DISCLAIMER:
I do not own, or have anything to do with Lord of the Rings and the story's related characters. The characters Taryn, Nefiáthiel, and Nefára belong to me, everyone else is property of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Artistic license comes into play on this one. ;)
Elvish in the Chapter:
Mellyrn = if we don't know it by now...we may have some trouble...*tsk,tsk*
talan = um, see above...but for those of you that don't remember: a platform built into the *Mellyrn* trees of Lothlorien.
hithlain = strong elven rope.
Anduril = "Flame of the West;" Aragorn's sword
Imladris = another name for Rivendell
Triquetra = a somewhat-Celtic triad symbol. If you've ever seen Charmed, it's what is on the cover of the Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows.
Haldir sat atop the talan the hobbits slept on and kept a steady eye on the eaves of the forest. A terrible stench met his Elven nose, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Legolas and Aragorn rouse themselves from their slumbers. Haldir motioned to them to descend into the forest, and Legolas nodded in reply. Legolas and Aragorn threw down the hithlain ladder and descended one after the other, both of them armed with bows and arrows. Strapped to Legolas' back were his quiver of Mirkwood arrows and his twin Elven blades, and fastened at Aragorn's side was Anduril - formerly known as Narsil, the Sword that was Broken, forged anew and branded with a design of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the rayed Sun. Around them many runes had been carved to protect Aragorn. All of this had been done at Imladris before the Fellowship had departed on this perilous Quest.
Haldir descended the ladder on his talan as well after appointing a Sentry to keep watch over the hobbits while they slept. Swiftly and silently, the three Marchwardens and Legolas and Aragorn stole into the trees and hid themselves from the advancing Orcs. Shortly, a splashing could be heard as the creatures trudged through the Nimrodel, sullying its sparkling waters. Haldir and the rest of the Elves cringed at the mere thought of Orc feet in the brilliant stream of the Nimrodel.
Orophin was sent forward into the woods to the Elves' homes to warn them of the parading Orcs as the disgusting creatures continued southward. Haldir's eye; however, was caught by a tiny creature, about the size of a hobbit, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Rumil remained concealed amongst the trees. Haldir ducked back behind a Mellyrn tree, unnoticed by the creature. The Marchwarden notched an arrow and pulled his bowstring taut as he aimed at the creature. He inched closer, keeping his arrow pulled tight, and his grey Elven cloak wrapped tightly about him to conceal his image so that he might inspect the ugly thing up close.
It surely was no Orc, but he had been right in one assumption: it was ugly. It definitely was not a hobbit, nor was it an Elf. It's skin hung from its bones and its back was hunched as well. Its eyes were enormous bulbs that protruded slightly from its skull and its fingers were wretched and gnarled. The limbs of the creature appeared as if they would snap from the slightest pressure, they were so thin. Haldir had no clue what to make of this...thing. The Marchwarden lowered his bow slowly and, keeping the arrow in place with one hand, he snuck up behind the Mellyrn tree the creature was attempting to climb, and touched it lightly with his free hand. The creature drew back suddenly, eyes wide as if it were being pursued. It cocked its head to one side, leapt from the trunk of the tree, and then fled into the forest. Haldir started after it, but stopped after two steps. He had to check on the Ring Bearer.
Haldir went as fast as his Elven limbs would carry him up the branches of the Mellyrn tree and finally made it to the talan to find Frodo wide awake. "Are you all right, Frodo?" At Frodo's slight nod, he continued. "There was something in this tree that I have never seen before. It was not an Orc. It fled as soon as I touched the tree-stem. It seemed to be wary, and to have some skill in trees, or I might have thought it was one of you hobbits.
"I did not dare shoot, for I did not dare arouse any cries: we cannot risk battle. A strong company of Orcs has passed. They crossed the Nimrodel -- curse their foul feet in its clean water! -- and went on down the old road beside the river. They seemed to pick up some scent, and stopped for a while to search about in the spot where you halted. The five of us, including Legolas and Aragorn, could not take on a hundred, so we spoke with feigned voices and led them on into the wood.
"Orophin has gone back to our homes in haste to warn our people. None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lorien, and there will be many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls, but you must take the road south as soon as it is fully light." As sure as Haldir spoke, a grey dawn crested the horizon. "Pack your things and prepare for breakfast. We will continue to Caras Galadhon shortly."
*
"Taryn," Galadriel's voice fell upon Taryn's ears, and the girl looked up from her Elvish texts immediately, a smile upon her face.
"Galadriel, my Lady," She replied as Celeborn came up behind Galadriel at a brisk pace. "Is something...wrong?" Taryn's brow creased and Galadriel had to stifle a laugh.
"Not yet, but you must come with me. I have something to show you," Galadriel's smile faded from her face, and Taryn knew that the Fellowship had arrived. "Despite your thoughts, it is not the Fellowship. They have not yet arrived in Caras Galadhon."
"Then...what is it?" Taryn's eyes flickered back and forth between Galadriel and Celeborn before raising her voice an octave. "What?!"
Galadriel pondered the girl for a moment, wondering if Nenya, the Ring of Adamant and one of Sauron's lost Three, had lied to her. Deciding against it, Galadriel spoke: "Come. There is a text that you must see. It pertains to your Necklace," Galadriel replied simply as she and Celeborn led Taryn over to a roped off section of the Library guarded by two of the Galadhrim's Sentries. Celeborn waved them aside and they gracefully stepped out of the way of the advancing Lord, Lady, and Bearer, the Sentry on the left pulling the restraining rope off of its hook and pulled it with him as he moved aside. Galadriel cast a smile and a glance back at Taryn as she moved into the tiny study filled with ancient books that Taryn observed with awe.
