Hi to everyone!

And here it is ... the first chapter! I hope it begins to meet the expectations of readers.

I must warn, that during the first chapters, the story will unfold in our realm: Earth. But do not worry, because once the plot begins to occur in the realm of Middle-Earth ... everything will happen there. So, a little patience.

Waiting for your reviews, guys!

Chapter 1: Nightmares

The Professor woke up suddenly, sweating and panting; his pupils dilated by terror, while a bright flash of lightning and after a few moments, a horrendous thunder rumbled, while thick drops of a torrential rain whipped the windows of his room.

Again, that horrible nightmare had assailed him during his sleep, just as it had been happening for at least two months. The only difference is that the feelings of anguish, anxiety and fear had been increasing, to such an extent that his nightmares did not leave him for a moment in peace. Even when he was not sleeping, they did not abandon his thoughts and they disturbed him because he did not understand in the least why he had such nightmares, but what was worse: he remembered nothing but flashes of what he saw. There was never a specific story, a plot that allowed him to remember and meditate about it.

Would it be a warning that a terrible thing was going to happen? It would not have been the first time such a thing had happened. Since he was very young they had happened a couple of times, and unfortunately, his 'visions' had always been right.

He had learned from his best friend that he had to be prepared, take the necessary measures, and even then ... it was not always an unequivocal sign that no catastrophe would happen; and as an example was the fact that a little more than eleven years ago he had tried to avoid misfortune by all means at his reach, even more so because through his friend he had known it with time and certainty. After all, in all his life he had not known anyone who could see the future with the truthfulness with which his elf-friend, Galadriel, did it. Maybe it was because she was just that, an elf-lady. Or because she descended from a very illustrious family. Or because she had as an innate quality the ability to discern the thoughts and hearts of people. The Professor did not know, but the fact was that: his best friend, Galadriel, had told him early enough that a great misfortune was hovering over the X- Men, and he, for more efforts he had made, had failed to stop the disaster.

Using his mutant telekinesis skill, he headed for his wheelchair that Hank had specially designed for him. And trying not to make the slightest noise he went to a certain room in the mansion that had not been opened for many years.

The room was beautiful, certainly full of dust and cobwebs, but beautiful. It had a King- size bed , with a curtain that made it shade. The bedspread was embroidered and could still be seen to be wine-colored. Large soft pillows stuffed with goose feathers.

The elegant furniture, all of them precious woods. The walls, at the top, were painted a cream color, now so perceptible that one could hardly see the true color of these; while the lower half was pure mahogany lambreon that perfectly matched the furniture, among which stood a large elegant mirror with a bench where the owner of the room could have combed and dressed without any problem.

It also had a small room where the person could change clothes and a full-body mirror. The floor of the room was made of wood, but it was covered by a soft and fluffy carpet of wine color, although dirty and stained by the passage of time and lack of cleanliness; while in the changing room and bathroom, the floor was elegant mosaic in the colors cream, beige and brown mix.

But perhaps the most beautiful of all, was the large window overlooking the huge garden that was part of the ownership of the Mansion X. This was oriented to the west, so the twilight could be observed in a wonderful way, more still because the window was wide open, and you could go to a balcony that had an elegant balustrade, but now full of dust and unpainted.

Why did the Professor go to that dirty and dusty room? Because in that very room, over three decades before, he had hosted to his best friend: Lady Galadriel.

The Professor opened the window and went out onto the balcony. The smell of the wet night wind contrasted with the closed, dusty smell that reigned in the huge room. The rain had subsided enough for the Professor to be encouraged to be outside, without danger that he would later have severe back or hip pain. Age did not pass in vain, not even for Omega-type mutants ... at least not on Earth. If anything, the exceptional case of mutants such as Mystique, Sabretooth or Wolverine; But the other mutants? No, Time was a staunch and inveterate enemy, even for the most powerful mutants ... at least on Earth.

He stuck his blue eyes in the sky, still covered by thick clouds that obscured the sky in such a way that it was impossible to see the stars, not even the Moon that by then was in all its splendor because it was October. He turned his gaze to his right side and seemed to see, again, that elegant and tall figure, that mysterious and at the same time majestic poise with which that elf-lady walked. He remembered her long hair, silky and falling in soft waves down her shoulders and back, hair that was the color of the Sun and the stars. Her skin white and flawless, those eyes as blue as the sea and so full of mystery, wisdom, but also of pain. Yes, pain, that wise and beautiful woman had lived a lot and suffered a lot. Her words resounded in his ears, when she told him all her mistakes.

