10. Hope
Third Age, Year 2941
On the white shores, he stood and watched the waves of the sea rolled in and washed away before crashing onto the white sands again. He had not felt such peace for a very long time. There was a sudden longing in his chest towards the sea and he wondered if it was time for him to sail to the west. As he stared longer into the horizon, he noticed the shape of a ship had appeared but was very far away that he could not see clearly.
He squinted his eyes to have a better look. The picture was clearer as the ship continued to sail closer to the shores. It was as white as the clouds when they were without the storms. When the sun shone on it, he was momentarily blinded when the ship reflected its whiteness back from the waters of the sea. It was strange to see a white ship for none have been built like that.
As the ship reached the shores and stopped, he was curious and attempted to move himself closer but a movement on the ship halted his action. The peak of a golden hair appearing from the small cabin had his heart beating loudly. The color was a reminder of someone he had loved and lost very long ago. When the owner of the golden hair fully emerged from the cabin, he was astonished beyond words. Standing on the ship, stood the love he had been mourning for millenniums.
"Arion," called the golden hair figure.
She was smiling so beautifully at him that his heart hurt for he had not seen it for too long.
"Bereth…?"
He was not sure to believe that he was really seeing her for the first time since he lost her.
"Yes, meleth nín," she replied and he wasted no time, surging forward to reach her.
She jumped down from the ship, not caring she had drenched her leggings and boots, and met him halfway into an embrace. He tightened his hold on her as he took a smell of her hair. The smell of sea and a hint of fresh rain clouded his senses. He briefly wondered where she had been to but it was not important for she was now in his arms.
"You do not know how I have mourned you in my mind even though my heart indefinably knew you were not dead…" he whispered into her ear and she tightened her hold on him.
"Forgive me, arion… I wished I could have return sooner," she moved her head back from the embrace and replied.
She watched as a tear fell from his eye. She kissed the tear when it fell onto the corner of his lips.
"Do not cry, please… I am so sorry," she whispered sadly, feeling the tears pooled in her eyes.
He swoop down and captured her lips causing her to gasp at his sudden act. He took the opportunity to feel the warmth from her mouth. She recovered from her daze and returned the kiss as fervently as he initiated it.
"Do not apologize, meleth nín. It was not your fault," he grabbed her chin and said after the passionate kiss they shared.
"Oh how I have missed you… my heart longed for you and I worry for Legolas when I was there. I could not live in peace…" she said brokenly.
"Where were you?" he asked, finally curious to where she had been.
The sky darkened suddenly and broke both of their attention. They watched as a storm rolled in from the sea. She shook her head in dismay and placed both her hands on his face as he turned to her.
"There is something important that you should know. War is coming and you should aid those who needs it. Do not let sorrow cloud your judgement, arion. I must go now," she said and attempted to turn but he stopped her immediately.
"What do you mean you must go? You just came back to me! I am not letting you go," he said adamantly.
"I promise you will see me very soon," she said to assure him but he could see that she was fading.
"No! No…" he pleaded to her.
"I have to. I am not here yet, but I will be. Remember arion. Aid those who needs it," she said before fading completely.
Thranduil's eyes opened and he sat up from his bed in a jolt. His eyes staring widely into nothingness as his mind tried to grasp what he had just dreamt of. In all the years, it had been nightmares when he dreamt. He would envisioned Edarís dying in every horrid state possible but never in the way she was in the dream that had just happened. She had looked radiant and beautiful as she was before he lost her. He covered his face with his hands remembering the appearance of his beautiful wife in his dream until a knock on his door disconcerted him.
"What is needed at such an hour!?" he asked impolitely for he was frustrated.
"I am sorry, your majesty. But Prince Legolas and Captain Tauriel had returned from the forest with an orc who were tracking our guests, the dwarves," replied the guard immediately to avoid further admonishment from Thranduil.
"I will be there," replied Thranduil curtly as he got up from his bed to change his garment before heading to his throne.
When Thranduil reached his throne hall, Legolas had the orc kneeling with his knife on the foul creature's throat. Tauriel was standing a few feet in front of the orc glaring at him while she waited for the king to come for the interrogation.
"What do we have here?" asked Thranduil as he walked up the stairs to the platform before his throne.
"We found a band of orcs coming into our forest tracking the footsteps of the dwarves. The rest were killed but I spared this one for he could hold important information we may want to know," said Legolas holding the orc tightly as he pressured the knife on the creature's throat.
"Such is the nature of evil. Out there in the vast ignorance of the world, it festers and spreads. A shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was, so will it always be. In time all foul things come forth," said Thranduil as he paced from the front of the orc to the back and folded his arms when he finished.
