A/N: This story is going to be long and moderately angsty/disturbing. If the subject of torture(nothing too graphic) offends you, it might be best to read another story. It will also be one of those girl in ME stories, but hopefully with a twist everyone can enjoy. The canon characters will be present at some points, but are not the focus of the story. Thanks for reading!
Words in italics are not spoken aloud, but rather in a dream or inside someone's mind.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, only my original characters Leah and Morelen.
Rain poured profusely from the night sky, pelting the tin roof of the old apartment building as most of the inhabitants slept fitfully. The top floor unit was the only apartment with lights still on in the window, illuminating the mist with a warm yellow glow.
Leah was only slightly comforted by the light from an antique oil lamp near the window. She rubbed her sleep-deprived eyes in a valiant effort to keep them open, but soon found herself drifting away to dream again.
Fuzzy images in Leah's subconscious came into focus to reveal a half-dressed man with pale skin and long, onyx hair being dragged along a cold, dark stone surface. His slender wrists were bound with large chains and leather makeshift mittens, and his face shone with the hideous glow of many bruises from his captors.
The creatures dragging the man were hideous monstrosities that could almost be mistaken for men themselves, if they were not over seven feet tall. Thick, black skin covered their bodies, forming knots and bumps in random places and providing a natural armor. Looking at them made Leah shiver in her sleep.
Leah watched from a spectator's view as the creatures used the man's hand binding to secure him on a hanging hook in a dungeon cell where the only light filtered in through the metal door in the form of a torch. The larger of the two brutes pulled a thick leather bullwhip from his belt and began using it on the defenseless captive. Ten heavy strokes of the whip lashed at the otherwise flawless skin as they landed, creating bloodied stripes on the muscular back as the man cried out in agony. This went on for seemingly ages before he passed out and the creatures left him.
"I know you are here, dreamer," a pained voice whispered into the blond girl's mind, almost startling her awake.
"Who are you?" she questioned with her mind, "How can you speak to me in my dream?"
"You are watching me below," the voice said, "I am called Morelen in the tongue of my people, so you may call me that as well."
"Your people?" she asked. Was he not human?
"I was once considered an elf of Lothlorien," he said, "I trust you have heard of it at least?"
"I can't say I have," Leah told him, "The only elves I know are in fairy tales."
"They would not admit being acquainted with one such as me regardless," he said with a hint of bitterness, "You must help me, dreamer. They are coming again."
"How can I help you?" she asked as she looked to see a new monster opening the cell door with another whip in hand. The elf Morelen awoke to the pain of several more whiplashes.
"Morelen?" Leah asked in her mind. When he did not respond, she yelled louder, but not in her dream.
"Morelen!," she yelled as her eyes fluttered open. Leah looked around groggily to find herself in her own apartment without strange elves and terrifying fiends. Her silver tabby cat looked up from the other end of the couch with annoyance in his yellow eyes.
"Sorry, Buster," she told the cat as she rose from the couch, "I had the weirdest dream ever."
Leah walked to the tiny kitchen, turned on her single-cup coffee pot, and poured Buster some dry cat food. The dream haunted her mind, especially the pleading in the elf's voice as he spoke his last sentence. It was only a dream, though, wasn't it?
Forty five minutes later, Leah emerged from her apartment building on the way to class at a local community college. She wore a simple blue v-neck shirt and black jeans that went with the uniform she worked in later in the day at a nearby bakery.
Calculus was definitely not Leah's strong point. She sat at a desk in the lecture room desperately trying to keep up with Professor Malki's broken speech and take notes at the same time. The little bit of extremely restless sleep Leah got made all of the formulas and equations seem unusually alien, and after half an hour of it, she found herself dozing off with her head plastered to the wooden surface of the desk.
"You have returned, dreamer," a hoarse voice whispered. Leah waited for the image to come into focus as before, and saw the same dark cell with the elf Morelen still imprisoned within it. Chains still bound his hands and ankles, but he was no longer suspended from the ceiling.
"They let you down?" she asked in her own dream-voice.
"I am of little threat in my current state," he said, "My body is broken and torn too badly."
"I wish I knew how to help you," she said honestly.
"I had hoped to contact someone in my own world," he told Leah, "Things would have been much easier."
"Sorry," Leah said, "Can't you contact someone else?"
"It is not quite that simple, dreamer," he said, "When I cast the spell, I had my reagents. Without ingredients, that spell cannot be cast again."
"This was a spell?" she asked curiously.
"One of many in my normal arsenal," he replied, "Do you truly want to help me, dreamer?"
"Of course I do," she answered, "I'd rather you call me Leah, though."
"Very well, Leah. Look behind you," he commanded gently.
Leah did as she was asked, and turned around in her dream to find herself standing on an invisible plane above the dungeon. A misty, white figure appeared, and the girl gaped as she realized it was Morelen.
"Did you die?" she asked in alarm.
"Hardly," he said, "My abilities are too valuable for them to let me die."
"Then what is that?" she inquired, pointing at the specter.
