Chapter 14: Crossways
A core of blinding white light - it was in fact so bright that your eyes began to tear when you looked at it for longer than a few seconds. It glowed like a star, but unlike said luminaries it was not the melancholic proof of life of something unique destined to die - on the contrary. This ball of energy was so dangerous that when it hit you, you would be devoured by it slowly, as if it had its own will and was enjoying this cruel spectacle. First the heat that radiated from it would burn the tiny hairs on your body, and then it would reach the skin and melt it down like wax, leaving nothing but disfigured, burned creature screaming for help pitifully.
It was dangerous yet beautiful - some people enjoy staring into the abyss for hours, as there is an odd fascination to things that are terrible and frightening. Maybe because they awake similar reactions as pleasure does. Shivers run through your body, your breath accelerates, your heart rate increases. Danger always incorporates the unspoken promise of death, the last secret unsolved by mankind - the last adventure. That is perhaps why our curiosity is aroused, why we can be fascinated and terrified at the same time.
Looking at this ball of energy was like being hypnotized by the piercing eyes of a snake that was ready to sink its poisonous teeth into your skin. Arnaya just couldn't pry her eyes away from it and much less move or scream a warning. She was simply fascinated by it, staring at it motionlessly, as it hovered in Sauda's palm ready to be unleashed.
"Tampa tanya sii'! /Stop that now!/ " Galadriel's clear voice broke the tense silence that had filled the room.
Sauda's full lips briefly twitched in amusement before they formed an 'o' - a perfect expression of mock horror. The witch blew on her palm and the ball of energy vanished like the flame dancing on a candle when her breath hit it. She did a gracefully, but highly exaggerated curtsey, while the expression on her face clearly proofed that this gesture was nothing but pure mockery.
"Galadriel...the elven witch. I'm honored by your presence. I always wanted to meet you. All that talk about your exquisite beauty, your infinite wisdom and your incredible powers always made me kind of curious, but you know, sometimes people tend to exaggerate a little bit."
The high elf narrowed her piercing blue eyes disapprovingly and wordlessly stared at her counterpart. Any person less powerful than the evil witch wouldn't have been able to withhold this close ministration without breaking down and sobbing like a child, but Sauda just stood there with a self satisfied grin on her face. Long before she had entered the palace she had sensed the presence of Galadriel, so she had been able to prepare herself accordingly.
"You want to take a peak?" Sauda asked innocently, tapping with her finger against her forehead.
"Go ahead," the witch said invitingly. She concentrated and reached into the deepest and darkest pits of her soul, where there was no love, no hope, only wild, inhumane and uncontrollable hatred. This was the source from where she drew her powers which had matured considerably over decades just for one purpose - her revenge. She knew that she was no match for either Gandalf or Galadriel, at least under normal circumstances, but she could partially make up for that by her training which she had completed daily with an almost obsessive zeal. Like a warm and pleasant current she felt the hatred rise. It bubbled impatiently under the surface like hot tar. This dark force was her ally and if she gave into it would make her invincible and allow her to take her vengeance.
Galadriel's mind reached out to Sauda, trying to read her thoughts and to stop her from carrying out her evil plan. The first mental barrier she encountered in the process crumbled to dust at her touch. It was all too easy. She briefly hesitated before she moved further. Her heightened senses tried to help her assess the situation correctly and for once in a few thousand years they failed. Right when Galadriel decided to enter deeper into Sauda's mind a strange sense of foreboding hit her. Her pupils widened in realization and a gasp escaped her red lips, as waves of painfully intense hatred washed over her. Too late to stop them. Now the only option was surrender. The serenity that filled the high elf's entire being was overpowered and chased away in the blink of an eye. The carefully established balance, the work of a several thousand years was from one minute to the next gone with out a warning. Galadriel shivered. A sudden coldness seemed to spread in her body. It ran through her veins mockingly slowly, starting with her fingertips, extending from there to her arms and then to the rest of her body until it finally reached her heart.
