Beyond the call of duty

by Nuredhel

If Amy had known that this day would end up With her and her Group consisting of a nun, several schoolchildren, some college kids, a teacher a Family and a hitman being caught in a strange alien world being chased by ugly dudes With swords and Spears she would have stayed in bed. But no, duty called and she answered and the shit hit the fan. Humans/elves/orcs,

6. Itsy bitsy spider

Chapter six: Itsy bitsy spider….

Amy couldn't move, if she did, she would show them everything and Elladan had obviously understood her predicament for he sort of turned them so he shielded her from his father and the others. Elrond had lifted an eyebrow in a very peculiar grimace and Amy heard Elladan say something that sounded like ungol and he pointed at the booth. Elrond stepped forth and took a swift look and he apparently saw the spider, he looked more at ease immediately. Amy wondered if he had thought she was trying to seduce his son or something. Elrohir looked shocked and suddenly the two golden haired twins came running too, great, she had to be this evenings great entertainment!

Lucy ran forth and grabbed the duvet and Amy got it back and managed to wrap herself in without becoming an exhibitionist, the boys giggled and she managed to smile at them. "Tell him I am very sorry, I am just terrified of spiders, and reacted without thinking first"

One of the boys nodded his head and spoke and Elladan answered him, he was still blushing and Elrohir sent his brother a rather wry grin. Elrond spoke and now he looked as calm and serene as before but there was some sort of worry in his eyes. The other twin, was it Elured, translated. " They told me of your dream, you dreamt of a huge spider yes?"

Amy nodded, she felt a shudder fly through her. " Yes, huge as a horse, with red eyes. It said I would bring its mother back or something like that, it was crazy!"

They spoke rather fast as they translated to Elrond and he went rather pale. He gestured towards Elladan who blushed yet again but grasped Amy like she was a bag of flour and carried her along back to the room where she had been. After she was placed back upon the bed she was tucked in by Elrond and Lucy and she was starting to feel rather nervous by now. Why was Elrond suddenly so nervous?

Lucy looked confused too and Elladan and Elrohir had started to whisper something to each other, it didn't sound as if it was happy news. Elurin sat down on the bed and he swallowed. "Amy, you dreamt of something that is real. There are giant spiders here in middle earth, and they are the spawn of an even bigger spider, or rather, a spirit of darkness clothed in the flesh of a spider. It is a very evil creature, capable of doing immense harm to this world and it has caused mayhem and destruction in the past."

Amy hissed, oh why did she have to end up in a place with spiders the size of a frigging horse?! "Wait, the spiders said I would bring its mother back, did it mean that monster?"

Elrond said something and Elurin nodded. " Nobody has seen that beast since the age of the trees, they thought it had devoured itself in its endless hunger but maybe it sought refuge within the void. "

Amy felt dizzy. " No way, I will not have anything to do with any spider, I hate those goddamn freaks, eight legs are four too many if you ask me"

Elured grinned and his twin giggled. " You are right about that, but it has to mean something right? There is a connection there, we are sure of it."

Amy almost growled. " Well I do not care if that goddamn arachnid thinks I am some sort of freaking tool, I am not going to get anywhere near it."

Elurin translated and Elrond looked very thoughtful.. "Amy, I do not think you can ignore this, something has used you, and we need to know why, and what it was that happened to you when you drowned. You are different and I have never encountered a soul like yours. "

Amy stared at the elves in frustration. " You keep saying I am different, but I don't believe you! I am as ordinary as they come! "

The translation made her feel dizzy, the language of these people was so lovely and yet completely alien and she wished that she had been better at learning, she sucked at foreign languages. The only things she knew how to say in other languages than English were some French words that were rather impolite and also some words in Italian which were no less rude.

Elrond tried to smile but the dark expression within his eyes sort of ruined it. " I fear that whatever it was you brought with you is trying to use you to bring her back, to free Ungoliant. That could mean that the dark lord wishes to use her as a weapon."

