Umm, hi :) This is my first long story so please do give me some feedback as it inspires me and makes me write faster. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)


I somehow found myself in a deep, dark forest in middle of night. I was dead certain I was never here earlier in my life, yet I seemed to know my way around it. Past couple of days were unbelievably warm, yet night breeze made me shiver and pull my cloak tighter around my body. Wait, what am I even wearing? I looked down at myself and saw that I was dressed a light floor-length green summer dress and a thin cloak. Okay...

I shook my thoughts off my outfit and continued my journey into the forest. The deeper I went, the darker the forest got, but I wasn't scared. The forest was extremely quiet and it worried me a bit, but at the same time I was relieved because God knows how would I react if I heard some weird noises. As if reading my mind, howling of a night wolf spread through the air and it seemed to be close to the place where I was standing, so I made a step back. I closed my eyes for a moment thinking 'No, this isn't happening. God, this looks like a bad horror movie'.When I opened my eyes, I nearly screamed in both fear and shock. A wolf with fur as white as snow in winter stood before me, looking me straight in the eyes. I stood frozen in the spot for couple of moments, waiting for the beast to attack me. But it didn't. It came closer to me and nuzzled my hand, as if asking for me to pet him like a tame dog. Before I could stop myself, my hand was gliding over his soft fur.

He jerked away suddenly and I jumped back a bit, but didn't attempt to run. He turned around and waved his tail in a way that made me think he wanted me to follow him. And I did. I followed him as he slowly walked between the trees and I noticed the further we walked the lighter the forest got. After a couple of moments of walking, he suddenly stopped and turned to face me. He looked in a direction behind him and then back at me and I assumed that I'm supposed to go there on my own. I crouched down and thanked him before I even realized how stupid that must have been. After all, he is an animal. As if knowing what I've thought, he came forward and allowed me to pet him once more before he ran into the night.

I stood up and walked to the source of light that was shining brightly through the trees. The light was so strong that I had to cover my eyes with my left hand and grasp the trees with my right so I wouldn't fall. Then, I heard a voice. Removing my hand from my eyes, I saw a woman standing before me and it seemed that she was the source of light. She repeated the same word again in her soft voice."Ithil", she said so softly that it sound almost like a whisper,"Welcome to Middle-earth, Ithil."Ithil? Middle-earth? This is just getting weirder and weirder."What are you talking about? W-Where am I?", I ask in confusion. She smiles at me and speaks again."You are in Middle-earth, home of Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits." That makes me even more confused. She looks at me with concern and starts repeating that strange word over and over as the forest starts spinning around me."Ithil?Ithil, is everything alright?Ithil!"

"Helen! Get the hell up!"

I open my eyes and find myself face to face with my roommate and best friend, Megan. There's no trace of the forest, no tame wolves and no glowing women. A dream, it was just a dream. It seemed so real though and I really wanted to know what was to happen if I didn't wake up. Mer, maybe it continues tonight.

I look at the clock on my bedside table. The clock displays it's 7 am. Didn't go off, great. I frown as I quickly jump out of bed and start getting ready for work. I teach English in the local gymnasium and I'm supposed to be there in 20 minutes. It's the job I always dreamed of, but I really could use a break from it sometimes. I finish putting on my clothes and run out of my flat after mumbling something like 'gottagobyeseeyalater' to Megan. I don't even bother getting breakfast because I'm going to be late, even though that's opposite all my beliefs. Luckily, the gymnasium is close to where I live so I can get there in time if I just hurry up just a bit.

Couple of moments later, I'm running out of my building with my briefcase in my hands and I probably rook ridiculous to everyone. I'm running on the sidewalk, avoiding people and parked cars, and all that dressed in a black suit and converse. I'm nearly there and I can see the school gates and all I've got left is to cross the street. Thankfully, the light is green and there are no cars around. I take a second to straighten my clothes and fix my hair and then I start walking across the road.

And then all I feel is pain, intense pain as I fall down only three feet from the school gates. I see a car stopping and people rushing towards me from everywhere, even the person from the car runs out and kneels by my side and clutches his hair in disbelief. I hear a distant scream and- Wait, was that me? The last thing I register are my colleagues and students yelling my name over and over and the ambulance siren getting louder and louder as it approaches, but then my eyes close and there's nothing besides of white light that soon turns to darkness as I think 'This is the end'.

###

"Who is she? Where is she from?"

