Disclaimer: I make no profit from the use of any of Tolkien's characters nor do I own any of them.

Chapter 1

Riah woke up with a horrible pain between her eyes. As she sat up and adjusted she began to look around her. She did not recognize where she was. Riah was lying in the middle of a grassy plain. To the west she saw that a thick tree line began, to the east ran a chain of mountains. Wanting to know how she had gotten to this unfamiliar, yet beautiful place, Riah tried to recall what she had been doing before she woke up here.


She remembered books, lot of books. Yes she has been in her grandfather's old library which boasted at least ten thousand books.

As a child she had loved to explore the shelves and find the treasures that the literature held. But now she was twenty-one and her grandfather had just passed away. In his will he had given all of his books to Riah. That was why she was in his library; she was looking for something in particular. At the reading of the will, Riah was given a sealed envelope from her grandfather.

She had gone outside to open it and had discovered a message from him. She was to go to her newly bestowed library and find a particular book, for in it was something that she needed to discover. Riah's grandfather made this thing sound very important, like it was vital that Riah knew what this book had to offer.

So Riah had gone to her grandfather's library and dreaded stepping through the door. When she did a flood of memories came rushing upon her. All of the good times that she had spent with her grandfather. All of the life lessons that he had taught her, how he had tried to show her the joy that he saw in life, but that she could never quite understand.

Riah began to walk the aisles trying to find the book her grandfather was talking about in his letter; after a while she realized that this book was not upon any of the shelves. Trying to read the letter more carefully, Riah noticed something from the corner of her eyes. There was a small light coming out of a crack in the floor. It was brief, but Riah knew that she had really seen it and that it was not merely some figment of her imagination. She knelt down onto the floor, stuck her fingernails into the crack and pulled up. The board came out of the foundation easily and Riah set it aside. She reached her hand into the crevice and pulled out a crimson colored journal. It was well worn like it had been used frequently. Riah wiped a layer of dust off of the cover and saw that there was a single word etched in silver on it. Riah could not make out the word; it was in none of the languages that she knew.

Riah stood up and walked to her grandfather's favorite chair where she sat down. She pulled on the ties that bound the journal and they gave way freely. Slowly Riah opened what she could only guess was her grandfather's journal. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the familiar scrawl that was her grandfather's trademark. She began to look through the journal and discovered that she could not read what her grandfather had written; it looked as if it was in the same language as the word on the cover was written.

"Come on you old sneak, what lesson are you trying to teach me from this?" Riah asked aloud.

Suddenly the air began to chill and a gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew a stack of papers to the ground. Riah stood not knowing what was going on. She tried to make her way to the door but it was sealed shut. She grabbed her grandfather's journal and tried to find a place to get away from the awful wind. While making her was across the room she could have sworn that the silver letters on the front of the journal began to glow, as she stopped to look at them a huge book was blown from its shelf and came straight for Riah, she tried to get out of the way but was too late. The book hit her in the back of the head and she fell to the floor unconscious.


The next thing she knew she had woken up in this amazing place. She didn't think a place this wonderful had existed on earth. But here she was being proven wrong.

Riah stood up and realized that she still had her grandfather's journal in her hands. Riah thought about what her grandfather would do in this situation, she definitely knew that he wouldn't panic and he would try to find somebody to tell him where he was so he could make his way home in peace.

Riah didn't think that many people would be traipsing around the snow capped mountains so she decided to go east to the woods, maybe she could find someone there. As Riah walked she began to think about her grandfather and the last thing that he had told her before he died. He told her to never put up barriers between herself and others, to always be willing to accept the assistance of another and that one day you will be able to repay them. During her life Riah had always been very headstrong and independent. It was not like her to rely on other people or ask for their help. Her grandfather saw this as something that might push people away. He warned her that if she was not careful she would live her life alone without people to share it with. He had told Riah that she could be independent without insulting people or pushing them away.

