See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

Chapter 4

Riah awoke with a terrible headache. She vaguely remembered what had happened the night before but hoped that Haldir and all of the elves were safe.

"It is so wonderful to see you again, Riah." A voice boomed from behind her. "You have grown so much from the agitated baby that I once held in my arms."

The voice was given a face when Dansyl walked in front of Riah. He stood two feet in front of her with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Who are you?" Riah asked.

"Now, now how can you not recognize your own god-father?"

"I have no god-father."

"Not that you were ever told of. When you were born your grandfather and I were the best of friends. So much in fact that he and your mother asked me to be your protector should they be unable. I gratefully accepted and looked into your eyes as I held you that night. Already there was a fire in them and I knew that you were different from everyone else. I could have taught you much but something happened that night that prevented any future teachings. Something that changed my life and you grandfather's lives forever."

"What happened?" Riah asked still not sure if she should believe what this man was saying.

"We were brought into this world much like you were. Your grandfather had found the journal; of course it was empty then, at an old book store. That night as we studied it we were transported into Middle Earth right in front of the woods of Lorien."

"Then what?"

"Your dear March Warden found us and brought us into the heart of the city as the lady requested. She had foreseen our coming and knew our purpose. We listened to her tells us of our future duties and what would be expected of us. Your grandfather was fascinated and agreed with everything the lady said and pledged himself to her. I on the other hand did not want to be told what to do by a mere woman so I rebelled and refused to help them. For that I was banished from the city and forced to fend for myself. Your grandfather was given the power to travel back and forth from Lorien to his Earth but I was stuck here to dwell in my bad notions."

"What was my grandfather's task?"

"Your grandfather as well as I was given special gifts; you could call them. We were to be bringers of balance and peace to Middle Earth."

"Gifts. What sort of gifts?"

"Let me see if I can break it down to a human level. These gifts would be unnatural on your Earth, they would not be accepted. I suppose to get my point across we can just call them mystical forces." Dansyl said with a sly smile.

"You mean like magic?" Riah asked.

"No, no, magic is far too weak a word to describe this, what we obtained were incredible forces to do our bidding. A simple thought from one of our minds could send your Earth reeling back into the age of the dinosaurs."

"So basically, you could either be incredibly beneficial to Middle Earth or."

"Incredibly deadly." Dansyl cut her off with a glint in his eye.


After what seemed like a lifetime Haldir and his brothers made it to the city where they heard a terrible commotion coming from high in the tree tops. Racing up the endless steps Haldir found a most unfortunate situation.

The Lord Celeborn fought three men ferociously while the Lady Galadriel held off four with the utmost grace that could be held by a lady in battle.

Haldir's fury grew to monstrous bounds as he drew his sword and moved to protect the Lady. Soon his brothers joined into the fray and began the final deadly dance of the battle.

Haldir was thrown towards the stairs by a particularly big man who then pounced on him with his full weight knocking the breathe completely out of him. Haldir knew that this and one other man were the only left alive and hoped his brothers were successful in finishing off the last. With a feline ability that only he could master he flipped the man over to land further down the stairs. As the stunned man rose to his feet he charged Haldir and threw his weight into his stomach. As they flew through the air Haldir placed his hands around the burly mans neck and gave a sharp twist, the man was dead by the time they landed on the ground.

Haldir rushed up the steps to check on the Lord and the Lady. What he saw at the top of the stairs made his knees go weak. Lord Celeborn knelt over the motionless body of Galadriel lying on the floor, eternal tears flowing from his eyes.

Riah knew that she had to get out of the horrible prison she was in she just had no clue on how she would accomplish this feat. She didn't know weather she could trust that the information that Dansyl had given her was true or not but it could sure explain a lot about her grandfather if it was valid. Her grandfather was constantly going on last second trips and would never tell her where he was going; he was always incredibly secret about these and would not allow her to dwell in his library while he was gone.

