They were walking up the mountain of Caradhras in a single file. She
reflected back on the incident of the ring that had happened earlier that
day. Frodo had tumbled down a few feet and in the process, lost the ring.
Boromir had picked it up and lingered a bit too long before finally giving
it back. They had all waited, holding their breaths. For a minute she
thought she could have taken out her sword and cut the tension in the air
right there. She also realized that she had misjudged Aragorn. He was nice
and kind enough with everyone, Boromir as well, but when it came to the
quest, he was all business and a cold fire crept into his blue eyes. She
had noticed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to act in case Boromir
should have any funny ideas. "I would follow a man like that to my very
death" she thought with admiration.
The lure of the ring had begun, it seemed. To be honest, she had expected Boromir to be the weaker one in his matter. As humans him, herself and Aragorn seemed to be the most exposed ones to this pull. And she could not deny that she had felt it as well. But men had a different psyche; their greed for power was indeed much stronger. And when it came to those two men, there was no doubt in her mind that Aragorn was the stronger one. She just hoped that she could be of assistance to Boromir, who was nevertheless bravely trying to swim against the current. They were friends; she should be there for him when the situation required it.
The longer they walked, the more she began to believe that it was impossible to pass through the Pass of Caradhras. There seemed to be no end to the mountain! And as if that was not enough, snow storms and avalanches had been following them anywhere they went. She was leading the line, hoping to protect Gandalf, who was right behind her, more or less from the snow that blew into their faces and hurt their cold and over-exposed skin. She had tried to dig a path that the others can walk through, but soon gave up on it.
That's when Legolas walked by her, on the snow. 'What in the.......' she thought, and then ruefully 'oh yes..... elves are light of foot. Darn race!' He did not even seem to be cold. He walked ahead and waited for them until they reached a turn in winding path that was continuing its climb towards the peak. He seemed to be listening to something, but she could hear nothing except for the howling of the wind.
"There's a foul voice in the air" he yelled back.
"It's Saruman!" replied Gandalf. An avalanche broke out above and they threw themselves back. When the commotion was over, she quickly looked back to make sure that the rest of the company was still there. Poor Aragorn and Boromir where moving slowly along, both carrying a pair of hobbits, for the snow had reached a height that would have covered them from head to toe. She passed Legolas and took the turn, then waited. Gandalf moved out a little bit and began to weave a spell. In the middle of that, a lightning hit the boulders above and a much bigger avalanche began to come down. Legolas managed to grab Gandalf at the last moment and pull him back while everyone again threw themselves as far back as possible. She felt a rock hitting her right shoulder but her body was too cold to respond with pain.
After a moment or two she felt the shaking of the ground cease and slowly dug herself out, to discover that all had emerged from the white blanket. Legolas was looking at her and having seen that she broke the surface, he turned back to Gandalf and the others who -finally!- seemed to have realized the impossibility of the task at hand. They were discussing what other options they had and it did not look like they had much of a choice. They would pass through the infamous mines of Moria.
Irulan had never been to Moria. Very few humans or elves had. On her behalf, she was happy with the choice. All along the way back Gimli remained by her side and told her with pure excitement about the city down there. It truly sounded like a sight! They were reaching the lower skirts of the mountain and the snow was only knee-deep here.
"Do you think they would welcome a woman like me?" she asked with amusement in her voice.
"Well of course Irulan! Once they lay their eyes on you, they will no doubt fall under your spell!"
Irulan laughed at that. "Maybe I could find a good suitor as well" she said and cast him a sidelong glance.
He stopped in mid-track and looked at her. "You would consider.... a dwarf?" he asked with amazement.
"Why not?" she said, smiling down at him.
"My lady is playing with me!" he said. They had started this game a while ago, and it was fun to see Gimli playing along. He wanted to be the irresistible casanova and who'd better match a role like that than a whimsical and fickle woman?
"Ah but I am as honest as it gets" Irulan said innocently.
"That comes from someone who faked her own death" said Legolas, who was passing her, walking towards the head of the line.
Irulan's smile froze on her face. She just gave his back a sour look and hoped that he would at least this once slip on the ice and fall on his face. No such luck, of course.
