Crystal awoke everyone at the first sign of dawn. They walked for the rest
of the day, reaching the foot of the mountain as the sun set. Shadowfax was
waiting for them a mile from the mountain. With him there was Arod
(Legolas' horse) and two other horses that had followed from Xicqrewiyl.
They greeted the horses gratefully and rode two to a horse. Gandalf rode
with Crystal, Gimli with Reicu, Danel with Relaen, and Liera with Legolas.
They rode for two days until they saw a forest about three leagues away
from them. They rode swiftly that evening in hopes of reaching the forest's
border before midnight. They stopped about a mile from the forest's border
and set up a small camp and ate a meager meal before they slept.
The next morning they rose again early and reached the forest before
noon. They entered precariously into the harsh wood. Around them the trees
were in full bloom despite the obvious dryness of the soil and foul
weather. The party felt a great burden lift off of them upon entering the
depths of the forest. The feeling was quickly replaced with a heavy
drowsiness and the forest began to grow dark and dreary, though the foliage
was still thick and flourishing. Rest became inevitable. There was no
clearing in sight for many miles.
"It is barely past noon, there must be some tomfoolery occurring
here." Danel commented. They sat in the thick grass resting for quite a
while. Soon sleep overcame each of them.
Liera woke from her unconscious stupor a few hours later. She found
herself alone in an overgrown forest. She panicked and sat up quickly. She
felt dizzy and laid back down. She remembered now what events had come to
pass. She felt confused though that she would be in a forest and not a
mountain. She could not have possibly been unconscious for more than a few
hours. She sat up again more slowly this time and saw strange lights
surround her. She stood quickly and heard the lights speaking to her. It
was a strange language. She smiled at the sound. It was soothing to her
ears and much more pleasant than the music that had lured her to Xi Ehiyst.
Three female young girls appeared before her. They had long beautiful wings
and they floated just above the ground. They giggled at her and offered
their hands to her. She took them gratefully not wanting to be alone. They
led her through the forest, playing and singing in voices that echoed
through the trees. They approached a glowing light in the distance and
before she knew it Liera was in the middle of a gorgeous city. Everything
was a bright color and there were many more fairie children running around
in the glow. Not far from her she saw Danel, Crystal, and Legolas standing
next to four little fairies playing a game of some sort. She approached
them. They smiled at her and invited her to play.
"We were worried you wouldn't be able to find us!" Danel shouted
giving her a hug.
"This place is so much fun, we were going to go find you but the
fairie children insisted on doing it for us." Crystal smiled. "So I guess
that your brother was right about this place after all!"
"There are creatures from many races here. Some that not even I have
heard of. There are even Orcs..." Legolas began. "This place is quite
amazing, but something feels out of place."
"What could possibly be out of place, this place is perfect, I assure
you." Relaen smiled joining the group along with Reicu, Gimli, and Gandalf.
"Everyone here is so peaceful. Like it is shut off from the real world."
"Relax, for now this place is a safe haven. Enjoy your stay, because
no matter how much this place appeals to you, you have sworn to protect the
rest of the land from darkness." Gandalf said knowledgably. "Come now,
there is still much of this city left to explore." He walked off leaning
heavily on his staff.
"He knows something that he is not telling us." Gimli grumbled
leaning towards Legolas as to hide his words from Gandalf. "There is
something terribly wrong here Legolas. I don't like this place."
"Aw, come now Gimli. There can't be trouble everywhere. Enjoy the
tranquility of the place. It is perhaps the most beautiful any of us will
gaze upon." Reicu said. You see he had grown to enjoy the Dwarfs company
after awhile, putting his past complaint behind him.
"This place is beautiful yes, but no place is as beautiful as the
land of the Lady of the Wood."
"I am inclined to agree Gimli." Legolas smiled. "I also agree with
the fact that you feel something about this place. There is something wrong
here, seriously, terribly wrong."
"But this place is perfect." Relaen objected.
"That, dear sister, is the problem I believe." Legolas concluded.
"Even Lothlorien had its flaws; this place seems to have none at all." One
of the fairy children bumped past him.
"That is it!" Danel exclaimed. "Maybe my tale was right after all!"
Everyone stared at her. "I heard that people were lured here so that they
could not leave here. Maybe no one is in fact happy here, maybe they are
under a spell!"
"That is right, we did fall asleep before being taken here..."
