Disclaimer: I own nothing that the brilliant mind of J. R. R. Tolkien has ever put forth with pen, paper, or type writer. Nor do I intend to impose upon the astonishing masterpiece Peter Jackson so artfully created for the public eye.
The Wrath of Hera
Chapter 2:
The fellowship rode hard into the safety of the trees. Frodo stumbled, preoccupied with the death of Gandalf. Tears dripped down Sam's cheeks as he reached out to catch the arm of his friend, righting him. Merry and Pippin walked on in grievous silence, while Boromir let a sad smile grace his face as he herded them along the path in the woods. Aragorn stalked the forest in anger, while setting a pace much too fast for the hobbits. Gimli walked swiftly, checking to assure himself that the Halflings kept pace, casting worried glances to the newly appointed leader of the group. None were foolish enough to approach Aragorn about the speed he had set for their travels. Legolas mournfully looked at his friend, and then disappeared from the fellowship's view as he ran into the trees to scout.
They had traveled into the mines of Moria, only to find Gimli's cousin dead, and to lose Gandalf, a dear friend and great asset to their cause. They themselves had barely escaped with their lives after facing a fire demon, broken bridge, and a surrounding army of orcs and goblins.
It was a terrible experience.
Terrible indeed.
Now Legolas looked back at the fellowship from between the leaves. It was a sad company that traveled forth from Rivendell.
They were all feeling the weariness creeping upon them, Frodo most of all. Such a large and daunting task lain on his shoulders. A task much too dangerous for one as young and small as he, Legolas thought. He was not even sure that he would have taken it upon himself to carry the ring into Mordor. For all his talent at the bow or blade, he was not so arrogant to assume he could resist the urge of the ring. Legolas did not even know if Frodo would last much longer against the strain that the small bit of gold forced upon any who held it in their grasp. But while the knowledge that an army of Men could not possibly gain entry into Mordor to destroy the 'One Ring', the faint hope that a small hobbit with a true heart may slip unnoticed behind the fortress walls to fulfill the quest brightened the most forlorn of hearts.
Turning from his group of friends, the Elvin prince scouted the surrounding woodland in the hopes of giving fore warning to the Lothlorien Elves. While his company would readily call the residents of this forest friend, these are dark times, and a defensive warrior with quick reflexes and taught bowstring would not bode well with unexpected travelers within their borders.
Finding no sign, yet knowing that the watch of the city must not be far off, Legolas wandered farther from the fellowship.
Soon he chanced to hear song drifting on the wind toward him. Elves had heightened hearing, so when he realized the music was faint, he knew the source was farther still from his companions.
Hesitant between leaving his friends to fend for themselves at the moment, and discovering whose voice carried toward him, the prince soon realized that Aragorn was raised by the Elves and would be quite capable to defend their group. Legolas followed the sound.
Curiosity led his feet more than navigation. After days of silently mourning over the loss of his friend, the melodious voice wandering towards him seemed to wake him from a sorrowful haze.
As the Elf neared the sound, he became more and more entranced by what his pointed ears heard. Soon he knew he had reached the soft sound he had been searching for. He could hear the faint trickle of the water in a stream behind the line of bushes barring his way to the owner of the sweet carol he sought after.
Pulling a branch of leaves aside, he peered before him, nearly gasping aloud at the scene that lay before his eyes.
A gloriously beautiful maiden stood naked in the stream before him. Her skin the soft bronze of leaves turning in autumn. Marring her flesh, yet creating an ethereal sense to her beauty, were slashes of color; red, brilliant as maple leaves in the early fall, green the deep shade of evergreen trees at the base of mountains. Dark streaks of brown the color of oak slashed through her bronzed skin, but most shocking were the far more scarce streaks of the most brilliant and true gold on her body. One such metallic smear glinted light on her cheek as she turned her face with its closed eyes to the sky, the only gold streak on her visage.
This woman was indeed the product of the forest.
As Legolas watched this odd person who so caught his interests, he noticed that her movements were quite extraordinary. Her motion was that of a falcon, yet graceful like a deer. Her eyes, when she opened them, also resembled a deer's, with no whites to her eyes and a rich, brown color.