Amy stared at the elf and listened to Elured translating, she shook her head. " Ungoliant is that bad ass spider right? What dark lord are you talking about?"

Elrond sighed and made a grimace, his voice was low and somewhat strained. " An enemy we thought were vanquished ages ago, lately signs indicate that he survived and is rebuilding his forces once more."

Amy tried to ignore the ache in her belly, she felt that this was getting more and more surreal. "And who and what exactly is he then?"

Elrond sat down, his gaze distant. " He is a maia, the former servant of the dark Vala known as Morgoth, the original dark lord of Arda. He was known once as Mairon but now he carries the name of Sauron and is no less evil than his former master."

Amy listened to the words Elurin translated and she shook her head, it felt as if she had a swarm of bees buzzing around inside of her head. " And a maia is powerful yes? He can do a lot of damage? Why would he want that spider?"

The sons of Elrond were a bit pale and Amy started to realize that this was some serious shit after all. "Morgoth used Ungoliant to kill the trees which brought light to Valinor, but he couldn't really control her hunger and might. I cannot imagine that Sauron would be powerful enough to control her, he is mighty but not as his master. Yes, a maia has great powers but they are limited compared with those of a vala."

Amy sighed and closed her eyes. " Listen ya, this is going way above my head, I cannot understand anything of it. Really, I do not even believe in magic and now you are talking about giant spiders, dark lords and god alone knows what? I am just Amy damn it, nobody really! Yes, I am a park ranger but that is everything anybody needs to know about me!"

Elladan said something that sounded a bit sad and Elured blushed when he translated. "Elladan thinks you are far more than what meets the eye."

Amy turned her head and stared at the tall elf, he returned her gaze with a calm expression and she felt herself blush a bit. Goddamn it, how could anyone look that gorgeous? "Well, I am sorry to say it buddy, but I am really nobody!"

It didn't appear as if the tall elf quite believed her words and Lucy sat down next to her on the bed and squeezed her hand. " If it is any comfort, I think these people can handle just about anything. You should have seen the things I have witnessed the last couple of days."

Amy frowned. " Wait a minute, couple of days?!"

Lucy nodded. " Yep, you were under that long, no wonder really, you were bleeding like a stuck pig!"

Amy groaned and leaned back against the huge pillows. " Yeah, I guess I were! I feel like I have spent a night at count Dracula's. All dizzy!"

Lucy giggled. " Worry not, before long you will be running around, I am dying to show you the valley and everything in it. It is so beautiful here."

Amy sighed and felt depressed. " Right, I can only think about the kids, and those who died. Damn it, if what Elrond says is true I am the reason why everything went to hell!"

Lucy shook her head. " Hey, you cannot think like that! It wasn't supposed to be like that! The valar, whatever they are, probably just wanted to bring these two lads back home, they didn't anticipate that the volcano would erupt, or that you would create a wormhole when they used you. And I am bloody sure that this thing inside of you is to blame for the mayhem."

Amy just felt lost, completely confused and sort of in a state of slight denial. " You make it sound so simple, almost natural. But it isn't, it really isn't at all! I cannot believe all this!"

Lucy got up and grasped her hand, squeezed it. " You will, in time."

Elrond said something again and they all got up, prepared to leave. " You ought to rest, we will talk again later. There is yet a lot to do here and you need to regain your strength."

Amy did feel sleepy, or rather, half dead! It felt as if she had gotten completely drained of energy and she just nodded. Lucy smiled at her and Amy knew she had found a friend there, and she was glad she had too. She didn't really have that many real friends. A servant walked into the room and put a huge mug of something onto the small table by the bed and a sort of goblet and she realized that it had to be water, in case she got thirsty. They thought of everything there, it was a bit odd.

When she finally was left alone she started to realize how downright bizarre everything was, it was on the verge of making her go utterly mad so she took a deep breath and tried to go back to sleep. She was afraid of having another dream about huge creepy crawlies but she was too tired to really care. She needed sleep, now!