'Do you want to know how I was known before?They called me Artanis 'The Proud'.And, I was right to be so. '

But perhaps the words that she told him about herself and that had most impacted him at that moment, and increasingly over the years, had been,

'My pride led me to make wrong decisions.Decisions that I cannot change now'

He had been proud too, and like her, he had also lost things and people he longed for. Just the loss of Moira McTaggert's love had been one of them, as had Raven's brotherly love, which until recently had returned, but never with the same affection. He did not blame either of them, it was his pride that had driven them away. And now, the death of one of his closest students and X- Men: Jean Gray; It was added to the list. And as a consequence, the deep depression in which her fiancée had fallen: Scott.

'Do not be sorry, child ' she had told him at the time of him muttering a lame ' sorry ' 'these have been my decisions and only I have to face the consequences'.

And exactly that had happened to him in all three cases.

But he had also learned other very valuable lessons from that friend who was beyond the earthly plane, and whom he had had the great fortune to know and even more, that she considered him her elf-friend, a title of great importance and special among her race.

So, he would also put into practice those lessons, he had to at least see what he was dreaming about. Maybe so he could have a notion, however vague, but notion at the end and that could help something.

He took a deep breath and tried to remember what he had dreamed. It was not easy because every time he tried to do it, his soul was so anguished that often the whole Mansion X trembled, and its walls and ceilings creaked. Many times, the students woke up scared, especially the youngest and newly admitted. The X- Men were more and more worried, especially since not even Ororo had managed to get the Professor to tell her what was worrying him.

He barely saw a scene from his nightmare when a tremor was felt. Immediately he opened his eyes. No, he must be more careful. He had gone to that room to remember more clearly, to feel more clearly, as if that dear and great friend with whom he had not been in contact (and would never be again) for over nine years was still there.

"Take a deep breath. Serenity above all, serenity and patience "he said to himself, repeating the words he learned from that woman wiser than the Seven Sages of Greece together.

Once again, he closed his eyes and concentrated. The terrifying images reappeared before his eyes, like ghosts and monsters mocking in front of him, mixed with heartrending cries, evil laughs and voices that spoke in a language he did not understand. All mixed up, all blurred, all at once nothing because nothing seemed to make sense; but ... 'patience and serenity'. And making an effort he recalled those images. Little by little they began to take shape and become more coherent, but not only did they appear in his mind, but in front of his eyes, as if they were holograms.

He saw destruction, yes, complete destruction of what appeared to be a city on Earth. He was not sure what it was, but deep inside, the Professor knew that he knew that city. How? He did not know, not for the moment. He would need to meditate more on it, but for the moment that was a breakthrough. The fact of knowing that that city had been destroyed, razed to the ground. But perhaps the most striking thing was that the sky had turned red as blood, the ground smoked as if it had just passed through hot lava; and worst of all: corpses scattered everywhere. Disfigured, dismembered, in such a terrible state that the Professor was about to vomit. With an effort, he opened his eyes again and observed that those corpses were not of any race. No, those corpses had something in particular that made him feel close to them. Would they be mutants? He could not have said it, because they were in such a terrible state that it was impossible to give an exact verdict.

He felt a strong twinge that forced him to close his eyes, and when he opened them once more destruction, but this time it was not in a city on Earth, no, that occasion was a city that the Professor was as sure as his own existence, that there was not in the entire planet.

There were not many traces left, but for what remained, the Professor realized that it was not that population on Earth. Some of the details that made him think such a thing was that the corpses, or better said, silhouettes that were left of the people burned in the middle of that devastated city were too small to be that of an adult person, if they would be of the height of a child. What remained of the buildings seemed to be small mounds of earth that might have been covered by grass or something similar considering the stunted traces of pasture. Probably there had also been trees, but these were mostly burned to the root and the earth was burning, as if a great fire had passed through there.

There was a very strange thing between the first scene of destruction and the second: in the first the whole place was watered by corpses, but the second ... there was absolutely nothing. What had become of the inhabitants of that unfortunate city? Because the 'remains' that were left were too few to consider that those had been all the inhabitants. For a moment, a strange thought came to his mind: a dragon that would have destroyed them? No, that place had been devastated with the luxury of violence and sadism that surpassed that of any dragon or that he had known or heard in all his life.

