Chapter 26: Greenleaf
A/N: Okay, Titan practice today. I have to teach a whole bunch of IDIOTS! Their tall, but stupid. Oh well … at least I get to teach with Chad. I love Chad … Okay, ANYWHO, I kind of get off topic a lot, huh? Well, get over it. (just kidding) This is a fun chapter, the next one is even great. My writer's block is gone, and this should be coming out on 9/9 with chap 25, cuz I feel so bad that I can't post. That's what you get for responding to flamers. Let that be a lesson to y'all! (Ooh, "y'all", I'm from Texas!)
…
Time seemed to fly while she talked with her companions, what Galadriel had said in the back of her mind now. She paid no attention to the meaning behind their words and their expressions. Six o'clock finally rolled around and she doggedly followed the others as they once more climbed the stair of Galadriel's tree into Celeborn's house.
Upon arriving, slightly red from the exertion, The Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words and Celeborn spoke of their departure. Aila only half listened as the plotted out their journey by boat down the Anduin.
"All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon tomorrow," said Celeborn. "I will send my people to you in the morning to help you make ready for the journey. Now we will wish you all a fair night and untroubled sleep." They returned to their pavilion and discussed further their road and course of action. This time, however, Legolas remained with them, for this was their last night in Lorien and they wished to speak of the road.
The night was growing old and still the conversation continued. Merry and Pippin were already asleep, and Sam was nodding. Aila was leaning heavily upon Aragorn's shoulder, her eyes half open, his arm thrust around her shoulders in support.
"I think it is time that we all went to sleep. We have a hard journey to restart in the morning."
Gratefully, Aila stumbled to her couch and pulled the blankets up to her chin. "Good night," she yawned to the entire Company. The phrase was repeated in chorus and echoes as the companions bid each other a good night.
…
When the morning came, they began to pack their goods once more, Aila had forgotten about the scroll which lay in her pack, but she didn't bother about that at the moment. Elves came to them and gave them way-bread for their journey and gifts of clothing. To Aila they gave a specially carved bow, matching the intricate designs upon her sword hilt and it pleased her greatly. She tested it out and found it had the same range as her compound bow and even more accurate. It was made with the care of Elves for their Light Bearer. There was no finer bow.
"I would feel much safer," she said to them, "if Legolas kept this excellent bow, and not myself. He would make better use of it." Legolas and the elves declined. The bow was made for her and had the same qualities as the sword: it would protect her at all costs.
"The gifts for the Light Bearer were scattered across middle earth and when you come to Ithilien one day, they will most likely have something for you there as well," said one of the elves bearing gifts.
"High you are in the Lady's favor," continued another elf, as he pulled cloaks from their bag to give to the Company, each cloak woven for the size of each. "The Lady and her maidens wove these and never have we garbed strangers in the cloth of the Galadhrim." The cloaks varied colors when they moved and the elves explained their hues. When those elves had left, the Company made ready to leave Lorien.
Haldir, however, came into view and walked towards them. Aila felt joy swell in her heart at the sight of him and she ran to the elf to greet him.
"I have returned from the Northern fences," he said to her, "and I am sent now to be your guide again. The Dimrill Dale is full of vapor and clouds of smoke, and the mountains are troubled. There are noises in the deeps of the earth. If any of you had thought of returning northwards to your homes, you would not have been able to pass that way. But come! Your path now goes south." Following their guide, the Fellowship and their One Companion went silently as they listened to song and voice above them in the trees. Aila walked alongside Haldir, happy that he was with them again. Legolas walked protectively on her other side and Aila continued to wonder why he despised Haldir so.
They came upon the boats and Haldir hailed them once more.
"Come!" he said. "All is now ready for you. Enter the boats, but take care at first." Merry brought up the question of who rode in which boat and Aila answered his question before anyone else could.
"Aragorn will row one boat and with him will travel Frodo and Sam. The next boat will be rowed by Boromir, who will be accompanied by Merry and Pippin. In the third boat, Legolas shall steer and Gimli shall accompany him."
"What of you?" asked Aragorn and Aila thought a moment, feeling even more how much she was not supposed to be on this journey, where she had no space on the boat.
