"Aragorn!" Legolas cried when Aragorn finally came out of his trance.
Aragorn was panting as he tried to sort out his thoughts. The vision he had just seen was thick in his mind, and brought back the pain of loneliness he had been feeling for months.
"What happened?" Gandalf asked sternly.
"I saw—"Aragorn began still out of breath, "I saw a vision."
"What did you see?"
"I saw Grima, he was with Saruman. Saruman asked that if anything happened Grima would know what to do. Grima agreed, and then I saw him after Saruman's death. He picked up his book of spells, and turned to a page. The Evenstar was drawn on it." Aragorn paused here, remembering who he saw next. Gandalf eyes turned grave at the mention of this page. "And then I saw her."
"You saw Arwen?" Legolas asked.
"Yes," Aragorn replied, "She left party of Elves journeying to the Undying lands. She was riding towards Rivendell, when she was attacked by Urak-Hai. She—she" His voice cracked, "She tried to escape, but—but—they caught her." Legolas bowed his head in sorrow, and Aragorn let the tears flow.
"I'm so sorry Aragorn," Gandalf said sadly.
"Why Gandalf? Why her?"
"Only she can bear the ancient powers of evil."
"What are they going to do to her?"
"Grima Wormtongue plans to send Arwen's spirit into shadow. If this is accomplished, Arwen will become extremely powerful. Even greater than Saruman, she will be able to raise the spirits of Saruman and Sauron back to life."
A wave of terror passed over Aragorn's handsome face. Hearing that his love could be forced to turn evil was a torture worse than death itself. Gandalf saw the look in Aragorn's eyes,
"There is more, if Grima is successful Middle earth will be thrown into darkness."
"But how is that possible?" Gimli asked, "The ring has been destroyed."
"The enemy will no longer need the ring. It has been destroyed and cannot be renewed, it is now useless. If Arwen is given these powers, she will become the weapon of Mordor. The Evenstar will become an evil star, swearing loyalty to the darkness. She will become the right hand of Sauron, capable of destroying this world."
"This cannot be true," Aragorn whispered wishing that this was all a lie.
"I'm afraid that all of this is true."
Aragorn bowed his head. He felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest and trampled over by a whole army of Orcs. He had believed for so long that she had left him for a home across the sea. He now knew that she hadn't left him, only to learn that she had been captured by Grima. She had not wanted to leave him that was why she was riding home. Grima had just smuggled her away from the people she loved, making them believe that she was safe. Anger suddenly swelled through him. She had only been trying to get back to him, but Grima had not allowed that to happen.
"Gandalf, why did Strider have this vision? I mean he can't see the future, can he?" Sam asked.
Gandalf shut his eyes and stood calmly, slightly leaning on his staff. He looked like he did in Moria, when he discovered that a Balrog was coming to greet them. He came out of his meditation and stared at them all. "The Valar has given Aragorn these visions to help us find Arwen."
"Well why not tell us straight out?" Merry asked bitterly.
"She has been taken by leaders of the darkness. The forces of good cannot discern exactly where she is."
"They just can't make these things easy." Pippin muttered.
"These visions will give us clues towards to enemy's plan."
"But why me?" Aragorn asked
"Because you are Arwen's love, it is you who bears her Evenstar." All eyes turned towards the glittering jewel that Aragorn always wore.
"That jewel is the key to Arwen's powers. Grima needs it to complete the ritual which will turn her evil. Also her immortality must no be taken."
"Arwen has renounced the twilight," Legolas said hopefully, "The Valar can take away her immortality and the ritual cannot be performed."
"The Valar cannot do that if she has been captured by evil. She is hidden in shadow and will not be revealed unless Grima or Arwen is killed. Or if he succeeds."
Aragorn saw the faces of his friends filled with despair. When the mission was to destroy the one ring, they had the ring and a destination. All they had now was the Evenstar and that was of little help it appeared.
"Gandalf, how do you know of all of this, about the ritual and all?" Frodo asked.
"When I became the White wizard I was given more knowledge of the powers of this earth. I learned of Arwen's abilities after my time as Gandalf the Grey ended."
"Why wasn't I ever told of this?" Aragorn asked with a slight frown on his face.
"Elrond wished to protect his daughter so few were allowed to know. He knew that if the enemy learned this, what is happening now would occur. It appears that Saruman knew of her capabilities for some time. Most likely he felt the threat of defeat, and that is why he told Grima of this second plan."
"So the lassie is a back up plan," Gimli stated.
"Yes, when Saruman was killed, Grima knew to begin the second plot."
"What can we do Gandalf?" Aragorn asked.
"I feel that we should ride to Isengard. There we may learn of where this ritual must be performed, for that is knowledge I do not know."
"I will go after her."
Gandalf gave a small smile, "I never doubted you would.
"I to will go," Legolas said moving to stand next to Aragorn.
"Well I can't very well allow an Elf to have all the fun." Gimli said joining his friends.
Faramir slowly walked towards Aragorn, "I will serve you my king, and fight with you to defeat this evil." Aragorn smiled at him, reminding him of his brother Boromir, the only member of the Fellowship that did not survive.
"We'll come too," Merry and Pippin said jumping from their seats.
"We all will, the entire Fellowship." Frodo said also joining them followed by Sam.
Aragorn was grateful that his friends were risking their lives again to destroy evil. His mind wandered into a memory of the entire Fellowship leaving Rivendell. He remembered Lord Elrond bidding them good well and fortune. A sudden pang of sadness washed over him as he remembered seeing Arwen before he left the city. Her lovely face had been sad, her blue eyes filled with tears. He knew that were not only sad with him leaving, but of also the sadness of their last conversation.
He had told her to leave for Valinor, saying that all they had been through was just a dream.
"I don't believe you," She had whispered sternly looking into his grey eyes.
"This belongs to you," He had said trying to giver her back to Evenstar.
She looked at his hand then back at his face, "It was a gift," closing his palm around the jewel, "keep it."
He now wished that he had never said those things to her, perhaps then none of this would have happened. If only he could run towards her place of captivity and rescue her from Grima's hands, but he could not do that. He silently wondered what she was thinking now, and where she was.
