Invisible, Part 1

by Virodeil

"Can't you see that? Can't you see them?" he asks, demands, says, pleads plaintively. But the little one learns quick, and learns not to utter those words when condescending people are around. He seeks and befriends them instead: the Invisible, those who lurk on the edges of history and behind the scenes of great things. And who knows, maybe the Invisible could do the Impossible?

1. Preface

Invisible
By: Eärillë

Preface

1. About the Theme

When lines and boundaries and limits blur, is it called invisible? When history and reality and truth are distorted, is it called invisible? What can be called "visible" then? And is having everything "visible" better for all concerned?

How if being invisible means saving one's family from vicious obliteration? How if being invisible means saving an entire continent from a mass destruction? But what does it take to achieve this? Is it worth the efforts?

There are invisible sides to everything anyway, even when they seem so painfully visible. There are always layers beneath and above what is known, and hidden things on the forbidden or forgotten corners. It is true everywhere, even in myths and legends and fantasies, or perhaps especially in those.

And who would argue that it never applies on Alagaësia and all the vaunted races and places in it, with that reasoning in mind? There are simply too many questions on even the known facts, and too many ways to answer them. For examples: What lie beyond the mapped areas, or even within them? How did the many races – and in fact the world itself – come into being? How were places like Ilirea, Doru Araeba and Carvahall truly founded? Who were the Kings, Queens, and Dragon Riders when the public's eye was not aimed at them? Then again, who were "the Forsworn Riders," truly?

And would there be any "Forsworn Riders" if the Fall had never happened? …

Open eyes and open mind are a must when you wish to spot even a glimmer of the Invisible – and these closely-guarded secrets deserve the capital I, yes yes. Creative imagination would not hurt, too. This is, after all, a fantastical set of fantasies embedded within a fantasy world, which is the result of two fantastical fantasy worlds crashing against each other.

Confused much? No worries, the writer is in the same boat as you are, dear readers.

2. About the Timeline

It is deep in the Fifth Age of the world already, right now. The age itself began more than eight thousand years ago, when a few groups of Elves who refused to accept their nature as ageless spirits after living for so long sought to retain their bodies by committing a sacrilegious ritual with still-living human bodies alongside some other "ingredients" stolen from Middle-earth. They became mortals then, or rather the lucky ones of them, although they retained their old powers otherwise, and the heinous action saw them banished out of Valinor and founding Alalía. The Dwarves meanwhile, their society having been long bowled over by the population of Men, had previously abandoned Endorë (Middle-earth) and established dominion in Alagaësia, unknowingly followed by the dragons, their archenemies. In the end, only Men lived in Endorë (Middle-earth) any longer, and in time they were also driven out by the greed of a king, famine, and the over-breeding of the runaway Nazgul's old mounts that preyed both on them and their lifestock.

And in time, all the disparate races gathered in Alagaësia, where this particular story happens, despite the gaps of time and the various causes of leaving.

It is the Fifth Age of the world, and it is bound to be just as long and tricky as the age before.

3. About the Story

This not-so-short story is a birthday gift for RestrainedFreedom: a faithful reviewer for my Inheritance Cycle works who has so far never baulked on reading any of my IC fics, even the more-or-less extreme ones, who has also made me speechless with his compliments on too many occasions to count. It misses the date, perhaps, and in fact the month; but the intention of gift-giving is still as true as when I first started it in September, and I apologise for the lateness.

This experimental project is also a nod towards my fellow seekers after "invisible things." And as it is an experimental project, please keep your eyes and minds open, as previously warned, and you might have an enjoyable ride here. I can just hope for that, anyhow, since I am struggling along with it myself.

Well, it explains the rating, at least. It may be a might too high for most of the story, in fact, but I would rather it be too high than it choke up an unwary reader somewhere. It shall never exceed M-rated though, I can promise you that, and the purpose for the rating itself is mostly outside the realms of sexuality and violence anyhow, but rather philosophies and contraversions.

And without further ado, let us (hopefully) enjoy the story together!