"She will come in my boat," said Legolas. "Aila is light and so is Gimli. It would seem unfair to have four people in one boat while I have but two riding in mine."
"Yes, but that would mean three Big Folk," said Merry, who had taken a liking to Legolas and did not wish him extra strain.
"Yes, but I weigh less than Aragorn and Boromir myself and I can row a boat skillfully without much physical exertion applied." This mattered solved they entered the boats and Aila sat at the front of Legolas' boat, with Gimli between herself and the elf. As they rowed, a large swan-boat came from behind them and drew up along side, and she closed her eyes as she listened to Galadriel's beautiful song. They were bid to a parting feast and Legolas skillfully steered the boat to the shore, jumping out in the shallows of the river and pulling the boat up fully onto the shore before offering a hand to aid Aila in getting out.
Gimli grunted and splashed down the shallows himself as Aila waited to be on dry land. After they had feasted Aila laid herself down upon the sweet grass near the river and closed her eyes against the onslaught of the sun while the Fellowship spoke with Celeborn of their trip.
"Now is the time to drink the cup of farewell," she heard Galadriel say when they had finished their conversation. "Drink, Lord of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad, though night must follow noon, and already our evening draws nigh."
After Celeborn had drunk deeply from the white mead that filled the cup, she brought it to each member of the Company and spoke softly to them, holding the cup to their lips. Aila sat up and stood along with the Fellowship. Then she presented each of the Fellowship with a gift.
To Aragorn she presented him with a sheath specially made for his blade, that had spells writ on it to keep the blade from staining or breaking, even in defeat. Also, she gave to him a brooch that Aila recognized as Arwen's and Aragorn proudly pinned it upon his chest. He stood even more proudly and kingly than she had ever seen him before.
Boromir received a golden belt, and Merry and Pippin each received smaller silver belts, with buckles fashioned like golden flowers.
"Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood, may this serve you well," Galadriel said as she handed him a bow of the Galadhrim, longer and stouter than his bow of Mirkwood. To Sam she gave a small box filled with the dirt of her orchard for him to place in his own garden when the time came.
Aila smiled as Gimli asked for a lock of Galadriel's hair. It was much to everyone else's surprise however, but she gave it to him and he accepted it with the utmost wonder. Finally, to Frodo she gave a vial containing the light of Earendil's star. It was even more beautiful than Aila could have ever imagined but she forgot the beauty of the star that Frodo held within his small hands as Galadriel came before her, a smile playing across her pale pink lips.
"To you, Aila, Light Bearer, I give you advice as well. I ask you to recall what I said to you days ago and beg of you to follow my advice well and you will be grateful for it. However, I also give you a gift." She pulled forth from her finger a ring of emerald green, but of another material than gem. It was shaped like a leaf, with its stem wrapping around to form a place for her finger. The veins of the leaf were shot with silver but the leaf itself was definitely of emerald. The stem however was of some green metal. "To you, Light Bearer, I give you Green Leaf, the ring that enables its wearer to have multiple times the skill in anything that they had possessed before. I know it will aid you well, for you have the heart of the warrior. Beware, however, for though you have the heart of a warrior, you have the mind of a scholar, and the soul of a peace-maker."
*How conflicted I seem to be,* she joked to herself as she turned the ring over in her fingers, admiring it before slipping it onto her right hand's ring finger, still wondering in its beauty. Galadriel, however, took hold of her right hand and slipped the ring from it. She gestured for Aila to hold out her left hand and placed it upon the ring finger as if Aila were married. The Lady of the Wood looked at Aila in a meaningful way, but Aila was lost upon her meaning. Sighing, the Lady bid the entire Company farewell and the Company pushed their boats into the river as the swan boat stayed for a while longer. Watching as the light of Lorien was lost to them, the cheer of the Company fell.
"I have looked the last upon that which was fairest," Aila heard Gimli say to Legolas. "Henceforward I will call noting fair, unless it be her gift." He placed his hand over his chest, where he had placed the hair in a pocket. "Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Gloin!"
"Nay!" replied Legolas. "Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Gloin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlorien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale. For you at least have looked upon that of beauty and held it. Some must go on without having their desire or the faintest idea of how it might be," he said, his gaze wandering towards Aila, who was looking forward. He only saw the back of her head, but his heart swelled within him.
