Mother's' chair. "Mattias," he said with a questioning voice. He nodded toward the chair, assuming his guess correct. "We have not yet met her," he said. "Will she be joining us?"

Mattias looked deeply into Aragorn's eyes and said nothing. His only reply was a smile.

****

Behind him in the vardo, a curtain fell back into place where a set of eyes had been watching the activity surrounding the strangers' arrival. A similar smile glanced the lips of the elder woman, and she had to restrain the laughter that threatened to tear from her throat. It was all going well and very much according to plan the dogs the girl her sons' answers the elf. Everything. And now there was something more. Something she had not anticipated. Bregus realized as she had gazed out that he had been right. Bäla had hinted as much, and it was all coming true.

She was very pleased with her spell. Her younger sons had spoken well, as if innocent to any knowledge of the evil intent of their last journey together. And in a way, they were innocent, thanks to her magic. Her latest enchantment had all but erased any memories of their encounter with the three elves in the swamp. After so many years, it was easy to manipulate these two. Still, she was very glad she had not shared her intentions with any others in the camp, for covering her tracks, as they were, would have required a far greater spell, and she had felt she had reached her limits already with just this one. She saw it as a gift, the fading of her sons' memories. They would bear no guilt for their actions as they had no memory of them. And the only other ones who had been present to the elves' deaths were the dogs and the owl. The dogs could not talk, so therefore they could not tell, and only she could hear the voice of the owl. Still, the dogs had to be silenced. Doubtless after tasting the blood of the past-fated elf, they would be difficult to control if they had been aware that another entered their camp. It was better this way, and Bregus knew that the girl would see to their remedy. Tomorrow the beasts would be well again, for that is when she would really need their services. That left only the owl.

She turned and smiled at her familiar at the back of the wagon. The owl blinked back as she approached. As if in answer, she said, "Yes. Yes, you are right. You do deserve a reward. You had said that they were near." Reaching her hand deep into the pouch of her apron she drew out a live field mouse. Holding it out to the owl in offering, she laughed as the night creature snatched the small animal from her hand without hesitation. She chuckled as she watched it devour the rodent, shredding the small body within a few seconds.

"Even the girl is no trouble," she said as she watched the bird feed. "My magic has taken her as well. Thank the gods! That child of a woman has no idea the potential she bears in her powers. I dare say she would be a challenge were she to fight me."

She turned back to gathering the dried plants and herbs that were spread across the table. A gauzy swash of cloth lay beneath them. She gathered the corners and knotted the ends into each other as the flowers crushed inward. She felt, heard and smelled evidence that the plants were disintegrating into themselves and the cloth, and she was careful not to inhale too deeply their aroma. The crushed remains made a small parcel. She placed it into her gathering basket that laid near the door. And then she turned back to face the owl.

"And now to the test, my friend. Which way do we choose? Do we keep them today, or let them go? Would they do better together, or split apart? You say you saw them go into a cave near a waterfall, and I would venture that this is the passage we seek to the Protected Place. But I should see it for myself to know certain. And yet I am troubled, my friend. We do not really know their numbers, do we? You have told me there were more men upon horses, and others that entered the cave. This frightens me. What if there are too many for me to control? Too bad owls cannot count or take notice to such details, for I might know my enemy better. Still, it was not what was asked of you, was it?" she said in a softly cooing voice as she allowed the owl to peck at the field mouse's scent left in her hand. "No worries then. They have not come under my influence yet, and once I have broached that, the information I need will come. We have time. We will find a way. We are still two days from the setting sun to the full moon. That is when this comes to an end." Then she laughed. "Is it not amusing, my pet, that before yesterday, we were panicked with what need be done in this time? Bäla must have a part in this. I sense his skills at play. The plans are working brilliantly."

Then she went back to the curtain, and gazed out again at the four strangers in her camp. Her eyes fixed on the one in the party that captivated her attention the most. Yes, she thought, this is going better than hoped.

****

There was something wrong. Not only did she feel immeasurably unlike her normal self, but there was something not right in the scene of the camp. And yet, she could not discern what it could be. To Kattica's eyes, everything was seemingly placid. The arrival of the foreigners had quickly dissolved from something fearful and strange, to something fascinating and enlightening to her people. The family seemed more than willing to allow these beings into their world, and the four were easily absorbed into the lifestyle of the camp. Mattias and the rest of the men were eating their meal, sharing their hospitality with two of the four strangers the ones called Strider and Anborn and a round of laughter broke out as the dark-haired Strider regaled them with a tale from their hunting exploits. A boom of laughter erupted from the group, and the men appeared mirthful. That appeared right. So why did everything else feel so wrong?