Crystal put her index finger to her face as if lost in thought. Liera
stopped one of the fairy children. She looked into the child's eyes and
instead of feeling the delightful gaze of a child she saw nothing. The eyes
were empty and stared at her eerily. The group felt a haze surround them
for a moment as they stared into the little fairies eyes. The fairy stared
at her blankly then quickly escaped her grip and fluttered away crying. Her
tears glistened in a rainbow color breaking the haze that had surrounded
the group.
"We must go tell Gandalf." Legolas stepped to leave. Then the sky
turned black and the forest became as dark as pitch. Screams of terror
echoed through the village. Yet the visions of the happy fairy children
rushing about playing still surrounded them. Light returned barely enough
for them to see. The soft-lighted colors that had once surrounded them were
no longer there to create a joyous mood. Instead it was a gray haze. The
children's faces disappeared as they played. The town began to burn and the
shrieks became louder, yet the fairies still played merrily in the streets.
"What is going on...?" Danel whispered watching the buildings burn and the fairie children burn with them. "There is something terribly wrong here." Crystal voiced all of their thoughts. "This is an illusion." Liera covered her ears as to block the screams of terror. "This whole city is an illusion." Gandalf approached them seeing their confusion he began to explain. "Indeed Danel's tales of this place were true, but there is less to this illusion than you would believe." "What do you mean?" Crystal asked also covering her ears, shielding them from the loud shrieks. "This illusion is cause by a fairy." Gandalf said acting as though that were simple. "Which fairy?" Gimli shouted over the persistent yells. The screeches stopped as soon as Gimli rose his voice. The illusion disappeared into blackness. Soon the dark passed and the forest they had entered had once again been restored to its original state. The forest floor was riddled with bodies of those who had fallen for the trap previously. A young male fairy sat in the middle of the corpses holding his knees and crying. The members of the group stepped back in disgust except for Danel. She walked forward through the mess of corpses and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy looked up at her with tear filled eyes. "Have you come to play with me?" His voice seemed to echo among the trees, as though there were two voices speaking at the same time. "Are you going to take me home?" He said sadly, pleading with her. "Yes, I've come to take you home..." She said hugging the little fairy. His wings emerged from his back in a bright spray of rainbow colors. The group stared at Danel in surprise. She lifted the fairy to his feet. He ran to Gandalf, a smile now spread across his face. Gandalf greeted the boy with a smile. "How were you able to create such a wonderful illusion my boy?" "With this stone I found Mr. Wizard sir." The boy acknowledged a green stone around his neck. It sparkled, even in the pitch dark of the forest. The fairy then looked at Danel with happy eyes. He took off the necklace and handed it to Danel. "I want you to have it... I don't need it anymore...I don't feel lonely any longer." Danel took it then placed a kiss on the young boy's forehead. "Thank you." Danel pocketed the stone. The fairy shrunk himself into a ball about four or five inches in diameter. He flew around them for a moment then was absorbed into Danel's water sword. "I will stay with you, and help you in anyway that I can, until I am home." The fairy's voice then disappeared and the forest filled once again with light. The corpses that were once strewn across the lush ground were gone, replaced by a field of bright flowers. The field, overgrown, still held an enchanting beauty. "Let us go now, before the forest deceives us again." Reicu grumbled heading to the west. The group whole-heartedly agreed and followed him at a slightly hurried pace. With the fourth stone packed neatly and carefully away they reached the outer ridge of the forest. The heavy mass of trees began to subside into empty plains and they slowed their walk, feeling the burden of the day's adventure finally taking hold. "Ah! You see it?' Liera suddenly cried out. They looked around, curious as to why she would yell such a thing. But, the other Elves spotted the reason for Liera's distress almost immediately. For in the distance there stood the quiet town of Zremdre. Its once humble homes were collapsed in ruin. "What is it?" Crystal asked trying desperately to see the ruined town. "What do you see?" Gandalf placed a hand on Legolas' shoulder. "It is a town in ruins Gandalf." Legolas replied grimly. "This is an omen of bad thing to come to this world." Gandalf stated, walking at a once more quickened pace. "Surely you don't mean to continue!" Reicu objected. "That town was destroyed, surely you do not want the same fate to befall us?" He reasoned with Gandalf. "This is where our path leads, therefore we shall continue to the town as planned." Gandalf instructed. Everyone followed Gandalf without further objection. The town was not only destroyed, but deserted as well. It was filled with an eerie hush. The group stayed close together as they explored the town. The buildings were all a gloomy gray, and not well built. The roofs of the buildings seem that they were all ready destined to collapse even before the apparent raid. The