"You were tracking the company of thirteen dwarves… Why?" asked Legolas, his voice raised when he had worded 'Why'.
"Not thirteen, not anymore. The young one, the black haired archer, we stuck him with a Morgul shaft. The poison in his blood… he will be choking on it soon," replied the orc instead.
"Answer the question, filth!" said Tauriel in a calm fury.
"I do not answer to dogs, She-Elf!" hissed the orc in his native language as he struggled against Legolas' knife.
"I would not antagonize her," warned Legolas.
"You like killing things, orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you!" threatened Tauriel as she flipped her knives to struck the orc.
"Enough! Tauriel, leave. Go now," interrupted Thranduil as he dismissed the captain.
The orc hissed as Tauriel left the throne hall.
"I do not care about one dead dwarf. Answer the question. You have nothing to fear. Tell us what you know and I will set you free," coaxed Thranduil as he let the thought sink for the orc.
"You had orders to kill them. Why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?" asked Legolas.
"The dwarf runt will never be king," spat the orc.
"King? There will be no king under the mountain nor there will ever be. None would ever enter Erebor while the dragon lives," said Legolas.
"You know nothing. Your world will burn…" murmured the orc as he stared into space.
"What are you talking about? Speak!" asked Legolas insistently.
"Our time has come again. My master served the One. Do you understand now, elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you," said the orc as he cackled.
Remember arion. Aid those who needs it…
The words in his dream from Edarís flowed back into Thranduil's mind as he heard the words from the orc. In a surge of anger but in a calm demeanor, he unsheathed his sword and severed the orc's head without looking.
"Why did you do that? I thought I was to set him free," asked Legolas annoyed at his adar for interrupting the interrogation.
"And I did. I free his wretched head from his miserable shoulders," replied Thranduil nonchalantly.
"There was more the orc could tell us," said Legolas grudgingly.
"There is nothing more he could tell me," replied Thranduil as he walked up to his throne.
"What did he mean by the flames of war?" asked Legolas.
"He means they intend to unleash a weapon so great that it will destroyed all before it. I want the watch doubled to our borders, all roads, all river. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this kingdom and no one leaves it," said Thranduil as he sat on his throne.
"Fetch me Thorin Oakenshield."
Legolas left the throne hall to bid his adar's order.
Thranduil had yet to speak to the heir of Durin's Folk since his guards had found them in the forest. The dwarves had come forth to the throne for an unpleasant introductions before he sent them off to rest in their guest chambers. He did not want to speak with them if they could not exchange polite dialogues.
Remember arion. Aid those who needs it…
Edarís' words returned with a vengeance. That was not the only words that made his mind swirl for he remembered the dream clearly. She had told him a promise of her return that she was not here yet but she would be.
Oh Valar! Please do not fiddle with my mind and heart. I could not bear it if this was but just a dream!
He was brought out of his turmoil thoughts when Raephen returned with Thorin Oakenshield instead of Legolas. Thorin came forth before him but did not greet or bow to show respect. He could not be bothered by the dwarf's lack of manners for there were more important matters to be discussed.
"Thorin Oakenshield," called Thranduil with a smirk on his face.
"Thranduil Oropherion," called Thorin in return emotionlessly.
"Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. A quest to reclaim a homeland… and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary… Or something of that ilk," said Thranduil as he came down from his throne to face Thorin.
"You have found a way in... You seek that which would bestow upon you, the right to rule. The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone," continued Thranduil as he watched Thorin's eyes looked away from him.
The eyes are the key to one's soul and heart. And it stood true when Thorin looked away. It meant whatever Thranduil had said was true.
"It is precious to you beyond measure… I may not understand that for my precious lies within the life of someone, not a stone. I offer you my help," said Thranduil as he stood tall a few steps away but in front of Thorin.
"What do you want?" asked Thorin unabashed by Thranduil's tall frame.
"I will let you go, if you sign a contract and promise to share the treasures you will recover from the Lonely Mountain with the people of Laketown," replied Thranduil seriously.
Thorin was surprise the Elf King did not ask a part for himself but for another race, which was a noble act. But he did not trust elves and Thranduil was no exception.
"A favor for a favor," said Thorin as he turned around to pace the platform before the throne.
"You have my word. One king to another," replied Thranduil.
"I would not trust Thranduil… the great king to honor his words should the end of all days be upon us! You… who lacked all honor! I have seen how you treat your friends. You did not even help us when Smaug was upon us! You hid in your fortress! You should die a death of loneliness!" roared Thorin at Thranduil.
"Do not speak to me of loneliness!" hissed Thranduil into Thorin's face. "I know its sorrow and ache."
