Magical Rings -Dancing With Lightning

Chapter 1 "It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Keladry of Mindelan yelled to Domitan of Masobelle as she kicked a Scanran from his horse, startling the animal so it trampled its rider in the face. "Like what??" he screeched back, spearing a man in the gut. "Fighting every- AARGHHHHHH!!!!" Kel's horse, Peachblossom, reared as the ground shook violently. "Fall back!" she screamed, calming Peachblossom down and moving him back towards New Hope. "Earthquake! Everyone, get inside!" A man knelt on the ground, and she recognised him to be Merric. "Where's you horse?" she cried, wincing as the ground shook again. He looked up at her gratefully, then grabbed her outstretched hand and let her pull him onto Peachblossom. "Go, boy!" she yelled. Peachblossom tore across the valley floor and sped across the bridge leading to the outer gates of New Hope. Halfway across, another earthquake shook the ground, throwing Kel from her horse, into the moat and on top of a group of sharp rocks. "Kel!!!" Dom threw himself from his panicking horse and carefully climbed down to get her as her scream of pain echoed through New Hope.

* * *

"Uggh." Kel rested her head on the pillow as the ground shook again, but not as badly as before. "Stop, stop, stop." Dom laid a hand on her bare back and chuckled. "It's not as bad as it was before," he told her as the nurse rubbed more ointment into Kel's exposed arms. "Hey, the last quake made you fall off Peachblossom and into the water, onto a load of sharp rocks. Be thankful you're in bed and a nurse is tending to your wounds." He resisted the temptation to let his eyes trail down the white sheet, where her figure was obvious. She was naked under there -except for her loincloth, which was also bloodstained-, and made him feel extremely nervous. She giggled at his remark. "Well, let's just say I feel like I will never walk again." Kel closed her eyes and let her hair slip down her cheek, now out of its untidy bun. Her hair was now a little longer than shoulder-length, and she wore it up in a horsetail or messy buns, where her hair just about flew everywhere. It suited her, though.

"Maybe you shouldn't have had Merric on Peachblossom," he said. "Then when your charming horsie reared, you wouldn't have fallen." "Merric would never have made it back to New Hope in time!" she protested, gasping in pain as the nurse's ointment leaked into a deep wound in the lower end of her back. "I had to help otherwise the- ouch!!" "I'm terribly sorry, my lady!" the nurse gasped, grabbing a handkerchief and dabbing at the wound, which had started bleeding again. Most of the wounds on the front of her body were still bleeding, and the sheet was soaked with blood. "My hand slipped!" "It's-quite-all-right," she gasped, trying not to cry as the nurse fought to stop the gash bleeding. "Stop her bleeding, can't you see she's losing a hell of a lot blood?" a sharp voice demanded from the doorway. A colourful shadow at his side gasped and ran to Kel, kneeling down next to the girl and stroking her hair out of her face.

"Yuki?" Kel asked. Yuki of Queenscove smiled at her friend. "Don't worry, Neal will tend to you. Shh," she murmured. Kel yelped from the iciness of Neal's hands on her back. "Hey, guess what," she murmured. "What?" She leaned close to Kel's ear and whispered in her ear, "I'm pregnant." "REALLY??!!" "Yes." "Oh, Goddess! If I wasn't bleeding half to death and almost naked, then I'd jump up and hug you! I'm so proud of you!!!" "Thankyou, Keladry," Yuki smiled at her friend and patted her stomach. "It is only a matter of weeks before it begins to show." "There you go, Kel," Neal's voice broke into their conversation. "You're not bleeding anymore, and I think everyone should leave while she gets dressed. Wear a dress please, Kel. Breeches will cut into the massive one in your back, and it'll start to bleed again. Get dressed, and we'll meet you in the hall." "Okay."

Everyone except Yuki filed out of the room and Kel turned on her back, pulling the covers up to her shoulders. "Tobe!" Tobies Boon, her servant, walked in with a handful of garments as he smiled at his lady. Throwing them onto the end of her bed, he bowed. "I'll take my leave, madam," he said quietly. "You need to get dressed. My Lord Wyldon is here and wishes to speak to you." He left the room and Kel sat up, looking through the garments. "But Neal said dresses." Yuki shrugged. "They are, aren't they?" She grabbed a dark blue something and shook it out in front of her. "Skirt??"

