Lac looked at Jin and bowed his head slightly, in recognition of her vow, then said "Fate and destiny has brought our lives together for a purpose. I sense the loss of Alrick is a part of that destiny, and fear we have loss more than a young Wizard and friend. Jin, I think that within Alrick was one of the lost seeing stones. That stone may now be in the pocession of the enemy. We must guard this information and guard ourselves and they others from the sight of the enemy. He , through his agents constantly seeks the stones for with them all he can wield the power to bring all the free lands under his control and plunge all the world into darkness."

Lac paused a moment then turned and placed his hand upon the wall, his fingers touching the scratches left by his dagger. "Let us join Tiphereth, Krakyn and Brianna, they await us outside the East Gate above the Valley of Azanulbizr." Lac then led Jin back theyway he had come and three hours latter they stood with thier companions gazing out over the Valley of Azanulbizr. " Alrick has fallen into the abyss, I fear we will not see the young Wizard again. ...... Before us are the lands known as Nanduhrion. We must cross these and the mountains beyond. ...... Come, we must reach the valley before the sunsets, by nightfall this mountainside will be crawling with Orc." Lac then started down the mountainside.

As Lac and Jinn joined them, she stepped off to the side, away from everyone, uncomfortable being around so many at one time. "I'm glad you made it okay, but I am sorry for your loss." She looked out over the landscape, wondering what was out there when she heard Lac mention the orcs.

She looks over at them, knowing that to travel alone now was idiotic at best. "Would you allow me to travel with you? I am simply trying to return home."

When Brianna had made the statement that Tiphereth was not like the others he simply nodded and the fact that he was not like other males she had met was somewhat of an understatement. "Brianna, I am nothing like any other 'males' you have known." He assured her, while surveying the valley with his eyes ablaze with violet hues in the bright light of day. He then quickly realized that what he had just said might have been misconstrued as a boast and so he elaborated on his remark. "What I meant was," Tiphereth said as he turned and looked at her, "that I am unlike the people of this land." Tossing his hair to the side and away from his eyes the Deithir's perfect skin flashed in the sunlight, then he briefly smiled.

Tiphereth did not respond to Brianna's question concerning the safety of Lac and Jin, he could feel that a connection that might have meant the two had found one another but it was an emotional sense that he could not relay into words. Instead he momentarily watched the Dwarf, regarding the valley with apathy. It was obvious that he would miss the halls of the ancient Dwarven kingdom.

To pass the time while awaiting Lac's return,Tiphereth lounged on the rocks like a great cat, stretching out in the sun and closing his eyes. They were quick to open when he sensed the return of his companions, but Alrick was not among them. He had believed that he might have been with Jin, but when only two climbed the stairs and emerged out of the East gate it confirmed his worst fear, the wizard was dead. Springing to his feet in one smooth motion, the Deithirin Elf stood ready for Lac'Nala's direction.

Lac and Jin stepped out of the East Gate into the sun. They stood for a moment before he raised his hand and gestured for Tiphereth to continue to rest. Lac then knelt and looked out across the valley, when the one known as Brianna spoke he studied her for a moment , then said "You are welcome to join us, Lady Brianna Fox, if you choose. Before you make your choice you must know, that a great evil hunts us. The journey we have before us will be a strenuous one. What you witnessed in the Mines of Kazad-dum is but a taste of the evil that shadows us. We must be off this mountainside and out into the valley before the sunsets. By nightfall this mountainside will be crawling with Orc and perhaps worse. I feel an evil is near and approaches with a swiftness, as if the whip of the Dark Lord himself were at thier backs."

Lac did not wait for her reply, he then rose and started picking his way purposefully down the mountain towards the valley below.

Lac's staying hand seemed to push, Tiphereth back down to wear he was sitting and the Dwarf, Beldegir hung his head low in mourning for the young wizard who had so nobly sacrificed himself so that they could stand within the sunlight once more.

Night would fall, and as the leader foretold, the Orcs would emerge in full force, seeking blood for their failure to hold them in the mines. They would be well away by then, but Tiphereth knew not wear they were bound. He only knew that the further they journeyed east, the stronger his sense of the one he sought grew.

Indeed, Lac's perception of what followed them was true. Tiphereth could feel the 'evil' at their backs at every turn and yet he was unfamiliar with the nature of this enemy. When he had first felt the darkness enshrouding them, it felt ancient and thoughts of the dark one who had walked his own lands long ago came to mind. Visions of the one referred to as the Eleventh Aelaeydia in his world also bore a name within Middle-Earth, an name that was spoken in hushed tones — Morgoth. Could it be the dark one, himself? Tiphereth could not tell, so similar was this world to his own but it was governed by silent gods that seemed to prefer that Man, Dwarf and Elf walk their own roads with little or no divine guidance. It was a strange and frightening world.