The other two, Legolas and Gimli, were standing by, offering their aid where they could. And Kattica was very glad to have it. She could not remember ever feeling as drained as she did now. Not just tired, but thoroughly spent, as if her entire body and mind were immersed in a wet blanket. She felt limp, though no other symptoms accompanied her ill-feeling, and try as she might, she could not identify it. Not like diagnosing the dogs, she thought. That had been simple. Too simple, though she dared not say this to anyone aloud. Poisons in mushrooms were often trickier to detect, and it seemed odd to her that the dogs had succumbed to their bad turn so quickly. Yet poison the mushrooms must have been, for indeed the dogs were sick, and she had no other explanation. She berated herself for not detecting it sooner. Still, she had felt certain the mushrooms were safe when she and Süzika had picked them and she had almost argued against testing them on the dogs. A part of her still held true to that conviction. It did not seem like the poison of a mushroom that felled them. In fact, it was almost as if something else had tainted the dogs' food. But what? She could not decipher the mystery, especially in the foggy state of mind she now found herself. No matter, she mentally countered. The cure I have is a general remedy. It should heal them regardless of how they came to be ill. Now if she could only find a cure for what ailed her.

"Perhaps you should lay down for a while," a melodious voice said, breaking her thoughts as if seeming to read them.

"My weariness shows," she stated, then shrugged. "Have no fears, Master Elf, it is merely the exhaustion of a woman bearing child. It will pass."

"Will it?" Legolas asked. "I sense your fatigue is more than surface depletion. Even now, you look as if you are struggling against something much deeper."

"I suppose I am. It is the baby, I am sure. It is not unusual for a woman in my condition to act this way, I think."

"Rest might do you some good then," he offered.

"My people do not take such luxuries. We all have our jobs to do. And mine, for the moment, is to heal these dogs," she said as she crushed fresh herbs into her mortar from where she sat at a small bench.

"You could instruct me to do it for you."

She looked at him with eyes widened in wonderment, momentarily forgetting her fatigue. "I have heard that elves are magical in nature. Are you a shuv'ni as well?"

"Explain this word."

"A witch?"

Legolas looked both shocked and amused. He laughed at the thought. "Nay," he said. "I know no magic. If elves possess anything, it is an understanding of nature. We hear the songs of life."

Kattica blinked. She had never heard of such a thing. "Can you heal the dogs with this skill?"

"If I could, I would have done so by now. No, it is more a sense than an action. What I do know, what I can sense, is that they suffer, and I do not think an animal should be made to hurt like this. It is cruel," Legolas said as he looked sympathetically at the animal before him.

"You might not say that if you know of their normal temperament. They frighten me," the girl said with a shudder.

"Yes, I understand how you might feel that. I sense that from them as well. But they only do their job, as you would say. They act on both instinct and on what they have been taught. I cannot begrudge them their nature for that which they had no choice," he said, stroking the large grey hound's coat. Then changing the subject, he said, "I have met a few wizards before, but never a mortal witch. Tell me about what you do as a shuv'ni apprentice."

She gave a weak smile in answer. "You see it before you in all its glory. I tend to the sick as needed, be they people or dogs. And I serve Bregus, our shuv'ni, when she desires it."

Then she looked at Legolas with her dulled eyes and tried to muster her curiosity. This was a rare opportunity, she realized, and the chance to learn of the life of an elf would probably never come to her again. She stirred her mind into motion. "Tell me of the healers among your people. Surely they must employ means of magic in their work."

"Our healers work much as I see you, with herbal infusions and extracts. Their magic is in knowing how to utilize the song in applying these remedies. Do you employ magic in your work?" Legolas redirected.

"When needed, I do. But my magic is not very powerful. Being an apprentice, I have many more years of tutelage before I will become knowledgeable in the full force of what I can do," she answered, then said, "I practice white magic." She did not know if Legolas knew what that meant that she used natures forces to aid willing subjects. She considered telling him that Bregus used just the opposite, black magic, but she felt her lethargy increase in revealing just this much of herself. She hoped he would not ask more of her, for she was uncertain that she had the strength to speak of it.

Through her fatigue, Kattica ceased whirling the ingredients in the mortar. She rested the bowl in her lap as she took a deep breath, then looked up at him. "This is ready. I only need the water," she said, glancing about for Gimli, who had gone to refill the bucket she had dropped.