"Beautiful words," she said to Legolas, turning halfway in the boat. "Yet the comfort within them is cold to Gimli, I am sure. Memory or fantasy is not what the heart desires."
"I am well aware of that," he replied and said no more. Aila picked up her paddle in the front of the boat and began to paddle for speed, allowing Legolas in the back of the boat to steer, which was how it went with such canoes. Soon, they caught up with Aragorn.
"See how well we go," Aila teased, "with two competent rowers. Three, even. Never have I been in a boat before, but the adrenaline rush is spectacular!" Smiling, her cheeks flushed pink with the chill of the water that flew up from her paddle, Aila jested with Aragorn while they calmly rowed onwards. That night they rested along the bank and started again early in the morning, before the day was broad.
None of the Company was in a great hurry to get to the perils ahead, so they allowed the river to push them forward at its own pace. That day drew long and boring. None of the Company talked once they were out of the secrecy of the trees.
Leaning on the side of the boat, with her head in her hand, Aila dropped her free hand to the surface of the water and trailed it along lazily in the swift current. The water pulled at her hand, dragging it back, and she allowed it to push her hand where it would, bouncing it along in its secret underwater paths. A ripple followed behind the boat wherever her hand trailed. She went like this for a few minutes when she felt Gimli's hand pulling hers from the water.
"We know not what tidings this river brings," he said in a hushed whisper. "Or what dwells beneath it. It is best we do not disturb the surface more than necessary." Nodding her head, Aila wiped her dripping hand upon her tunic.
So they went on, borne steadily southwards in the river's tow. Each member of the Company was left to their own thoughts. Sam mumbled to himself about how uncomfortable and dreary boats were, if at all safe. Pippin thought of Frodo, Frodo thought of the mission, Merry thought of port-wine. Legolas' heart ran under the stars of a summer night in a northern glade in Mirkwood, among beech-woods. Aila's heart belonged back in Rivendell, her breath captured in the beauty of Lorien, but her soul was troubled with what lay ahead of them, which seemed even closer now that they were out of Lorien.
Her heart and mind were still heavy with these thoughts when they landed at dusk. She ate her meal silently of the food provided for them by the Galadhrim. Though the Company spoke quietly amongst themselves, she took no part in it, but set up her bedroll a few feet from where they sat by the fire. She sat on her bedroll, thinking thoughts all to herself, when she vaguely heard the talk turn back to Moria. Wanting to hear this, she scooted closer to their circle; Merry and Pippin obliged by moving over so she could sit between them.
"Never," said Boromir, "have I seen a woman fight with the skill that I saw Lady Aila fight with in the Chamber of Records. The orcs she slew!"
"It was my sword," she responded, gazing into the fire. "It seemed to have a mind of its own so I just let it perform its will. All I did was follow it around. The skill I exhibited had nothing to do with me."
"Yes and no," said Legolas when she had finished. "The Sword of Light was made for the Light Bearer ages ago in the very beginning of the Elder Days when the prophecy was first written. The Sword is made specially for you, Aila. If anyone else were to wield the blade, it would be heavy, unbalanced and like any other blade. But the elves put every protection spell that they knew or could invent upon it so that when the rightful Bearer holds it, it is light, balanced, and with a mind of its own to protect you. So in a way, it has everything to do with you."
"I'm getting pretty sick of every elf on the face of Middle Earth being so protective of me."
"And why shouldn't they be?" Legolas asked. "We have been waiting for your arrival for a very long time. You alone are the single most important prophetic being in elven history. You are our salvation."
"Or your destruction," muttered Aila under her breath, but everyone heard it. "If I even live."
…
A/N: I love that ending, don't you? It's so great. Anyway, another LONG chapter for me. Woo hoo. Tomorrow I've got ROTC, so I get to go be a flight sergeant, but today I've got Titan. FUN STUFF! That's why I couldn't post until after 4:30 because Titan practice doesn't end until 4. Oh the joys of teaching a whole bunch of incompetents. Once again, see ya later and REVIEW! (It's the only thing that keeps me going, plus I've prewritten almost to GONDOR! You don't want me to stop there, do you?)