Riah knew that she would have to rely on others at least a little to tell her the way home.


As Riah neared the forest a funny feeling came over her. She felt as though she was being watched, yet when she looked around the floor of the forest and into the trees she could not see anyone. As she entered the forest she tucked the journal into the folds of her long jacket, she didn't want to be caught off guard and drop it.

She continued to walk further into woods until something told her to stop. She looked ahead to the path and could see nothing, she then turned around to look at where she had come from; she was not being followed. Riah could not figure out what this feeling was.

As she turned back around she came face to face with a man. This startled her but she did not jump or flinch. She simply looked up at him. He was tall, with broad shoulders and long golden hair that was pulled back into delicate braids. He was wearing something that resembled a tunic but was meant for someone of high standing. He was dressed as if ready for travel and confrontation. He looked like no man that Riah had ever known; she had also never known a man or woman to wear the style of clothing that he wore.

He had been silent while Riah studied him; it was if he expected her to say something. Seeing that she was not he addressed her, "What is your purpose in these woods?"

Coming back to reality Riah answered him, "I'm a little lost, and I was just trying to find someone so I could find out where I was."

"Lost? One does not simply walk into these woods without suffering the consequences." The man said while looking straight into Riah's eyes.

His gaze was powerful but Riah soon began to realize that there were people in the trees, and that they were all aiming arrows at her, ready to shoot. "What is this?" Riah asked the man.

"These woods are forbidden, people of your kind are not allowed past its border." The man answered.

"What do you mean by my kind? We are the same kind." Riah answered him.

The man suppressed an arrogant laugh, "You and I are the same kind? That is nothing but a dream of your kind."

"If you could just tell me where I am, I would greatly appreciate it. I only want to find my way home."

"You would not be able to understand our language, saying the sacred name of our home would be wasted on you." The man answered as he began to turn away from Riah.

"Could you at least tell me if I'm still in the United States? Or maybe Europe?" Riah asked.

At this the man stopped and turned around with a puzzled look on his face. "What are these places you speak of; they have never been said in this land."

"Look obviously we belong to different parts of the world and I have not given you and your friends a good first impression. I apologize for trespassing into your land. Could we start over, without the arrows ready to shoot me?" Riah asked as she stepped closer to the man. She could hear the archers tighten their strings and ready to fire on her. But then the man raised his hand at them and they brought their arrows down.

"We will talk, but we will go to the edge of the forest. The trees do not like having strangers in their midst." The man said as he began to walk quickly towards the edge of the forest. "Whatever you say." Riah said as she hurried after him.

"What is it that you want with our land?" The man asked as soon as they had reached the tree line.

"Wait, can I at least know your name?" Riah asked.

"Very well, my name is Haldir. I am a protector of my people; I watch the borders to guarantee that no intruders enter our land."

"Well Haldir, it is nice to meet you. I am Riah Dascal, I am a historic language specialist; I also study historic fighting techniques."

"A woman does not study such things, it is not proper."

"Many women where I come from would disagree with you, and who are you to say what women should and shouldn't do?" Riah said defensively.

"You're extremely outspoken, perhaps you will learn to think about the repercussions of what you say before you speak. You have wasted enough of my time, do not enter the forest again unless you wish to be full of arrows," Haldir said as he turned and began to walk back to his men.

"Wait, Haldir. Please, hear me out." Riah pleaded.

Haldir stopped but did not turn around.

"What are you going to do, leave me out here alone?" Riah asked trying to get at his conscience.

"Yes, that was the idea." Haldir answered turning around to face her.

"Do you treat all of your visitors with this same hospitality?"

"Most know not to come near the forest."

"And what of those who don't?"

"Try to enter our forest again and you will find your answer, though I do not believe that you would enjoy it much." Haldir said with a smirk and he turned for the last time and made his way to the forest.