"You faked your own death?" asked Merry in amazement.
"Well...... beats dying anytime" she said with exasperation and hoped that this would be the end of the matter.
"Unbelievable! Why?"
"Because I refused to marry someone who looked exactly like you!" she snapped back to him furiously.
"I understand completely!" said Sam and Merry punched him between the shoulder blades.
"How did you do it?" Pippin asked curiously.
"Do you think I would give away a secret like that? I might need to use it again, who knows?"
Gimli laughed and said "No need Irulan! If anyone bothers you, just let me know! I shall chop off his head in an instant!"
"Well....." said Irulan darkly, "how would you feel about chopping off the head of a certain annoying elf?"
Gimli grinned up at her. "Do not let him get to you. You are stronger than that, woman!"
Irulan's eyebrows shot up and she smiled with pure delight. He WAS a lot like Chemarit! "Anything to please you, Master Gimli!" she said with a velvet voice.
But he did get to her. He was always walking about with accusation in his eyes. Who'd know an elf could be that harsh and merciless? Okay, now she had changed her mind. Elves WERE the cold and heartless creatures that everybody said they were. They should get on those darn ships of theirs and sail off! She fell back to the end of the line again. And then even further back. It was her habit to leave a distance between herself and the fellowship when she felt the need for isolation, and having come to know that, they did not wait for her and moved ahead. They were close to the base to the mountain now. She could see the snow disappearing and giving way to dark colored boulders ahead.
***
Gimli moved towards the head of the line and walked side by side with Gandalf. None spoke for a while. Then Gimli said slowly "You are aware that she is endangering the quest?" Gandalf would not answer for several moments. Then reluctantly he replied "I am aware, Master Gimli".
"Why is that?" came Boromir's voice from behind. Gandalf turned around and took a look above his shoulder. Irulan had fallen back, keeping a good distance with the rest of them and there was no way she could hear them from this distance. He turned back to speak and realized that Aragorn and Legolas as well had moved up a few steps, keeping pace with them. "Obviously everyone is more than just a little interested when it comes to her" he thought with amusement. But they had a right to know. They were a part of the Fellowship.
"She is a Darma Druid" he said slowly. "Why do you think the Darma Druids ceased to exist as a guild?"
"But they did not" said Boromir, "Irulan just said that they still existed."
"Yes, but in hiding. They do not practice their skills anymore openly. Both their teaching and their culture have faded from Middle Earth. They did not even attend the Last Alliance against the Dark Lord".
There was a long silence. The hobbits were further back as well. It looked like they were engaged in an argument that that went as far back as the Shire and involved a drinking contest.
"What are you saying Gandalf?" asked Aragorn.
Gandalf sighed and wished he could smoke his pipe. "The Darma Druids were the fiercest and most lethal warriors of Middle Earth. No one could match their skill, for it involved more than ordinary combat art. They can SHIFT" he said.
"Shift?"
"Yes, 'shift', Legolas. It is a term used for a special technique they posses to move faster in time".
"I don't understand" said Boromir. "How do you mean?"
"It is hard to explain" said Gandalf, "I think you must see it to understand. Though no one has seen something like that in a very long time" He thought about it for a minute and then went on. "It is like this...... time moves along at its normal pace for everyone. But the Darma Druid can move faster than that. She can move so fast, that time slows down or SEEMS to slow down for her. She can kill a dozen opponents and for her, the pace of the time might be normal -though I can not imagine exactly how it is from her point of view- but for another person in the same room only an instant has passed. He will only see a dozen bodies falling to the ground before he can even blink".
"Incredible!" said Gimli slowly. "Though I heard about it, I fail to imagine something like that".
"Yes, but there is a downside to it as well. It requires utmost skill and control and that control, overused, has a very lethal effect on the Druid. The books refer to it as 'fever'".
"Fever" whispered Legolas softly. "What is it, Gandalf?"
"It is a state in which the Druid slowly reaches exertion and finally loses control over his -that is- HER mind. The fever takes her. I know only what I have read in the books, which were not too many to begin with, but as far as I know, she loses contact with reality, with the present, and her sense of time. She then can not distinguish between foe and friend and kills anyone she comes across".
