Author's Note

And so it finally begins, the sequel to Weyr of the Lost. Sadly the original is no longer on fanficiton.net due to the ban on Anne McCaffrey fan fiction, but it can still be read at my community: http://groups.msn.com/HoleInTheGround. This sequel will be set entirely in Middle-earth with only passing mentions of Pern - surely not enough to warrant being deleted. Hopefully *fingers crossed*.

I have to apologise to any Tolkien purists reading this. I have read up on Elven legends (though I have yet to manage the Simarillion) however for the purpose of this fic a few Elvish legends may get bent and twisted to fit. Sorry. The Valar were kind of gods I guess you could say - they were part of the first race of Middle-earth, the Ainur ('holy ones') There are fifteen of them and as far as I can tell they live in the Undying Lands. More information on them will appear throughout the fic.

Disclaimer: Legolas, Middle-earth and all the characters and places therein belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. All mentions of Pern and the dragons and fire lizards belong to Anne McCaffrey - you can view her site at http://annemccaffrey.org/ I do own Rhachsell, Faroth and Anira so please don't use without asking.

Finally, before I start, I have to mention Eirual and Songbreeze for their continuing support and requests for this sequel. After you've read this go check out their fic 'Brothers In Arms' on fanfiction.net and 'Death's Return; A Pernese Saga' at the fan fiction board on Anne McCaffrey's site.

Now, with no further ado, happy reading and feel free to email any questions to me at cloudymagicjh@hotmail.com.



Lamp Of The Valar



Prologue

The unicorn trotted through the silent forest, silver hooves raising puffs of dust from the sandy floor. No birds sang; no insects chirped, the unicorn moved as if in its own pocket of silence. A silvery tail floated on an unfelt breeze, a shining mane hung like strands of gossamer over the gleaming snowy white neck. The long spiralled horn rising from the creature's forehead was heavy yet she carried her head high as she passed through the breathless hush. Only for a few moments was she visible as a glimmering vision of light and splendour then she faded and was gone, as if she never had been. The trail of hoof prints remained until a light breeze stirred the dust and covered them with sand.

(A.N. Yes, I know there are no unicorns in Middle-earth according to Tolkien. Trust me. I think I know what I'm doing)