* * *

Kel walked out a couple of minutes later, a dark blue skirt brushing her toes, where black boots covered her feet. A white shirt covered her chest, the sleeves cut off to just below elbow length. The shirt was untucked, hanging just below the cut on her back. Yuki had insisted on a little makeup, so she had a dark line under each eye and stuff on her lips that made them shine. Her hair was done in two plaits, hanging on either side of her face. A few hairs had fallen out of one of the plaits, hanging next to her face. A bruise was beginning to show on the right side of her face, where it followed a light cut. Spreading from her right eye and disappearing into her hair, it looked pretty painful. She smiled at Tobe, who was standing there with his mouth open, and walked to meet Lord Wyldon.

She found her lord outside the fence of the horses' paddock, watching the children learn to ride with Merric as their teacher. "My lord?" Wyldon, caught by surprise, jumped and swore as his knee hit the fence. Kel hid a smile with her hand as Wyldon rubbed his knee, complaining. "Hello, Keladry. How are you?" "Getting better, sir." "Good, good. Look, I'll be frank with you. There are some knights that are due here in a week or two, and they are as new as new can be. You're going to have a bit of a rough time for a month or two. Don't worry; some of them aren't new. But then, we're going to get someone to take over for a while. King Jonathan wants you to have a rest." "Is Owen of Jesslaw one of those knights, sir?" Wyldon laughed. "How did you guess?" Kel smiled at her former training master. "Because my back would be numb by now, sir," she told him, knowing at Owen would have latched himself to some part of her torso already. "Yes, he does seem to like you quite a lot. He never stops talking about you." "Can't imagine why," she muttered. He laughed. "I can," he said primly. She laughed and hit him lightly on the arm. "And I'm a dog."

* * *

"Gandalf." The White Wizard turned around and smiled at the approaching Meriadoc Brandybuck, who was now as tall as he was. He bowed to Merry as he stopped, and Merry did the same. "How can I help you, Merry?" "The earth has been shaking. Can you not feel it? I don't know what is going on, but it doesn't feel right. Do you know what it could be?" Gandalf frowned, rubbing his temples. "I have felt the earth move several times in the past week," he admitted, to Merry's obvious discomfort. "And I do not have anything whatsoever to do with it. It may be a change in atmosphere, or something. I have no ideas, at all, Merry. I truly am sorry." "Thankyou for your time. It was enough. You at least gave me a possibility to think about. Thankyou, Gandalf." Gandalf the White and Meriadoc Brandybuck bowed to each other and left.

* * *

"Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. It is absolutely wonderful to see you again." Frodo turned around, and grinned up at the tall hobbits in front of him. Peregrin Took knelt on the ground and crushed Frodo in a hug, while Meriadoc did the same to Frodo's companion, Samwise Gamgee. "Merry!" Sam cried. "It's so good to see you two again. Mr Frodo and I have really missed you." "I should think so," Peregrin told them. "We've missed you, too." "Pippin, Merry, will you come inside for tea?" Frodo asked the two tall hobbits. "We'd be honoured to," Pippin and Merry replied at the same moment. They grinned at each other, and Merry walked towards the door as Frodo and Sam hurried inside. Bumping his head on the doorframe, he winced. "Could we perhaps eat outside?" he called, rubbing his forehead.

They all shook as the ground trembled again.

* * *

"Here they are, Keladry." Kel smiled at all the knights as they dismounted from their horses. "Thankyou, my lord." She turned to the men in front of her. "Welcome to New Hope. I hope you find it comfortable enough for you here. Your rooms are over there-" she pointed to a block of buildings to her right, "-and the stables are behind me. Take you belongings to your rooms and I'll give you instructions at supper." As the men led their horses to the stables, she spotted two waving. One was waving frantically at her, the other was smiling carefully. She smiled at waved back to Owen of Jesslaw and Cleon of Kennan. "Talk to us later!" Owen called happily. Kel smiled at walked towards her rooms, shaking her head.