Elrond and his sons returned to his office, Galadriel had gone for a stroll in the garden and the healer felt how his head was starting to ache. They had to get to the bottom of this, and solve the mystery once and for all. Galadriel said that the gate Amy had opened still was out there and he believed her. Only Eru knew what monstrosities they risked encountering if that interdimensional hole remained open. The problem was, where was it now and how could they close it off?

Elladan seemed a little distracted and Elrond had to hide a small smirk, he had gotten quite as shock when he entered the room to find that human girl clinging to his son but he did understand her situation, she obviously was terrified of spiders. And Elladan had looked very silly indeed, a most unusual situation. He usually never lost his nerve when it came to females, he always managed to stay cool and calm and in charge of everything but this time he had obviously gotten too shocked to put up his usual indifferent mask.

Elrond sat down and stared at the mess on his desk, there were papers everywhere, and he sighed and wished that they had had one of the istari present. Maybe Mithrandir could have told them more of this mysterious girl and soothed their nerves. Elrond was already quite fond of the children, they had adapted remarkably well but they all missed home and the deaths of their friends had taken its toll on all of them. He was worried about Mrs Southall in special, she was hanging on because of her two remaining daughters but he feared that she would suffer for a long time. The soldier was still unconscious and Elrond had learned from Lucy that he was an assassin of some sort, and had fought in many battles. That demanded respect but Elrond had sensed a lot of both grief and shame in the man's soul when he removed the poison from his body.

Lucy had provided them with a lot of information about their world and the kid with the glasses and his rather nosey friend Eva had been asking all sorts of odd questions. It was rather obvious that they came from a world very different from this one and Elrond was curious and also a bit aghast when Lucy told him of the wars, the weapons, the pollution and the weirdness of her home. But Amy had something which could only come from this place, from Arda, it was a sort of energy he had never encountered before and yet it felt familiar in a peculiar way. He had to speak to Galadriel again, and gather his best advisors, heck, he ought to send out words to every elven settlement and hear if they had ever encountered anything like that.

The spider thing made him very worried, he just knew that Sauron alone couldn't hope to harness Ungoliant and her wickedness and hunger, it was something way stronger and more patient behind this and the healer really feared what this could bring forth of misery. He could only hope that they would find a solution.

Galadriel returned a short time after, she looked relaxed and at ease but her eyes betrayed her, she was as confused as he was. She sat down and her fingers kept fidgeting with her sleeves, and there was a slight paleness in her cheeks he hadn't seen before. " We have to find out what this is about, and we have to close that gate!"

Elrond just mumbled. "Do tell me something new, I know that already!"

Galadriel made a vague gesture. " The rest of the group are harmless, poor innocent beings being pulled along, I do pity them. But Amy is different, and I think only Eru knows just how different she is."

Elrond took a quick sip of his wine, he didn't like being this confused. " She is normal physically, a fit and strong adeneth."

Galadriel nodded slowly. " I have a sense of foreboding when I look at her Elrond, of watching something that is hiding, camouflaged or transformed. She is like a chrysalis my friend, and I have no idea what it is that is reshaping itself inside of it."

Elrond frowned. " I sensed no such thing?"

Galadriel sighed and rested her chin in her hand, she looked tired. "Well, it is just a feeling but I trust my instincts Elrond, they have kept me alive for quite a while and I am not going to start ignoring them now. The valar used her for a reason, she is stronger than we think"

Elrond felt as though he wanted to shake the girl to get the truth out of her, but that would be useless since she didn't know anything at all about her hidden abilities. "Would the mirror help?"

Galadriel almost scoffed. " No, it would only make her even more confused, but I could try, the chances are that I won't see anything useful but it is worth a test."

Elrond sent her a pale smile. " Then do it, we need something to work with. We have to find that gate and close it and I am sure Amy is the key to doing that."

Galadriel closed her eyes for a moment. " I agree, it all started with her and I am convinced that it stops with her too. But we have to figure out exactly what it is that separates her from all others. "

Elrond shrugged. " She died and was sent back?"

