A.N/ This is a collaboration between my friend Maddie and I. It is an AU story and we hope you enjoy it! This is our first fic so please be kind.

Disclaimer... As much as we wish we did, sadly, we own none of these amazing characters except the OC's. So basically, anything you recognise is owned by the master of storytelling, J. R. R. Tolkien...

Indil's POV

I'm running. Faster than light, swifter than a bird, with all the grace of a deer. I'm running from the city, my home, our home for so long. I don't know anywhere else. Don't know where I'm running to. I've even forgotten what I'm running for… Until…

I remember. All the horrors of the past three days. The pain and suffering of watching our city slowly falling into ruins.

All those innocent lives, the lives of my people, lost forever to the Halls of Mandos and hopefully on to a better place.

They made sure of that. They came to our city for help and we gave them that, we helped them and looked after them.

Then they turned on us, betrayed our ancient city to an enemy which we had no idea how to face.

Our beautiful city, LocoSirenis, was razed. The city that has stood for millennia, remaining secret from the rest of Middle Earth. No one knew of our existence, we were but fairytales. Told to enthral young children and our people were depicted as angels.

The Ophilians are peaceful people. We have never attacked anyone and never will. We find no delight in the killing of others. So, when the wars began, our people retreated, forever, into the shadows.

Maybe now we are paying for retreating, paying for running from battle and saving our own lives. Maybe the Valar look down on such logical behaviour. They must think that we have done wrong. Otherwise why would such a catastrophe descend upon our undisturbed city?

I am lost in these memories when I feel something has changed. Stopping, I turn and looked up as my twin sister stood her ground and stared at me defiantly with her blue eyes, a look I know too well.

How can we look so similar yet be so different…

I sigh as I say, "What do you think you're doing Eruan? We have to keep going, come on!"

"NO! I've got to save Aranel and Limdur!" she shouted, golden hair so similar to mine whipping around her face.

"Ada told us to run, and that is what we shall do!" I stated, starting to get annoyed. Eruan should know that now is not the time for her stubbornness to take over.

She drew her knives and stepped closer to me.

"What are you doing, Eruan? Have you finally gone crazy?" I shouted in horror.

"I don't care what ada says…" She whispered menacingly.

I know her moods fluctuate but this is really going too far. I've had enough, time to fight fire with fire. Wait, that should be fighting water with fire if my sister is concerned.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You know that you could never hope to beat me Eruan. I have always been better than you at the art of knife fighting, however much you hated it."

"Stop being so immature both of you," a voice behind us says.

It's my brother, Aranhil. I love him with all my heart and am so glad to see that he escaped from the city as well. But he should know that this is not a debate in which he should get involved in. Suddenly, with no warning at all, he grabbed us both and started to sprint.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled.

"PUT ME DOWN YOU BRAINLESS ORC!" screamed my sister at the same time.

But listen he did not as we raced towards the golden forest of Glorgalad. I have always loved trees, but the golden forest really is something to take your breath away.

The trees are so beautiful, all the leaves are like richly spun gold. The flowers that carpet the forest floor are a rich blue. This beauty is the product of many thousands of years of tender care from our people.

My mind is jerked back to the present. Aranhil has stopped. I realise that we have reached the edge of the wood. He drops us to the ground none to gently but our elven reflexes mean that we were easily able to right ourselves.

I could see Aranhil bracing himself for the hurricane that was our sister. But no explosion came.

The Valar are smiling down upon us today.

I wondered what had happened to cause my twin to be speechless. And let me tell you, that is one thing that does not happen often.

The funny thing was that I could smell a distinct hint of smoke in the air. Was the forest on fire? I glanced toward my brother, hoping that he could explain the strange smell but he seemed to be frozen in shock as well.

Now I was really confused. I followed the direction in which he was staring and gasped.

I will never forget the scene that was laid before my eyes on that day. Our city was in ruins, dancing red flames licked across the golden tinted buildings.

The once proud and tall towers of the royal palace were crumbling and falling to the ground. The beautiful gardens that surrounded the city were burning and dying.

I could feel the energy from the fire as it flowed through me. I noted, slightly detached from myself, that this energy felt hungry and malicious. Nothing like the normal warm and comforting feeling I get from usual flames.

The pitiful screams and cries for mercy branded my ears as I felt myself falling to the ground in horror. Tears slid unbidden down my cheeks as I silently cried for our city and her people.

I could hear Eruan's screams of fury and Aranhil's desperate attempts to calm her down. Usually, it would be I who was tasked to that impossible task but at that moment I couldn't care less.

My home was gone, my sanctuary. The only place that I felt safe. I had read numerous books on the rest of Middle Earth but how I wish now that I hadn't.

I knew of all those terrible dangers waiting out there. I knew of all those horrendous creatures hiding in the dark. And I knew of the pain and suffering that our ancestors had tried to shield from us.

Now I must face those fears. I have to be strong for my sister. She is fragile in a way that no normal person could see. She tries to act strong but she needs so much care. I wish it could have been different. I wish that we had never set out for the elven city of Lothlorien.

Maybe that would have changed everything. But the past is the past. That is what I was thinking as Aranhil dragged the two of us to our feet and onwards towards the Valley of the Singers.

A.N/ Hope you like the prologue! Please, please, please review, it would mean the world to us!