The Lady of the Wood knew exactly where she was going, and exactly what to pick up. Her first stop was at a wall with yellowed scrolls hung on wooden claw-shaped hooks. She pulled down the third one from the top and unrolled it gently, taking great care not to tear the brittle paper. "The text on this scroll is written in your tongue, Taryn, and is the key to understanding the rest of your story, the key to grasping the reality of the power which you bear unwittingly so long as that token is in your posession."
"Power?" Taryn's eyes crossed at the admission from Galadriel. She glanced over at Celeborn who was looking over the spines of the Old Texts, hands clasped regally behind his back. He turned to meet her gaze at her question and nodded in affirmation before turning his concentration back to the shelves. "What power?" Taryn whispered as she took a seat in a chair fashioned from a light-hued, yet strong wood.
Galadriel set the scroll before Taryn and watched for a moment as the girl regarded the paper carefully. Realizing her task, the Elf woman turned back to the shelves and hefted an old red leather-bound, and rather dusty, volume from a shelf. "That scroll is merely a piece of the puzzle..," Galadriel set the heavy book down beside the scroll that remained in front of Taryn. "...and this is the rest."
Taryn subconsciously reached for the book as if it was calling to her, and Galadriel laid her hand over the cover in defiance. "Read the scroll first then, and only then, will the book make sense." Taryn nodded and then did as was requested of her. She slid the scroll closer to her and squinted her eyes at the faded ink on the page. Eventually she pieced it all together, and words took form before her eyes, much clearer if she held the amulet in her fist:
'In time of peril, One shall arise,
One whose heart seeks the skies.
Lorien shall find Her there,
A great burden She shall bear.
A lost token of good and evil, foul and fair
Will adorn Her, and Man-soul and Elven-ear.
As darkness falls She will rise,
Seeking no other prize
Than to free Middle-earth
And restore its former mirth.
An Elf will she love,
Elbereth shall send Her signs from above
And all shall be spared
From both ruin and despair.'
"Okay...lost now," Taryn turned to Galadriel, the confusion plain on her face. Galadriel simply nodded.
"Now open the book," she stated, taking the scroll from the table and rolling it back up. Galadriel replaced the scroll in its place as Celeborn seated himself to Taryn's left and pushed the book toward her.
Taryn placed her hand on the leather cover and pulled lightly to open it. It didn't move. Taryn tried again...and once more to no avail. Taryn pulled the book closer to herself and turned the heavy book over on the table in front of her. She repeated the action over and over, a bit more slowly each time, until a notch in the leather binding of the book caught her eye. Taryn ran her finger over the edge of it, and laughed to herself. "A lock...I should have known." upon closer inspection of the lock, Taryn found it to be in the shape of a triquetra, a three-pointed design that Taryn knew well. It was interwoven to represent three people or beings, and a circle was etched around the points of the triquetra as if to hold everything together. Perhaps it did.
Taryn glanced down at the Necklace, and noticed a pulsating triquetra shining an aqua color against the blood red color of the stone. She took it off of her neck slowly, and turned the Necklace over. Indeed, raised on the back of the Necklace was a matching triquetra. "The key..." Taryn whispered to herself and glanced up at Galadriel who nodded to her, urging Taryn on. The girl cast her eyes back down to the book and placed the Necklace into the grooves of the lock. A perfect fit. With one quick turn of her wrist, a click echoed loudly in the silent library, and a shiver travelled the length of Taryn's spine.
The book was open. Taryn took the cover of the book between her fingers and opened it slowly. The book crackled as it opened, the effects of being on a shelf for millenia taking its toll on the brittle, faded pages. The pages were yellowed, dog-eared, and worn, evidence of lifetimes of use, and the book had a musty smell to it. Taryn wrinkled her nose as she bent down to investigate the book.
The ink was faded, and the script was some form of Elvish that the girl couldn't even hope to decipher. Taryn flung herself back in her chair noisily. "I can't read it. This script it's...different that the one Haldir taught me..."
Galadriel grinned. "So it is...but if you look hard enough, and you concentrate enough, you will be able to read it. You have my word."
Taryn glanced up at the Lady of the Wood in disbelief. "No way I can read that...no WAY! It's like the text on the One Ring!" Taryn paused and looked up as Celeborn's eyes went wide.
"You have seen the One Ring?" He inquired in a firm, yet quiet voice. "Where have you seen it?"
Taryn cast her eyes down to the text on the pages, trying in vain to understand the words that spoke of her powers.
"Answer me, Taryn. Where have you seen it?" Celeborn's once-soft voice became commanding, and only then did Taryn realize the power the Elf Lord held. He stood up from his spot next to her and drew himself up to his full height. Taryn cringed under his harsh stare, and hung her head.
"I haven't...not in person. In pictures I have seen it, but nowhere else. I swear." Taryn whimpered and Celeborn's brow unknitted.
"You swear you have not touched it?"
"I swear...honest!" Taryn countered, barely daring to meet his eyes that were had been so warm and friendly with welcome when she had met him. Now there was a nearly cold glare in them, mingled with a wizened look. Fear also resided in them: a fear that could only be brought about by the One Ring. Celeborn nodded, and sank back into his chair.
"I will tell you my story, if you want to hear it...if it will make you trust me," Taryn offered softly, and Celeborn nodded as Galadriel took a seat between him and Taryn. The Lady of the Wood cradled Celeborn's hand in hers, their long, graceful fingers intertwined like the points of the triquetra.
"I would. Please, Taryn, from the beginning. I want to know all about you..," And with that, Taryn began her tale...
Go to story...
Prologue - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
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