Galadriel pulled at her sleeve again, rather hard and Elrond saw that Elladan, who stood at the end of the room, winced a little. He was not used to seeing his grandmother this distraught. "She met lord Nàmo, I am sure of it. The figure with the crown could only be him, but why would a human soul be brought before him? And why did he send her back? From what I have learned by listening to the things Lucy have told us they go somewhere else when they die, not to the halls of Mandos. It makes no sense!"

Elrond took another sip of wine, he felt slightly dizzy already. " Yes, she cannot be an ordinary human after all, in spite of her appearance and beliefs. The question is, what the heck is she then?"

Galadriel tilted her head. " A creature of light, of that I am sure. She would have died to protect her group, and she is very honest and humble. A good person through and through. She has flaws but so does everyone and she knows how to adapt to an unusual situation too. She will probably be able to cope with just about anything."

The healer sighed. " Yes, that may be true but I fear for her sanity, it is too much for her."

Galadriel smiled. " Of course it is, let her rest for some days , do not push her. The guards are out searching for that gate and they will let us know the moment they find something."

Elrond made a grimace. " I wish I knew just what we can expect, the gate could be anywhere yes?"

Galadriel nodded. " Yes, it moves since it isn't under anyone's control anymore, it is somewhere just outside of my perception, I can somehow sense it is there but not exactly where."

Elrond stared at the pile of papers as if he was sure it would reveal some great secret to him. "I am confused as to why it hasn't closed itself."

Galadriel tilted her head, her eyes were distant. " It is drawing power from somewhere, and I do not think that is a good thing. Something wants it to remain open."

Elrond had to get up again, he felt as if his skin was crawling. "If I only knew what! And the valar have something to do with it too, they knew about Amy and used her."

Galadriel had a sort of wry grin on her face. " I remember my uncle, how he never bowed to the valar or their will. How he always swore that the eldar were strong enough on their own, that we didn't need the valar's guidance and patronizing attitude. I am starting to think that he was right in more ways than one, they do not really care that much about the individual."

Elrond shrugged and felt even more nervous. "They see the greater picture, are a part of the song itself."

Galadriel looked stern all of a sudden. "That might be, but it doesn't give them the right to play with the fates of others as if we all were pawns in a game. I have no idea of what Amy is, nor do you but I am sure there are those who can identify her."

Elrond bit his lower lip. " Mithrandir?"

She nodded and there was a peculiar glimpse within her eyes. " Yes, and Aiwendil."

Elrond almost coughed. " Radagast?! He has devoured too many funny mushrooms to be able to have one normal thought, the fellow is more or less mad!"

She nodded and Elrond found himself a bit fascinated by the strange light flickering within her gaze " I remember them you know, from before they came to this land in the disguise as frail old men. Maiar they were, and mighty in their own ways. Radagast was no less powerful than his brethren, just more gentle, more patient."

Elrond closed his eyes. " I doubt that patience is what we need now."

Galadriel leaned forward and stared him straight in the eye. " Oh but we do, we cannot afford to be too hasty, we have to get things straight before we take any sort of action, if we fail the consequences may be dire"

Elrond almost growled. " That doesn't make me feel any better thank you very much. So what do you suggest we do?"

Galadriel got up, as usual she was incredibly graceful. " I will try to contact the istari, and then I will look in the mirror and see if there is anything to learn from it."

Elrond swallowed, tried to remain calm. " Do that, but be careful. I don't like this at all."

Galadriel nodded. " Neither do I, or else I would never have bothered getting involved in this."

Elrond felt a need to just forget about everything and get drunk, really drunk! "Too bad the girl doesn't speak our language, it is slowing everything down when one of the twins have to translate every word."

Galadriel tilted her head and for a moment she was rather charming to look at. " I may be able to offer some help there, I will ask her tomorrow."

Elrond looked as if he had his doubts. " It won't hurt her?"

