That was a powerful image of Glorfindel at the end of this chapter!

And one would almost say that Halbarad did this on purpose to get Aragorn to Rivendell. I would say that I hope he'll survive, but I looked into the next chapters quickly ;) Sorry, but I couldn't resist, as there is no place now where I could leave the story calmly. It's not nice to the readers that must leave for the weekend, you know... :D

 After the slower part straight into the action! It looks that Aragorn is far from fine, and getting unreasonable besides that. Good that he's not alone...

I found a typo: "you will hie thyself"

Hello!  I'm done with finals, so I finally have time to catch up on one of my favorite stories.  I have to say, it's impressive how much of this story has stayed with me.  Reading this chap takes me right back into that world, as if I'd just read the first twelve chapters yesterday.  That can only be due to the vividness of your writing.

This chap was lovely.  Poor Aragorn needs a hug and a three week vacation.  I love the character development for Denlad.  It was funny and poignant at the same time.  His awkwardness is adorable and makes a lot of sense; his lifestyle doesn't lend itself to learning much about women.  Neala continues to be awesome.

The little scene with Bronadui was great.  The horse is a character in his own right, which is something you rarely see outside of the "magical animal friend" cliche. 

Oh, dear.  Aragorn knows he needs to go home, but puts it off to avoid the inevitable awkwardness.  Something tells me that won't end well, particularly given the mental acrobatics he went through to convince himself he hadn't been touched by the blade.

Thanks for another lovely chapter.  I look forward to catching up.

p.s.  Thank you so much for the MEFA nomination!

I apologize for dissappearing for so long, I was busy with exams, and when I looked at the next chapters quickly, I realized that if I won't stop now, I may not be able to... Ah well, I'll have to learn the names again :)

I like this chapter, and the episode with the  chains  That must be a horrible nightmare about the best friend, maybe the wost that the Nazgul could create, 

Umm, you do realize you perfectly set the stage for a sequel here, in which Aragorn and Gandalf go Gollum hunting? Because, personally I'd love to see that! I've read one fanfic about that time and it had just a tiny bit too much geography for my taste (mostly because I'm geography-illiterate, if such a thing is possible).

In any case: I'd love to see more of your characters - and I guess the plea for "more" is always the best compliment around. You've made me curious about all of them. Halbarad mostly, of course. But the same is true for Elrond, Glorfindel (which surprised me, to tell you the truth), Erestor and of course Gandalf. He's such a hard character to pin down, because it's so easy to deconstruct his character. So it was interesting to see that you had Aragorn comment on that: that there are moments when he's actually afraid of him. Then again, especially in the chapter where they have that long talk, he's supportive, fatherly almost. All in all, a character with many layers.

But the most important of all is Aragorn, naturally. Sticking to his POV provided a fascinating character study, because he's by no means perfect. Rather, you managed to put all his faults under a magnifying glass and still have him come out as a hero. I've no idea how you did it, but it worked! (Maybe it's the fact that his "faults" include things like "puts others first", "doubts himself too much" and "doesn't take care of himself".) Towards the end I did wonder though, whether what the Nazgûl's touch actually did was give Aragorn a clinical depression. It certainly sounds that way. If so, then I really like that analogy!

Lastly, thank you for that wonderful tale! I think the quote you chose in the beginning is one of those that just make you stumble while reading, thinking: Come on, tell me more! I want to know what he's alluding to! So thank you for providing a possible explanation. While it wasn't such a fun ride for Aragorn, I certainly enjoyed reading it!

Oh, that's a real treat - putting all these wonderful comfort scenes on a string. Especially the last bit, Aragorn taking Halbarad's hand had me nearly tear up. Yes, sometimes a gesture says more than a thousand words!

And I do hope Aragorn learns a valuable lesson from this. I think he truly doesn't agree with Halbarad in the assumption that he risked his life to get to Rivendell. He was so successful in suppressing his own hurts and pains, that at some point he really was convinced that while he was certainly feeling under the weather, nothing was seriously wrong. Sure, some of it was the Black Breath. But some of it was his stupid pride and (as Gandalf put it) his strength of putting others first.

That scene between Aragorn and Elrond was wonderful on so many layers. And of course Halbarad was right and Aragorn had worried without reason. Elrond welcoming him back pratically without words that just screamed the words "a father's love" at me *sighs*.

And on an aside, it's really funny to realized that Halbarad and I are the same shopping type. Reluctant and undecided until our best friend pushes us to finally buy the damn thing:)

Oh, these really are bad news:(

You know, I just realized you totally nailed a character I always liked about Aragorn, even if I wasn't aware of it (much). For him, everything is personal. He's not just going around saving people and kicking the villain's butt. He's helping *his* people. People he knows by name, and if he doesn't knows their name he berates himself that he should. Definitely something I like about him, even if that particular character traits gives him nothing but heartache right now!