At this Riah gave up, for the time being, she would have to come up with a better game plan to get this man to cooperate with her. The sun had fallen while the two had been talking so Riah decided to get some sleep and start again tomorrow. She found a small boulder not far from the forest and sat down to lean against it. It was then she remembered that she had her grandfather's journal; Riah pulled it out of her jacket and ran her hand over the cover. She knew that she couldn't read it but something was telling her that there was a huge connection between this journal and this strange land that she had come across. Riah looked to the forest, it looked as though it was glowing, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, she had never heard of anything so wondrous on the planet.

'Maybe I have come to another world' she thought to herself. 'No that's silly, I have to be dreaming.' With that Riah laid down on thee ground and closed her eyes.


Haldir watched the girl from the top of a high tree. It looked as though he wasn't rid of her yet. He had never seen anyone like the girl. With fifteen arrows ready to fire upon her she hadn't even flinched, yet she was polite enough to apologize for making a bad impression on his company.

'What was her name again?' Haldir thought to himself, 'Oh yes, Riah' quite an interesting name.

She was incredibly different from his people but there was something familiar about her, he just couldn't put his finger on it. As Haldir continued to watch Riah he saw her pull something red out of a pocket in her clothing. He saw it was a book of some kind. She held it as if it was very important to her, yet she did not open the book.

'How curious.'

His concentration was broken when he heard one of his men coming up the tree to relieve him of his watch.

'Oh well, I'm sure that she will just waste more of my time once the sun rises.' He thought as he climbed down the tree.


Riah woke early in the morning not remembering where she was. Then slowly as she stood up and stretched it all came flooding back to her. She really had no idea where she was but obviously it wasn't a dream.

Suddenly someone jumped out from behind the boulder and grabbed her from behind. Another jumped in front of her and picked her grandfather's journal up off of the ground and placed it within the folds of his shirt. While Riah was struggling two more men showed their laughing faces. They must have thought that it was humorous for a woman to be out here alone with no protection.

They tied Riah's hands together and got onto their horses. She could not believe it they were about to drag her after their horses. What kind of civilization was she in? Well she wasn't about to stand for this; while the men weren't looking she easily freed her wrists from the poorly tied rope that bound them. Then she gave a hard tug on the rope and the man that was holding the other end was pulled off of his horse.

This only angered the others. They jumped off of their horses and circled her. Riah bent down to the man who was on the ground and pulled his sword out of his belt. Now that she had a weapon she could teach these morons a lesson. One of the men ran at her and their swords met, he was not bad but not nearly good enough to compete against Riah, she soon sent him to lay with the other. Then the third man came at her and with his first try knocked Riah's sword out of her hands.

With a devilish grin he began to slowly advance on Riah. Little did he know that Riah was remembering her days studying Martial Arts. In a flash Riah picked up one of the men's staffs that had been throw to the ground. Using it to anchor herself she swung both of her legs into the air and kicked the man square in the chest. The breath was knocked out of him and he fell to the ground, useless.

Now it was time for the main man, the one who had her journal. He had been standing back watching her throughout the whole ordeal, and now he walked towards her. Once again she seized an opportunity and snatched two short swords from one of the men on the ground. With a sudden yell the remaining man came running towards her at full speed. At the last second Riah stepped out of his path and let her sword trail against his arm. This let a steady stream of blood fall from the man's arm which only angered him more.

He ran after her again and this time Riah met him full on, blocking his sword with fluid graceful movements. Suddenly the man caught one of Riah's arms and bent it painfully behind her back; this angered Riah so she wound her foot around the man's ankle and pulled forward causing him to fall into his back bringing Riah down on top of him. Before she could get up Riah felt the cold steel of the man's sword cut deep into her bicep.

Riah struggled to get up but the man was holding her leg tightly. With a final kick he released her leg and leaning on his sword began to slowly get up. With his last ounce of strength he came at Riah one last time, but Riah had already driven her sword deep into his gut.