Her hair was auburn, like damp earth and leaves on the ground, but it shined red and copper when sunlight bounced off it. He was startled to see feathers andleaves sprouting haphazardly from her skull, mingling with curling locks.
Abruptly the music stopped, and the euphoric trance in which Legolas had found himself ended. Suddenly he found himself wondering how such a maiden came to exist, and how she had acquired such an appearance.
Wary now of this woman, the prince froze as she moved.
Her arms dropped from their scrubbing, she slowly turned to the male Elf hidden behind the bushes.
The next words she spoke were unexpected.
"The last man who spied on me was turned into a stag by my own hand. I doubt Actaeon appreciated being torn to shreds by his hunting hounds. You would do well to flee now." After saying this, the woman peered into the bushes.
Confusion overcame Legolas as he saw the initial shock, then the dawning panic in her eyes. Her gaze swept over the ground surrounding her, taking in her bow and arrows left on the ground, her clothes and flask upon a rock. For some reason he could not grasp, her eyes grew wide in terror and shock. As he watched her from behind the bushes lining the stream, she grabbed her things and fled into the forest.
Giving chase, he soon lost her. Even with his Elvin sight, the strange coloring to her skin allowed her to disappear easily. Sighing, and completely baffled, Legolas turned back towards the fellowship.
Artemis nonchalantly began humming. With the peaceful quiet, and the occasional chirping of a bird, a great calm overcame her. Very soon her voice took volume, and became a song she had heard sung many times before. A song of love and loss, something she gratefully would never experience.
As her song became louder and louder, she unexpectedly felt a presence beside her.
With complete confidence, she gave fair warning to the interloper. "The last man who spied on me was turned into a stag by my own hand. I doubt Actaeon appreciated being torn to shreds by his hunting hounds. You would do well to flee now."
Artemis looked into the bushes to identify the person spying on her. The face she found was indeed male, as she had expected. Yet he was neither Apollo nor Zeus.
Startled, Artemis glanced at her surroundings, then to her belongings, and then noticed that the landscape was completely different than it had been. Her clothes were on a much larger stone, her bow and arrows carelessly laid upon the ground when they had been leaning against a tree moments before, a tree that no longer stood there.
The sounds of the forest had changed also. Where once birds from her native land sang their song, now sounds unknown to her reached her ears.
The feel of the forest was strange too. Immediately Artemis realized that the forest she was standing in was not the forest that was so much a part of her, or she a part of it. The stream she stood in was not the water that swam through her veins. The plants were not part of her flesh, and these bird's feathers did not decorate her hair. She did not share the same hazel eyes of the deer she could sense behind the trees before her.
What was worse, the deer did not know her. The deer, her sacred animal that both loved and feared her, did not know their goddess. The birds did not sing her name, chipmunks did not recognize her. The foliage surrounding her did not stretch to further near itself to her presence. Her nymphs were no where in sight.
Cold terror gripped her stomach, making the task of drawing breath nearly impossible. Panic enveloped her, freezing her senses so all she could think to do was flee.
Then she remembered the man. As she peered at his face hidden behind leaves, she realized he was not like any of the few men she had seen. He did not cower before her and he did not have the faults lurking in his eyes like so many others. In fact, she noticed a strange light glinting from within him.
In the distance, a bird cried shrilly, though the man gave no notice. However, that startling cry freed the sylvan goddess from her trance.
This is not home, she thought. Determining that she had no time to punish this male as he should be, she grabbed her belongings and fled. She could hear him following her. Surprisingly quiet, and in a strange wood, she still recognized the soft sound a leaf makes, like an exhale of air, when something quickly passes it.
This forest may not be mine, but it is still a forest, much like my domain, the thought occurred to her. With a sudden burst of speed, she darted behind bushes and dropped to the ground, stifling her gasping. Her abnormally short breaths were more from fear than exertion.
Staying absolutely still, she watched her pursuer run past the growth surrounding her. He ran on until he reached a clearing nearby, where he suddenly stopped and looked around. Sighing in exasperation, he turned and headed back in the direction he had gone.
After waiting until she was sure he was gone, Artemis ran swiftly and silently, leaning forward as she leapt like a deer, heading in any direction opposite of that the young man had taken.
