Here comes trouble!

Balthier sank down on a fallen tree trunk and took a deep breath. He watched Legolas pace around.

“Relax, we prevented Rosa from getting stabbed, so why are you so nervous?” The skypirate demanded. Legolas glanced briefly at him, then resumed pacing.

“He’s thinking.” Hydraxon told the skypirate. The Jailer sat down next to him and together they watched Legolas pace. “Apparently, he is confused.”

“Confused about what?” Balthier wanted to know. Hydraxon shrugged.

“He did not say.”

“I don’t understand.” Legolas muttered. “Why was Arwen here to pick up Frodo and take him to Rivendell? I thought that was supposed to be Glorfindel’s job…”

Balthier and Hydraxon looked at each other, then both shrugged. Both were not from Middle Earth so both were not familiar with the things that should happen or not happen. The Jailer of the Pit looked at the script he still carried with him.

“Everything happened how it should have happened according to the script, so I do not see your problem, Master Legolas.”

The Prince of Mirkwood was about to say something, when Balthier’s phone rang. Nonchalantly, the skypirate picked up his iPhone.

“Hello?” His eyes narrowed, then he stood up and distanced himself a bit from his two companions.

“Who do you think is calling him?” Legolas asked Hydraxon. The Elf had finally stopped pacing around.

“Our chief, probably. Who else has his number?” Hydraxon looked around. “Speaking of numbers, where is the fourth of our little team?”

“Morgoth?” Legolas snorted. “He found a pile of rocks and is now studying them, trying to figure out which rock would damage IT the most when it hits its head.”

“At least that’s something useful to our job.”

Morgoth came towards the group, carrying a rock in both hands. “I need you guys’ opinion.” The ex-vala said. He showed them the rock in his right hand. “This rock is heavier than the other, despite having the same size. It would hit the Sue harder when thrown.” He showed them the other rock. “But this one has a rougher surface and would damage the Sue’s skin more when thrown. So which one should I keep? I tried figuring it out but… both options are so tempting.”  

Hydraxon gave both rocks a quick glance, then he turned to Morgoth and said: “Keep them both and throw them both.”

Morgoth’s face brightened. “Of course! Now why didn’t I think of that…?”

“It’s the Sue.” Legolas sighed. “She makes everything dumber. Even I am getting problems figuring out how much 3489 multiplied by 98521 is.”

Hydraxon gave the Elf a weird look, then quickly shoved away from him a bit. Just then, Balthier came back.

“It was the chief. He congratulated us for our successful mission on the Weathertop.” The group exchanged satisfied smiles. “Now, for our next job we need to go to some place named Rivendell, make Rosa’s time there as hellish as possible and most importantly, prevent her from joining ‘The Fellowship’, whatever that is.”

Legolas cursed. “That cow is going to try and join the Fellowship? Can this get any worse?”

Hydraxon looked at the script in his hands. He had read some more of it and he knew what Rosa still had in store for Middle Earth should she not be stopped. Silently, he muttered: “Yes Legolas, it can get worse. Much, much worse…”

“Rivendell is still six days - at least – from here. We better get going.” Morgoth noted. Balthier shook his head.

“We have to make it to Rivendell before the Sue does, our chief says so.”

“Why is that?” The ex-vala demanded.

“He wants us to see how bad the situation at Rivendell is before the Sue comes.” The skypirate explained.

“We’ll never make it.” Legolas interrupted. “Aragorn already is an hour ahead of us.”

“We won’t be going on foot.” Balthier shrugged. He took something out of his pocket that looked like a remote control. “The chief was so kind as to transport my airship to here. We’ll be in Rivendell in no time, as long as I know where to go.”

He pushed one of the buttons on the remote control and all of the sudden a large, hi-tech airship materialized in the air above them. The airship hung in place thanks to an anchor hanging down from it. Legolas’ jaw dropped.

“Where did that come from?” The Elf demanded.

“Who knows?” Balthier replied. “This is all a bunch of nonsense anyway. So don’t try to comprehend it Master Elf, and just climb aboard the Strahl.”

Without waiting for his comrades, Balthier started to climb the anchor line towards his Airship, the Strahl. Hydraxon, Morgoth and Legolas soon followed.

---

Morgoth sat against a tree with pen and paper in his hand. “So, let’s go over this one more time.” He looked at his team members. Thanks to the Strahl airship, they had arrived at Rivendell in a matter of hours. The team had not wasted any time and had started looking around –without being noticed, of course – so they could see how the current situation in Rivendell was.