Camille walked down the dark pathway, holding her torch aloft, the light glinting off her hair and her phoenix brooch. Eli walked beside her, her dragon brooch flickering in the flame of her torch.
This is getting VERY creepy… Camille thought. There was nothing but roughly hewn rock all around her, looking very much like a natural cavern. Did we make a wrong turn somewhere? Were we supposed to turn at some point? But she hadn't noticed any other passageways, and if there were, Gimli would have noticed it and warned them about it…
Suddenly, she stopped, seeing something ahead of her. Huh? She stuck her torch closer to the "thing", and gasped when she realized what it was. A pair of huge doors of dark wood blocked their path, the wood carved with an intricate pattern of interlocking geometric figures in a classic Chinese design.
Eli walked closer, her mouth hanging open. "Oh yeah, NOW I'm sure. This is DEFINITELY not something found on Middle-Earth."
Legolas stood beside Camille, his brow creasing as he looked at the door. "What kind of wood is that? I do not recognize it."
"Of course you wouldn't. I don't think you have wood like this here in Middle-Earth," Camille said softly. She inhaled, and let it out again in a long, slow breath. "Just as I thought; it's cedar. Even after all these years, you can still smell the scent of the wood…"
Eli nodded slowly. "Cedar was really popular among the Chinese, along with cypress, rosewood and sandalwood. They used it for the columns in the palaces, and paneled rooms with it."
"But whatever this may be, it is still a door, and an obstacle," Gimli muttered as he strode over to the heavy gold rings shaped like dragons, and attempted to push the door open, but a strange force would not permit it, for he was suddenly thrown back with great force into the rest of the Company. He would have struck the far wall had not Boromir stopped him in time.
Gandalf frowned. "There is a strange power in this place. It is mighty, and will not suffer anyone to open these doors." He clutched his staff more tightly. "How shall we enter now?"
Camille stared at the doors, thinking hard. How are we going to get past it now? She didn't want to get knocked down like Gimli had been, but they HAD to; they needed the Spirits' help.
Suddenly, Frodo gasped. "Camille, your brooch!"
Huh? Passing her torch to Legolas, Camille lightly touched her brooch, and realized that it was warm, and seemed to be literally pulsing with energy. She removed it, and held it up to her face. Frodo was right. Indeed, the eyes of the phoenix seemed to be glowing, and a soft light seemed to shine from deep within the ruby sphere, as though it held a star trapped within it.
She tasted panic at the back of her mouth. What the hell is going on here?! She glanced at Eli, and noticed that she too was staring at her brooch, and it too was glowing. The eyes of the dragon flashed in the gloom, and the sapphire sphere shone softly.
Eli looked up at Camille, and their eyes met. "Somehow," she muttered, "this is starting to get VERY freaky."
"Tell me about it," Camille murmured. She pinned the brooch back to her cloak, and looked at the doors. Should I, or shouldn't I? Realizing that there was no other choice, she huffed, and walked over to the doors.
"Do not be a fool, Camille!" Boromir cried suddenly. "You witnessed what happened to Gimli; do you wish to have the same fate?!"
Camille took the time to answer as she stood before the doors. "I'll be okay, Boromir. Trust me on this, I know what I'm doing." I think. Firming up her resolve, she held her arms out towards the door, steeling herself for the force that she thought would throw her back.
But nothing happened. In fact, her fingers hadn't even touched the door rings when the hinges creaked, and the entire thing swung inwards towards the room beyond.
Camille's jaw dropped. Huh? But I didn't even TOUCH it yet!
Gandalf stood beside her then, the crystal at the top of his staff glowing to provide them with some light. He smiled at her slightly. "Now you have proven to a certain degree that you and Eli are the true Summoners. The door would not open to Gimli, and yet it swings open before your hand has even touched it!"
Camille lowered her gaze to the floor, and shuffled onwards, following Gandalf as he entered the hallway and searched for any possible dangers. She was much too confused about the recent events. I'm not even a Summoner yet, and I've already made a door open without even touching it!
