Ballanor travelled to Hobbiton because her hobbit friends in Brockenborings told her about the Summer festival that was taking place by the Party Tree and on The Hill.

So she set out with some of the local hobbits and together they arrived just in time for all the festivities.

“Come dance with us!”, some of the local Hobbiton hobbits cried out to Ballanor.

“Do Elves even dance?” whispered one hobbit to his companion as they drank many a tankard of ale together.

Ballanor’s keen ears overheard the conversation. With a soft laugh, she nodded her head, and showed them the steps to a lovely Elven dance. All the hobbits gathered around and started to clap their hands.

“Well, well! You should have no trouble learning our dance steps, Ballanor”, declared one of the dancers. And with that she jumped onto a picnic table and beckoned Ballanor to join her.

Ballanor had so much fun dancing with the hobbits that she celebrated with them until the wee hours of the morning, until finally, all the hobbits had passed out from exhaustion or too much libation, or both.

Ballanor loved these little folks and she thought how lucky she was to be chosen for the task of protecting them in the months to come. She would soon find out that hobbits were quite resilient, courageous, and not easily defeated and she would be so very proud of all of them.

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Tearose Underhill, like most hobbits, loves to have more than enough supplies and food. So it was not surprising to see her bargaining with one of the auctioneers at the Michel Delving Auction House recently.

What was surprising was the amount of Lembas she bid on. Lembas, as you may know, is a special waybread made by the Elves, that stays fresh for many months when stored in its leaf wrappings and one small piece is able to sustain a person for quite some time.

Lembas normally is not given to non-Elves, but some Elves like Ballanor of Edhellond and her comrades, have been busy baking and making sure travellers to Moria get their share.

Moria! Tearose shuddered at the mere mention of the name. She heard rumors of dwarves entering the mines and never returning home. Yet soon she would have to venture there. She was determined not to go alone this time.

She spent some time resting in the Shire before her return journey east. Moria could wait for now.

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Pareth was never happier than to leave the darkness and the dangers of Moria. She became filled with dread and never thought she would get out alive. But two elven hunters appeared in the nick of time, just when she was about to be over-run by goblins.

The elves were friendly to Pareth, as they had met before under far different circimstances. They were deadly accurate with their bows and soon all the goblins were slain.

“Quickly, now. Let us leave this place at once”, said the elder elven hunter whose name was Jenuilas. “Stay together, for these are not the last of the enemy within the confines of these mines. We must be vigilant if we hope to escape and reach beyond the First Hall to the Dimrill Dale.”

So the three hunters travelled quickly and met some resistance on the way, though it seemed to Pareth that another form of evil far more dreadful than goblins and orcs was present. The elves started to run and Pareth could barely keep up.

After several more hours, they finally reached the First Hall. And they were outside at last. They stopped for a brief rest, but the Dimrill Dale would soon be swarming with orcs and goblins.

It would be quite some days before they would arrive safely in Lothlorien. Pareth longed for peace, and a real bed to sleep in.

“Ah sleep!” thought Pareth, “no bad dreams, no hard floors to lie on, just a soft warm bed to rest my weary body and then I’ll be good as new.” The thought was encouraging and it kept her going in the days and nights ahead.

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