She looked towards the other men who were clambering to their horses. Ignoring them she reached inside the man's shirt and retrieved her journal. She kept the two small swords; she had never seen anything like them and liked the way they flowed in her hands. While trying to process everything that had just happened Riah heard a twig snap on the ground behind her.

She thought that one of the men was trying to sneak up on her, so she spun around quickly and held one of her swords to the man's neck. Riah looked into the man's face and saw that it was Haldir, but she didn't remove her sword from his throat.

"Very impressive." Haldir said.

"What was all that about?!" Riah yelled at Haldir raising her hand to grip his arm tightly.

"What do you think you are doing? I suggest that you remove your blade at once or suffer the consequences." Haldir said as he grabbed Riah's arm which was still gripping his own tightly and produced a dagger with the other which he placed near her own throat. He did this all so quickly that Riah was not able to do anything to stop him.

"How do I know that you did not send them out here to attack me?" Riah asked keeping her grip firm.

"How insulting, my people would never consort with that kind." Haldir insisted.

"You could be lying."

"Then I guess you just have to believe my word."

"Oh, I have other ways of getting information, don't you worry about that." Riah said as she expertly released herself from Haldir's grasp, spun back around and kicked him in his chest causing him to fall onto his back. Riah jumped on top of him and pinned his arms down knocking his dagger away.

"Now I'm only going to say this once so listen well, get over yourself and all of this my kind, your kind and tell me exactly who you are and where I am or I will let my blade fall on your throat. Riah said fiercely.

Haldir could tell the girl was serious, he felt the sting of her blade cut a tiny nick into the soft flesh of his neck. He had no doubts she would follow through with her threat.

Riah could barely keep up with what was happening; it was all going by so quickly. She couldn't believe the position that she was in, threatening to kill this man if she didn't tell her the information she needed to know. This was not like her at all, never in her life had she ever threatened another. Without taking her eyes off of Haldir she sensed that his company was surrounding her ready to let their arrows fly if she further harmed their leader. Well she could fix that. "Can you not fend for yourself? Call your men down or I will do it for you."

Haldir glanced up at his second in command and nodded. His men lowered their arrows.

"Send them away!" Riah ordered.

"Go!" Haldir told his men and they sprinted back to the forest, warily looking back not wanting harm to come to their leader.

"What it your choice? Are you going to tell me what I need to know?" Riah again asked.

"Were did you learn to fight like that? It was remarkable, you moved with such grace. You have great skill."

"I told you that I studied ancient fighting. Let me remind you that this is no time for small talk, I will cut your throat."

"Then you will not get the information you seek."

"I doubt that your fellow men are as resilient as you are. I will simply go through them until they tell me what I need to know."

"First you must learn to address us correctly, referring to us as men is an insult."

From the crouched position on top of Haldir, Riah furrowed her brow, she did not understand. "Okay then what are you?"

"We are the elves of Lorien."

"Elves? Lorien?" It was then that Riah really looked at Haldir. His skin looked radiant, almost as if it was glowing and his ears came to tiny points. Riah also noticed his eyes; Riah had never seen such intoxicating eyes. Riah was snapped back to reality when she was thrown onto her back. Haldir had seen that she was lost in thought and had used the opportunity to free himself. He then pinned Riah to the ground as she had done to him.

"Not as clever as you thought are you?" Haldir asked laughing.

"What are you going to do kill me?"

"Were you not going to do the same to me?"

"You deserved it, you sent those men to kill me."

"Again, those were not my men. I don't know what they wanted with you."

"If you didn't send them, why didn't you try to help me.?"

"It is not our way to deal with your kind, besides; it didn't look as if you needed help."

"So you were just going to leave me out here so they could drag me behind their horses until I was dead?"

"If they would have gotten out of hand we would have intervened."

"Fine, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, so far you have trespassed into my people's land, insulted us with your attitude and attempted to kill the March Warden of Lorien. We have executed men for less."

"So, why don't you let your blade fall so we can get this over with?"

