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Love's Redemption	By : mthorsta Category: -Multi-Age > Het - Male/Female Views: 7104 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 2 - To D�ni
  The lonely desert road stretched out before her like a gray ribbon across the desolate landscape. She hadn�t seen another car for miles. Jordan glanced down at the miles on the car�s trip counter. Still another hour or so... Thoughts of the ancient D�ni city slowly came to her. The empty city. Save for Victor, Zandi, and their respective restoration teams, she would be alone in the city for most of her visit. Fear started to gnaw at her mind. She wondered if maybe she was making a mistake coming to D�ni. Not that she minded being alone. In fact, her desire for solitude had been increasing over the past few months, but in D�ni, the emptiness, loss, and sadness that hung in the air and lurked in every dark corner was almost tangible. This kind of environment might only deepen her despair. The presence of the restoration teams worried her, too. A lone woman in a practically empty city? She could encounter any one of them wandering around the city or neighborhoods; a remote part of the city perhaps, and what if they tried to take advantage of her or hurt her? She had no way of protecting herself and there would be no one around to help her. �This was really stupid. What was I thinking?� She said to herself. �No. Dr. Watson knew who would be out there and he wouldn�t have allowed the visit if he didn�t feel he could trust them. No. It will be okay.� She tried to assure herself. �More than likely, the teams will be in other ages, and preoccupied with their work.�
~~~~~

  Jordan looked at the clock. Her shift was almost over.
  �Jordan, can I speak to you in my office a moment?�
   She looked up. Dr. Hildreth, the head of emergency medicine, her supervisor, was motioning Jordan over. Dr. Hildreth was a very imposing woman at six feet tall with a muscular build, shoulder length blond hair and steely gray-blue eyes. Jordan had been intimidated by her when she first came to work in the E.R., but she came to be Jordan�s mentor and eventually somewhat of a friend through the years and one of the only people she trusted at the hospital.

  �Can it wait 'til I�ve signed off on my patients?� Jordan asked.

  �Go ahead.� Dr. Hildreth said. �Come find me when you�re done?�

   �Sure.�

  Jordan signed off her patients to the next attending on shift and made her way to Dr. Hildreth�s office.

  �Come on in,� Dr. Hildreth called out, �Have a seat.�

  Jordan sat down wearily in the chair near Dr. Hildreth�s desk. Before Dr. Hildreth could say anything, Jordan blurted out: �Is this about the patient I lost? The one with multiple gunshot wounds?�

  �No.� Dr. Hildreth shook her head. �You know the committee has already reviewed the case and determined that no one was at fault. No. This is not about that.�

  Jordan slumped down in the chair and looked at an imaginary object on the floor. Dr. Hildreth continued - �I have become increasingly concerned about you over the last few months; all the hours you�ve been working; sleeping in the employee lounge. You don�t look well. Others have noticed it too. I know you�ve gone through some tough times...� Jordan sat up straight and looked her in the eyes.

  �And I would never intentionally let it affect my work!� she said defensively.

  �Jordan, no one is calling your abilities in to question.� Dr. Hildreth said calmly. �I just think you need to take some time off and get away from the hospital for awhile. I�m requesting that you take a leave of absence.�

  �No.� Jordan said firmly. �That�s not necessary. I�m fine.�

  �I figured you would say something like that. Okay, it�s not really a request, it�s an order; starting at the end of your shift. I�ve already submitted the paperwork.� Jordan stood up.

  �You can�t do that to me!� She said angrily. Dr. Hildreth raised her voice to match Jordan�s.

  �As your supervisor I assure you I can and I am!�

  Jordan sat back down in the chair and groaned.

  �Jordan,� Dr. Hildreth said kindly, �have you considered talking to someone about what you�re going through? You know we have some really good counselors up in the psych department.�

  Jordan snorted. �If anyone happened to find out I was attending counseling sessions, it could undermine my credibility.�

  �Okay, okay. How about someone outside of the hospital? I could get some recommendations��

  �No.� Jordan sighed.

  �Jordan, I�ve known you for a long time. I�ve seen the changes you�ve gone through. Believe me when I say I do truly care about you. I want to see you come back to the world of the living. I wouldn�t have gone to such extremes if I didn�t.� Dr. Hildreth said softly. �Please, Jordan. Take this time to make yourself whole again. Go and find what it is you are missing...�
~~~~~
  She noticed a fence now running along the left side of the road. That was her sign. She spotted the old dirt road she would need to take up ahead. Turning off the paved road, she pulled up to a metal gate with a foreboding sign - Private property. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. She put the car in park and dug in her bag for the key Dr. Watson had sent her. The gate was rusty and the paint was peeling off, but the padlock was new. She unlocked the padlock, opened the gate, and drove her car through. She made sure to stop and close the gate behind her, reaching through to the other side to replace the padlock just as she was instructed. The dirt road continued out into the distance towards a lone hill in the middle of the desert. The cleft was situated just to the side of that hill. That was her destination. She was almost there.
  As she pulled up to the metal trailer that sat at the base of the hill, a man came out and stood outside of the trailer, waiting for her. She parked her car next to a large truck already there, got out and walked over to the stranger.
  �Hi!� He called out and waived. As she approached, he stuck out his hand. �I�m Zachariah Bradford, but you can call me Zach. I�m working with Victor Laxman�s team. You must be Jordan.� She shook his hand.