landscape matched the gloomy appearance of the town, dead bushes, bare trees, and gravel was all that covered the small town. They halted their search in the center of town. A large extravagant statue of a man clad in silver mail marked the center. He was one of the great warriors of the race of man, yet no one in the group could recognize whom the statue was supposed to depict. Crystal was extremely fascinated by the statue. She kept asking questions to herself in balmè. "Where are all of the people?" Danel asked, filled with a kind of empty feeling. The fairie flew from its refuge inside of Danel's sword and returned to his human form of a young boy. His wings disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. "They were taken away." He answered in his melodious tone. Everyone turned to listen except for Crystal who continued to examine the unique statue. "Taken away?" Legolas asked almost immediately. "By the shadows." "Shadows?" Gandalf whispered. "Yes, some of the shadows came to my forest, but they didn't want to play..." The fairie's double voice seemed to disturb the eerie calm of the town. "Did they have a stone perhaps?" Gimli looked around warily aware of the sudden change of mood in the town. "Not that I saw." Everyone sighed in relief hearing this. "I do not see how they could not have found it." Liera commented. "It must be very well hidden..." Just then, they turned to the loud bang of Crystal falling from the statue's large platform. "Look what I found ict bes!" She exclaimed proudly holding a glimmering brown stone in her hand. Almost immediately they noticed it changing colors to match Crystal's gloves. "Where did you find this?" Gandalf took the stone examining it carefully as it changed colors in front of his eyes. "It was on the statue..." She pointed to the mail. "Hidden...just like you said." She then pointed to Liera. "Apparently our 'shadows' are not too intelligent." Gimli chuckled, feeling slightly more at ease then he had only moments before. "Either that or luck is on our side." Gandalf smiled. Crystal ran about happily, ecstatic that she had found the stone when no one else could. Without warning Reicu ran behind the statue his bow drawn. Ralaen was quick to follow him with her bow drawn as well. Behind the statue, was a half Elf, half-human who stared back at him, a broad sword drawn and directed at his bow. "What are you doing here?" Reicu asked not backing down from the sword directed at him. Ralaen gave the same hard look to the half-breed girl. "I am searching for Mithrandir." The girl stated quickly simply. Reicu kept his bow aimed as she moved slowly from behind the statue. "I am the one of whom you seek." Gandalf put a comforting hand on Reicu's extended arm. "Put away your weapons my friends. Only a friend of the Middle Earth Elves would call me by that name." "I thought his name was ict bes..." Crystal said. Liera nudged next to silence the thought. Reicu reluctantly lowered his bow, still glaring at the new girl. "I have come to join your quest." "Another Elf?" Gimli said in his objective tone. "What is your name?"
"I am Tzadic, and I am only half Elf for your information." She said back, looking almost disgusted. Obviously the dislike of Dwarves ran deep in the young girl. "You are welcome to join our quest. But of whom did you hear of us, and what is your purpose?" Gandalf smiled. He had recognized Tzadic the moment she had stepped from behind the statue. "I heard of your quest from the great lords that reside Qawo, of whom are my mentors. I wish to join only to rid this land of the hatred of the orcs." She said with an almost bitter tone to her voice. "My reasons otherwise are my own." "Fine Tzadic, you may come in useful, we are short a member of our party anyway." Gandalf said, a sympathetic note to his voice. Everyone lowered their eyes, remembering their fallen comrade. "I suggest we get going. This place is not safe." The young fairies forewarned. He again disappeared into a brilliant flash of colored. Crystal clapped her hands together as she watched the colors disappear into the wind. "The fairie is correct." Legolas agreed, listening intently to voices on the wind. "We should go before nightfall, there is a foul voice on the wind, this town is not deserted as we thought..." They all walked out of the ruined town, heeding Legolas' warning. Half way to their next destination they made camp and filled Tzadic in on the extent of their quest as it has led them so far. They set off once more at dawn, Danel led the way. They hoped to reach the lake of Djsa by the late afternoon, there they would hopefully find the sixth stone. The plains that they had walked only the day before, were again becoming blossoming fields of flowers. The colors seemed to be as bright as the fairie's wings, and more pleasant than the sun. The smell seemed to calm everyone's nerves and create a pleasant mood among the group. To everyone's great disappointment the fields were soon replaced by large willows. The leaves brushed the top of their heads, allowing only a minimal amount of light from the sun to shine through. They left the path soon after entering the forest, heading on a more Northwestern route then they had previously traveled. Gimli and Ralaen now lead the way, with the rest of the group not traveling far behind. Tzadic was the only member of the group who didn't speak to any of the members during their travels. After walking into the late evening they reached the waters edge.