The high elf moaned and sweat formed on her graceful forehead. The hatred raged inside of her like a wild beast. She was terrified by it, unable to control it. She was an immortal being, she had not been prone to such emotion for a long time and if it had been the case, they had merely been a shadow of the feelings she experienced now.
Elves are by nature peace loving beings. They exist in harmony with nature and with the world around them in general. With immortality comes an enormous responsibility. Introspection is an important prerequisite and consequently something completely unavoidable. When being forced to live with yourself, your deeds, your emotions for such a long time you have to be at peace. Some emotions like hatred, anger and frustration don't assault you anymore with the intensity they used to, because you have already experienced them a thousand times and you now know them and their nature through and through. How much easier life suddenly seems. Like a ship you sail over calm waters. There are no more storms, no more cliffs that pose a threat to your vulnerable little life. You can float with your eyes closed, because you are completely safe. But what if suddenly and unexpectedly all hell broke loose?
"Doesn't it feel good?" Sauda asked mockingly.
Galadriel swayed from on side to the other, threatening to fall. Legolas quickly stepped up to her to support her. In his blue eyes shone unmasked anger and he could barely contain himself any longer. The evil witch just smiled at him triumphantly and mercilessly continued her attack on the she- elf.
"Stop this now or I'm going to end you!" Gandalf voice reverberated like thunder inside the room.
The dangerous silence that hovered over their heads was suddenly chased away when the massive wooden door of the room was opened and gave away to the sight of uncountable soldiers ready to storm in. Of course, Sauda's spectacular entrance had not gone by unnoticed. It would have been very hard to overhear the crashing noise of the ripped out outer wall, whose stones were now strewn all over the courtyard, not to mention the several dozen watchmen she killed unflinchingly entering the palace.
The loud trampling of feet could be heard from the corridor and announced the presence of more watchmen. Though their great number they hesitated to enter. Shock mixed with strange curiosity was written on their faces while their brains slowly wrapped around what they saw. They stared at the raven- haired woman: some with their mouths agape, others with their eyes widened in a comical expression. A strange feeling was rising unstoppably inside of them. The soldiers knew that this beautiful enchantress was the enemy they were supposed to attack, but oddly enough they couldn't find any hatred in their hearts for her. Quite on the contrary, they wanted to touch her, hold her in their arms and kiss those tempting red lips. The desire was so overwhelmingly intense that it terrified them to the bone. Their inner conflict made them freeze in tracks indecisively and just stare at Sauda with unmasked lust on their stunned faces.
Gandalf knew that he had to act quickly, because with every passing second the threat posed to the lives of those men increased rapidly.
"Stay back!" he ordered and the door slammed shut in their faces. With a gesture of his hand the frames of the door vanished and its wooden surface seemed to melt right into the stone. It adapted to it gradually and finally became a part of it. There was no more way out. Only the winner of this conflict would walk out alive.
Sauda didn't let this moment of distraction pass by idly. This was the opportunity she had hoped for, because in open confrontation she would not have been able to defeat the powerful wizard. She knew Gandalf's Achilles' heel all too well: his friends. She looked at the handsome blond elf that supported a barely conscious Galadriel and identified him as the perfect victim, the last puzzle piece that missed in her otherwise perfect plan. A satisfied smile crept over her beautiful face.
Legolas suddenly felt like an extremely cold draught had just touched him. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck raised, a tingling and blood chilling sensation ran through his body. The next thing he knew was that he was hit by the might blow of an invisible attacker that let him crash into the stone wall behind him, knocking the air out of him effectively. He dimly heard Arnaya scream, but the shock and the momentary pain blinded his senses. He tried to move, but all his efforts were in vane. Legolas was pinned to the stone wall, unable to move, held in the vice like grip of Sauda's powers.
"Gandalf, oh, Gandalf," Sauda's sweet voice sang triumphantly, "How come you are so powerful and yet you don't even manage to protect your own friends?" She asked innocently, tightening her mental grip on the helpless elf. How much she enjoyed torturing him, the pleasure was as sweet as candy and almost made her feel ecstatic. Gandalf's shocked expression was the most delightful reward imaginable.