* * *

Alanna of Trebond and Olau, lady of Pirate's Swoop, stared at Numair Salmalín. "Are you mad?" she cried. "We could destroy the planet!" "Jonathan wants us to at least try. The reason I called you here is because you can help me do this. If I cast the spell, and you steady it, the world will not explode, but there are many different possibilities." "Like what?" Veralidaine Sarrasri piped up from the corner, with her dragon, Skysong in her lap. Skysong squawked, and Daine looked at the young dragon. "Kitten, hush." "I couldn't possibly begin to explain," Numair told his lover. "It's extremely difficult to guess, but it wouldn't hurt the planet if Alanna was to help me." Daine stifled a giggle as Alanna shot a glare at Numair. "Fine," Alanna said haughtily. "I'll help you." The ground shook again, and Skysong jumped out Daine's lap, whistling madly. Turning grey, she ran around the room frantically. Daine jogged after her dragon and picked her up, walking out of the room as Alanna and Numair began to chant the spell together, King Jonathan sitting in the back of the room, watching.

* * *

"Really?" Frodo asked in amazement, eating a bread roll. "Do you think you'll stop growing?" "We hope so," Merry said. "After drinking that cursed Ent Draught, we've been nothing but tall. Oh well, it's not too bad." "Mm," Pippin agreed, his mouth full. He swallowed and added, "The only down side is that when we look at our friends, we have to look down." Everyone laughed, and Sam winced as the ground shook again. "What is that?" he said. Merry shrugged. "We don't know. I talked to Gandalf yesterday, and he doesn't know either. oh, what is that?!" He pointed upwards and they all looked towards what he was pointing at. A cloud of black outlined with white and purple flew over the sky. "What is it?" someone said. It was a man's voice, but not one they knew. "It didn't seem to do anything, Jon," a lady answered. "It's coming from the cloud," Pippin whispered. "Perhaps we didn't do it right," another one answered. "Should we try again, Alanna?" "Numair! I have no Gift left!" the lady cried. "I can't try again for at least a day. Oh, I forgot! So mote it be."

She clapped, and as she did, the cloud dropped onto Middle Earth.

* ^ *

Veralidaine Sarrasri led her pony, Cloud, around the paddock at a trot. In front of the pony and jogging backwards so she faced her pony, she said, "Come on, Cloud! You can go faster than that!" I know, the pony replied. I just don't want to. "Two sugar lumps when we get back," she coaxed. Three, Cloud argued. Then maybe I'll run for a while. "Fine!" Daine slowed down so she was running along side her pony, and they hurried around the paddock. "MERRY!!!" They both stopped still as they heard the voice. Then Daine looked up and screeched as a purple, black and white light surrounded the air around them. Daine dropped to the ground and pulled Cloud as low as the pony could go as someone screamed 'Merry' again. This time, someone answered. "Calm down," it said. By its voice, Daine could tell it was a male, and a fairly old one. "Everything will be fine." "Gandalf? You're here?" "Yes. Now, be quiet."

Daine stood up with Cloud, trying to look through the colour, but failing. "Who's there?" she called. The colour faded, and Daine screamed as she saw people surrounded her. "Who are you??" she cried. They all turned to look at her. Some were extremely short, and others were awfully tall. A lot were in between, though. A tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward and bowed gracefully. "I am Legolas Greenleaf," he introduced himself. "What might be your name, fair maiden?" Daine blushed and bowed carefully. "Veralidaine Sarrasri, sir. But I go by Daine." "Lady Veralidaine," Legolas said politely. "What country is this?" Daine stared at Legolas. "Tortall," she told him. "Where else would we be?" A murmur of panic ran through the crowd. "What town, lady?" Legolas asked. "Corus."

"Corus! Where is Corus!!" one person in the crowd exclaimed. "Didn't you just hear?" another one demanded. "Tortall!" "But where is Tortall!" that same one cried. Legolas looked at Daine again. "Are we on Middle Earth?" he asked. An old man with a staff walked through the crowd. "Of course not, Legolas," he snapped. He looked at Daine and said politely, "Lady, would you please get someone who could explain things a little better for us? Your king, if he is here?" "Please wait for a moment," Daine replied. "I'll be right back." She jogged off, only stopping to vault over the fence. Once she was out of sight, she sprinted to the room where Jonathan, Alanna and Numair were. Bursting through the doors, she said triumphantly, "I just found out what the consequence was for doing that spell!" Jonathan stood up so suddenly that his chair fell over. "What is it?" he asked. "You'll soon find out. They want to speak to you, your Majesty." "Me?" "Yes. Quickly, though."