Eli walked over to her side, and whispered, "I feel the same way you do, Camille. I'm scared. Dead scared."
Camille sighed, and moved closer to her best friend. "You have no idea just how scared I am, Eli."
* * *
Eli swung her torch slowly to the right, trying to shed some light in the deeper shadows. The cave was impossibly dark, and even the light of the torch seemed to sputter in the gloom.
Just in front of her, Gandalf snuffed the air, and asked, "What a strange scent! Fortunately it does not smell evil, but it is quite odd." He turned to her, his eyes glinting beneath his bushy brows in the light that shone from the crystal on top of his staff. "Tell me, dear girls, do you know what this strange scent is?"
Eli heard Camille take in a deep breath, and from the light of her torch, she could see her eyes close and her mouth smile dreamily. "Oh yeah, I can tell you, alright. I can smell sandalwood, and myrrh, and frankincense, and…cloves and cinnamon, I think, and other spices." She opened her eyes then. "I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and yet…I feel like I've entered a holy place."
Eli nodded in agreement. She had smelled the same scents too. "They burned incense here, at one point…" She saw a large urn standing in the corner, and noticed a pile of gray dust in it. She touched it with her index finger, coating it in gray powder. She lifted it to her nose, and sniffed it. "Yup, I was right. Incense, and lots of it too." She glanced at the others. "Come on, there's still more. If my presumptions are correct, we still have a lot of walking to do."
They pressed on into the gloom, passing through the hall and entering another one. The door here was made of cedar, but the design carved into it, was different. It was of a large tortoise, with a serpent wrapped around its shell. Eli could tell that it had once been painted in greens, blacks, and browns lined with gold, but the paint had long ago flaked away, and all that remained was the gold and the brilliant emeralds that were the eyes of the serpent and tortoise. A glint of gold flashed at the bottom, and in the flickering torchlight, Eli made them out to be more kanji writing.
"Genbu, Green Serpent God of the North, Lord of the Earth, Master of All Things that Grow," Camille whispered, translating the golden lettering. Her eyes slowly climbed up the door, wandering over the carven design. For a moment, the emeralds seemed to glow brighter, but they faded away before anyone save Camille and Eli could notice.
Eli gazed solemnly at the door. "Genbu Earthshaker, as he was sometimes called, for he held in his control the roots of the mountains, and he could shake them at will when he needed to. With one sweep of his tail he would strike the mighty gongs beneath the ground, and the vibrations would cause the world to tremble." She walked towards the doors, knowing that they would open only for her or Camille, and they swung open just like they had the first time for her best friend. The air within the chamber was cool, and smelled like plants and other growing things.
Frodo stepped up beside her, and there was a small smile upon his face. "The air feels fresh here, like the air in the woods I played in when I was but a boy."
Suddenly, Camille said, "Cherry blossoms."
Eli turned to her. "What?"
"Cherry blossoms," Camille repeated. She glanced at her then. "Can't you smell it? It's all over the place, as though there were actually a whole tree of it growing in here."
Pippin suddenly pointed. "In fact, I think you're not too far off the mark, Camille."
Eli looked up, and her jaw almost hit the floor. Indeed, right in the middle of the hall, was a large cherry tree in full bloom, the pale pink petals slowly falling to the ground and coating it with a fragrant carpet.
"I don't believe it," she whispered. "An entire cherry tree growing in a cave…"
Gandalf looked at the tree with an analytical eye. "There is nothing that seems impossible for the Four Spirits of Middle-Earth. To make a tree grow where there should be complete darkness and thus an impossible place for any plant to grow…"
Eli shook her head. "Now THIS is really freaking me out." She nodded towards the door ahead. "Come on, let's get moving. We're probably going to have to pass three more halls, if each Spirit has its own."
* * *
Gandalf walked steadily beside the two girls, holding his staff aloft to shed light on their path. They had recently passed through three halls, one each for the Spirits of the East, South, and West, respectively.
