Gandalf stared at the riders from the front with an open mouth. In his view appeared 50 elves in Noldor armor who were riding on Mearas. Their armor was nothing alike what he remembered. The old Noldor armor that he had seen in Rivendell didn 't resemble those before him. They were a very bright silver in color, which made him believe that they were made from different materials than normal. If he had to place his bets on something, he would bet on a new alloy made from mithril because he couldn 't believe that elves had so much mithril, which they sometimes called silver-steel.
While Gandalf was thinking this, the cavalry riding towards them separated into four groups, each having an elven woman in front, one of whom Gandalf recognized . Arwen was riding in front of ten elves who had bows in their hands. To their left was about half of them who were holding bows , and fifteen of those were riding faster than the rest, as if they wanted to encircle them. When Thorin saw this , he looked at the fifteen who were still riding toward them with spears and shields in their hands. His eyes flashed in approval of the commander 's tactics, and he said , " Everyone, make groups of three . I will be with Gandalf and Bilbo. When I say, make way for them to charge through," he said loudly for them to hear. The dwarves, when they heard it, quickly closed themselves into groups, and when Luminarie saw this, she lowered her helmet's visor, which she had made for heavy cavalry for charging. When the rest with her saw this, they made the same move, and Thorin, who saw this, shouted , " Now back to back and make way!"
Luminarie at that moment shouted , " CHARGE!" And at that instant, the Mearas they were riding showed why they were kings of horses. In three seconds, they started to move at full speed, and in just ten, they arrived between the dwarves, destroying the encirclement of the orcs. At the same time, arrows began to rain down on the evil spawn and the wargs. After a few moments, Thorin heard another charge, but this time from behind, and saw that the elves there were changing their weapons from bows to swords and charging into the enemy while the flanking force shot down any running orc or warg. He was surprised at the efficiency with which they fought . The fight, which they thought could be their last, ended in just four minutes without any injuries.
Luminarie killed the last orc before her and came before Gandalf, jumping down from Strider. She took off her helmet and smiled, while Arwen quickly closed in and said , " Mithrandir! What happened that you were chased by those creatures?"
" Oh, I was just moving from somewhere and made my way through their hunting grounds , " said Gandalf, glancing at Luminarie.
" My manners. Mithrandir, this is my Master Luminarie. Master, as you know, this is Mithrandir, who is a member of the White Council, just like my father and grandmother."
" I know, Arwen, but thank you. It is a good day to meet a Grey Wizard and the Prince of the Lonely Mountain in the same hour , " Luminarie said, looking at Thorin. " Thorin Oakenshield, it is my honor to meet you, and before anything else, I would like to say that I am truly sorry for your loss of the Kingdom, and I hope that you will soon reclaim it," she said with a small smile, at which Thorin stiffened.
" Why would you say that ?" he asked, with caution in his voice.
" Just as a fellow blacksmith," she said. " As a disciple of Celebrimbor, I know many things about it, but I always seek new techniques, so I am really looking forward to the Lonely Mountain opening its forges again ."
When Gandalf heard her say that, he took a big mouthful of air and looked at her in shock. ' A disciple of Celebrimbor? So she should know how to make rings like mine and Elrond's and Galadriel's?' he thought, and his eyes fell on her hand, which was holding her helmet, and saw a ring that looked similar to his. When he looked at her again , he saw her looking at him with a knowing smile, and he sheepishly smiled back while scratching the back of his head.
" Right. I have already notified Elrond about the guests coming, so we should be on our way , " said Luminarie to Thorin, withdrawing her gaze from Gandalf. " I know that you probably don't want to, but just take a rest for now. It will be a safe haven for now, and you can do what you want after that. For now, I can see that you are on your feet probably only because of your will. So let's go. I will arrange for each of you a pony while we are in Rivendell. They should be here in two days , and for you, Gandalf, there will be a horse." Luminarie said as she walked toward Strider. She looked at them for a few seconds as if she were thinking about something, then sighed.
" Neori."
" Yes, My Lady?"
" Take one squad and go hunting. I want you to come back with at least two boars."
" But..."
" I know, but this isn't for any elf," Luminarie said. " I know that you will probably want to throw away the food that we will make for you, so I am just asking for this. Don't. The meat will be in the kitchen, and when it arrives, my commander will show you where you can prepare it. Just at the welcoming meal, please eat a little."
Thorin, hearing this, stared at her. He didn't think he would meet an elf who would do something like this for dwarves.
" Thank you, Lady Luminarie," he said while bowing lightly. When the rest of the company saw this, they also bowed towards her. She looked at them, and on her face, you could see a shadow of a smile.
" Let's go towards Rivendell, or you will just drop here on the road," she said and started to ride towards Imladris.
" Let's go, everyone; the sun is going down. We need to be there before the sunset , " said Thorin while he thought about the strange elf he had just met. None before had thought about such things as their meal if they were guests in their courts or cities. She was the first. He noticed that the girl who Gandalf said was the daughter of Elrond was still with them and was walking beside the old wizard. Around them were forty elves, which took him by surprise, and he asked about it.
" Why are there so many elves here?"
" Oh, this is an escort which my Master gave me while she went forward to Rivendell," said Arwen with a smile.
" I understand that she gave you an escort, but why so many?" He was still confused.
" Well," Arwen started, and her face turned bright red, " After four centuries, she accepted me as her partner, and when she did, she started to be really protective around me."
When the dwarves heard it, they all quieted down from their conversations. Even Bombur, who was eating a sausage that he took from none of them knew where, dropped it and looked at Arwen with big eyes. Gandalf's brows went up, and Bilbo asked
" Partner? Like in love? Marriage and so on?"
" Well, we didn't get married, but yes. I love her, and I can see that she, in her own way, loves me too," Arwen answered with a smile looking at the hobbit. When she looked at him, she noticed his short sword, which was, for her, like a dagger. Then she looked at Thorin's blade and then at the sword in Gandalf's hand. " Oh, she will be so thrilled to see those swords."
When Thorin heard it , he thought she was talking about taking them from them and went into a defensive stance right away.
" We will not give them away. We found and fought for them."
Arwen, hearing that, looked at him confused. She didn't understand why he reacted like that. She thought about it for a second and noticed that all of them were looking with caution at every elf in the vicinity .
" Ohhh, that is why you reacted like that. Relax, Luminarie wouldn't do such a thing. Besides, she probably can make you better ones than those blades, but she would need to go to her forge in Celeb Ando to do so. She will just freak out that she can see the swords from her time when she was young , " Arwen said with a smile. When Gandalf heard her, he noticed she mentioned a name that he didn't recognize .
" Celeb Ando? What place is that?" he asked, and the dwarves looked at her, listening.
" It is a city that Luminarie built with people before the fall of Gondolin, and after that, many of the elves went there to live. You didn't hear of it, Mithrandir, because it is encircled with a barrier that couldn't be crossed if you are not on the register. And just so you know, it takes much mithril to do it, so if you ask her about it, you need to say it with a good reason, not something like, 'I just want to see it.'"
Thorin, when he heard mithril, looked at Arwen with fervor in his eyes.
" You have mithril there?"
Arwen looked at him and pointed at the armor of the elves around.
" You can see it here."
And when Thorin looked around and took a closer look at the armor of the elves, he almost had a heart attack.