My eyes open with a flutter as I hear silent whispers all around me. A tall man with long brown hair dressed in strange clothing approaches me and starts speaking after giving me a slight bow, "Lady Ithil. Lady Gladriel informed us of your arrival and we have awaited it ever since, only I'm afraid we did not know you shall arrive as soon as this. I am Elrond, Lord of Rivendell and I will be your host until the start of your journey. Take her to guest chambers with Lady Nimmir, as I believe they come from the same place".

With that, he turns to a man who seems to be younger than Lord Elrond and I assume he must be a servant of some sort. He nods and helps me to my feet before guiding me down a road. "Where am I?", I ask. He smiles at me,"You are in Rivendell, m'Lady, one of great Elven realms." Elven realm? I'm going crazy, I think as we stop in front of a beautiful building. "We are here. I will tell a handmaiden to prepare you a bath and bring you clean clothes." With that he glances me up and down and says, "I do not know the tradition of the place where you come from, but your clothing is most strange" and with that he leaves. My suit is weird? Really?

I shake off my thoughts as I enter through the large wooden door. The moment I step in my mouth opens wide in shock. "Megan? What are you doing here?!" I basically whine as I run to hug my best friend who seemed to be equally surprised to see me. "I honestly have no idea. I just woke up here", she says and I notice she's dressed in the same clothes as the man who greeted me and that servant boy who got me here. "Do you have any idea why are they calling me Ithil?" She shakes her head. "I have no clue, but they are calling me Nimmir so I assume that's maybe how we're called in Elvish." In that moment a woman enters the chamber with clothes in her hands and says, "Lady Ithil, your bath is ready. I do not wish to rush you, but you should hurry up as the council will start soon."The council? "What council?" I ask her in confusion as I follow her to the baths. "The council, Lady Ithil. The secret council that Lord Elrond is hosting." She looks at me as if that's the most obvious thing in the world. I just nod, pretending that I have understood what she just told me. She smiles and leaves the clothes next to the large bath before nodding politely and leaving me to it.

###

"What exactly are we doing here?" I turn to my best friend as we sit in a circle on Lord Elrond's secret council. We're surrounded by fellow Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. When I first saw Hobbits, I figured they must have been children because they were so short and so young-looking, but the maid told me they're over 50 years old each.

"I have no idea", she says with a shrug as we go back to listening to Lord Elrond who talks about a ring that one of the Hobbits brought here. Nobody present seems to agree on the ring's destiny. Some say it has to be destroyed and others claim it could do good to future of Middle-earth if it was kept and used wisely.

Before long, the entire council started arguing over the ring's future until Frodo, the one who brought the ring stands up and yells, "I will take the ring to Mordor!" Everyone goes quiet. An old wizard called Gandalf agrees to go with him. A man named Aragorn approaches Frodo and says he will follow him and protect him with his life if it's necessary. Then two elves stand up and say, "You have my bow" at the same time. A Dwarf yells, "And my axe!" Even the man who claimed that civilization should keep the ring and use it as a weapon of good agreed to go on the mission. Three more Hobbits, Sam, Merry and Pippin who weren't even invited to the council ran out of nowhere and joined the group.

Before I'm even aware of what I'm doing, I say "I'll go too!". I feel all the eyes are on me now. Even my best friend who was staring at one of the elves all this time looks at me. Before I even say anything, she just smiles and says "You're not going anywhere without me." I laugh slightly as we stand up and join the group that stood before Lord Elrond. He nods and gives us a small smile before saying, "Very well then. You shall be known as Fellowship of The Ring."

###

Our journey was set to start tomorrow at dawn, therefore we were given rest of the day to prepare for the trip. My friend and I were told that we're going to get new clothes tomorrow because the ones we wore weren't exactly made for long trips and then we were off to meet the rest of the fellowship. The dwarf warrior's name was Gimli, son of Glóin. I'm not exactly sure what was that supposed to mean, but he seemed very proud saying that so I didn't ask anything else. Both of Elves were from Mirkwood. The blond one was called Legolas and the brunet one was called Neven, and that was all they said about themselves. Aragorn was apparently the heir of Isildur, the man who failed to destroy the ring 3000 years ago. Being the heir of Isildur also made him the rightful heir to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor.

The most interesting part of the day was definitely learning how to use weapons. My friend and I seemed to be most skilled at using bow and arrows so it we agreed to use them as a primary weapon, but besides that she was given a thin sword and I got a long knife. We both looked down at them, hoping that we would never have to use them.

The night fell in a blink of the eye and we all went separate ways to the chambers where we spent our last night before going on a life changing journey to fulfill our destinies.