Next scene: a beautiful and strange city, white as the most polished marble being enveloped by a great fire; but it was not any fire. It was a smoldering fire of black color, it seemed to be a great cloud that destroyed everything in its path, leaving where a great trail of blood and Death passed. At its side, walked a being who he had never seen, but certainly was fearsome and frightening aspect. His armor shone like burnished bronze and it seemed to be a medieval armor, only that there were certain differences. Differences that were not seen in any armor in the History of Mankind. In fact, the only place where perhaps they could have been observed was ... no! It could not be possible! No, not at all! Besides, he was dead ... or at least in the Void! If not so, she would not have sailed to Válinor, neither she nor Lord Glorfindel! Even less Kitty and her husband, Legolas, along with Lockheed! No, that was not possible!

But the strangest thing of all, is that, next to this person, he saw a big black bird, as if it were fire and smoke. In the middle of that 'black bird' there was a being. What was it? Nor was it possible to know, especially because the moment the Professor tried to look more closely into that strange creature, a pain so atrocious and sharp penetrated his mind, as strong as he had never felt. Not even when Magneto had passed the bullet through Shaw's brain. The Professor shouted in agony at the same time that both beings turned and stared at him. Words resounded in his ears. A horrible and terrible language that he did not understand. What were they talking about? Why did they look at him?

He fell from his chair as he convulsed in pain. The Mansion X was shaken by a great earthquake, which woke up all frightened students. Ororo, Logan, Hank and even Emma Frost ran to Professor's room only to find it empty, while the earthquake continued.

In the room, the Professor tried by all means to stop listening to those words and close his eyes, opposing all the mental barriers he could to lower the atrocious pain. Finally, it seemed that this attack or whatever it was, was diminishing. His eyes darkened, and he thought he heard the echo of quick steps, and after that ... nothing.

The continuous 'beep, beep' of a machine woke him up. He still felt weak and dizzy. It took him a moment to recognize where he was: the infirmary at Mansion X.

He was connected to a pair of serums and two machines continually checked his vital signs.

"You gave us a good scare, Charles," a strong voice suddenly said.

The Professor turned slowly. It was Logan who was sitting astride a chair, watching him intently.

"The tremor or, rather, earthquake that we felt was not anything. And even less when we find you unconscious, babbling things without meaning, convulsing you in an old room, "continued the mutant" what were you doing there Charles? What's so interesting in that room that you do not let anyone in and you went to visit that night? "

"It's the same thing I've asked myself all this time," said a well-modulated voice. They heard a couple of steps and a woman of tall stature, light blond hair, light blue eyes and white skin, dressed all in white, stood next to Logan.

"You would not understand," the Professor finally murmured closing his eyes for a moment "and do not pretend to read my mind, Emma, because you will not get it"

The female-mutant rolled her eyes.

"I already know that," she answered sullenly "it was quite a miracle to get you out of there"

"And I appreciate your help" he replied

"But whatever it was, it left me curious: what happened? The state you were in, was not any, "she replied, crossing her arms

"Plus, the things you were babbling about" added Logan who seemed to be in a bad mood remembering the words he heard

"What did I say?" The Professor asked curiously.

"Fire, destruction, flame, death, blood. And then you started talking in a strange language, "said Hank, who arrived at that moment to check the patient's vital signs." I've never heard that language in my life. Not even the famous Sindarin that Ororo explained us a couple of years ago "

The Professor frowned. Now he remembered it, Kitty had told him and later Logan too, that Ororo had explained some things about Sindarin; therefore, it would not be surprising if the female mutant knew what he was saying in the midst of his delirium. After all, Ororo was a fan of all Tolkien's work.

"And she heard what I said?" He asked after a moment anxiously

"Yes, Professor" answered a soft counter-loud voice

The Professor turned his head to the other side of his bed and saw the African mutant, who at that moment had a dark face, but in which also mixed fear and restlessness. To Professor's mute question, she said,

"I do not know what language you were speaking, Professor; but it sounded a lot like the Dark Language "

Hearing this, the other three mutants stared at him in astonishment while the Professor looked at her uneasily.

"Are you sure?" He asked

Ororo nodded.

"More than sure" she said after a few moments "in fact ..." she frowned, as if trying to remember something "I think I have heard that same language "

"Where?" He urged

"I do not know" answered Ororo "I only remember having listened to it between dreams, but about a long time ago. I remember having listened to it, whispered to each other by the plants "

The Professor frowned. He knew, through Lady Galadriel, that Lord Glorfindel had taught Ororo to listen to the mute language of plants; but he never would have imagined, and probably not even the elf -lady that the female-mutant had ever heard the Dark Language ... or something similar. Would Lord Glorfindel have known?