A/N: Okay, Titan practice today. I have to teach a whole bunch of IDIOTS! Their tall, but stupid. Oh well … at least I get to teach with Chad. I love Chad … Okay, ANYWHO, I kind of get off topic a lot, huh? Well, get over it. (just kidding) This is a fun chapter, the next one is even great. My writer's block is gone, and this should be coming out on 9/9 with chap 25, cuz I feel so bad that I can't post. That's what you get for responding to flamers. Let that be a lesson to y'all! (Ooh, "y'all", I'm from Texas!)
…
Time seemed to fly while she talked with her companions, what Galadriel had said in the back of her mind now. She paid no attention to the meaning behind their words and their expressions. Six o'clock finally rolled around and she doggedly followed the others as they once more climbed the stair of Galadriel's tree into Celeborn's house.
Upon arriving, slightly red from the exertion, The Lord and Lady greeted them with fair words and Celeborn spoke of their departure. Aila only half listened as the plotted out their journey by boat down the Anduin.
"All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon tomorrow," said Celeborn. "I will send my people to you in the morning to help you make ready for the journey. Now we will wish you all a fair night and untroubled sleep." They returned to their pavilion and discussed further their road and course of action. This time, however, Legolas remained with them, for this was their last night in Lorien and they wished to speak of the road.
The night was growing old and still the conversation continued. Merry and Pippin were already asleep, and Sam was nodding. Aila was leaning heavily upon Aragorn's shoulder, her eyes half open, his arm thrust around her shoulders in support.
"I think it is time that we all went to sleep. We have a hard journey to restart in the morning."
Gratefully, Aila stumbled to her couch and pulled the blankets up to her chin. "Good night," she yawned to the entire Company. The phrase was repeated in chorus and echoes as the companions bid each other a good night.
…
When the morning came, they began to pack their goods once more, Aila had forgotten about the scroll which lay in her pack, but she didn't bother about that at the moment. Elves came to them and gave them way-bread for their journey and gifts of clothing. To Aila they gave a specially carved bow, matching the intricate designs upon her sword hilt and it pleased her greatly. She tested it out and found it had the same range as her compound bow and even more accurate. It was made with the care of Elves for their Light Bearer. There was no finer bow.
"I would feel much safer," she said to them, "if Legolas kept this excellent bow, and not myself. He would make better use of it." Legolas and the elves declined. The bow was made for her and had the same qualities as the sword: it would protect her at all costs.
"The gifts for the Light Bearer were scattered across middle earth and when you come to Ithilien one day, they will most likely have something for you there as well," said one of the elves bearing gifts.
"High you are in the Lady's favor," continued another elf, as he pulled cloaks from their bag to give to the Company, each cloak woven for the size of each. "The Lady and her maidens wove these and never have we garbed strangers in the cloth of the Galadhrim." The cloaks varied colors when they moved and the elves explained their hues. When those elves had left, the Company made ready to leave Lorien.
Haldir, however, came into view and walked towards them. Aila felt joy swell in her heart at the sight of him and she ran to the elf to greet him.
"I have returned from the Northern fences," he said to her, "and I am sent now to be your guide again. The Dimrill Dale is full of vapor and clouds of smoke, and the mountains are troubled. There are noises in the deeps of the earth. If any of you had thought of returning northwards to your homes, you would not have been able to pass that way. But come! Your path now goes south." Following their guide, the Fellowship and their One Companion went silently as they listened to song and voice above them in the trees. Aila walked alongside Haldir, happy that he was with them again. Legolas walked protectively on her other side and Aila continued to wonder why he despised Haldir so.
They came upon the boats and Haldir hailed them once more.
"Come!" he said. "All is now ready for you. Enter the boats, but take care at first." Merry brought up the question of who rode in which boat and Aila answered his question before anyone else could.
"Aragorn will row one boat and with him will travel Frodo and Sam. The next boat will be rowed by Boromir, who will be accompanied by Merry and Pippin. In the third boat, Legolas shall steer and Gimli shall accompany him."
"What of you?" asked Aragorn and Aila thought a moment, feeling even more how much she was not supposed to be on this journey, where she had no space on the boat.
"She will come in my boat," said Legolas. "Aila is light and so is Gimli. It would seem unfair to have four people in one boat while I have but two riding in mine."