Legolas suddenly felt like somebody was chocking him. He desperately gasped for air and his face turned into a mask of pain, as the life force slowly drained out of him. The certainty of his impending dead conjured a million different thoughts that invaded his mind in a chaotic onslaught. Many of them were strange and made him wonder why they turned up right then and there - the most prominent feeling being regret. He regretted not to have enough time to mend those wounds his relationship with Arnaya had experienced, not to have been able to reestablish the trust that had existed between them and most importantly of all: not to have found out what loving her really meant. Legolas desperately wanted one last chance, but life seemed to be cruel enough to deny it to him.
Sauda stood with her back turned to Arnaya, as she supposed her to be the only person in this room she could trust. But unfortunately she didn't see her daughter's reaction to her cruel deeds, because maybe then she would have reconsidered her assessment. Arnaya's eyes darkened and an aura of power radiated around her. Its energy crackled slightly and made her tangled black tresses dance like angry snakes. Blue energy bolts were flashing between her slender fingers that clenched and unclenched continuously.
"Mother!" her voice thunder through the room. It was unusually dark and filled with power. "Release him! Now!"
Sauda slowly turned around and for the first time in weeks her face clearly betrayed her true emotions. A mixture of disappointment and wonder shone in her eyes. "Arnaya, have you gone completely insane? Don't you know what this could mean?" her voice softened automatically when she talked to her daughter.
"Yes, if you don't release him right now I will use my powers to stop you," Arnaya hissed through clenched teeth.
"Why would you want to save his life? This makes absolutely no sense unless..unless you'd love him," at her last words Sauda narrowed her eyes disapprovingly.
"Well, what if I did?" the younger woman answered and stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
"It would proof that you learned absolutely nothing from me. Haven't I told you that love is nothing but a cruel trick? That happiness will never last? How could you be so utterly stupid?"
"Mother, please let him go," Arnaya begged her one last time.
"I can't and I won't."
"Then you leave me no other choice."
A core of blinding white light - it was in fact so bright that your eyes began to tear when you looked at it for longer than a few seconds. It glowed like a star, but unlike said luminaries it was not the melancholic proof of life of something unique destined to die - on the contrary. This ball of energy was so dangerous that when it hit you, you would be devoured by it slowly, as if it had its own will and was enjoying this cruel spectacle. First the heat that radiated from it would burn the tiny hairs on your body, and then it would reach the skin and melt it down like wax, leaving nothing but disfigured, burned creature screaming for help pitifully.
It was dangerous yet beautiful - some people enjoy staring into the abyss for hours, as there is an odd fascination to things that are terrible and frightening. Maybe because they awake similar reactions as pleasure does. Shivers run through your body, your breath accelerates, your heart rate increases. Danger always incorporates the unspoken promise of death, the last secret unsolved by mankind - the last adventure. That is perhaps why our curiosity is aroused, why we can be fascinated and terrified at the same time.
Looking at this ball of energy was like being hypnotized by the piercing eyes of a snake that was ready to sink its poisonous teeth into your skin. Arnaya just couldn't pry her eyes away from it and much less move or scream a warning. She was simply fascinated by it, staring at it motionlessly, as it hovered in Sauda's palm ready to be unleashed.
"Tampa tanya sii'! /Stop that now!/ " Galadriel's clear voice broke the tense silence that had filled the room.
Sauda's full lips briefly twitched in amusement before they formed an 'o' - a perfect expression of mock horror. The witch blew on her palm and the ball of energy vanished like the flame dancing on a candle when her breath hit it. She did a gracefully, but highly exaggerated curtsey, while the expression on her face clearly proofed that this gesture was nothing but pure mockery.
"Galadriel...the elven witch. I'm honored by your presence. I always wanted to meet you. All that talk about your exquisite beauty, your infinite wisdom and your incredible powers always made me kind of curious, but you know, sometimes people tend to exaggerate a little bit."
