A darkness greater than physical night suddenly overcame Elrond as he walked in the garden of Imladris under the starlight. For a long, terrible moment he feared he had been blinded as he staggered forward a step, reaching out for support along a wall. He felt something sticky rub against his hand, then another hand take his. But he was alone in the garden.

He stretched out his mind to his little brothers and knew then the darkness through which Frodo and Sam were traveling. Adar?

They are drawing nearer to our Enemy, though many leagues and dangers are still ahead.

And around them. What is that terrible thing I sense?

Two of my fallen children.

Elrond felt Frodo and Sam’s terror and also their determination, strength and courage. Ever more he was awed and humbled by these little ones. His sight returned as Galadriel’s phial sprang into life and as he heard Frodo call upon Elbereth, his heart eased a bit. Such power would protect them even as he stretched out his own senses in an effort to do so.

He felt Frodo’s wild joy at the sight of the exit to the tunnel. Hope flared in his own heart at the same time and was crushed at the same time when he felt a sharp nick to his neck. He reached his hand up and was truly surprised when it didn’t come away bloody. He reeled from the darkness and poison that threatened to overwhelm him and only with great effort was he able to push it back. He felt Frodo fall headlong into the same blackness and reached out in vain to catch him.

Adar!!

It is to be this way, My child. I am with him.

Elrond tried to believe and trust. He watched the battle Sam had with Gollum and then with Shelob and he was proud and humbled by the extraordinary courage of that little one. He knew many others would blanch at such an encounter.

He is a marvel, Adar. They both are.

Love gives him the strength and not just his own.

Elrond listened as Sam was inspired to call upon Elbereth and was swiftly answered. The victory that the Elf lord realized was inevitable came, but there was no time to celebrate it. Despair followed on its heels, snatching it away as Sam rushed to his master’s side and called out in vain for an answer. Elrond’s heart twisted to hear such increasing grief and he wished to enclose Sam’s broken heart within his own, but he wondered what shelter it would give for his was just as torn.

Is this the end of their toil? Please, Adar, don’t make it so.

Everything is working against the Enemy.

Against?

Verily.

He listened as long as he could bear to Sam’s broken sobs. The darkness that shrouded the little one’s heart began to fill his also. Elrond and Sam both still held onto faith and trust, but they were being tested in ways they had never been before and both feared being unequal to the challenges before them. The Elf‑lord saw Sam kiss Frodo’s brow, then gently remove the chain with the Ring. Tears streaked down the Elf’s cheeks unnoticed as he listened as that humble gardener and guardian begged for forgiveness and promised to return to his beloved master’s side, never to leave again.

Then he watched Sam move away, head first bowed low under the weight of the Ring, then straightened with an effort of the will and strength from outside.

He is alone now. How can he bear such a burden?

Your brothers are not alone, My child. Do you doubt even now?

Elrond bowed his head. I want to believe, but goheno nin, Adar. My eyes are so much weaker than Yours, as is my faith. I cannot see his Road. It is leading deeper and deeper into the shadows and my sight fails.

You do not need to see in order to believe. Listen and trust instead.