Stacey>
I fell for what seemed like forever through a white void until I finally landed in the middle of a small gathering of trees. I looked around. Nothing seemed familiar. As I stood up I doubled over in pain, clutching my side, my ribs were apparently broken from Visser One squeezing me so hard. I morphed to panther to heal the injury. My ears pricked up as they caught the faint sound of something. I scanned the area around me and found no sign of a threat.
Must be my imagination,> I said to myself and demorphed.
That's when my imagination decided to come out of it's hiding place. A dozen men appeared out of the bushes, each holding a bow that had an arrow strung. They surrounded me in a tight circle.
"Uhh... hi," I said uneasily.
One of them stepped forward and held an arrow to my throat while another tied my hands together.
"We will take her before Lord Elrond," the one holding the arrow to my throat said.
I was escorted to a small city not too far from where I landed. Some of the cities citizens were outside, they stared at me as I passed by. I was shoved me into a room before someone I assumed to be their leader.
"Lord Elrond," one of the men said bowing. "We found a witch in the forest."
"Who the hell are you calling a witch?!" I demanded angrily.
I was shoved down to the floor by another of the men. "You will kneel before Lord Elrond witch!"
The man they called Elrond looked at me eagerly. "How is it you assume she's a witch?"
"We saw her transform into an feline type creature. Show him," he said to me.
I refused until an arrow was pointed at my head. I changed into golden eagle then back. Elrond's eyes were wide in horror.
"What shall we do with her My Lord?"
Elrond regained his composure. But before he could speak a woman rushed into the room.
"Lord Elrond, Arwen has returned, she has the ring-bearer. He was stabbed by a Morgul blade and needs immediate treatment."
"I'll be right there," he looked at me. "Lock her in the dungeon."
I was roughly shoved into a cell and the door bolted behind me. Like this was going to keep me here? I would have morphed and left that place, but something was telling me that these were the only people I could trust. Plus I had no idea where I was.
"Excuse me?"
"Silence!" the guard said.
"I just want to know where I am, what place is this? What city?"
"You are in Rivendell."
"Rivendell?"
"The city of elves?"
Elves? I thought. "I'm not familiar with Rivendell."
"Everyone in Middle-Earth knows of Rivendell," the guard laughed. "But I supposed you're going to say you're not familiar with Middle-Earth either?"
"Actually, you said it for me."
The guard glared at me. I decided to keep quiet at that moment. I was in enough trouble as it was. A while later my cell door opened and in walked Lord Elrond accompanied by an elderly man with a long grey beard.
"Is this the girl you spoke of?" the elderly man asked. "She doesn't appear to be a witch."
"I have seen a demonstration of her dark power myself."
"I really wish you would stop calling me a witch," I told him. "And the ability I have is not magic. It is a gift given to me and some friends to fight an evil race that threatens to take over my land."
"For some odd reason I believe her," the elderly man said.
"Gandalf you can't trust her! Look what happened with Saruman!"
"I think if she were an enemy her intentions would have been known to us by now."
I was beginning to like the old man. He didn't know me and yet he was coming to my defense. After some debate I was freed. I studied my surroundings as I walked through the city. It was beautiful, unlike anything I had seen before. I heard laughter in the distance and saw four kids hugging each other. They stopped and looked at me carefully as I approached.
"Hi," I said.
"Hello," one with brown hair said.
"What? Never seen a hobbit before?" another asked.
"No. I pressume that's what you are?"
"Aye. I'm Meriadoc Brandybuck, you can call me Merry. This is Peregrin Took or Pippin."
"I'm Frodo Baggins," the first hobbit said. "This is Samwise Gamgee, but we call him Sam."
"I'm Stacey," I said. "Nice to meet you."
There was something odd about the one called Frodo. I could feel a force emanating from him, a type of power. It seemed to engulf me. I snapped out of my daze when I heard the sound of hooves. A man on horseback entered the city gates and dismounted. He brushed he shoulder length auburn hair away from his eyes and walked off into the distance. Another man on horseback arrived, I could see clearly that he was an elf. His long blond hair blew softly in the breeze. Our eyes met briefly as he slid gracefully off his horse. Moments later a group of short gruff men walked through the gates.
Dwarves, I had guessed.