Jonathan, Alanna and Numair followed Daine out the door and into the paddock, where most of the large group of people had sat down. The only people that remained standing were Legolas, the man that had sent her to get someone, and a man with black shoulder-length hair. Legolas and the other men bowed to the newcomers. "Excuse me," the old man said politely. "My name is Gandalf, and I am a wizard of Middle Earth. You already know Legolas Greenleaf, and this is King Aragorn, son of Arathorn." Alanna, Jonathan and Numair bowed to Gandalf, Legolas and King Aragorn, and they bowed back politely. "Surely a king can talk to another king?" Daine asked politely. Jonathan nodded and walked over to Aragorn, talking quietly to him. "And sorcerers to wizards?" she asked again. Alanna and Numair smiled at her and Gandalf walked over to them, immediately engaging them in conversation.

"What about archers to archers?" Legolas asked politely. Daine smiled at Legolas. "How do you know I am an archer?" she asked. "For all you know, I could be a axe-wielder." Legolas smiled. "You have a quiver on your back," he pointed out, rather primly, she thought. "And your bow attached to that." Daine blushed. "Right." They both walked forward and sat on the ground.

* * *

"Lady! There is a letter for you from lady Alanna!" Kel looked around Owen's shoulder and saw Tobe running to her. She excused herself from Owen and Cleon and walked up to her servant. He offered the letter to her, and she took it from him. "Thankyou, Tobe." She walked up to her rooms and collapsed onto the bed, opening her letter.

Dear Keladry, (It read)
You would not believe what is going on here! Jonathan asked Numair to do a small experiment, and he asked me to give him a hand. We did the big spell thing, and you won't believe what happened!! These people from Middle Earth just landed in the middle of Tortall, but they think more of their people landed in different countries! They're all so nice, and Daine seems a little taken with one such man. Well, he's not really a man, he's name is Legolas Greenleaf, and he's an elf. An elf!! That's not all, there are dwarves, hobbits, ents, men and many other beings like trolls and orcs and Uruk-hais. Fortunately, there are no Uruk-hais or orcs or trolls around. They're apparently bad news, but nothing to what we've fought before, I expect.

When you come home, you'll love them! They are all so lovely!

-Alanna

Keladry smiled and jumped as someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she called. Tobe strolled in, carrying two more letters. "Here lady," he said, dumping them in her lap. She looked at the handwriting on the front. "Oh, it's from mother!" she exclaimed, opening the letter. It was full of nonsense, like 'take care of yourself', and 'don't get hurt or killed'. "Oh well," she sighed, throwing her mother's letter into the fire. "She was never much of a letter writer anyway." Kel looked at the next one and realised it was from Lord Wyldon. She opened it and read.

Keladry,
This letter is not from me, but from a man named King Aragorn. He is from Middle Earth and wishes to write to you. Please, before you leave, pick a man (or woman) to look after the camp while you are gone.

In completely different writing, underneath it said,

Keladry of Mindelan,
I understand you are short of warriors at you place name New Hope. Many soldiers and warriors (including myself) from Middle Earth are willing to help, if you like. Men could come and help you with battles and such.

I understand that by the time you get this, you will be leaving for Corus in a matter of two days. Please don't write to me, just tell me when you get back. I am looking forward to meeting you, as are my men.

-Aragorn.

Kel put the letter on her bedside table and dragged her packs out from underneath her bed. She'd better leave sooner rather than later. If any of those, 'orcs' were nearby, she'd prefer to get people who knew how to fight them than people that didn't. "Tobe!" she called. Her servant walked through the door, carrying a small package. "Come on, pack your things. We need to go to Corus for a while." "Really?" Tobe cried, excited. "I can't wait! I've never seen Corus before! Ooh, I wonder how big it is!" Kel smiled at started packing her bags.