The lady shook her head. " No, it will give her a headache but I am sure you can fix that. We need her to understand Elrond, to be able to cooperate with us. It is necessary that she can understand us."

Elrond sighed. " Yes, I agree. I will of course aid you in this."

Galadriel smiled sweetly and touched his hand. " I know you will, I bid thee a good night, may your dreams be pleasant."

He smiled and bowed his head. " Likewise"

Galadriel left and Elladan stepped forth, he had been quiet the whole time and there was something odd about his gaze, something akin to wonder. " Ada, I understand that Amy is important somehow but I find it hard to believe, she is so…mundane!"

Elrond smiled at his son and petted him on his shoulder. "The mundane may hide the magnificent, just you wait and see. "

The valley was peaceful that night, the guards went their rounds, some entertained themselves within the hall of fire with song and tales and most others were sleeping. The children who had accompanied Amy had been given a whole building to live in and some ellith were busy taking care of them. James and Eva and the other surviving college girl had rooms of their own and Lucy had gotten a room too, a rather large one. Mrs Southall and her daughters had gotten an apartment within another huge house there and Elrond had ordered that she never was to be completely alone, there were servants or guards of just some healers nearby at all times.

Franklin hadn't been awakened yet, the poison had to be completely removed from his system before they dared to bring him back to the waking world but Elrond had been confident that he would be ready soon, perhaps tomorrow. There were several of the captains and warriors who wanted to know more about his strange weapons. The dead had been burned in a very nice ceremony, they couldn't wait with it since the temperature would have made the bodies rot rather fast and Elrond was sad that Amy hadn't been able to participate but it was probably for the best. It would have been a huge emotional challenge for her, and maybe it would have broken her already fragile mind.

The next morning came with fog and some rain and the grey and somewhat depressing conditions were not made any better by the fact that a hawk suddenly arrived from Mirkwood. It carried a message that sent Elrond into a state of almost catatonic shock and Erestor and Glorfindel had to spend quite some time to calm him down. Apparently all the spiders that currently had been invading what had been great greenwood suddenly felt an almost irresistible urge to migrate! Hundreds if not thousands of them were on the move and Thranduil was as happy as a cat with a huge bowl of milk seeing them leave, but just for courtesy and to remain on friendly terms with his neighbors he wanted to warn them that the pesky critters were heading their way.

Glorfindel immediately ran to mobilize every available warrior and to prepare them for an invasion and Erestor tried to come up with a plan on how they were to evacuate the civilians if the situation called for it. Elrond were spinning around himself like a top, trying to understand this and Galadriel was sure that the spiders somehow were drawn to Amy. They could no longer wait, the creatures would be there in just a weeks time and they had to hurry. So Galadriel herself went to wake the girl up and see that she got a good breakfast before they went to work.

Amy was a bit confused when she woke up to find Galadriel sitting by her bed, she had not anticipated that the mighty elven lady would bother with her but apparently she did. Some servants brought her some food and Amy ate although she felt a bit nervous. It was rather apparent that something had happened and she wanted to know what it was. Elured showed up and Galadriel sent Amy a somewhat sad smile. " We received a message from one of the other elven realms this morning, there is a huge group of spiders heading this way."

Amy froze. " What do you mean huge group? How many?"

Galadriel waited for Elured to translate and her gaze was almost apologetic. " Thousands if not more"

Amy felt nauseous almost instantly. " And I bet those are tiny house spiders?"

Galadriel shook her head. " No, the huge kind."

Amy swallowed hard. " Oh shit, I have really ended in the middle of a nightmare!"

Elured listened to what Galadriel said and suddenly he looked a bit more enthusiastic. " Galadriel is perhaps able to teach you our language, really fast. But it will give you a headache and be a bit confusing"

Amy squinted, her face looked rather odd. " Really? How? Is it dangerous?"

Galadriel shook her head as soon as the young elf had translated Amy's words. " No, it is not dangerous, just uncomfortable. But if we are to get to the bottom of this you need to understand, and we need to understand you in return. It is unfortunately very hard to avoid it with this little change in the situation."

