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Old 06-14-2011, 08:51 PM   #329
Nerwen
Wisest of the Noldor
 
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Nerwen is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Nerwen is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Nerwen is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Nerwen is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Nerwen is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.
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Asta was not about to walk blindly into a trap as Aldarion and Coldan had done, and she had led Harrenon down a side-alley and into the lane that ran past the back of the mansion. As she had hoped, there was a gate in the wall here, fastened only with the kind of simple padlock that had been her father's stock-in-trade when the toy-business was slow. Asta, choosing a curiously-shaped pick, went swiftly to work. Out of practice though she was, it was still only a short time before the lock sprang open with a snap– which was immediately followed by a resounding metallic clang from somewhere within the grounds.

"Asta, do you suppose they've– they've seen us?" Harrenon's face had taken on a greenish hue, and the whites of his eyes glittered. Asta could see he was going to freeze on her at any second.

"Hurry!" She tugged at Harrenon's sleeve, and he came to life again and followed after her as she darted inside, though as the echoes died away she became aware of an odd chattering sound that she presently realised was being made by the actor's teeth.

There was no sign of Coldan in the narrow passage in which they found themselves– she had hardly dared to expect there would be– but instead there was a rather promising-looking door. This one had a complex lock that resisted her initial efforts, but Asta was not dismayed in the least. She had been longing for a chance to try out Coldan's scheme.

"What are you doing?" Harrenon whispered, watching Asta as she tipped out the pungently-scented powders on the doorstep and stirred them together, biting her lip with concentration. She was using vastly greater quantities than she normally did, and could only guess if she had the amount and proportions right.

"What does it look like?" said Asta. "Now quiet! This has to be exact!" From a small phial, she poured out a few drops of the final ingredient, a liquid that set the mixture to fizzing and bubbling.

"What now?" asked Harry in what was almost a squeak.

"Run!" Asta told him.

Harrenon needed no encouragement.

They had barely time to take cover behind the gate when the mixture went up in a fountain of multicoloured fire and a boom like a thousand dragons roaring at once. Even with her fingers jammed into her ears, Asta was half-deafened for a moment, but she got unsteadily to her feet in time to see, through the drifting clouds of smoke, the shattered door swaying back and forth before it fell outwards with a crash.

Asta could not stop her face from breaking into a rapturous grin. It had been everything she had hoped for, and more!

Last edited by Nerwen; 06-14-2011 at 08:58 PM.
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