The high elf narrowed her piercing blue eyes disapprovingly and wordlessly stared at her counterpart. Any person less powerful than the evil witch wouldn't have been able to withhold this close ministration without breaking down and sobbing like a child, but Sauda just stood there with a self satisfied grin on her face. Long before she had entered the palace she had sensed the presence of Galadriel, so she had been able to prepare herself accordingly.
"You want to take a peak?" Sauda asked innocently, tapping with her finger against her forehead.
"Go ahead," the witch said invitingly. She concentrated and reached into the deepest and darkest pits of her soul, where there was no love, no hope, only wild, inhumane and uncontrollable hatred. This was the source from where she drew her powers which had matured considerably over decades just for one purpose - her revenge. She knew that she was no match for either Gandalf or Galadriel, at least under normal circumstances, but she could partially make up for that by her training which she had completed daily with an almost obsessive zeal. Like a warm and pleasant current she felt the hatred rise. It bubbled impatiently under the surface like hot tar. This dark force was her ally and if she gave into it would make her invincible and allow her to take her vengeance.
Galadriel's mind reached out to Sauda, trying to read her thoughts and to stop her from carrying out her evil plan. The first mental barrier she encountered in the process crumbled to dust at her touch. It was all too easy. She briefly hesitated before she moved further. Her heightened senses tried to help her assess the situation correctly and for once in a few thousand years they failed. Right when Galadriel decided to enter deeper into Sauda's mind a strange sense of foreboding hit her. Her pupils widened in realization and a gasp escaped her red lips, as waves of painfully intense hatred washed over her. Too late to stop them. Now the only option was surrender. The serenity that filled the high elf's entire being was overpowered and chased away in the blink of an eye. The carefully established balance, the work of a several thousand years was from one minute to the next gone with out a warning. Galadriel shivered. A sudden coldness seemed to spread in her body. It ran through her veins mockingly slowly, starting with her fingertips, extending from there to her arms and then to the rest of her body until it finally reached her heart.
The high elf moaned and sweat formed on her graceful forehead. The hatred raged inside of her like a wild beast. She was terrified by it, unable to control it. She was an immortal being, she had not been prone to such emotion for a long time and if it had been the case, they had merely been a shadow of the feelings she experienced now.
Elves are by nature peace loving beings. They exist in harmony with nature and with the world around them in general. With immortality comes an enormous responsibility. Introspection is an important prerequisite and consequently something completely unavoidable. When being forced to live with yourself, your deeds, your emotions for such a long time you have to be at peace. Some emotions like hatred, anger and frustration don't assault you anymore with the intensity they used to, because you have already experienced them a thousand times and you now know them and their nature through and through. How much easier life suddenly seems. Like a ship you sail over calm waters. There are no more storms, no more cliffs that pose a threat to your vulnerable little life. You can float with your eyes closed, because you are completely safe. But what if suddenly and unexpectedly all hell broke loose?
"Doesn't it feel good?" Sauda asked mockingly.
Galadriel swayed from on side to the other, threatening to fall. Legolas quickly stepped up to her to support her. In his blue eyes shone unmasked anger and he could barely contain himself any longer. The evil witch just smiled at him triumphantly and mercilessly continued her attack on the she- elf.
"Stop this now or I'm going to end you!" Gandalf voice reverberated like thunder inside the room.
The dangerous silence that hovered over their heads was suddenly chased away when the massive wooden door of the room was opened and gave away to the sight of uncountable soldiers ready to storm in. Of course, Sauda's spectacular entrance had not gone by unnoticed. It would have been very hard to overhear the crashing noise of the ripped out outer wall, whose stones were now strewn all over the courtyard, not to mention the several dozen watchmen she killed unflinchingly entering the palace.