Amy sighed and closed her eyes. " She has to take a sneak peek into my head again right? Alright then, go ahead. But I want something for that headache, and it better work!"

Galadriel sent Amy a wry grin, the girl was brave and a bit rough around the edges but she liked that. This was no dainty little flower but a fighter and Galadriel supposed that Amy would need that later on. She got up and placed a hand on Amy's head, whispered soothing words as she concentrated on the very concept of language and how Sindarin had to sound to someone unfamiliar with it.

Amy felt as if her head was spinning around, she got dizzy and she heard words coming from every conceivable direction, it was too much and yet she couldn't stop it. It felt as if her brain suddenly was about to burst and she gasped and trembled, grasping onto her pillow desperately as strange new concepts forced their way into her dazed mind. Galadriel kept chanting and Amy started to understand it, it was insane but suddenly the strange melodious language made sense. When Galadriel stopped Amy felt as if someone had used her head as a bongo drum and her sinuses hurt like hell for some weird reason, her eyes were overflowing with tears and she had to sneeze several times.

" Oh crap, my head feels as if it wants to split open!"

Amy flinched, she had spoken that odd elvish language instead of English and hadn't even been consciously aware of it. Elured grinned widely. " At last, I can return to my brother, we are learning of the later history of this place."

Amy had to blink and Galadriel smiled at Elured. " Go find Elrond dear, and ask him to visit us, Amy needs his help I fear."

Amy blinked again. " Damnation, I have never had such a headache before, it feels like migraine, Elrond better hurry or I will puke all over these lovely sheets"

Galadriel smiled again, that mild and somewhat distant smile. " It will be better child, worry not."

Amy leaned back against the pillows, the light was suddenly just too bright for her. " So the spiders are heading this way, are they trying to find that portal or gate thing?"

Galadriel shrugged. " We do not know, it could be that or it could be that they are seeking you!"

Amy hissed. " Shite, then I'd better be gone from here before I endanger you all, I mean, if I am not here the spiders will not bother with this place right?"

Galadriel had a somewhat distant expression upon her face. " That may be true, but then again, perhaps not. If the gate is nearby then it could be that something beyond it draws them nearer, we do not know yet."

Amy groaned, her head throbbed and she had thought that the last time she got drunk on tequila was bad? That was nothing compared with this. Galadriel had to have scrambled her insides completely. " Is there some way you can find out more?"

Galadriel sighed and leaned forward, her mild expression was replaced by a rather stern one. "Yes, I will seek the council of the istari whom I have summoned, and try to use my mirror."

Amy frowned. "A mirror? What in heavens name can a mirror do except show you every wrinkle and imperfection you by the way do not have?"

Galadriel laughed. " My mirror shows people the things they cannot see otherwise, the past, the future, things to come and things that were and things that may or may not be. The future is like a huge tree with a myriad of different branches, all represent a possible future and just a small coincidence may change its direction."

Amy nodded, she kept her eyes closed. " We have a theory where I am from, if a butterfly flickers its wings it can in turn cause a storm to appear in a wholly different country."

Galadriel nodded slowly. " The tiniest of things may affect the greater picture, I understand that. I think you are such a butterfly Amy, and you have created a hurricane by showing up here."

Amy cringed. " I am sorry"

Galadriel grasped her hand, the elven lady's hand was warm and soft and so very real, so solid. Amy had almost expected it to be something insubstantial of gossamer or something like that. " Do not be sorry child, it wasn't your fault. When Mithrandir and Aiwendil get here I hope we can unravel the mystery of your unusual soul and why the valar used you to bring the twins back."

Amy tilted her head, oh holy heck how her head hurt. But the language felt as if she had spoken it her entire life. It was odd but it was natural too. " Who are they?"

Galadriel smiled. " Istari, maiar sent to our world by the valar to help us in the battle against the darkness. Mithrandir is also known as Gandalf and Aiwendil is known as Radagast."