Everyone was silent for a long time. They instinctively checked back on Irulan, who still seemed to be walking in a dreamy state, far off.
"It is said that they have attended the Battle of Elves along with the armies of Gil-Galad against Sauron, in which the Dark Lord was defeated and forced to flee to the Ash Mountains. It was common for the Darma Druids to attend battles disguised and veiled. Maybe they had men among them back then as well, but we will never know for sure, I guess. Anyway, they attended along with elves and swiped off the enemy from the fields of Eriador forever, but the battle took so long that eventually the fever took many of them, and those who fell to it's curse attacked both sides and even their own, killing almost as many friends as foes until they were killed by their own sisters."
"You see" said Gimli, "once the fever takes a Darma Druid, she can not stop again. Ever. Not until she kills all or she is killed herself".
"They swore never to battle again" said Gandalf dreamily, "and have not done so for as long as anyone can remember, now."
"But why do they still exist.... why do they pass this knowledge down when it is not to be used?" Aragorn whispered.
"I think they can not accept the loss of such a knowledge completely. It is not only the shifting, you know, they have superior knowledge about combat and battle, which is an accumulation of many lives and an immense amount of experience. And I also think they are hoping that one day someone will come up with a way to use these without falling to the fever, even though that is a slim chance".
"Then it is as I have feared: she is indeed dangerous for the quest" said Gimli slowly.
"Yes..... and yet.... Elrond agreed. I do agree as well, for I believe that there is always hope. Irulan is a strong woman. She might fight this urge..."
"You know that is impossible" said Gimli sadly.
"Maybe she won't need to.. shift... too much. She certainly did not use that skill as the Black Knight" said Boromir. Everyone stared at him for a long time. "Okay, maybe there is a higher chance that she will have to, this time" he whispered and looked away.
"Maybe" sighed Gandalf. "For now, all I can say is that we must believe and trust in her".
"Yet if it comes to that, if she DOES fall to the fever? What will we do? We could possibly not........ I mean you can not expect us to..." said Aragorn after a moment and did not finish the sentence. Legolas reeled around and looked at him with an odd expression.
"The quest is more important than the lives of any of us. I am sure that Irulan agreed to that when she decided to be a part of it. We will do whatever the quest requires" Gandalf said and his voice said that it was final.
The lure of the ring had begun, it seemed. To be honest, she had expected Boromir to be the weaker one in his matter. As humans him, herself and Aragorn seemed to be the most exposed ones to this pull. And she could not deny that she had felt it as well. But men had a different psyche; their greed for power was indeed much stronger. And when it came to those two men, there was no doubt in her mind that Aragorn was the stronger one. She just hoped that she could be of assistance to Boromir, who was nevertheless bravely trying to swim against the current. They were friends; she should be there for him when the situation required it.
The longer they walked, the more she began to believe that it was impossible to pass through the Pass of Caradhras. There seemed to be no end to the mountain! And as if that was not enough, snow storms and avalanches had been following them anywhere they went. She was leading the line, hoping to protect Gandalf, who was right behind her, more or less from the snow that blew into their faces and hurt their cold and over-exposed skin. She had tried to dig a path that the others can walk through, but soon gave up on it.
That's when Legolas walked by her, on the snow. 'What in the.......' she thought, and then ruefully 'oh yes..... elves are light of foot. Darn race!' He did not even seem to be cold. He walked ahead and waited for them until they reached a turn in winding path that was continuing its climb towards the peak. He seemed to be listening to something, but she could hear nothing except for the howling of the wind.
"There's a foul voice in the air" he yelled back.
"It's Saruman!" replied Gandalf. An avalanche broke out above and they threw themselves back. When the commotion was over, she quickly looked back to make sure that the rest of the company was still there. Poor Aragorn and Boromir where moving slowly along, both carrying a pair of hobbits, for the snow had reached a height that would have covered them from head to toe. She passed Legolas and took the turn, then waited. Gandalf moved out a little bit and began to weave a spell. In the middle of that, a lightning hit the boulders above and a much bigger avalanche began to come down. Legolas managed to grab Gandalf at the last moment and pull him back while everyone again threw themselves as far back as possible. She felt a rock hitting her right shoulder but her body was too cold to respond with pain.
