Hey there again! I know this is a short one, but I had to set things right before everything could start. Legolas is not directly in this chapter, but you'll meet him soon. Hope you like it! The quote is from the masterpiece of Dante Alighieri, an Italian writer in about the 14th century, I guess. If you want to translation, please PM of review *ahum* chantage! *ahum* So please review!

REVISED VERSION

E vidi uscir de l'alto e scender gie

due angeli con due spade affocate,

tronche e private de le punte sue.

(DANTE, Divina Commedia, Purgatorio VII, 25)

In the beginning, there was nothing. No light nor darkness, no joy nor grief, no sound nor silence filled the Void. And then, in one moment that lasted millennia, something indefinable changed.

And then there was the Sacred One.

As His Spirit began to extend and pierce the most secret and barest places in the Void, He filled them with Life. And out of His mind, the Ainur sprang, and out of His touches, the Angels welled. And the Void was filled.

For many, many ages, Eru kept on filling the Void, for the Void was infinite, and although Era was immeasurable, always a grain of the Void escaped his mighty Spirit. And so it was that he summoned the Angels, his sacred servants, and ordered them to encircle the Void. And he gave them white wings to be swifter than their prey. And so, the Void was walled.

Then, Eru gave the Ainur music to sing, and his Thoughts sang, and they created Something in Nothing.

And thus, Eä was created, and in it was the love of the Ainur and the hatred of Melkor and the music of Illuvatar.

But as some of the Ainur said goodbye to Eru, and prepared to descend to the young Eä and to become the Valar, some of the youngest and most curious Angels slipped inside the newborn world, out of their love for the one who had created it, determined to shield it from the evil of Melkor. With widespread wings they floated down, and thus they brought light in Arda, for behind them, the glue of the One radiated through the entrance they had opened. And their presence brought goodness and hope and joy into dark Eä.

And as the Valar started to craft the foundations of the earth, heightening mountains and delving oceans, setting and enlightening the stars, sewing flowers and trees and filling the wells with water, the Angels aided and supported them. But always Melkor destroyed what they had wrought, and darkness shrouded fair Eä. And thus, the Valar finally retreated to the Blessed Isle, and poured bliss and beauty upon the lands. And the Angels rejoiced and sang in honour of Illuvatar.

Yet some of them still mourned the loss of the creation, and they kept on turning back, and let the sleeping nature sizzle in hope and pending. And so it was that, as the Angels flew above the Lake of Wakening, Cuivienen, they saw stars sailing down, touching the water, awakening spirits that had been asleep there for a long time.

Thus the first Elves treaded Arda. And their sweet voices mingled with the singing of the Angels and the Music of Illuvatar.

But, though Cuivienen was sheltered by the grace of the Angels, darkness still lurked around, and many elves were lost as they wandered through the sleeping forests. And the first sorrow began to seep into the hearts of the fair Eldar.

And therefore the Valar decided to stand against the foulness of Melkor, and they battled in the sky, and upon the earth, and in the water. And the bases of Eä trembled. And the blood and the tears of the Valar gave life to the lifeless, and the screams of Melkor destroyed the living.

The Angels stood with them, and their bright presence troubled Melkor, and in the last days of the battle, he ambushed and imprisoned them. He locked them in his lands, and there they stayed for centuries and they were forgotten, and their names were lost, until Melkor came back from the Void. Then he placed horrible tortures upon them, breaking them, tearing them apart. And slowly, very slowly, the sacred servants were corrupted.

And as Sauron reigned, he bound them to the Ringwraiths, and from them the evil and despair that shrouded the wraiths, radiated. And they brought misery and fear upon their surroundings.

But a few did survive. And when the chance came, and Isildur weakened the Dark Lord, they fled, not knowing that one day, one day soon, they would finally play their vital role in Eä, the role that they were meant for.

And the battlefield would be the restored Kingdom of the White City, where the righteous king Elessar and his beautiful Queen Arwen reigned, in eternal friendship with Legolas the elf, and Gimli the dwarf, the stretched kingdom of Rohan and the gentle land of the Hobbits.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know? And does somebody have an idea what will come next? Hope not, but have a try! Please review!

xXx Archiril