It wasn't until later that she slowed; suddenly disconcerted that gazing into his eyes had unsettled her to the extent that she had not dealt with him as she had with Actaeon. She was a goddess after all.
Legolas had reached his destination brooding in silence. What he found should not have surprised him as it had.
Haldir had surrounded the fellowship, arrows taught on bowstring. Gimli was currently being ridiculed, and the hobbits cowered.
After they stated their business and greeted their friend, the captain of the guard, they were led into Lothlorien, the city amazing as always.
Later, after they had met with Galadriel, and were resting in their camp within the city boundaries, Legolas found himself gazing upon the Elvin talons. He was rejoicing in being in the home of his own kind; however, he could not stop thinking about the woman he had seen.
As he was gazing about in wonder at the beauty of the city, he thought he saw movement in the woods bordering the clearing. Upon closer speculation, he found no evidence of there ever being a creature in this area.
That was highly disconcerting for the Elf.
Artemis had been jumping through the forest the better half of the day. Greatly fearing discovery, she leapt from root to root for it left no tracks. As she tried to near the center of the forest, she got the distinct impression that it was barring her somehow from her goal.
Very much disconcerted at this thought, she persisted on her path. The idea that this woodland, any woodland, would not welcome and trust her only made the goddess feel even more lost than she actually was.
Finally, after hours of continuing on this way, the forest allowed her deeper in its depths.
Some time later, she found herself crouched behind bushes, gazing upon the most magnificent sight. An enormous tree in the center of a clearing, with mushrooms the size of a staircase encircling the trunk led to the obvious living quarters of whoever presided over this civilization. The Greeks never practiced this style of architecture.
As she watched the movements of the elegant and graceful race, one such being caught her eye. It was that cursed man who had spied on her. He was staring with the same wonder she knew was on her face, at the houses in the treetops. As she was watching him, he turned toward her, and suddenly his face jerked in her direction.
By the time he laid his eyes on her, she was receding into the darkness of the foliage.
Retreating, she cast fervent glances at him; saw his puzzled frown as he studied the area she had been crouching. Still confused, he turned and headed to a group of beings she assumed to be his companions.
All this while, sound had been floating to her ears. As she walked further from the clearing, the noise had changed to singing as the volume grew.
Soon she realized that it was not drifting to her ears, it was in her mind.
Fearing this, and after finding herself in a strange place, with strange people, Artemis grew frightened.
Then the voice calmed her, "Come, daughter of the forest."
The goddess walked on, her feet mindlessly finding their path. She found herself in another, smaller clearing. In the center was a silver mirror upon a pedestal, and standing behind it was a woman whose beauty rivaled Aphrodite herself. Standing before this glorious woman was a young man with dark curling hair. Short he was, with abnormally hairy feet, and fine features. Standing timidly, awed by the being standing before him, Artemis noted that he was slightly shaking in her presence.
Suddenly the woman's voice echoed through the clearing. "Come Frodo Baggins. Look into my mirror. In it you will see what was, what is, and what may come to pass…" After saying this, she poured water from a pitcher into the shallow silver basin.
Artemis was amazed, for only the Fates held this power.
"Keep in mind that the future is not a set path, and may be altered."
This Frodo Baggins leant forward and peered into its depths.
As the woman gazed into the mirror also, Frodo gasped at what he saw. Where at first happiness radiated from his face, the type of happiness that could only come from pleasant memories, now a look of fear and terror replaced it.
"I have also seen what you have seen in the mirror. However the outcome may be altered. You have the power within yourself to change the future, and your friends' fates."
As Artemis watched, the woman mentioned a small ring that the young man had in his hand. Artemis had felt a troubling presence about her, however she had not realized the source until her attention was directed to what they were now speaking of.
Studying the strange and somehow revolting piece of metal had distracted her from the conversation the two in the clearing were sharing. Startled, Artemis retreated slightly when that beautiful woman suddenly took on a terrifying appearance.
In some way, she was still as gorgeous as before, however she let loose such raw and awesome power as to drown the senses and cower the onlookers in fear.