Thorin was surprised at a brief glimpse of anguish from Thranduil's expression before it returned to its cold demeanor. Thranduil retreated from him and slowly walked up to the throne.
"I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of Elf, but I would not waste any more time convincing you of your poor choice. You can go… but heed my warning. All of you will perished among your folks if you, Thorin Oakenshield, let greed overcome you like your grandfather," said Thranduil as he gestured for the guards to send Thorin back to his guest room.
Thorin left quietly albeit in a grudge.
"Let them go if they wished to, Raephen," said Thranduil as he turned to his commander who had been standing below the throne.
"Your highness, is that wise?" asked Raephen.
"I have a feeling we will see them very soon," replied Thranduil as he stared off into space, his mind recalling his queen's words again.
~ *** . *** . *** . *** . *** . *** . *** . *** ~
Days blended together as Edarís traveled with Eondaynth since they landed in Ice Bay of Forochel. When they had reached the shores of the ice bay, they had encountered a group of Forodwaith who seemed to recognize her dragon acquaintance. She remembered clearly they had bowed to her in respect. It was later when they were out of the Forodwaith's earshot that Eondaynth told her of her deed at the end of First Age.
When Beleriand sank after the War of Wrath, Eondaynth had risked the appearance of her dragon form and rescued Forodwaith's ancestors. For three generations, she was known as Eondaynth, the White. They had omitted the word dragon from her title to protect her. As time passed, she became a legend that was only told in tales to the younger generations of Forodwaith.
Eondaynth had never shown her dragon form since she last saved the Forodwaith's ancestors. It was the tradition of the Forodwaith in ice bay to tell the existence of Eondaynth to their chief from generations to generations. The chief was with the group who greeted them at the shores and he had seen Eondaynth before.
"What were you doing in ice bay for them to recognize you for so many generations?" asked Edarís curiously.
"Oh when I get bored under the sea… I come here and live among them for some time," said Eondaynth with a mischievous smile.
"Bored under the sea?" queried Edarís with a raised eyebrow and they both launched into laughter.
"When you could live so long, you would have done some mischievous things. I defied Ulmo's warnings for coming in contact with the races of Middle Earth. So he banished me from the sea and I was forced to live in this form with the Forodwaith for some time," explained Eondaynth.
Edarís smiled at her friend's mischievous playfulness. Friend?
Why not, brave one? Eondaynth watched her over the fire they shared in the tent.
I am honored. Edarís shook her head softly and smiled.
So am I. Eondaynth thought in return.
The Forodwaith told Eondaynth that they were in two thousand nine hundred and forty first year of third age and the darkness had started to spread in Middle Earth again. They also told her of the frightening and dreadful noises coming from the mountains of Angmar near the ice bay. Edarís was bewildered when she found out she had been away for almost two millenniums. She quickly felt sorry for having Thranduil and Legolas mourning her for so long. They decided to discuss the next step of their journey back to Greenwood.
She frowned when she thought of Greenwood for Greenwood had now become Mirkwood as told by the Forodwaith. A necromancer had established his rule at Dol Guldur and caused darkness to taint the forest surrounding it. The only safer place was the Halls of Thranduil and its surrounding forest as it was protected by the Woodland elves.
"What is the quickest route to Mirkwood?" she asked Eondaynth as she had not traveled much in Middle Earth besides Greenwood and Lórien.
"Well if I could fly… we would be there in days," replied Eondaynth in a chuckle before turning serious.
"The quickest way is through the borders of the mountains of Angmar, but we would have to pass through Carn Dûm," continued Eondaynth, frowning as she thought of Carn Dûm.
"What lies behind Carn Dûm?" asked Edarís.
"The old fortress of the Witch-King. From what the Forodwaith had told me, it would seemed the place might have been revived for some reason," replied Eondaynth.
"After the mountains of Angmar, I would have to fly us over Mount Gundabad to the south border of Grey Mountains. We can travel by foot or boat through the Forest River and it would lead us to the Halls of Thranduil," continued Eondaynth, all the while with a serious expression.
"Why don't we give Carn Dûm the element of surprise?" asked Edarís, causing Eondaynth to look at her with wide eyes.
"Are you coaxing me into doing something mischievous, mellon nín?" asked Eondaynth in return with a smirk on her face.
Both of them had traveled by foot from the ice bay to the west border of mountains of Angmar. They proceeded into the mountains and traveled from trees to trees to avoid being seen by the enemies. They hid behind large boulders when they ran out of trees, trekking on the path less traveled.
On the first night in the trees they had rested, they heard the dreadful sounds of banging and roaring coming from Carn Dûm. It was disturbing and it filled Edarís with restlessness. Even so, she had fallen into a rest as the journey on foot had tired her a little. They did not rest in the vast land between the ice bay and the border of the mountains. Eondaynth did not want to be risked getting ambushed.
