1. Across the Desolation
"I cannot!" the young man gasped, and staggered. Clad in someone else's ill-fitting tabard, he trembled in mail no doubt got from the funeral carts, face pale as the White Tree he wore.
His neighbor in the ranks hurriedly caught him; the white-eyed look the Gondorian turned on him was only too familiar. Learned it at Isen, he thought.
"Come now, friend, a few more steps. Lean on me," Céorl coaxed. And his voice must have held some trusty note, for the lad obeyed. "Good man. Now a few more..."
Arm in arm, step by step, they followed Hope east.
[Erin's edit: written by Dwim]
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