"Yes, but that would mean three Big Folk," said Merry, who had taken a liking to Legolas and did not wish him extra strain.
"Yes, but I weigh less than Aragorn and Boromir myself and I can row a boat skillfully without much physical exertion applied." This mattered solved they entered the boats and Aila sat at the front of Legolas' boat, with Gimli between herself and the elf. As they rowed, a large swan-boat came from behind them and drew up along side, and she closed her eyes as she listened to Galadriel's beautiful song. They were bid to a parting feast and Legolas skillfully steered the boat to the shore, jumping out in the shallows of the river and pulling the boat up fully onto the shore before offering a hand to aid Aila in getting out.
Gimli grunted and splashed down the shallows himself as Aila waited to be on dry land. After they had feasted Aila laid herself down upon the sweet grass near the river and closed her eyes against the onslaught of the sun while the Fellowship spoke with Celeborn of their trip.
"Now is the time to drink the cup of farewell," she heard Galadriel say when they had finished their conversation. "Drink, Lord of the Galadhrim! And let not your heart be sad, though night must follow noon, and already our evening draws nigh."
After Celeborn had drunk deeply from the white mead that filled the cup, she brought it to each member of the Company and spoke softly to them, holding the cup to their lips. Aila sat up and stood along with the Fellowship. Then she presented each of the Fellowship with a gift.
To Aragorn she presented him with a sheath specially made for his blade, that had spells writ on it to keep the blade from staining or breaking, even in defeat. Also, she gave to him a brooch that Aila recognized as Arwen's and Aragorn proudly pinned it upon his chest. He stood even more proudly and kingly than she had ever seen him before.
Boromir received a golden belt, and Merry and Pippin each received smaller silver belts, with buckles fashioned like golden flowers.
"Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood, may this serve you well," Galadriel said as she handed him a bow of the Galadhrim, longer and stouter than his bow of Mirkwood. To Sam she gave a small box filled with the dirt of her orchard for him to place in his own garden when the time came.
Aila smiled as Gimli asked for a lock of Galadriel's hair. It was much to everyone else's surprise however, but she gave it to him and he accepted it with the utmost wonder. Finally, to Frodo she gave a vial containing the light of Earendil's star. It was even more beautiful than Aila could have ever imagined but she forgot the beauty of the star that Frodo held within his small hands as Galadriel came before her, a smile playing across her pale pink lips.
"To you, Aila, Light Bearer, I give you advice as well. I ask you to recall what I said to you days ago and beg of you to follow my advice well and you will be grateful for it. However, I also give you a gift." She pulled forth from her finger a ring of emerald green, but of another material than gem. It was shaped like a leaf, with its stem wrapping around to form a place for her finger. The veins of the leaf were shot with silver but the leaf itself was definitely of emerald. The stem however was of some green metal. "To you, Light Bearer, I give you Green Leaf, the ring that enables its wearer to have multiple times the skill in anything that they had possessed before. I know it will aid you well, for you have the heart of the warrior. Beware, however, for though you have the heart of a warrior, you have the mind of a scholar, and the soul of a peace-maker."
*How conflicted I seem to be,* she joked to herself as she turned the ring over in her fingers, admiring it before slipping it onto her right hand's ring finger, still wondering in its beauty. Galadriel, however, took hold of her right hand and slipped the ring from it. She gestured for Aila to hold out her left hand and placed it upon the ring finger as if Aila were married. The Lady of the Wood looked at Aila in a meaningful way, but Aila was lost upon her meaning. Sighing, the Lady bid the entire Company farewell and the Company pushed their boats into the river as the swan boat stayed for a while longer. Watching as the light of Lorien was lost to them, the cheer of the Company fell.
"I have looked the last upon that which was fairest," Aila heard Gimli say to Legolas. "Henceforward I will call noting fair, unless it be her gift." He placed his hand over his chest, where he had placed the hair in a pocket. "Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Gloin!"
"Nay!" replied Legolas. "Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream. But I count you blessed, Gimli son of Gloin: for your loss you suffer of your own free will, and you might have chosen otherwise. But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlorien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart, and shall neither fade nor grow stale. For you at least have looked upon that of beauty and held it. Some must go on without having their desire or the faintest idea of how it might be," he said, his gaze wandering towards Aila, who was looking forward. He only saw the back of her head, but his heart swelled within him.
