[Child of the 7th Age]

Child stared in disbelief at the approach of the two blue ships. She felt like a small creature caught in the pincers of a sea lobster.

But none of this was her concern. She had to be ready to transfer over to the Blue Wizards at a moment's notice, whether they were still on land or sailing towards her in these seemingly mysterious ships. She knew she could not openly carry weapons, but she took two small daggers and girded them on a belt underneath her petticoats.

She sensed that Frodo and Samwise were still together, seeing and speaking to no one else. Child felt empathy tugging at her heart, for she had the feeling they were going over once again that whole series of events that had led to Frodo's wounding of heart in the matter of the Ring.

No one understood as they did what Evil could do to the human soul, even one that stood in league with goodness to fight against the Shadow.

Child knew Frodo was frightened, and it was not the Blue Wizards that he feared. Rather, it was that which lay in his own heart, and over which he felt he had no control.

But Child was a hobbit herself, and she believed he was made of deeper stuff. "If only Gandalf or Galadriel were here," Child thought. "For Frodo barely knows Idril, and he is not one to open up his heart quickly to those he does not know."

Still, Child refused to give in to despair. She glared across the horizon at the vessels coming ever closer as if they were all caught in a noose.

If I have to, she reflected, I will go onto that platform by myself, and at least wrench Rose out by stealth if need be. For Child had the hobbit gift of quiet entrance and slipping into small corners. And although she was no great one such as Frodo and Sam who could stand against the might of the Blue Wizards, she would not let her friend perish on that ship. Better that she and Rose should die together, she grimly thought, than Rose should stand alone.

Child knew that Anagara was helping Pio and Bird and Tuor in their tactics and plans. Yet she knew, too, that if they were in trouble aboard that Blue vessel, and Angara sensed the fear of her mistress, the dragon would turn to aid her, even it it meant her own death. Child wished in her heart that they had a dozen such winged creatures to support their cause.