Then the power was contained once more, and Artemis crept forward for the second time. Frodo closed his hand around the object that captivated the attention of such powerful and influential a being.
Their conversation was done. The woman suddenly wearied, turning away from the small man, who in turn fled back to where Artemis knew their camp was.
As Artemis watched the little man recede into the darkness of the woods, she did not notice the amazing woman slowly turn towards her.
"I felt you when you approached this clearing." She said.
Surprised, the goddess spun back towards the woman who remained by the mirror.
'In fact, I felt you as soon as you set foot in my wood,' spoke a soft voice in her mind, the same voice she had heard that led her to where she now crouched. 'I know more about you than you realize.'
Shocked, Artemis could only gape at this stranger who had such powers.
Though Artemis was a goddess, she knew naught where she was, and she felt no kindred spirit in this being before her.
"You are also meant to gaze into the depths of the mirror." With this, the Lady beckoned her to stand before her.
Cautious as a deer, yet curious as a chipmunk, Artemis rose from her stance, and walked purposely into the clearing while gripping her bow and arrows in the ready.
The woman motioned for her to come closer, so Artemis assumed the position that the small man had possessed when he stood where she placed herself at the moment.
As there was already water in the mirror, Artemis did not wait for the woman to pour more in. Instead, she impatiently looked into the clear depths of the dish before her.
What she saw amazed her; for there was she, laughing, playing with Apollo, putting a crown of flowers upon a deer's head, watching it leap playfully about the clearing, her mother clapping.
The scene changed, now the same Apollo, though centuries older, stood arguing passionately with poor Atlas, who was shaking his head and trying to sooth her brother with sorrowful and apologetic words; her mother and nymph followers weeping; Zeus arguing with his wife.
Again the scene shifted. Now all she could see were glimpses of pictures. That male who had given chase to her, a man dressed in black with armor was wearing a golden ring, the same ring that had caused so much fuss just moments before. Next there was another such dark knight riding a gruesome Draco which was flapping in the air with an abnormal and wormlike head.
Then there was an army of the ugliest beings she had ever seen, far more grotesque than the Furies. The picture changed and she saw for the second time that strange man with the ring, then she caught sight of Zeus and Apollo, and finally the mirror paused upon her pursuer's face again.
Utterly confused and standing far from home, with a complete stranger, Artemis grew wary. Artemis began to panic when she realized she had seen the past, present, and future much as that Frodo man had; an ability that this woman possessed, where once only the Fates had controlled that domain. This was not home. This was not what was meant to be for her. Artemis was not supposed to be removed from her home, family, friends, or followers. She had never known anything other than hunting, the forest, her duties as a deity, and her family. Now she suddenly found herself lost and confused.
There was no need for the woman to inform Artemis that she had also seen all that was revealed on this bit of silver.
Wordlessly, Artemis gazed upon the glorious woman standing before her when she began to speak again.
"I am Galadriel, Lady of these forests. You seem greatly disturbed, much as you should be. I do not know the complete circumstances involving you, however the Valar have informed me of your entrance into my woods."
The goddess of the hunt, child birth, and forest, protector of all animals, fearless warrior, loveless virgin, gazed in cold horror upon this Galadriel.
In all the pictures I have seen of the future in her contraption here, there was not one that indicated I would return home, the thought dawned on her, freezing her stomach in raw terror.
Frustrated and frightened, Artemis left just as silently as she had come.
Retreating to the woods and passing the camp that her pursuer rested and Frodo brooded, Artemis was careful not to alert the gathering of her presence. However that blonde man was ever watchful of the forest. Presumably for her.
Artemis traveled a ways until she found and scaled a tree, resting after a long, wearying, and fearful day.
In Regards for Reviewers: I will gladly accept reviews. I have put years of stories, wandering thoughts, and English classes into this story and would love to hear all complements, criticisms, and helpful tips. If I have my myths crossed or events misplaced, by all means, inform me so that I may edit my mistakes. And I beg of you, leave your email address so that I may reply. I am told we are not supposed to respond in the next chapter and I intend to do so through email. I find it heartening when my reviews are acknowledged.
Acknowledgements: And with a special thanks tooo….CHOLERA! The very best friend and beta.