It was the same night she dreamt of Thranduil on a white shore. The sight of Thranduil before her had overwhelmed her with emotions. She was even more delighted to be in his arms as he tightened his hold on her. When his lips touched hers, the flames of their love for each other reignited after such a long time. It made her longed for him even more. But she knew she was dreaming when she found herself on a white ship. Last she recalled, she did not travel with a ship but a dragon instead. When the sky in the dream darkened she knew she had to leave, so she promised Thranduil of her return and told him to aid those who needs it.
She woke up from the dream from a loud thunderous roar. Eondaynth was staring the distance at the direction of Carn Dûm. When Eondaynth turned back to her, she suggested they made a move between the trees while they can and leave the running on foot in the day when there were no trees.
It was evening again when they were close to Carn Dûm. They scouted around the rocky mountains of the capital. There were a large number of orcs and it did not look like the fortress was abandoned at all.
"We rest for tonight and plan our strategy in the day. By nightfall of tomorrow, we lay waste to Carn Dûm and made sure no orcs lived to tell their other comrades," said Eondaynth.
"It would seemed they are either planning to invade Mithlond or Rivendell with an army," said Edarís.
"Most likely Rivendell as they have orc camps in Fornost to invade Mithlond. Sleep. We will discuss more tomorrow," replied Eondaynth.
In the day, they hid above the trees and spoke through their minds mostly. Eondaynth revealed instead of breathing fire, white dragons breathe a strong cold air that could freeze anything on its path. Edarís was curious and impressed by Eondaynth's ability. Even though they had a huge advantage on the enemies of Carn Dûm, they would still need to strategize in order to make sure no news of what happened traveled out of the capital before the war started. That may prove to be a little difficult.
"I can distract the orcs surrounding the capital to pursuit after me as I lead them back into the capital. Once I am in the capital, you can seal it with an ice wall," said Edarís.
"You will only have a short amount of time to escape before I closed out the wall," said Eondaynth.
"It will do. Once we finished off the enemies, we wait for a few days for the return of any other patrols and killed them off before we leave," continued Edarís.
"Sounds like a decent plan," nodded Eondaynth.
By nightfall, Edarís had retrieved an orc blade from a pair of orc guards who were patrolling near their trees. Eondaynth went off to locate an area for her to transform into her dragon form. As soon as Edarís heard from her mind that Eondaynth was ready, she started running towards the orcs that were in the outer vicinity of the capital. It was not difficult to attract them with her golden hair flowing in the dark under the moonlight.
Orcs were accumulating as they pursuit after Edarís. She was quick on her foot and have breached a distance for them. It did not deterred the orcs from the chase. They were excited at the sight of a beautiful elf and the consequences that would befall her.
Edarís ran into the capital startling the enemies before they took their weapons out to pursuit her. In the sky, Eondaynth descended and started breathing cold air to seal the main entrance of Carn Dûm.
"There goes my escape route," muttered Edarís as she kept running along the ice wall that Eondaynth had created.
This would not do… she would seal the capital before I get to escape!
Edarís leaped onto a structure and started to find her way across the capital before Eondaynth fully seal the capital. She did not bother fighting any orcs but made sure to avoid any projectiles that was coming her way. Eondaynth was making a full circle soon to the entrance of the ice wall. Edarís knew she could not make it in time as there was a mile of distance away.
"Make an ice slope!" shouted Edarís.
Eondaynth caught her idea and proceeded to breathe cold air onto the spot further in front of Edarís. She leaped onto the jagged slope created by Eondaynth and hopped from jags to jags until there were none. Eondaynth had kept the slope a distance from the ice wall she had created so none of the enemies could use it. Edarís leaped from the edge of the ice slope and onto the ice wall. Eondaynth breathed cold air to the orcs that tried to climb the slope and decided to descend further by knocking the ice slope into pieces.
"I would never forget that," huffed Edarís as she tried to catch her breath.
Before midnight, Carn Dûm had been frozen in ice. Eondaynth remained in her dragon form and layered the capital with layers of ice whenever it started to melt. Eondaynth would inform Edarís when there were patrols returning and Edarís would dispatched those orcs. They stayed and waited until no more orcs were seen returning for consecutively three days before they left and embarked their journey over Mount Gundabad.
TBC
Just so you are not confused. The orc interrogation scene happened before Thranduil and Thorin's scene in his throne hall.
Honestly, I thought I had nothing much to write for I was blank before this chapter even begin. I can't believe I sprouted the plot out of my fingertips in two days.