It was heard that someone cursed. It was Logan.

"Ororo!" He exclaimed "let's not start with this again! Thumbelina is in Válinor with the so famous elf named Legolas for several years now! "

"No, Logan! "She exclaimed" I do not mean it! I remember that as a child, very young I heard at some point something very similar whispered among the plants "

"Among the plants?" Emma repeated in disbelief, leaning on the side table "so you talk to the plants? That's a mutant skill that I did not know you had, Ororo, "she added mockingly.

The African mutant frowned clearly offended.

"Hey! You do not have to treat her like that! "Logan answered standing up and clearly facing Emma Frost" believe it or not, she has some connection with the plants "

"You say it because you really believe it? Or because she's your girlfriend?" She replied coldly

Logan pulled out his adamantium claws and threatened Emma.

"Say one more word, just one" he said with clenched teeth

The female mutant stared at him, pale, but she did not say anything.

"Enough!" Exclaimed at that moment a voice, although weak, but with authority "enough!" Repeated the Professor who had sat down rejecting the help of Ororo and Hank "Logan, keep those claws; Emma, control your language. Fighting at this moment does not help us at all "he paused" if Ororo has heard this language before, it can be useful. For the moment, what is needed is that we are alert to any eventuality "He turned to the African mutant" Ororo, bring me the picture that is on my desk in my study "he turned to Logan and Emma" I do not want you to be fighting"

"Charles, you cannot leave the infirmary. You need to rest "Hank told him when he saw that the Professor was already giving orders as if he were healthy.

"And I'm not going to leave. I just want my picture "

At that moment Ororo arrived with the requested object and gave it to him.

'Watch that neither your boyfriend nor Emma fight,' he said telepathically 'because the two are more than stubborn'

Ororo giggled and nodded.

Once he was alone, the Professor stayed a long time looking at that photo that was one of his most precious treasures. He still remembered the day they had taken it, as if it had been yesterday.

He had decided that a photo of Erik, Raven, Galadriel and him, would be an excellent way to unite them, to make them see and remind them that the four of them were an excellent team, that between the four of them they were creating a great project that would last for a long time and it would make a difference. Unfortunately, neither Erik nor Raven had seen it that way, but at least the photo was a precious memory.

He still thought he saw Galadriel's confused gesture when asked if she had ever taken a picture and showed her a camera; in his ears the cheerful laughter that had once been his foster-sister resounded; the serious gesture but the mirth brightness that illuminated the eyes of Erik; Moira taking the picture; and he ... glad that that moment could be captured forever.

Fortunately, he had decided to do it that day, because that night, Galadriel had left forever. He had never seen her again, just as she had predicted ... but also, just as she had predicted: he had managed to open the door between Earth and Middle-Earth and for many years both had been in contact; until he was taken prisoner by the Reverend William Stryker, and then ... because Galadriel had sailed to Válinor.

Many had asked him about the identity of that beautiful woman who appeared in the photo; but he, true to his oath, had never said a single word about it. The only one who knew the truth, complete truth of it was Kitty; but Kitty had for at least nine years been no longer among the X-Men, not even on Earth.

He leaned back on his pillow and looked long at the white, flawless, beautiful face that showed a charming mixture of confusion and, at the same time, amusement.

A sigh escaped his chest.

" Ah, Galadriel! What would you do in my place? What would you do? "He asked himself in Sindarin

For those who wonder how the Professor knows Sindarin, I have to say that during all the years that he was in contact with Lady Galadriel, he learned through her Sindarin, Quenya and Westron. His knowledge about the Dark Language is because, as you obviously have already noticed, he's a fan of Tolkien's work.

Also, for those who wonder how it is possible that Lady Galadriel and the Professor were in contact, the answer lies in different parts. In the first part of the trilogy, in the chapter 'Epilogue'. And in the second part of the trilogy, in the chapter ' The truth is never easy ' and ' Unexpected revelations '.

Surely, you will wonder how it is possible that Ororo has ever heard a language similar to the Dark Language. The answer is found in the first part of the trilogy, specifically in the chapter 'In the Forbidden Place '.

And the conversation between the Professor and Lady Galadriel in that room lies in the first part of the trilogy, in the chapter 'Training. Part 1'

Having said that, it only remains to add that I would love to receive your reviews, guys. They feed the story and the author.