"Oh no, you are different, I will not let you go that easily. You see this?" Haldir asked motioning towards the cut on his neck, "You will pay for that."

"You really think a lot of yourself don't you? In fact I have never met someone so arrogant. But I do bet that your men are watching you right now, they must think it's humorous to see their captain straddling a human. How embarrassing for you."

"Good try, Riah. But I will not let me guard down as easily as you did. That must have been something incredibly enthralling that you lost yourself in. I thought I could expect something more from someone with such courage." Haldir's face was only inches away from Riah's; she could feel his breathe on her cheek. Riah could no longer guess what Haldir would do, it didn't seem that he wanted to kill her only make her angry.

There was something familiar about Haldir that Riah couldn't grasp. Riah couldn't let her thoughts preoccupy her now, what she had to think about was the very sharp dagger that was being held to her throat. She would have to do something that Haldir would never expect.

"So you value courage? It is a respectable trait that many do not have."

"What is your point?" Haldir asked tightening his grip on Riah's shoulder.

With lightening reflexes Riah pulled Haldir down to her and kissed him fiercely. This Haldir definitely did not expect and Riah was able to scramble to her feet and retrieve her swords.

Haldir stood up, fury showing clearly on his face. "That was not so wise, little one."

"Little one?" Riah said as she spun her swords in her hands. Without another word she charged him but was knocked back onto the ground by Haldir's powerful arm.

"Enough!" Haldir yelled. "I will not fight with you any longer, this is nonsense!"

Riah looked up at him as his voice rose in anger. She had gone too far and she could think of no way to fix the damage she had done.

"You will no longer need these." Haldir said as he reached down and tore Riah's swords from her hands. "Stand up."

Riah did as he said in a daze. Something had happened when he had taken her swords, Haldir had touched her hands and she had felt something inside. She cold not put it into exact words because she had never felt it before, it was as if something turned on inside her and she was suddenly aware of everything about herself, immediately she felt self conscious and realized that Haldir was looking intently upon her. She had acted like such a fool; he did not want to harm her. She didn't know exactly what he wanted yet but she was sure it didn't involve violence Snapping back to reality Riah felt a hand on her arm. Without thinking she flinched from the warm touch.

"The man's blade cut you deep, and you have lost much blood. I can heal it for you if you wish." Haldir said uninterestedly.

"Umm, okay." Riah said hesitantly.

Haldir laid his hand over Riah's wound and before she could blink the pain ceased and Haldir stepped back.

Astonished Riah looked down at her arm, "Thank you, that was amazing."

"You are welcome." Haldir said trying to hide a smirk.

"I am sorry if I have caused trouble to you and your men. I did not mean any disrespect." Riah said awkwardly, she had never had many reasons to apologize to people in her life and she really didn't know how to go about it.

"Yes, well I believe this is yours." Haldir said completely ignoring her words as he picked up her journal from the ground where she had dropped it earlier. Haldir froze as he read the front of the book. 'It cannot be' he thought.

"Oh thank you." Riah said as she took the book from his hands. "I guess that I will be going then." Riah said as she tucked the journal into the folds of her jacket.

"Oh I don't think so, Riah." Haldir said in a rather arrogant tone. "You have broken many of our laws, you will come into the city with us and the Lady will choose your fate. And don't forget my promise to you, you will pay for this." He said showing the now healed cut on his neck.

"What do you mean?" Riah asked in confusion.

"Come, come Riah I know very well that you are not completely inept, you have to be punished for what you have done." Haldir said as he motioned for his men, within a flash they were surrounding Riah.

Riah knew it would be useless to fight against them so she allowed them to bind her hands behind her back and then begin to lead her towards the forest. She couldn't believe all of this was happening; it was like walking through a dream. It was all so strange and frightening, but then on the other hand it was so familiar. Something deep inside Riah told her that this was right but her mind told her that she was somewhere that she wasn't supposed to be.