"This is my spiritual essence," he explained, "It is the embodiment of my power and what you would call my soul."
"How can you do that with it?" she asked.
"How can you ask so many questions?" the elf asked back with a grin, "On a more serious matter, for you to help me I must get you to my world and to my location without you being killed."
"Your world?" she asked, "Would I be able to come back to my own?"
"If you succeed and free me, I can transport you back," he said, "But the apparition is limited on the amount of power it can use and will likely be used up by the time you arrive at my cell door."
"Leah," he said seriously, "It is your choice to make. I will not force you to aid me."
"Do it," Leah told him, "If I can help, I will."
The spirit approached her body and enveloped Leah in translucent, muscular arms and began to whisper words in a language she could not understand. Darkness surrounded both of them, alarming Leah. She tried to hold onto Morelen's spirit, but the ethereal being was not solid enough for that.
"Relax, dreamer," he said, "This darkness is not harmful to you. We are going to my world."
Shadows began to swirl downwards, creating a funnel that engulfed the two and deposited them on a carpet of lush, green grass near a rushing river. Leah looked at Morelen with a bewildered expression.
"We are on the banks of the Nimrodel river near the forest of Lorien," he said, "This is where I was sleeping when the orcs captured me."
"Orcs?" she asked, "Is that what those things were?"
"Yes," he replied, "Vile creatures made of what was once my kin."
"So what now?" she asked.
"Now there is one more thing we must do before you go into the forest," he said, "Your body is here now, and you must go back to it in a moment."
Leah looked around and spotted her body on a slightly dirty bedroll, "I just wake up, right?"
"Not yet. I would like my spirit to accompany you," he informed, "but the decision has to be made by you when you are awake."
"You mean that thing would be with me all the time?" she raised a dream-eyebrow.
"It would enter your body and reside there temporarily," Morelen said, "It would act as a guide and allow you use of some of my abilities."
"I suppose it's not a good idea to walk around here without a guide," she said, "How else would I find you?"
"Exactly," he said, "You must make the choice in your own physical body, however."
"How?" she inquired.
"Simply say you choose to accept my spirit," he said,
"All right," she agreed, "Let me wake up."
"See you soon, dreamer," Morelen said. The apparition mumbled some more alien words and the dream Leah faded away.
The real Leah rolled over on the highly uncomfortable bedroll. She was tired and strangely sore, but managed to open her brown eyes and eventually sit up. She looked around at the campsite formerly used by the elf and noticed his belongings still lying about the area.
"I choose to accept Morelen's spirit," she said aloud. A chilled rush of air filled her body immediately, and she felt cramped inside for a moment.
"I'm here, dreamer," he said in her mind, "You must pack my things and journey from here quickly. I learned the hard way this was not a safe place to linger."
Leah did as instructed, and walked around the area to pick up anything he had left behind. She found a black hooded robe next to the bedroll and a ransacked satchel near the river's edge. A staff made of gnarled ash wood stood against a tree with a black gemstone orb at it's tip. A bird's talons gripped the stone as if it were prey. She made to grab for the staff when a stern voice in her mind told her otherwise.
"Don't touch that yet," Morelen warned, "A wizard's staff can be a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands, which is why there's a ward on it to allow only me to wield it."
"I guess I'll just leave it here then," Leah said with a shrug.
"Look in the pocket on my robe," he instructed, "You should find a small dagger there."
Leah unfolded the robe and inhaled the aroma of herbs and earth it possessed from the elf as she searched for the pocket. She pulled an ornate silver dagger from its hiding place. The weapon was shaped like a bird's claw as well.
"Why do I get the feeling you like birds?" Leah asked.
"The raven is symbolic of me," he said, "Now, take the dagger and drop a small amount of your blood on the black orb."
She paled, "You want me to do what?"
"Forgive me, but this is how the spell works," he replied, "It only requires a drop or two."
The skeptical girl approached the staff again, with the claw dagger in her right hand. Leah closed her eyes and grimaced as she ran the razor sharp blade over her left index finger. Once the initial pain subsided, Leah opened her eyes and made sure some of the blood dripped on the tip of Morelen's staff. The black stone began to glow a dark purple in the center before turning completely dark again.
"Can I pick it up now?" Leah asked.
"Go ahead," he said, "I will remain silent for a time, travel across the river and into the forest straight ahead."
"Then what?" she inquired, slightly annoyed at the lack of information.
"The forest will be safe," he said, "The elves there are reclusive normally, but you should be able to convince them to allow you a short stay provided you do not mention my name."
"Fine," she relented. He was the only source of information she had after all.
Leah gathered up the staff and began to hop in a less than graceful manner from one slippery stone to another across the rushing river as instructed.
More Notes:
I'm aware Morelen is not a completely Elven name. The first part is simply the Quenya Mor- meaning dark or darkness. Seemed appropriate for a person such as he, I just added my own suffix.
The staff doesn't accept just any blood. It has to be drawn by the talon dagger...which is why I made them look like a matching set.