"Beautiful words," she said to Legolas, turning halfway in the boat. "Yet the comfort within them is cold to Gimli, I am sure. Memory or fantasy is not what the heart desires."
"I am well aware of that," he replied and said no more. Aila picked up her paddle in the front of the boat and began to paddle for speed, allowing Legolas in the back of the boat to steer, which was how it went with such canoes. Soon, they caught up with Aragorn.
"See how well we go," Aila teased, "with two competent rowers. Three, even. Never have I been in a boat before, but the adrenaline rush is spectacular!" Smiling, her cheeks flushed pink with the chill of the water that flew up from her paddle, Aila jested with Aragorn while they calmly rowed onwards. That night they rested along the bank and started again early in the morning, before the day was broad.
None of the Company was in a great hurry to get to the perils ahead, so they allowed the river to push them forward at its own pace. That day drew long and boring. None of the Company talked once they were out of the secrecy of the trees.
Leaning on the side of the boat, with her head in her hand, Aila dropped her free hand to the surface of the water and trailed it along lazily in the swift current. The water pulled at her hand, dragging it back, and she allowed it to push her hand where it would, bouncing it along in its secret underwater paths. A ripple followed behind the boat wherever her hand trailed. She went like this for a few minutes when she felt Gimli's hand pulling hers from the water.
"We know not what tidings this river brings," he said in a hushed whisper. "Or what dwells beneath it. It is best we do not disturb the surface more than necessary." Nodding her head, Aila wiped her dripping hand upon her tunic.
So they went on, borne steadily southwards in the river's tow. Each member of the Company was left to their own thoughts. Sam mumbled to himself about how uncomfortable and dreary boats were, if at all safe. Pippin thought of Frodo, Frodo thought of the mission, Merry thought of port-wine. Legolas' heart ran under the stars of a summer night in a northern glade in Mirkwood, among beech-woods. Aila's heart belonged back in Rivendell, her breath captured in the beauty of Lorien, but her soul was troubled with what lay ahead of them, which seemed even closer now that they were out of Lorien.
Her heart and mind were still heavy with these thoughts when they landed at dusk. She ate her meal silently of the food provided for them by the Galadhrim. Though the Company spoke quietly amongst themselves, she took no part in it, but set up her bedroll a few feet from where they sat by the fire. She sat on her bedroll, thinking thoughts all to herself, when she vaguely heard the talk turn back to Moria. Wanting to hear this, she scooted closer to their circle; Merry and Pippin obliged by moving over so she could sit between them.
"Never," said Boromir, "have I seen a woman fight with the skill that I saw Lady Aila fight with in the Chamber of Records. The orcs she slew!"
"It was my sword," she responded, gazing into the fire. "It seemed to have a mind of its own so I just let it perform its will. All I did was follow it around. The skill I exhibited had nothing to do with me."
"Yes and no," said Legolas when she had finished. "The Sword of Light was made for the Light Bearer ages ago in the very beginning of the Elder Days when the prophecy was first written. The Sword is made specially for you, Aila. If anyone else were to wield the blade, it would be heavy, unbalanced and like any other blade. But the elves put every protection spell that they knew or could invent upon it so that when the rightful Bearer holds it, it is light, balanced, and with a mind of its own to protect you. So in a way, it has everything to do with you."
"I'm getting pretty sick of every elf on the face of Middle Earth being so protective of me."
"And why shouldn't they be?" Legolas asked. "We have been waiting for your arrival for a very long time. You alone are the single most important prophetic being in elven history. You are our salvation."
"Or your destruction," muttered Aila under her breath, but everyone heard it. "If I even live."
…
A/N: I love that ending, don't you? It's so great. Anyway, another LONG chapter for me. Woo hoo. Tomorrow I've got ROTC, so I get to go be a flight sergeant, but today I've got Titan. FUN STUFF! That's why I couldn't post until after 4:30 because Titan practice doesn't end until 4. Oh the joys of teaching a whole bunch of incompetents. Once again, see ya later and REVIEW! (It's the only thing that keeps me going, plus I've prewritten almost to GONDOR! You don't want me to stop there, do you?)