"What is going on...?" Danel whispered watching the buildings burn and the fairie children burn with them. "There is something terribly wrong here." Crystal voiced all of their thoughts. "This is an illusion." Liera covered her ears as to block the screams of terror. "This whole city is an illusion." Gandalf approached them seeing their confusion he began to explain. "Indeed Danel's tales of this place were true, but there is less to this illusion than you would believe." "What do you mean?" Crystal asked also covering her ears, shielding them from the loud shrieks. "This illusion is cause by a fairy." Gandalf said acting as though that were simple. "Which fairy?" Gimli shouted over the persistent yells. The screeches stopped as soon as Gimli rose his voice. The illusion disappeared into blackness. Soon the dark passed and the forest they had entered had once again been restored to its original state. The forest floor was riddled with bodies of those who had fallen for the trap previously. A young male fairy sat in the middle of the corpses holding his knees and crying. The members of the group stepped back in disgust except for Danel. She walked forward through the mess of corpses and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy looked up at her with tear filled eyes. "Have you come to play with me?" His voice seemed to echo among the trees, as though there were two voices speaking at the same time. "Are you going to take me home?" He said sadly, pleading with her. "Yes, I've come to take you home..." She said hugging the little fairy. His wings emerged from his back in a bright spray of rainbow colors. The group stared at Danel in surprise. She lifted the fairy to his feet. He ran to Gandalf, a smile now spread across his face. Gandalf greeted the boy with a smile. "How were you able to create such a wonderful illusion my boy?" "With this stone I found Mr. Wizard sir." The boy acknowledged a green stone around his neck. It sparkled, even in the pitch dark of the forest. The fairy then looked at Danel with happy eyes. He took off the necklace and handed it to Danel. "I want you to have it... I don't need it anymore...I don't feel lonely any longer." Danel took it then placed a kiss on the young boy's forehead. "Thank you." Danel pocketed the stone. The fairy shrunk himself into a ball about four or five inches in diameter. He flew around them for a moment then was absorbed into Danel's water sword. "I will stay with you, and help you in anyway that I can, until I am home." The fairy's voice then disappeared and the forest filled once again with light. The corpses that were once strewn across the lush ground were gone, replaced by a field of bright flowers. The field, overgrown, still held an enchanting beauty. "Let us go now, before the forest deceives us again." Reicu grumbled heading to the west. The group whole-heartedly agreed and followed him at a slightly hurried pace. With the fourth stone packed neatly and carefully away they reached the outer ridge of the forest. The heavy mass of trees began to subside into empty plains and they slowed their walk, feeling the burden of the day's adventure finally taking hold. "Ah! You see it?' Liera suddenly cried out. They looked around, curious as to why she would yell such a thing. But, the other Elves spotted the reason for Liera's distress almost immediately. For in the distance there stood the quiet town of Zremdre. Its once humble homes were collapsed in ruin. "What is it?" Crystal asked trying desperately to see the ruined town. "What do you see?" Gandalf placed a hand on Legolas' shoulder. "It is a town in ruins Gandalf." Legolas replied grimly. "This is an omen of bad thing to come to this world." Gandalf stated, walking at a once more quickened pace. "Surely you don't mean to continue!" Reicu objected. "That town was destroyed, surely you do not want the same fate to befall us?" He reasoned with Gandalf. "This is where our path leads, therefore we shall continue to the town as planned." Gandalf instructed. Everyone followed Gandalf without further objection. The town was not only destroyed, but deserted as well. It was filled with an eerie hush. The group stayed close together as they explored the town. The buildings were all a gloomy gray, and not well built. The roofs of the buildings seem that they were all ready destined to collapse even before the apparent raid. The landscape matched the gloomy appearance of the town, dead bushes, bare trees, and gravel was all that covered the small town. They halted their search in the center of town. A large extravagant statue of a man clad in silver mail marked the center. He was one of the great warriors of the race of man, yet no one in the group could recognize whom the statue was supposed to depict. Crystal was extremely fascinated by the statue. She kept asking questions to herself in balmè. "Where are all of the people?" Danel asked, filled with a kind of empty