Amy felt dizzy still. "So they are like powerful right? They know stuff?"

Galadriel nodded. " They do, some do not think that Radagast is that smart but he is, he is a very gentle soul fond of beasts and growing things, but no less powerful than the rest of his order."

Amy sighed. " Wizards, great. Where I am from magic and wizards belong in children's fairy tales, nobody believes such creatures are real."

Galadriel cocked her head. " And you Amy, do you believe?"

Amy let out a nervous laughter. " I have to don't I? I believe what I see and I am in some alien world with elves and orcs and heaven knows what else."

Galadriel smiled slowly. " You are remarkable Amy, so strong and yet unable to see it. I think you are more special than anybody could guess."

The door opened and Elrond entered, he looked stressed out and Amy raised an eyebrow, his elegant robes were wrinkled and some buttons were placed in the wrong hole, he looked rather disheveled. The healer sent Amy an apologetic grin. " I am sorry I couldn't come sooner, I had to go through our storage of spider anti venom, we do not have that much of the stuff I am afraid."

He put both hands on her head and Amy felt as if the pain was being sucked right out of her head, it hurt like fucking hell for a few seconds and then it was all gone and she felt just fine. She stared at Elrond with huge eyes. " Dude, if you had done that to someone back home I bet there would be doctors suing you from here to kingdom come for stealing their patients!"

Elrond cocked his head and looked confused and Amy just waved him off. " Never mind, thank you anyhow. I needed that!"

Galadriel got up. " I will seek the mirror and see what I might unravel with its help. I have tried to contact Mithrandir but I am not sure I managed to reach him. I know I reached Aiwendil, he will be here in just a couple of days."

Elrond smiled but Amy saw that his expression was one of mixed distaste and respect. "Lovely, I cannot wait to meet him again."

Galadriel bowed her head. " Oh come on mellon, he isn't that bad now is he? I admit he is a bit on the odd side but he is genuinely good, not too many can brag about that these days."

Elrond almost rolled his eyes and Galadriel left without a sound. Amy stared at the healer and felt very confused. " Why do you not like that Radagast guy?"

Elrond tried to smile. " It is not that I don't like him, he is very wise and kind and very compassionate too. But he is rather…uncouth."

Amy tilted her head, she felt remarkably well now, these elves did really know how to fix people, that was for sure. " What do you mean?"

Elrond sat down and sighed " The last time he came to visit us there was a whole family of ferrets living within his robes and a bat used his left ear as its perch. And he had a birds nest under his hat, there were bird droppings running down his face and into his soup! The chef almost lost it when she saw it"

Amy had to laugh. " Seriously? A birds nest?"

Elrond sighed again, even deeper. " Yes, and once he showed up with a whole pack of foxes following him, they wreaked havoc with our chickens. Not one was left alive!"

Amy started to understand that this could be interesting indeed. " So, what am I to do?"

Elrond smiled and petted her hand. " Relax and regain your strength, I have asked one of our servants to take you to the baths, and then you may meet the others of your group."

Amy closed her eyes. "Thank you, I am dreaming of a decent bath now, but I cannot say I am looking forward to meeting the others again. I have no idea of what to say to them. Do they know that I brought them here?"

Elrond grasped her hand. " Amy, you didn't bring them here, forget about that idea. Yes, the valar used you to open that gate but I am bloody sure you and the others weren't meant to go through it. It was just Elured and Elurin they wanted to bring back to Arda. Something went wrong Amy, and it wasn't your fault."

Amy took a deep breath. " I head you saying this but I have a hard time accepting it. It feels as though it is my fault all the same. They were my responsibility damn it, my duty was to protect them and I failed!"

Elrond held her hand firmly. " Tell me, how could you have done more? What could you have done? You tried Amy, and you were willing to die to protect an innocent child, you cannot possibly blame yourself for any of this."

She just grimaced. " I wish it could be undone"

Elrond nodded. " Of course you do, we all have things we wish we could go back and change but it is impossible. Time cannot be turned around, not even the valar can change the past."

