Finding Fire
by Kiley S. Snape
At first, it was like every other visit I had made to Middle-Earth…filled with dwarves, men, elves, and orcs. It was a world I wished to be a part of- not to be confined only to visiting throughout various eras and ages. I wanted to be the Avatar Middle-Earth needed.
"Will you help us?" Lady Galadriel addressed me, an omnipotent smile gracing her ethereal features.
"Always."
I began to fall. Unlike the many times I came to Middle-Earth, I dropped from many leagues. I fell through space and time, all the while feeling as though I was being ripped into a thousand pieces. Perhaps this is what death felt like- sudden and heady, and felt too untimely.
In a blaze of brilliant fire that stilled my thundering heart, I dropped through a night sky and hit the water's surface. My bones ached, and I sluggishly swirled my hands through the water around me. I braced myself for the propulsion that never came.
Something was terribly wrong. The water did not adhere to my command. My sodden clothes grew heavy, and I yearned for the sudden surge of power of my bending to race through my veins. None came. My already weak limbs' attempts to break the surface to fill my burning lungs with precious air tapered off to feebly spasms. Perhaps this was my end.
Strong hands gripped me with a bruising force and pulled me up. I sputtered and coughed as the person dragged me through the water to what I prayed was the shore. The unknown hero hauled me up onto stone steps that smoothly led into the water. Air had never felt so glorious and foreign. They shoved me away from them as I began to wretch water. My head throbbed in time with my pulse as I staggered onto my hands and knees. No doubt, I looked like a half-drowned rat-viper.
"There, there- it's all right. You're quite safe," an aged voice I knew well murmured.
"She fell from nothing through the sky and into the pool," another voice queried, "Gandalf, how is that possible?"
"An ancient magic is at work here- one long forgotten."
"She needs to get inside."
"Help…me," I rasped around chattering teeth, "…up."
Thick arms hooked under my lithe ones, and their bearer hoisted me off the ground. I glanced over my shoulder to identify the possessor of the second voice, and my haggard breath caught in my chest. Even when dripping wet and with flushed cheeks, he was magnificent to behold.
"Thorin Oakenshield," I announced in awe, ensnared by the flint-azure eyes I had only beheld from afar through the years.
"How do you know of me?"
"You can receive an answer at a later time, Thorin," Gandalf admonished, "For now, she must rest and get into some dry clothes."
Thorin and Gandalf guided me up the ornate flights of stairs, and found an empty bed chamber for me to use. Thorin watched me from beneath his stern brow as I traipsed about the room on weak legs, idly running my fingers along the various surfaces that furnished the room.
"Come along," Gandalf grunted, "The lady needs her privacy."
"Until we meet again, Thorin Oakenshield," I bid the dwarf-prince softly. I had not seen the heir to throne of Erebor since before the untimely demise of his grandfather…and the years had equal in their kindness and cruelty- hard lines were carved into his otherwise handsome features, but with it he carried a confidence only granted through time.
"You have the advantage of knowing my name, but I know not what you call yourself."
"I am Lyra," I offered with an impish smile.
"At long last, you have managed to stay. Oh, the strange things that washes up in the River Loudwater, Avatar Lyra."
I turned about to face Lady Galadriel, startled by her sudden appearance. "I did not think I would be called by my title in this place, my Lady."
"I would not have you forget yourself- or your purpose," the Lady of Light remarked gently.
"Then you should know of how I arrived…why was I not able to bend myself out of the river? And why can I not bend now?"
"Your spirit has not attuned to this world, thus you have fallen out of balance with Rava. Until your own spirit can find anchor here, you will continue to be void of your powers."
How simple it was for a nonbender to say such devastating words with such seemingly careless ease. My heart sunk low, and my eyes burned with the threat of tears. I struggled to form a proper response, but I was incapable. Incapable of bending- an Avatar incapable of bending. I shivered violently, and looked to the she-elf for counsel, only to find her gone.
After grabbing a robe from its resting place over the back of a chair, I slipped out into the corridor. I wandered the empty, dimly lit halls until I found myself beneath the stars in a courtyard. The constellations were so different than the ones I was born beneath in my homeland. The warm summer breeze idly combed through my unbound hair, and I toed off the thin shoes I had been provided with. The earth beneath my feet felt like a balm, but nonetheless I heard the faint rustle of approaching feet through the grass, and I let a serene smile curve my lips.
"Hello," the person greeted me hesitantly, "Are you Lyra?"
I looked over my shoulder, smile still firmly in place. It was Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. "I am," I affirmed faintly, "And what finally brought you out of the comfort of your home beneath the hill? And last I saw you, Bilbo Baggins, you were just in your tweens!"
The hobbit eyed me curiously, stuffed his thumbs into the pocket of his waistcoat, and slowly made his way to my side. "You know me?"
"You don't remember catching fireflies or making mud patties with me?" I reminded him with a nostalgic smile.
The hobbit's eyes widened as he recalled all the adventures we had completed, and here we were together again to go on the grandest adventure of all. "Are you also the reason Thorin returned to the company cross, soaked, and cursing the other night?"
"Mhm," I hummed, "Quite the scowl that dwarf has, too."