Dansyl had gone further to explain that while her grandfather had used his extraordinary gifts to heal bodies and minds, spread peace, and ensure the well being of Middle Earth along with the Lady Galadriel he had used his to take life, spread war, and gain power. Dansyl added to his dismay that every major scheme he had hatched had been thwarted by her grandfather and Galadriel. He had also told her something that sent her reeling into a blind fury. Riah's grandfather had been Haldir's mentor. He had taught Haldir many valuable things about life and death.

Riah felt betrayed; first by Haldir because he had known damn well that the book she carried belonged to her grandfather, who was known as Krystos in Middle Earth, and he didn't tell her, but mostly she felt betrayed by her grandfather. She was jealous that he had shared part of himself with someone besides her; she had always thought that they had that special bond only between them.

Soon Dansyl knew how to push her buttons, he began to tell her simple things regarding Haldir and how she had foolishly fallen under his charms, that he didn't tell her of her grandfather because he was selfish and wanted his memory of him all to himself. Dansyl's words fed Riah's anger at the March Warden until two days after Dansyl brought Riah to his stronghold he told her some more shocking news. Now that Krystos had died his power had to pass on to someone and that he had chosen Riah as his heir. Within the next hours Riah would be slowly gaining all of Krystos' former abilities. Dansyl knew that Riah was still bitter towards Lorien's March Warden and proposed an offer to her. Join with him and together they could overrun the Lady Galadriel and have free reign over all of Middle Earth. They could then shape it as they wanted and let evil and tyranny run rampant across the land.

Without a second thought Riah accepted his offer and he released her from her chains and led her out onto a balcony overlooking tens of thousands of men and women loyal to Dansyl. Dansyl took hold of Riah's hand a held it above their heads and the masses cheered.

Riah thought to herself if I am going to do this it has to be now. She then freed her hand from Dansyl's grip and stepped closer to the balcony. He didn't realize her intentions until it was too late. Riah took the final step off the edge and began her plummet to the ground.

Haldir raced to his Lords side and looked into his heartbroken eyes. 'I should have been there to protect her, this is all my fault.' Haldir thought to himself.

"She is not dead Haldir, but she is severely hurt. It will take along time for her to heal. Do not blame yourself; you did all that you could. Now go back to the border and see to your men." Celeborn told him quietly yet sternly which told him to not question his Lord.

Riah landed on the ground with the grace of a cat laughing to herself on her triumph. Like she would really agree to help Dansyl; that was something that would never happen. Above her Riah heard Dansyl's orders to seize her and not to let her get away, but she had already taken off for the gate when she saw a beautiful black horse tied up to a post. With a devilish grin on her face Riah untied the horse and jumped on. As she raced out into the clearing she stole a glance back to the stronghold and realized that Dansyl's army was very close to her.

There was no way that they could have gotten to her as quickly as they did, Dansyl must have aided them. She pulled back on the reins of her horse and turned him to face the mass of men. They were charging her with relentless speed and arrows raised waiting for the second that they were close enough to shoot accurately. Slowly Riah raised her hand with her palm facing the army and a loud but pleasant noise rose above the thundering hooves.

The look of malice was erased from the men's faces but their pace did not slow. Before Riah could blink they had reached where she sat on her horse but instead of killing or seizing her they all rode past her and made an arc to turn around and ride back to the stronghold of Dansyl. Riah was amazed at what she had just done. She gave Dansyl a quick mocking wave and turned around to ride towards Lorien where she had some unfinished business to settle.

"MARCHWARDEN!" Haldir heard from his perch in the trees, he had returned to the border as his Lord had instructed and now heard a familiar voice bellowing to him.

Riah's anger towards Haldir had grown during her ride back to Lorien and she was now beginning to wish that she had finished him off when she had the rope around his neck days before. Now she wanted nothing but to confront him with a little hand to hand combat to teach him something he would never forget. 'No one mistreats me and gets away with it, no one.' Riah thought to herself as her eyes clouded over with pure malice.

"MARCHWARDEN! HALDIR!!" Riah yelled at the top of her lungs in a furious tone. "SHOW YOURSELF MARCHWARDEN, FOR I MUCH DESIRE TO SPEAK WITH YOU!!"