After a moment or two she felt the shaking of the ground cease and slowly dug herself out, to discover that all had emerged from the white blanket. Legolas was looking at her and having seen that she broke the surface, he turned back to Gandalf and the others who -finally!- seemed to have realized the impossibility of the task at hand. They were discussing what other options they had and it did not look like they had much of a choice. They would pass through the infamous mines of Moria.
Irulan had never been to Moria. Very few humans or elves had. On her behalf, she was happy with the choice. All along the way back Gimli remained by her side and told her with pure excitement about the city down there. It truly sounded like a sight! They were reaching the lower skirts of the mountain and the snow was only knee-deep here.
"Do you think they would welcome a woman like me?" she asked with amusement in her voice.
"Well of course Irulan! Once they lay their eyes on you, they will no doubt fall under your spell!"
Irulan laughed at that. "Maybe I could find a good suitor as well" she said and cast him a sidelong glance.
He stopped in mid-track and looked at her. "You would consider.... a dwarf?" he asked with amazement.
"Why not?" she said, smiling down at him.
"My lady is playing with me!" he said. They had started this game a while ago, and it was fun to see Gimli playing along. He wanted to be the irresistible casanova and who'd better match a role like that than a whimsical and fickle woman?
"Ah but I am as honest as it gets" Irulan said innocently.
"That comes from someone who faked her own death" said Legolas, who was passing her, walking towards the head of the line.
Irulan's smile froze on her face. She just gave his back a sour look and hoped that he would at least this once slip on the ice and fall on his face. No such luck, of course.
"You faked your own death?" asked Merry in amazement.
"Well...... beats dying anytime" she said with exasperation and hoped that this would be the end of the matter.
"Unbelievable! Why?"
"Because I refused to marry someone who looked exactly like you!" she snapped back to him furiously.
"I understand completely!" said Sam and Merry punched him between the shoulder blades.
"How did you do it?" Pippin asked curiously.
"Do you think I would give away a secret like that? I might need to use it again, who knows?"
Gimli laughed and said "No need Irulan! If anyone bothers you, just let me know! I shall chop off his head in an instant!"
"Well....." said Irulan darkly, "how would you feel about chopping off the head of a certain annoying elf?"
Gimli grinned up at her. "Do not let him get to you. You are stronger than that, woman!"
Irulan's eyebrows shot up and she smiled with pure delight. He WAS a lot like Chemarit! "Anything to please you, Master Gimli!" she said with a velvet voice.
But he did get to her. He was always walking about with accusation in his eyes. Who'd know an elf could be that harsh and merciless? Okay, now she had changed her mind. Elves WERE the cold and heartless creatures that everybody said they were. They should get on those darn ships of theirs and sail off! She fell back to the end of the line again. And then even further back. It was her habit to leave a distance between herself and the fellowship when she felt the need for isolation, and having come to know that, they did not wait for her and moved ahead. They were close to the base to the mountain now. She could see the snow disappearing and giving way to dark colored boulders ahead.
***
Gimli moved towards the head of the line and walked side by side with Gandalf. None spoke for a while. Then Gimli said slowly "You are aware that she is endangering the quest?" Gandalf would not answer for several moments. Then reluctantly he replied "I am aware, Master Gimli".
"Why is that?" came Boromir's voice from behind. Gandalf turned around and took a look above his shoulder. Irulan had fallen back, keeping a good distance with the rest of them and there was no way she could hear them from this distance. He turned back to speak and realized that Aragorn and Legolas as well had moved up a few steps, keeping pace with them. "Obviously everyone is more than just a little interested when it comes to her" he thought with amusement. But they had a right to know. They were a part of the Fellowship.
"She is a Darma Druid" he said slowly. "Why do you think the Darma Druids ceased to exist as a guild?"
"But they did not" said Boromir, "Irulan just said that they still existed."