Looking upon, Brianna as she spoke with Lac, Tiphereth could see a vast plain and hundreds of beautiful horses running free across the steppe. He had seen the same vision when they had first met. It was a part of her past ingrained within her essence; it was that which defined her but as the scene played over in his mind he could see that away from the herd of golden manes, a dark mare ran alone. Closing his eyes to the dream, Tiphereth turned his face to the warm sunlight and removed his flute from it's ornate sheath that hung from his satchel. While the others spoke and considered the journey ahead, he played a sorrowful lament to honour their fallen wizard.

"Brianna, you were raised by the Horse Rider's of Rohan, an honorable people. ..... I once rode with Theoden, together with Legolis, the Dwarf Gimli and the Elves we stood on the walls of Helm's Gate. And again with with them and Arwen in the last war against the Dark Lord Saron." Lac said as he listened to Brianna's words and continued down the mountainside.

As soon as Jin reached the outside of the cave, the bright sun pained her subterranean eyes like needles poking into her eyeballs. With a soft hiss and a murmured curse in her native tongue, she pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head to protect her delicate skin and eyes from such a hateful, bright light. Giving Brianna a glare before her features grew obscured within the shadows of her hood, she retreated from the others to seek her own council.

Jin felt a great sorrow at the loss of Alrick. If only she had been stronger she could have saved the young man and both of them could have returned to the group. But she was too weak. How pathetic was that? A Drow Priestess too weak to cast a simple Feather Fall spell to allow a light weight fall of herself and another.

When Lac finally decided it was time for them to move onward down the mountains, Jin fell in behind the others, making sure she put the Dwarf between herself and the disgusting human woman allowing Tiphereth to bring up the rear. The walk down the treacherous mountainside wasn’t easy and with Briana’s insistent babble about her pitiful life, Jin’s nerves were stretched to the limit. So much so that she was about to withdraw one of her daggers and slit the woman’s throat just so she would shut up. Thankfully Tiphereth withdrew his flute and began to play a sorrowful song. While it shut the woman up from rambling on about insignificant things, it made Jin more aware of the emotions she was feeling.

Emotions were not something she was used to dealing with and while she knew Drow were capable of them, acknowledging them and knowing what to do with them were not something they were taught in their early years. In fact, emotions were something to be used against each other. Something to be manipulated and bring total devastation to another with. And now that she was being force fed these emotions, she didn’t know where to start. The only way Jin knew how to deal with them was to lash out. Unfortunately for the others, with no one else around at the time, they became targets for her wrath.

Stopping and whirling on the Deithirin, her hands clenched into tight fists, she lashed out with a very sharp, barbed tongue dripping with venomous words.

“Stop it! Stop playing that disgusting song. No one wants to hear it anyway. I can not believe you consider it music in the first place. It is nothing but stupid notes that make no sense of rhythm.”

Jin’s words brought the others to a halt. Beldigir stood with an amused smirk on his face, using his axe handle as a prop for his forearms. Brianna looked like a rabbit caught in a hunters snare and Lac furrowed his brows at her.

Jin turned her ire on the human woman then.

“And you. If I hear another thing about your pathetic life I will slit your throat and this time, the Ranger will not stop me. So you were orphaned. Lots of people are. And then you were a slave. Big deal. You are not the first human to become a slave to your own kind. Or human female to be subjected to the needs of males. You are so puny, I do not know why any man would even think of touching you. Not even the women in my world would find you worth the effort. If you were MY slave, I would have killed you for being so pathetic. You are alive now. Why not find private solace in that fact and spare the rest of us from hearing your whining. Too bad for us that we must hear your insistent babble. Why can you not just…..be quiet and move along in silence. The Orcs will have NO trouble finding us with all the noise you are uttering from your worthless lips.”

Beldigir snorted with hilarity and the Drowess turned on the Dwarf now.

“What are you laughing at? If it were not for your foolish kin, we would not have lost Alrick! We would not have had to face such a creature as the Balrog! We were no match for that thing right from the start. You and your insatiable need to find mithril and other such mystical metal to forge the greatest of all weapons. Why could none of your kind forge a weapon capable of killing the Balrog they unearthed? Why can your kind not create such a weapon to destroy the evil that breathes down upon our backs?”

By now, Lac had heard enough of Jin’s outbursts and came marching back towards her, taking her firmly by the upper arm and practically dragging her back towards the front with him.

“Let go of me, you shinduago duenhug (surface dweller)! You dare treat ME like this?”