The loud trampling of feet could be heard from the corridor and announced the presence of more watchmen. Though their great number they hesitated to enter. Shock mixed with strange curiosity was written on their faces while their brains slowly wrapped around what they saw. They stared at the raven- haired woman: some with their mouths agape, others with their eyes widened in a comical expression. A strange feeling was rising unstoppably inside of them. The soldiers knew that this beautiful enchantress was the enemy they were supposed to attack, but oddly enough they couldn't find any hatred in their hearts for her. Quite on the contrary, they wanted to touch her, hold her in their arms and kiss those tempting red lips. The desire was so overwhelmingly intense that it terrified them to the bone. Their inner conflict made them freeze in tracks indecisively and just stare at Sauda with unmasked lust on their stunned faces.
Gandalf knew that he had to act quickly, because with every passing second the threat posed to the lives of those men increased rapidly.
"Stay back!" he ordered and the door slammed shut in their faces. With a gesture of his hand the frames of the door vanished and its wooden surface seemed to melt right into the stone. It adapted to it gradually and finally became a part of it. There was no more way out. Only the winner of this conflict would walk out alive.
Sauda didn't let this moment of distraction pass by idly. This was the opportunity she had hoped for, because in open confrontation she would not have been able to defeat the powerful wizard. She knew Gandalf's Achilles' heel all too well: his friends. She looked at the handsome blond elf that supported a barely conscious Galadriel and identified him as the perfect victim, the last puzzle piece that missed in her otherwise perfect plan. A satisfied smile crept over her beautiful face.
Legolas suddenly felt like an extremely cold draught had just touched him. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck raised, a tingling and blood chilling sensation ran through his body. The next thing he knew was that he was hit by the might blow of an invisible attacker that let him crash into the stone wall behind him, knocking the air out of him effectively. He dimly heard Arnaya scream, but the shock and the momentary pain blinded his senses. He tried to move, but all his efforts were in vane. Legolas was pinned to the stone wall, unable to move, held in the vice like grip of Sauda's powers.
"Gandalf, oh, Gandalf," Sauda's sweet voice sang triumphantly, "How come you are so powerful and yet you don't even manage to protect your own friends?" She asked innocently, tightening her mental grip on the helpless elf. How much she enjoyed torturing him, the pleasure was as sweet as candy and almost made her feel ecstatic. Gandalf's shocked expression was the most delightful reward imaginable.
Legolas suddenly felt like somebody was chocking him. He desperately gasped for air and his face turned into a mask of pain, as the life force slowly drained out of him. The certainty of his impending dead conjured a million different thoughts that invaded his mind in a chaotic onslaught. Many of them were strange and made him wonder why they turned up right then and there - the most prominent feeling being regret. He regretted not to have enough time to mend those wounds his relationship with Arnaya had experienced, not to have been able to reestablish the trust that had existed between them and most importantly of all: not to have found out what loving her really meant. Legolas desperately wanted one last chance, but life seemed to be cruel enough to deny it to him.
Sauda stood with her back turned to Arnaya, as she supposed her to be the only person in this room she could trust. But unfortunately she didn't see her daughter's reaction to her cruel deeds, because maybe then she would have reconsidered her assessment. Arnaya's eyes darkened and an aura of power radiated around her. Its energy crackled slightly and made her tangled black tresses dance like angry snakes. Blue energy bolts were flashing between her slender fingers that clenched and unclenched continuously.
"Mother!" her voice thunder through the room. It was unusually dark and filled with power. "Release him! Now!"
Sauda slowly turned around and for the first time in weeks her face clearly betrayed her true emotions. A mixture of disappointment and wonder shone in her eyes. "Arnaya, have you gone completely insane? Don't you know what this could mean?" her voice softened automatically when she talked to her daughter.
"Yes, if you don't release him right now I will use my powers to stop you," Arnaya hissed through clenched teeth.
"Why would you want to save his life? This makes absolutely no sense unless..unless you'd love him," at her last words Sauda narrowed her eyes disapprovingly.
"Well, what if I did?" the younger woman answered and stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
"It would proof that you learned absolutely nothing from me. Haven't I told you that love is nothing but a cruel trick? That happiness will never last? How could you be so utterly stupid?"
"Mother, please let him go," Arnaya begged her one last time.
"I can't and I won't."
"Then you leave me no other choice."