I followed silently up the stairs and stopped at the end of the hall where a door closed sharply. I waited for Sam, Merry, and Pip to come before showing them the door. Merry had a candlestick, while Pip was holding a chair. Sam busted in with nothing but his fists, shouting "Let him go! Or I'll have you, Longshanks!"

Strider had his sword out, and he sighed when he saw us. "You have a stout heart, little Hobbit," he said, sheathing it. "But that will not save you. You can no longer wait for your wizard, Frodo," he said as he looked at Frodo and took a few steps closer to him. "They're coming."

I suddenly saw the man at the gate. There was a snorting noise behind the door, and he went out to investigate. As soon as he opened the slider, the door was kicked in, crushing him, and the black riders came rushing in, crushing him even more. They rushed through the streets, coming into the Prancing Pony with their swords drawn. They came to a room with four, Hobbit-sized beds quietly. They each snuck around to a bed and raised their swords above it. After a few seconds, they began stabbing them cruelly. They paused after a moment, ripping the sheets away from the probably mangled bodies, and screeched when they saw that they were only pillows.

I jerked awake, sitting up quickly, covered, again, in sweat. Everyone was looking at me, and Frodo came to sit by me. "Jenakin?" he said worriedly. "Jenakin, are you alright?"

I looked around for a moment and nodded weakly. I noticed I was sitting on the floor with a pillow where my head had been.

"You just passed out," he said. "We didn't know what to do."

I sighed, remembering that we had tried to save Frodo. I nodded again, and he helped me up and onto the foot of the bed, which was occupied by Sam, Merry and Pippin. Strider was sitting on the window ledge, watching the Nine tear apart the bedroom in the dim light across the muddy yard.

"What are they?" Frodo asked him.

They screeched again.

"They were once Men," he explained. "Great Kings of Men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine rings of power. Blended by their greed, they took them without question. One by one, falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will."

I watched through the window as they got on their hoarses and galloped away.

Strider looked at him. "They are the Nazgûl. Ringwraiths. Neither living nor dead." He looked back outside and continued. "At all times they feel the presence of the Ring." I saw them galloping down a road as Strider continued. "Drawn to the power of the One." Then I saw them individually, all in different places.

"They will never stop hunting you," he finished.

======================

The sun was just over the horizon as we jogged uphill, now many miles from Bree. There was just enough space on the saddle of the horse Strider brought along for me to sit on. With much complaining from Merry and Pippin, I sat on the horse so I wouldn't fall behind. He guided the horse over hills and through woods, all the while I looked at the views Middle Earth offered. I got frequant visions of the wraiths galloping along some ways behind us or standing above ledges, all the whole looking for Frodo and the Ring.

"Where are you taking us?" Frodo inquired after a while.

"Into the Wild," Strider said in response.

"How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf?" I heard Merry ask as we trekked through another forest. I looked at him, and he was looking at Strider. I just rolled my eyes.

"We have no choice but to trust him," Frodo said in front of him.

"But where's he leading us?" Sam, who was now holding the reins, inquired.

"To Rivendale, Master Gamgee," Strider said, about ten feet away from our group. "To the house of Elrond."

"Did you hear that?" Sam said to us. "Rivendale. We're going to see the Elves!"

As we crossed over a hill I buried myself in my coat. It was pretty windy, and really chilly outside, but I've been colder before. As we kept walking, I remembered my dream from the other night. How Gandalf said that I hadn't "shown any real power yet." I was so confused, I just put the thought out of my mind and concentrated on the land around me.

Once we got to the snowy parts, the group stopped and began getting out supplies from the saddle. Strider looked back at us from a couple of yards away. "Gentlemen. We do not stop until nightfall."

"What about breakfast?" Pippin called.

"You've already had it," he said simply.

"We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?"

Strider just continued walking as the boys began to pack up.

"Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip," Merry said beside him.

"What about elevansies?" he demanded. "Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"

"I wouldn't count on it," Merry replied.

An apple came flying over a small tree and Merry caught it, handing it to Pippin and patting his shoulder. Another one came flying as Merry walked away and hit him on the head.

"Pippin!" Merry scolded as Pippin looked up.

Still a little dazed, Pippin picked up the other apple and tossed it to me. He smirked and I gave a shy smile back as we continued. I remembered a picture I once saw of Pippin with a caption that said "I eat punks like you for second breakfast" and laughed to myself.

I was shown yet another vision. A stiff, old hand was moving its fingers in a painful-looking way over the black orb I saw in my dream. It made me want to saw it off while throwing up and selling it to a zoo, calling it a rare form of squid.

The power of Isenguard is at your command, Sauron, Lord of the Earth, I heard Saruman's voice say in my head.

Build me an army worthy of Mordor, said another stern voice. It was the Dark Lord.

I saw Saruman sitting in his chair, huddled together with his long white hair all in his face. Three ugly creatures came in and stood in front of him. "What orders from Mordor, my Lord?" the first one asked. "What does the Eye command?"

Saruman looked up at them. "We have work to do."

Suddenly they were outside, and there was hundreds more of those things all gathered around the trees with torches and ropes. They began to pull the trees down with ropes, the roots sticking out in all directions.

Suddenly, I saw Gandalf. He looked as if he had been out for a while. He slowly stood up and looked around, seeing fires dotting the place. I also noticed it was raining. He was on top of the Tower of Isenguard, which was a tall spire with four spike things sticking out from the top. He leaned against the nearest one, surveying the surrounding area. He watched as the creatures tore down the trees, one by one.

I was standing in front of Saruman suddenly. Again.

"The trees are strong, my Lord," one of the creatures said. "Their roots go deep."

"Rip them all down," he commanded.

Then I was back beside Gandalf, who kneeled down beside the spike he was leaning on and wrapped himself up in his cloak.

=====================

Eventually, our company came to what looked like a ruined watchtower.

"This was the great watchtower of Aman Sûl." Strider said and turned to the rest of us. "We shall rest here tonight." Before Sam could move I peeled my sore-as-heck butt off the saddle and hiked the rest of the way.

Jeez, sitting on a saddle for that long makes you more sore than you could imagine.

We all sat heavily while Strider remained standing, watching the horizon. When dark creeped in, Strider rolled out a bundle with small swords, almost knives. "These are for you," he said as he threw one to each of the Hobbits. "Keep them close."

He stood up and backed away. "I'm going to have a look around. Stay here. Jeniken, will you come with me?"

I looked up at him, surprised, since that was the first time he had spoken to me the whole time. He looked at me expectantly and I nodded slowly, looking at the others. I stood up and followed him back down the side of the watchtower.

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Sorry. That picture is long overdue XD