Taking Jin a few yards from the others, Lac let go of her, roughly shoving her backwards and stood facing her with a heated look upon his face. Jin gave an equally heated look and took on a defensive stance ready for anything. At this point, she still did not realize what she was doing.

“What?!”

After Lac had released Jin he glared at her a moment the his expression calmed slightly, but his eyes were cold as the ice of the great polar cap to the north "Hiemalvayeth yironuthay lirestathreneldday nelothtynhiemisanelgal? Hurarthvayeld yilosuth nirostay layisasortarethanaeestada tynossa tayhinest welothrildaysay olfay yaolunerin Glinothdelethasaysir?" (Translation:Have you leanred nothing? Have you not listened to the words of your Godess? ?) Lac Yelled... "Naeortaehiristanaegil taehilarttae hamarthapernperevnarethadel innel tayhinest moristanaeelda ithsar arthnelyis ornayest rinastracalethastar faeathauthaylintar. Istitar istisil tilhaleth palothweleldrae olfor tarhineld Dayalrelkel Lirosraedae taehirarttae arwelalkaleldnorevadel tayhiletha Belarthalaeossaglin arnirdae delrayinvaeestsae yinossauthaeray bearreloltorhinevrel tinol mirarthdaydelnelethsirsar. Evvorevanar nirothwil hinesta sorethaeldakarsat tilon dilimvirimdayeva uthsae, faeosren hiemeva fareldaarthrunsir unestar. Curuannel norothtar yaothuthu silesteth tinhilistisat. ( Translation: Nothing that happened in the mine is any one races fault. It is the power of the Dark Lord that awakened the Balog and drives your brother to maddness. Even now he seeks to divide us, for he fears us. Can not you see this. ....... "Othrin astrareneth yisothuthae taeonor branliristnaedelda brinyil yorossauthurae orwelnir sataeldalayforisasarhil nayeldethadilsil forosrel rinestavorestanaygaleth astrinaydil saetaeuthaypernimdelistitilyid, tayhinarthutae yidothuth dilos naeostor sileldetha tirhinelda forraeithestnordaysaehalinpan annaydel pernothwyneldril tilhilarthutor ithsil rinisagilhurtar brinevfororraeeva yaosuthay. Tynhiletha palothwileldrel tinos vayastranaequenuthaeinsaehal eldvaeistlae arthanirda kelevaethapern tarhameld daarrinkarnireldasatsir faerunosmin saywenarlislinorwilinnaygol arthalaylor taehirarthutae estaxavaistasaetaesor. Imnor minya wenothrunlordel athnayday YisOsUthuRayStar!" (Translation: Or are you too blinded by your own selfish needs for revenge and stupidity, that you do not see the friendship and power that is right before you. The power to vanquish evil and keep the darkness from swallowing all that exists. In my world and YOURS

Jin had never seen the Ranger look at her with such coldness before. It was as though his icy glare poured a bucket full of ice water over her as he yelled at her for her actions. With almost every word he snapped at her, Jin blinked as the realization of what she was doing sunk deep into her soul. Shrinking back away from the angered Ranger, Jin actually recoiled from him as he continued to berate her. Jin wasn’t sure what was more devastating; the fact she broke her Goddess’ laws or that she had caused Lac’Nala to grow angry with her.

The truth hurts but sometimes that pain has to be experienced before one really knows the destruction one can do to themselves by pushing friends and companions away. Jin’s foolish pride had lashed out at what might be the only people that can help stop this madness from overtaking the world. All of their worlds.

Daring to cast her shameful look upon the others from beneath the safety of her cloak hood, she could see the look on all of their faces and knew she had done a terrible injustice to them all. Apologizing was not something the Drowess knew how to do but she had best do something for fear of severing the thinly woven ties that bound them all together. She could not face this battle alone but if she kept doing what she was doing, she most certainly would find herself very alone.

Jin’s eyes darted from Lac to the others as she tried to think of the right words to say. Somehow she knew that no matter what it was she wanted to say, it would never be enough or the right thing at all. Swallowing hard, she finally walked slowly back past Tiphereth. As she moved past each member of the small group, she could feel their eyes burning into her and knew they were looking at her with anger and dislike, perhaps even hatred. So long as they did not look upon her with pity. Anything but pity. When she reached the very back of the group, she turned around and gave Lac the sign all Rangers know to move forward. For the rest of their trip down the mountainside, that’s where she remained, seeking her own private, personal council once more.

Lac watched as Jin moved to the back of the group, noticing her suken shoulder, and knew his words had sunken in. He then looked at the others as she motioned for them to continue. Lac started down the mountain again, followed by Tiphereth, Brianna, Krakyn and lastly Jin. After several hours the reached the base of the mountain and began thier journey across the great plain of Azanulbizar.