[Mattius]

For the opening part of their journey the only sound Thelian could hear over the hooves of the horses was the occasional yawn of Arthain, but mainly they belonged to Dorlas. At one point Thelian was so sure the young squire would fall asleep a top his war-horse that he was ready to attempt a dangerous mid-air catch. Fortunatly a rather large bump on the ground jerked him back to full conciousness. The boy looked over at Thelian who smiled back,

"You were almost there that time Dorlas!" The elf chuckled. The young man smiled back sardonically, which only added to Thelian's amusement.

"Here," he said riding closer to Dorlas and handing him something, "take a bite of this, it will wake you up a bit." Dorlas looked down at the lembas and broke a piece off.

"We wouldn't want you dying of a broken neck miles away from the battlefield would we!"

Dorlas ate the elvish way-bread and indeed did feel himself waken up an amazing degree.

"This is amazing Thelian," spoke Dorlas, "it tastes like nothing I have ever had before, if we eat this all the way to Mordor I will indeed be happy!"

"Thats what you say now Dorlas, the lembas loses its edge after several hundred bites of nothing else."

"Still," Dorlas sighed, "beats stale bread and stone hard buscuits."