Out of Time
Introduction
The elf lady drifted through Lothlorien, barefoot and lighter than any leaf. The sleeves on her flowing white dress billowed out behind her as she moved, arms slightly back in a graceful arc. She stepped down the short flight of stairs without a sound and crossed over the mossy ground to a bubbling pool, fed by a tiny waterfall. She lifted a silver pitcher which stood nearby and filled it from the pool. She turned and walked towards a basin, with intricate wooden carvings on the outside and a silver bowl within. She poured the contents of the pitcher into the water and putting the vessel aside, gazed into the pool, which reflected the starry sky overhead.
The image changed, the water rippling slightly as the elf lady observed the change. There was a room. Inside the room lounged two men and a young woman. The woman was young and fair, with waves of copper hair falling down her back. She sat beside a man a little older than her, resting her head on his red-clad shoulder. The man held her hand loosely as he talked with the others. He had jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes, which reminded the elf of a certain hobbit who had passed her way during the last few months. Like him, his eyes had seen far too much and like him, that man carried a burden few others could comprehend. She shook her head sadly. His burden should never have been laid upon him, he deserved a better lot than he had been given.
Sighing softly, she observed the other, who was laughing loudly at some comment his friend had made. He wore an outfit similar to his- black trousers and a black jumper under a short tunic, only this man's tunic was blue, while his friend's had been red. The blue-clad man had fair hair and eyes to match his uniform. He too had seen things few others dreamt of in their nightmares, and although it was not the same burden his friend carried, the shadow of an unwillingly received, but well-performed duty lingered in his eyes. Galadriel allowed a slight frown to tug at the corners of her mouth. There were too many who knew the same feeling in Middle Earth, but at last she had found the men to help her world. The woman, too, would come- she would have a task to perform also. With a wave of her hand and a few drops of a potion known only to her in the water, Galadriel called their names in turn.
"Dianne, you must go to the land of horse lords- for there are too few in this world who realise what can be accomplished by women such as yourself. Their eyes need to be opened. Adam- Gondor has need of a man with your strength. And Paul, you will help another not so dissimilar to yourself achieve his own destiny…"