The sun rose as usual in Rivendell. Elves started waking up, expecting the usual things to happen. The greetings, the songs, the stories, the gardening, everything. But there were a certain few that were waking up with dread. Arlena's news had darkened the mood of the ones that attended the council. What could be strong enough to destroy the people of Mirkwood? And had the fire to burn down the palace and town of Northern Mirkwood? Did only the caves remain now?
These same questions ran through Elrond's mind as he woke up and got out of bed. He had been restless, and he couldn't even imagine how Arlena must have been hyped up. He wasn't even sure that Arlena would be able to last through the council. Will she make it before running back to her room in? He knew that she had fallen in love with those woods, the town, and the palace when she first got there, long before Legolas was even born. Now everything was destroyed, maybe even the trees.
Elrond got dressed quickly and had the bell rung for the start of the council. The elves started arriving soon. But Gimli, Aragorn, Arlena, Legolas, Laphaela, and the mysterious elf didn't show up. He wondered if they were trying to comfort Arlena. He sighed.
"Glorfindel, can you please go get Arlena and all the others that aren't here?" asked Elrond. Glorfindel nodded and left.
"While we wait, lets discuss if any of you have any solutions that you have thought of," Elrond said to the other elves there.
"Well, we could always try to send some scouts out and spy on the enemy," suggested one of the elves.
"According to what Arlena told me, they are invisible, until they want to be. She said that they were attacked unexpectedly, and they weren't prepared. No, it would not be a good idea to send out scouts."
"Then what are we going to do? Just sit here and wait for them to come? What if they are already in Rivendell, undetected?"
"We will have to take a chance, but what I think we should do is…"
Elrond's words were cut short when Glorfindel was back.
"Arlena and the others can't be found. Even that mysterious she-elf is gone," Glorfindel said.
"What do you mean they're gone? Did they leave?" asked Elrond.
"I think so. I went to the stables, and there were six horses missing, including that white stallion that the she-elf rode here."
"Starlight…" Elrond muttered softly. "So he has found a rider at last."
"Starlight? But he couldn't be ridden by anybody before, at least not in Rivendell when that horse was give to you."
"I know. But that is Starlight, no doubt about it."
"And Arlena left a note. I suggest you read it."
Elrond wondered where Legolas and the others were, then took the note from Glorfindel and opened it:
Elrond:
Legolas, Laphaela, Gimli, Aragorn, the she-elf (Lortil, she calls herself), and I have left. Lortil thinks that if she leaves, then the demons will follow her, away from Rivendell. I feared for her safety, so the others and I went with her. Lortil told me that she has put a spell on Rivendell's borders, so that the demons will become visible if they cross Rivendell's borders. She doesn't know how she knows the spell, but she told me that she just has a feeling. So I've decided to trust her. I hope that her spell works. Good luck to you, and I hope that Rivendell doesn't face the same fate as Northern Mirkwood.
Arlena
"So now, if the spell works, then it will be easier for us to fight the demons," thought Elrond. He sat there for awhile, and the whole council watched him.
"The demons can be seen as long as we are in Rivendell's borders. So send out a few soldiers and let us try to find a few of them. Send some others to act as messengers to warn the other lands, the other races. We don't want this evil to spread too far too fast. The rest of us that remain here will try to get an army together."
The council ended there. The other elves got up quickly. Glorfindel called them over to a small spot by the river and then gave out orders. Then they quickly scattered in different directions, depending on their assignment. Elrond watched them go, then went back into his room. He pulled out books and records, and read them carefully, trying to find out if anything like this has been fought before his time, for he couldn't remember anything like this happening. The rings of power were the big events of his time. Otherwise, nothing like this has been reported in his time.
But nothing was found. He had searched in all the books of men, of wizards, of hobbits, and nothing could be found. Now he was searching in the books of the elves, and still nothing could be found. There was no record of anything like this. So how was this evil bred? How did it come to be?
Suddenly, a book appeared out of nowhere. Its black spine was hard and stiff. There was no title on it. It was a thick book, and shone with its own light. There seemed to be something magical about it, something unknown. Elrond couldn't figure out how the book got there, or why it was there. Before the book had appeared, he could remember being frustrated, and couldn't find an answer. He was about to give up when the book had appeared. What book behaved like this?
Elrond was about to give up figuring things out when he thought of the Ancient book of Elf lore, called the Mithwinrell. It had only been looked in once in his lifetime, in all the three ages he had lived. Now it had to be looked in once again.
Elrond remembered the legend of the Mithwinrell that had been passed on throughout the ages. It was a magical book, and had the solution to everything that people could come across. But there were very few people who were chosen from the book to be able to read it. Nobody knew how the book chose its readers. Some said that the book doesn't require any person of special quality to read it, it just chose randomly. But other said that the book would look deep into the soul of the one that picks it up, then knows why it had been picked up.
He made a quick decision and opened up the book. Immediately an icy chill ran through his veins. He flipped through the pages. All the pages were blank! The book had endless pages, and it could tell what the reader wanted to know. It was supposed to have the answer somewhere in the book. But now all the pages were blank. "Why is it blank now?" Elrond thought to himself, frustrated. He flipped back to the beginning. It was still blank. Elrond was about to flip the page when black ink started to seep onto the page. Letters appeared. Elrond watched as one word was formed, and waited for more. But no more came.
Elrond didn't understand how the word was the solution to defending Middle-Earth. How could one word explain everything? He didn't understand, but just sat there staring at the word. The words seemed to engrave itself into his mind. He couldn't forget it. After an hour of pondering, Elrond finally closed the book and it disappeared. He could only stare at the spot it was on just a moment ago. Confused, Elrond left his room.]
*The Mithwinrell was made up by me. If there is anything else that relates to it, then it is a complete coincidence. Please do not use it on any of your fan fictions or stories. Thank you! And please write a review! Thank you, or, in elven, Diola lle!