feeling. The fairie flew from its refuge inside of Danel's sword and returned to his human form of a young boy. His wings disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. "They were taken away." He answered in his melodious tone. Everyone turned to listen except for Crystal who continued to examine the unique statue. "Taken away?" Legolas asked almost immediately. "By the shadows." "Shadows?" Gandalf whispered. "Yes, some of the shadows came to my forest, but they didn't want to play..." The fairie's double voice seemed to disturb the eerie calm of the town. "Did they have a stone perhaps?" Gimli looked around warily aware of the sudden change of mood in the town. "Not that I saw." Everyone sighed in relief hearing this. "I do not see how they could not have found it." Liera commented. "It must be very well hidden..." Just then, they turned to the loud bang of Crystal falling from the statue's large platform. "Look what I found ict bes!" She exclaimed proudly holding a glimmering brown stone in her hand. Almost immediately they noticed it changing colors to match Crystal's gloves. "Where did you find this?" Gandalf took the stone examining it carefully as it changed colors in front of his eyes. "It was on the statue..." She pointed to the mail. "Hidden...just like you said." She then pointed to Liera. "Apparently our 'shadows' are not too intelligent." Gimli chuckled, feeling slightly more at ease then he had only moments before. "Either that or luck is on our side." Gandalf smiled. Crystal ran about happily, ecstatic that she had found the stone when no one else could. Without warning Reicu ran behind the statue his bow drawn. Ralaen was quick to follow him with her bow drawn as well. Behind the statue, was a half Elf, half-human who stared back at him, a broad sword drawn and directed at his bow. "What are you doing here?" Reicu asked not backing down from the sword directed at him. Ralaen gave the same hard look to the half-breed girl. "I am searching for Mithrandir." The girl stated quickly simply. Reicu kept his bow aimed as she moved slowly from behind the statue. "I am the one of whom you seek." Gandalf put a comforting hand on Reicu's extended arm. "Put away your weapons my friends. Only a friend of the Middle Earth Elves would call me by that name." "I thought his name was ict bes..." Crystal said. Liera nudged next to silence the thought. Reicu reluctantly lowered his bow, still glaring at the new girl. "I have come to join your quest." "Another Elf?" Gimli said in his objective tone. "What is your name?"
"I am Tzadic, and I am only half Elf for your information." She said back, looking almost disgusted. Obviously the dislike of Dwarves ran deep in the young girl. "You are welcome to join our quest. But of whom did you hear of us, and what is your purpose?" Gandalf smiled. He had recognized Tzadic the moment she had stepped from behind the statue. "I heard of your quest from the great lords that reside Qawo, of whom are my mentors. I wish to join only to rid this land of the hatred of the orcs." She said with an almost bitter tone to her voice. "My reasons otherwise are my own." "Fine Tzadic, you may come in useful, we are short a member of our party anyway." Gandalf said, a sympathetic note to his voice. Everyone lowered their eyes, remembering their fallen comrade. "I suggest we get going. This place is not safe." The young fairies forewarned. He again disappeared into a brilliant flash of colored. Crystal clapped her hands together as she watched the colors disappear into the wind. "The fairie is correct." Legolas agreed, listening intently to voices on the wind. "We should go before nightfall, there is a foul voice on the wind, this town is not deserted as we thought..." They all walked out of the ruined town, heeding Legolas' warning. Half way to their next destination they made camp and filled Tzadic in on the extent of their quest as it has led them so far. They set off once more at dawn, Danel led the way. They hoped to reach the lake of Djsa by the late afternoon, there they would hopefully find the sixth stone. The plains that they had walked only the day before, were again becoming blossoming fields of flowers. The colors seemed to be as bright as the fairie's wings, and more pleasant than the sun. The smell seemed to calm everyone's nerves and create a pleasant mood among the group. To everyone's great disappointment the fields were soon replaced by large willows. The leaves brushed the top of their heads, allowing only a minimal amount of light from the sun to shine through. They left the path soon after entering the forest, heading on a more Northwestern route then they had previously traveled. Gimli and Ralaen now lead the way, with the rest of the group not traveling far behind. Tzadic was the only member of the group who didn't speak to any of the members during their travels. After walking into the late evening they reached the waters edge.