* * *

"Thankyou for doing this, Cleon." Kel hugged him around the shoulders and sighed as he jerked away, looking at the ground. "Kel." "Sorry, Cleon," Kel told him, trying not to let the hurt show in her eyes. "But, thankyou so much for doing this for me. I owe you my life." "You don't owe me anything," he muttered. "Fine, I don't." Kel mounted Hoshi and shook his hand. Tobe was sitting on Peachblossom, waiting at the gates. "Goodbye." She turned Hoshi around to face Tobe and they both trotted out the gate. She waved to the children who were standing at the gate, calling out goodbyes. Cleon watched them go, wishing his family were richer so he could be married to Kel now.

* * *

"We stop here for the night." Kel and Tobe put Hoshi and Peachblossom into two empty stalls and walked into the inn's common room. She walked up to the bar. "One lemonade and one fruit juice please," she told the barmaid. "My lady," Tobe murmured. "I was wondering. maybe when my four years under your command are up, might I stay with you?" Kel stared at her servant as the maid brought the drinks to their table. "Really?" she asked mildly. He nodded. "If my lady doesn't mind, I'd love to stay with you. I mean, Peachblossom, too." he muttered, going red. Kel smiled. "You know, I was going to ask you if you'd like to stay and take care of Peachblossom for me." "Really??" he looked delighted. "I mean, I'd love to!" "Excellent." Keladry picked up her drink and clinked hers together with Tobe's. A maid walked up to Keladry and Tobe, with a cloaked figure behind her. "My lady," she asked breathlessly. "There is someone here who wishes to see you." Kel shrugged, putting her tankard down on the table. "Pull up a chair," she offered to the cloaked figure. "And get this person a drink! What would you like?"

"I will have some ale, thankyou," he said quietly. "How much?" "I'll buy it," Kel offered as the maid hurried off. "Pull your hood down. I'd like to see who I'm talking to!" The man pulled his hood down and reached across the table to shake Kel's hand. She looked a little confused. "I'm sorry sir, I've never seen you before."

He smiled at her. "Please forgive me. I am Éomer, King of Riddermark. I have an army, and King Aragorn has asked me to assist you and your people, if you would consent us to." "Of course!" Kel cried as the maid came with his drink. "How could I not turn down such an offer? Thankyou so much, your Majesty." Éomer smiled and said, "Just Éomer please, lady. Is this your child?" he asked, motioning to Tobe. The boy turned red and started muttering about 'not having no parents'. Kel smiled. "No he isn't, but he's as good as my own. Sometimes he's like a little brother to me, and sometimes he's like my own son. He's such a lovely person. Tobies Boon. He's my servant. But he likes Tobe."

Éomer smiled at Tobe. "I'm honoured to meet you, Master Tobe." Tobe beamed back at Éomer. "Thankyou sir." Éomer looked at Kel again. "I'm to escort you back to Corus. Hopefully we'll be there by tomorrow." He smiled. "If you can keep up with my pace, that is." Kel grinned. "Hopefully," she agreed.

* * *

"Welcome back to your home." Kel smiled at new friend. "It's fantastic to be home again," she told him. She started laughing as she saw Tobe's face. The boy was staring around with his mouth hanging open and eyes popping. "Calm down," she told him. "You haven't seen anything until you've been to Port Caynn." "There's so much of everything," he whispered. Kel laughed again and they rode towards the palace.

* * *

"Keladry!" Kel turned around to see a flash of Alanna's copper hair before getting crushed into a hug, which she thought was very odd because she was at least a foot taller than the other woman. Someone behind her giggled, and Alanna turned around to face two very short men and two tall men. "Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam, I'd like you to meet Keladry of Mindelan." Kel bowed to all of them, and they bowed back. "Keladry, this is Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck. They're all hobbits." "What are hobbits?" Kel asked, utterly confused. "Halflings. Little people." Alanna explained. "Those two aren't little," Kel pointed out. "They drank something called 'Ent Draught'. An Ent is a large tree that walks and talks. We've met many around here, and they're extremely friendly. Merry and Pippin have grown tall from the Draught. They used to be as little as Frodo and Sam." "Really?" "Yes. Now, Frodo, Sam and Pippin, Numair wants to talk with you. Éomer, will you come with me to Jon? And Tobies Boon, I'm going to show you around. Kel, could you show Merry around? He's been here for a week or two, but he still hasn't seen it all yet."

"Of course." "Good. Thankyou." Alanna walked off with the rest of the people.

Merry's eyes met Kel's, and he felt like she could see through his soul.