"He comes now," Legolas said, smiling faintly as he nodded his head in the direction of his friend. Emerging into the camp from the slope of a hill, the dwarf carried the bucket with ease, foisting it to the bench before the girl without shedding a drop.

She took the small bowl that had held the herbs, tapped it out, and then scooped it partially full with the water. She scraped half of the pasty concoction into it, stirring it with her pestle. Handing the bowl to Legolas along with a small, wooden spoon, she said, "I now make you my apprentice. Help me please as it is difficult for me to get down to them in my present condition. Do me the favor of dribbling five spoonfuls of this medicine into each of the dog's throats. But be careful as you do. They may be weak, but I'm sure they will revive quickly. And they bite."

Legolas nodded and returned to the dogs to do as she had told him. Meanwhile, with the remainder of the paste and the water in the bucket, she prepared a larger bowl of the draught. Behind her she heard a low growl, and she turned just in time to see Legolas jump back as a one of the dogs snapped its jaws at him, bearing fangs in the process. At her side, she heard Gimli chuckle. Though still unable to move, the hackles on the crreatures back stood on end. "I told you they were not such friendly creatures," she chided.

"They have just not learned that I am their friend," Legolas said with patience, ignoring the laughing dwarf and slowly drawing near again. He whispered soft foreign words to the animal and Kattica saw the dog's ears fall back as its mood softened. Whimpering slightly, the dog grew tame to his touch. He resumed stroking its coat before trying again with the spoon. Looking up at her, he smiled.

"If you could teach me to do that, I would be forever grateful," she said with awe.

"Not before he teaches me," Gimli interjected. "But I know well that he won't. For he knows that if he could teach me to speak to the animals as he does, I would tell a horse-friend of his a thing or two."

Legolas smiled as he moved on to another dog. "Perhaps that is precisely the reason I do not teach you, my friend. Lest you forget, my horse has a mind of his own. He might have a thing or two to say in return, and you might not be fond of those thoughts. I am afraid his assessment of you is not kind, Gimli."

"Oh? And I suppose he has told you this. Your horse," Gimli snorted in disbelief.

"Of course. Very eloquently, I might add," Legolas said in all earnestness.

"Ridiculous!"

"If you could speak with him yourself, you might be surprised to find him a worthy challenger to your words," Legolas replied with a faint grin.

"As if I would stand about bandying with a horse," Gimli muttered.

"You did say you had a thing or two to say to him. I would judge my horse could easily keep pace with you, jibe for jibe, in a verbal joust."

"And how would one hold said match?" Gimli asked with another snort.

The elf shrugged. "I could translate between you," Legolas offered, looking at Kattica with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"An unfair contest that would be!" Gimli erupted. "Undoubtedly, the horse would win with you putting words into its mouth."

"I am offended. You think I would favor my horse over you? How do you know I would not put words into your mouth to make you sound better?" Legolas began.

Kattica smiled at the conversation as she finished stirring the mixture. She could see this type of pointless discourse was normal behavior for these two, just by observing how easily they fell into it, and it had lifted her spirits to listen. But she interrupted, knowing she had to get the next part of the cure ready for the animals. "Would you please take this over to the dogs for me, Gimli?"

"At your service, Lady" he said with a small bow, casting a glare at Legolas as he did so.

The dog Legolas had been attending slowly rose, and wandered to the bowl, lapping at the mixture. It was soon joined by the other dogs. They appeared to be on the mend. But Kattica's focus was no longer on the animals. She saw an object hang from Gimli's belt, and it took a fierce hold of her attention.

Gimli saw her eyes gaze at the ornament and without hesitation he held it out to her. "I was going to ask if you knew to whom this belonged," he said. It was a charm of some sort, carved from an amber-colored stone. It was smooth from long wear and tied to a string of earth colored ribbons that were frayed at the ends where the strings had unraveled. A bead carved from wood held them tight, and the tiny wood circlet was decorated with a repeating pattern in the shape of two crescent moons facing one another. The stone itself was carved in the shape of two female figures, side by side, one slightly larger. Each one carried again the shape of the two crescent moons facing each other. Kattica stared at this amulet as her jaw dropped open. "So you know this jewelry?" the dwarf asked, regarding her expression. "I found it out near the trail. It would be a thing of importance, I gather."