Amy bit her lower lip. " It is odd though, it sort of changes ones perspective doesn't it? Before I think that the one thing I most regretted and wanted to go back to change was the fact that one of my best friends got killed by a drunk driver. I wished that I could go back and tell her to stay home that night. But now, now I wish I could have stopped us from leaving the headquarters at all. I could have refused to work that day, stayed in bed."

Elrond smiled, a very sad smile. " You are very unselfish Amy, that is admirable."

She just shrugged. "Is there something you wish you could go back in time to change?"

Elrond got a peculiar expression on his face, one of bittersweet acceptance. " Oh child, there are so many things I wish I could change, my brothers choice to become a mortal, the death of my foster father, the disappearance of my other foster father. Things that happened even before I was conceived…but it is just dreams, hollow and false, the past is just that, past. It may be bitter and it may be filled with dark memories but it is what we are, it shapes us, make us what we are meant to be."

Amy nodded. " You are smart, I guess you are right. So, about that bath?"

Elrond got up. " There will be an elleth coming for you in a short while, we have a very nice bathhouse here. I think you will like it."

Amy cringed. A bathhouse? Not a private bathroom? Oh damnation, she was painfully shy and the idea of having some gorgeous otherworldly elleth watching her wasn't that encouraging but then again, she needed a bath, desperately. " Wonderful, I cannot wait"

Elrond smiled and bowed his head before he left and Amy was left wondering if this day would end with misery. There were wizards on their way, a horde of spiders too and what was she to do with the others from her world? There had to be something she could do to help them? But what?!

Galadriel had walked through her favorite garden, it had been her beloved daughters and here she still felt a sort of connection to Celebrian. In the middle of the garden there was a pedestal with a bowl on top of it, Galadriel feared what she was about to do. She had a feeling of interfering with the grand plan of Eru himself but they needed to know more. She had no idea of what she would see, if she would see anything at all. But she couldn't hesitate, they had to know, to investigate the strangeness of this adeneth.

She grasped her silver jug and gathered her courage, this drained her of strength, and she knew that her visions maybe could be dark ones but she had faced darkness before and resisted it. She filled the bowl with the clear water and waited until it had calmed down to form a shining surface. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, calmed herself down. She stared at the shining surface and almost immediately she saw an almost impossible sight. Thousands of spiders and they were consuming each other, and slowly they sort of merged together into something truly monstrous, a gigantic creature which seemed to consist of nothing but darkness.

She gasped and closed her eyes, Ungoliant! She would be reborn from her own offspring!

She had to see more, stared yet again at the mirror. Amy stood in a circle of flames but the fire wasn't bright and red but dark and strangely solid, like they were made from something else than usual fire. Her eyes were red and appeared to bleed and something ripped itself out of her, something that resembled a mist, glowing with darkness. It merged with the monstrosity and Galadriel knew that Amy somehow could bring the very spirit of the spider back to Arda. It could not be allowed to happen!

Galadriel gathered all her courage, she was a grandchild of Finwë, she showed no fear no matter what happened. She stared at the mirror a third time and this time she saw two images at once. One of Amy laying on the ground, Elladan appeared to hold her close and he was obviously crying. Amy looked dead and she had a dagger buried in her chest. The other image was of spiders spreading all over the lands, devouring everything, even the orcs of Sauron. She saw them join forces with all other realms, even that of Sauron but to no prevail, the spiders were too many and their evil mistress was too hungry, too mighty. The world would fall to her power and become cold and dark and ultimately dead. Then the dark spider would hibernate for ages and wait for life to return before it all would happen again.

Galadriel staggered backwards, her eyes filled with dread, with disbelief. This was worse than she ever could have imagined it. This was possibly the end of the world. She had to tell them, she had to warn everyone, but how was she to explain this to that poor girl? And what did her vision truly mean? She hoped that the istari would hurry, she needed their advice more than ever before!