"Yes, but in hiding. They do not practice their skills anymore openly. Both their teaching and their culture have faded from Middle Earth. They did not even attend the Last Alliance against the Dark Lord".
There was a long silence. The hobbits were further back as well. It looked like they were engaged in an argument that that went as far back as the Shire and involved a drinking contest.
"What are you saying Gandalf?" asked Aragorn.
Gandalf sighed and wished he could smoke his pipe. "The Darma Druids were the fiercest and most lethal warriors of Middle Earth. No one could match their skill, for it involved more than ordinary combat art. They can SHIFT" he said.
"Shift?"
"Yes, 'shift', Legolas. It is a term used for a special technique they posses to move faster in time".
"I don't understand" said Boromir. "How do you mean?"
"It is hard to explain" said Gandalf, "I think you must see it to understand. Though no one has seen something like that in a very long time" He thought about it for a minute and then went on. "It is like this...... time moves along at its normal pace for everyone. But the Darma Druid can move faster than that. She can move so fast, that time slows down or SEEMS to slow down for her. She can kill a dozen opponents and for her, the pace of the time might be normal -though I can not imagine exactly how it is from her point of view- but for another person in the same room only an instant has passed. He will only see a dozen bodies falling to the ground before he can even blink".
"Incredible!" said Gimli slowly. "Though I heard about it, I fail to imagine something like that".
"Yes, but there is a downside to it as well. It requires utmost skill and control and that control, overused, has a very lethal effect on the Druid. The books refer to it as 'fever'".
"Fever" whispered Legolas softly. "What is it, Gandalf?"
"It is a state in which the Druid slowly reaches exertion and finally loses control over his -that is- HER mind. The fever takes her. I know only what I have read in the books, which were not too many to begin with, but as far as I know, she loses contact with reality, with the present, and her sense of time. She then can not distinguish between foe and friend and kills anyone she comes across".
Everyone was silent for a long time. They instinctively checked back on Irulan, who still seemed to be walking in a dreamy state, far off.
"It is said that they have attended the Battle of Elves along with the armies of Gil-Galad against Sauron, in which the Dark Lord was defeated and forced to flee to the Ash Mountains. It was common for the Darma Druids to attend battles disguised and veiled. Maybe they had men among them back then as well, but we will never know for sure, I guess. Anyway, they attended along with elves and swiped off the enemy from the fields of Eriador forever, but the battle took so long that eventually the fever took many of them, and those who fell to it's curse attacked both sides and even their own, killing almost as many friends as foes until they were killed by their own sisters."
"You see" said Gimli, "once the fever takes a Darma Druid, she can not stop again. Ever. Not until she kills all or she is killed herself".
"They swore never to battle again" said Gandalf dreamily, "and have not done so for as long as anyone can remember, now."
"But why do they still exist.... why do they pass this knowledge down when it is not to be used?" Aragorn whispered.
"I think they can not accept the loss of such a knowledge completely. It is not only the shifting, you know, they have superior knowledge about combat and battle, which is an accumulation of many lives and an immense amount of experience. And I also think they are hoping that one day someone will come up with a way to use these without falling to the fever, even though that is a slim chance".
"Then it is as I have feared: she is indeed dangerous for the quest" said Gimli slowly.
"Yes..... and yet.... Elrond agreed. I do agree as well, for I believe that there is always hope. Irulan is a strong woman. She might fight this urge..."
"You know that is impossible" said Gimli sadly.
"Maybe she won't need to.. shift... too much. She certainly did not use that skill as the Black Knight" said Boromir. Everyone stared at him for a long time. "Okay, maybe there is a higher chance that she will have to, this time" he whispered and looked away.
"Maybe" sighed Gandalf. "For now, all I can say is that we must believe and trust in her".
"Yet if it comes to that, if she DOES fall to the fever? What will we do? We could possibly not........ I mean you can not expect us to..." said Aragorn after a moment and did not finish the sentence. Legolas reeled around and looked at him with an odd expression.
"The quest is more important than the lives of any of us. I am sure that Irulan agreed to that when she decided to be a part of it. We will do whatever the quest requires" Gandalf said and his voice said that it was final.