After the Hall of Genbu, the next one was the Hall of Seiryuu, Blue Dragon God of the East, Lord of the Waters, and Master of Water in All Its Forms. Inside, they found a fountain from which gushed the purest, most crystalline water that ever had been seen in all of Middle-Earth, more wholesome than the waters that flowed from the springs of Kheled-Zaram in Moria.
Next was the Hall of Suzako, Red Phoenix God of the South, Lord of the Flame, and Master of All Fire that Springs from Heaven and Earth. Within the hall was a large flame ablaze within an ornate golden urn, and it surprised them all that it still burned, even after many Ages of Middle-Earth had passed.
The last hall was the Hall of Byakko, White Tiger God of the West, Lord of the Winds, and Master of All Breezes, Winds and Gales that May Come from the Four Corners of Middle-Earth. The hall itself was empty, yet a musical sound, like that of many flutes, reached their ears, and a soft, gentle breeze that soothed their bodies and eased their minds played within the room.
But they had left that hall, and were currently walking down a seemingly endless pathway, leading to where not even Eli and Camille knew. And it was because of this that Gandalf felt a little troubled. Where does this path lead, he wondered. Shall it bring us at last to the Sanctuary? Or shall it bring us to a dead end?
Suddenly, the two girls who walked in front of him halted, and stood as still as statues. Gandalf sensed something about them. They stood too stiffly, as though they had seen, heard, smelt, or sensed something that troubled them. He walked closer to them. "What is troubling you, my dears?"
They stood as silent as statues. Fearing that something had happened, Gandalf circled them so that he stood at their side, and realized something disturbing. They stared straight ahead into the gloom, eyes wide, but their eyes seemed dead, as though something had taken their souls, and all that remained of them was their bodies.
Gandalf was about to make a move to awaken them, but suddenly, they spoke, their voices the same, but carrying within them a deep power that seemed almost frightening, even to himself. They spoke thus, "We have come before the Four Spirits. We are the Summoners, chosen by Fate, brought forth by Destiny. Thy trials we shall face to prove our worth, and as our reward, thou shall lend to us thy power."
From deep within the darkness, a voice boomed to the Fellowship, "Maidens fair, thou hast come from afar to seek our power. What shall thou doest with it?"
"Destroy the One Ring, the Ring of Evil, and bring forth peace to Middle-Earth. That is our goal, and our desire."
"Thou speak truly, Fair Ones. Now we shall take thee from thy companions, to face the trials that await thee." And with that, the girls were taken, Eli in a glimmer of water and a whisper of wind, Camille in a flash of flame and a flutter of leaves.
Legolas cried out as Camille was taken, but Gandalf raised his hand, commanding the Elf to be silent. "We must wait, Master Legolas. The Ladies will now face the trials, and if they pass then the power of the Spirits that dwell within these halls shall be theirs to command. Have no fear, for they shall be returned to us soon."
A deep laugh sounded to them. "Thou art wise, Gandalf the Gray. Thy trust shall not be given in vain, for thou shall be rewarded yet." So saying, a deep creaking sound echoed to them from further down the hall, and the soft gleam of gold reached their sight. The voice continued, "Enter the Sanctuary, and watch now the Trials of thy beloved friends."
And so Gandalf, by the leave of the Four Great Spirits of Middle-Earth, led the rest of the Fellowship into the Inner Sanctuary of the Caves of the Four Spirits, which lies beneath Caradhras, once called by its creators the Mountain of the Star of Snow.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Phew, that's done. I had a HARD time thinking that up, especially the Old English bit towards the end. I'm really no good at Old English, and I hope that this was a good try at it…sigh. Some of the descriptions concerning the Four Gods might not be accurate, especially what I said about Genbu striking gongs underground with his tail to cause earthquakes. I thought that one up myself ^_^. ANYWAY, on with the story! The girls are about to face their trials…what sort of trials will they be? It's all in the next chapter, folks. See ya!