"It is," she said in a whisper. "I had nearly forgotten it." She delicately picked the object from Gimli's hand. "How could I have forgotten it?"

"Is it something you would use as a shuv'ni?" Legolas asked, glancing up at the object she now held.

"Iyes, I I cannot think of why I know it, but I think it is mine," she said, blinking hard at the object held open in her palm, trying to force her mind to recall everything about it. Someone important had given it to her. Long ago. Who? "II know of this. What is this?"

Gimli and Legolas exchanged concerned expressions. Gimli spoke for them, "Kattica, it has been asked before, but I must persist: are you well? Your thoughts seem somewhat clouded and you react as someone who has received a severe blow."

Kattica closed her eyes. A blow? Had someone struck her? No, somehow that did not seem right. But at the moment, nothing was making much sense to her. Her memory of this amulet was so clearly there before her, and at the same time vague, as if shrouded in a haze of fog. Fighting. She was fighting to be free of it, and yet she could not even get her mind around the thing that she fought. There was something at work here, yet she had no memory of it. She clenched her hand around the amulet, her hands tensing into fists in frustration as she tried to recall what it was that eluded her. How could this happen? What has happened? Suddenly, her eyes flew open as memories began to flood back in. The blanket over her mind was removed. Bregus! It was witchcraft!

Kattica opened her eyes and suddenly stood, reaching to her belly protectively and looking wildly about, trying to take in the disturbance in the camp and what it was that she had seen but not seen. She gazed everywhere, as Legolas and Gimli watched her with growing trepidation. She saw their concern. They do not know, she realized, then berated herself for not seeing the obvious. Of course they do not! They are innocent of this. They are her targets!

Again, she looked at the scene about her. She glanced at her husband as a shudder ran up her spine. The memory of his hands crushing down on her wrists returned to her, and her brow creased into a frown as she tried to push the thought of it away. He did not have control, she reasoned. That was Bregus' work. She choked back her anger and fear, forcing herself to forgive him as she continued to look for the missing pieces of the mystery in her mind. Apprehension was strong in her as she viewed the table and the strangers before her husband. And then she saw it. There was something familiar in the fairer of the two men. Anborn, he was called, and she drew her attention to him to try and place it. Sitting across from her husband she noticed the similarity in their size and build. The fair-haired man was slightly older than Mattias, but his features were the same color and shape as the man she had married, and she realized with comparable garb, they could be mistaken as family, brothers even. Funny, she thought. She began to look away, her body still weak from the loss of her perceptions, but not before she caught sight of something else, and she looked back to see she was correct. Bregus was not at the table with the men. As puri dai, it was her place to sit with the men at meal. She looked up at the vardo, and realized the elder was still within the confines there. Kattica saw her, peeking through a sliver in the curtain toward the newcomers within the camp. And she realized that Bregus too was staring at the fair-haired man. Intently!

She gasped. She was about to speak, to warn the elf and dwarf that there was danger here, that the witch was about to do something to their friend, but before she could, Bregus stepped out of the wagon. The elder shot the girl a glare, and the fright of that gaze was enough to make Kattica drop the amulet she had been holding. Without even seeing the action, the elder waved her hand through the air in a downward movement, saying aloud, "Kele bar!" and the activity in the camp came to a freezing halt. Even Kattica was struck, rendered mute by the witch's spell as the blanket of haze returned to her mind. She could not move, could not speak. All she could do was observe Bregus' next move.

"Kele bar!" "Turn to stone!"

*I know they are vicious dogs, and we saw what they did to the elf in the Prologue, but I really don't believe in inflicting pain of this sort on animals, no matter how cruel they may seem. This little experience is derived from a story my grandmother would tell me of Old Suzy, who lived up the road from her house. Old Suzy used to pick wild mushrooms, though she was never really sure if they were edible or not. She used to cook them with a silver spoon, which was an old wives' tale that told if the food was good to eat or bad. If the spoon turned black, Suzy would get worried, and so she'd feed the mushrooms to the goat. If the goat didn't keel over, she'd feed them to her husband. If her husband lived, Suzy decided they were safe to eat and so would have dinner. I like my grandmother's story better than mine, but it didn't quite fit with what I was doing, and so I adapted. I certainly don't recommend doing this to animals and I'm sure the ASPCA might have a thing or two to say. For that matter, I don't recommend picking and eating wild mushrooms either, and I am always amazed to see people still die from this practice (there is usually at least one report on the news every summer). Especially when there are so many safe alternatives available at the grocers.