  �Yes. Jordan Blakely. Nice to meet you.�

  �You too. Do you need help with your bags?� He asked.

  �No. Thanks though. I can get them.�
  She made sure she had packed carefully. She wanted to be able to pack everything in without much assistance, so she used a large external frame backpack with her sleeping bag attached and another duffle bag she could sling over her shoulder. After retrieving her belongings and locking up the car, she returned to where she left Zach standing.
  �Okay, are you ready?�

  �Yup.�

  �You�ve been here before, right?�

  �Yeah. With my father; a long time ago, though. He was on the D�ni Restoration Council.�

  �Good. Wanted to make sure the descent wasn�t going to freak you out.�
  Zach slung his own backpack on and together they made their way towards the cleft. Jordan studied the guy whom she would be traveling into the dark places of the world with. She was surprised he looked so young; barely a day out of college maybe. She was expecting someone a little older. He was certainly friendly enough, though, definitely not uncomfortable striking up a conversation with a stranger. His manner of speaking was very animated, making wide sweeping arm movements and hand gestures almost in a spastic way. He chatted enthusiastically as they walked through the desert - mostly about the restoration efforts going on over the last couple years.
  �We just replaced the rail car system in the shaft with an elevator last year. I tell you, it�s been so much easier getting equipment up and down.�

  �Oh?� She said trying to hide her nervousness.

  �Yeah. Victor salvaged it from an old mine that was going to be shut down, had it refurbished, and voila!� He let out a loud laugh when he saw her wide-eyed, fearful expression. �Don�t worry!� He laughed again. �It�s totally safe! Haven�t had an incident yet.�
  �Yet?�
  They finally reached the edge of the cleft by the old rope ladder, and she peered down into its shadowy depths.

  �Here.� Zach said. �Give me your backpack and bag and I�ll lower them down� He attached them both to a rope coming from some sort of pulley system that was set up at the edge. Her bags now resting at the bottom of the cleft, he turned toward her and motioned to the ladder. "Onward!� He said enthusiastically.
  At the bottom of the cleft, she untied her backpack and bag, situated them on her shoulders again, and walked over to where Zach was standing. Zach grabbed a lantern from a shelf carved out of the rock wall and proceeded to unlock the ornately carved wooded door that sat at the end of the cleft. He used no key and the door had no lock. He placed his hand over the carved D�ni symbol on the door. It started to glow a faint blue and then opened by itself. Jordan gasped.
  They stepped through the door and into the short tunnel that lead to the shaft. The door closed automatically behind them leaving only the lantern to light the way. The air in the shaft was cool but not cold like she expected. The small tunnel they were in suddenly opened up into a large cavern with a high ceiling and they were standing at the edge of a great expanse - a giant vertical tunnel shored up with a complex network of steel girders.

  �The Great Shaft.� Zach exclaimed. �We�ll only have the little bit of light from the lantern until we get towards the bottom of the shaft where we have some brighter lights set up.� Zach�s voice echoed and bounced off the walls of the shaft. Opening the metal safety gate to the elevator, he swept out his arm in an exaggerated motion for Jordan to get on. �Your chariot, milady.� He said as he bowed trying to do his best noble knight impression. Jordan peered down into the darkness before stepping on to the elevator. Zach stepped on afterwards and closed the gate behind him. �Okay. Here we go.� Zach pushed the button; the elevator�s motor roared to life and clanged and whined as they began their descent into the darkness.
  As they descended, the noise of the elevator drifted away until only a faint hum could be heard. Neither one spoke for quite a while as they descended further and further into the earth�s depths. Finally, Zach spoke which made Jordan jump.

  �It�s approximately three miles down. Once we reach the bottom, it�s a half day�s walk down the connecting tunnel to the cavern. From there, I�ll have to turn right around and make my way back up to the surface, so I�m afraid I�ll have to leave you to make your own way to Kirel.�

  �Sure. I understand. Can I ask what you do for Victor?�

  �Translating D�ni manuscripts, mostly.� Was his answer.
  On and on they made their way through the dimly lit tunnel, down through the depths. Zach joked and laughed, rambling on about the day-to-day operations of the restoration, how he learned the D�ni language, and what went into translating a document or manuscript. It was clear that he was very passionate about the work they were doing. The only other person she knew that could translate D�ni was her father. Curiosity finally got the better of her and she asked, �Did you happen to know my father, William Blakely?�

  �William Blakely is your father?� He said incredulously. He stated it again unbelievingly. �William Blakely is your father!�

  �Yeah, hence the same last name.�

  �I thought your last name sounded familiar. Wow! No, I never knew him but he is a legend down here! I�ve read all of his publications on the D�ni civilization. I would have loved to work with him. So, are you an archeologist too?�

  �No,� She said. �I�m a doctor.�
  The small tunnel opened up to a large semicircular platform or balcony built high upon the cavern wall and the view stopped Jordan in her tracks. She had forgotten the strange and unique beauty of D�ni, as it seemed so long ago since her last expedition with her father. From this height, she could see the vastness of the cavern, stretching out as far as the eye could see. The bottom of the cavern was filled with water forming a large lake. Ae�gura, the island city, was visible far off in the distance; an imposing spire of rock rising out of the water to a towering height. The platform itself was covered in rich tile patterned with reds and browns and had an ornately carved handrail with softly glowing lights at each post. The tile was well worn and was cracked in many places. In the center stood a tall stone pillar decorated with D�ni symbols and some sort of large crystal resting on the top, giving off a faint light. Kirel stood off to their right, a good length down the shoreline, built up against the cavern wall. Dwellings with many windows and balconies made of light gray stone, all stacked on top of each other, appeared as if they had been carved from the cavern wall itself. From her vantage point, she could see a waterfall cascading out from a crack in the solid rock above Kirel; the D�ni water source. All of the windows and the balconies were dark but the streets and common areas were dotted with twinkling lights that danced on the lake. The light source for the cavern was a bioluminescent algae that floated on the lake bathing the cavern and the gray walls of the city in a calming blue-green glow. Except for the faint sound of water lapping against the cavern wall, the city was silent.
  �Are you going to be okay on your own?� Zach asked.

  �Sure. I�ll be fine.�

  �Alright then. Just head down the stairs and follow the walkway.� He said pointing to the top of the staircase. �On one side of the walkway is the lake; the other side, the rock cavern wall, so you really can�t stray from the path, and it only leads to Kirel. If you want a hot meal, the Great Tree pub, or Kahlo pub in the old D�ni language,� he added, �is at the end of Tokatah Alley and is open on a limited basis. Not a big selection, but if you�re hungry, it�ll do. I think Zandi managed to bring down some beer and wine, too.�

  �Okay, thanks Zach.� Jordan held out her hand.

  �You�re welcome. Enjoy your visit.� He said shaking her hand. �See ya.� He waved and disappeared back into the tunnel.
  There is no differentiation of day and night in the cavern. Zach had mentioned something about it, that before the fall, the bioluminescent algae had a certain cycle that simulated night and day, but the colonies of algae had been practically decimated and this cycle no longer functioned. D�ni was now locked in eternal twilight. She walked over to where the staircase descended and looked down. It was a dizzying sight. The stairs went down for miles it seemed; hundreds of them; with many landings, zigzagging down to the floor of the cavern. Both the stairs and the walkway maintained the exact design as the balcony; the same red and brown tiles and the ornate handrail running on each side. By the time Jordan reached her guest quarters in Kirel, she was exhausted. She briefly considered going to the Great Tree pub to get some dinner but then decided against it as she was too tired, opting instead to eat some of the food she had brought with her. She dropped her backpack and duffle bag on the floor and untied her sleeping bag, spreading it out on the bed. She then rifled through her bag, taking out a few packages of food, and sat down on the floor to her meal of dried fruit and nuts. To Jordan�s surprise, the lonely sadness she had felt long ago surrounding the city had faded. The air was lighter. There was life coming back to the city again. She wasn�t quite sure the way to describe how she felt about it now. Finishing her meal, she neatly packed up what was left in her backpack, took her boots off, and changed in to more comfortable clothes to sleep in. Stretching out on the bed, she drifted off to the gentle sound of the rushing waterfall. Peace. That was what she was feeling.
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Love's Redemption