Chapter 2: The Debate
Elrond the Halfelven awoke early the next morning with his mind still filled with grief for his son's death. Whenever he didn't think about Euadan he thought of the upcoming debate and how he could persuade Galadriel to join him. He started thinking if it was worth it to risk his life for men he didn't even know; of course he wanted to see Arwen again but was it worth the death of many of his people? But men came from Ilúvatar as well did they not? He had to aid the Valar in protecting the Eldar's distant brethren.
Soon after breakfast Elrohir stopped by to converse with his father and go with him to the grand meeting. Elrohir seemed to be in a state between tired and rested; he wanted Galadriel's people to aid him in getting his revenge for Euadan's death. He knew there was a very slim chance any of them would ever pick up a sword again. If they didn't when Sauron was about to capture Gondor why would they do it now when Morgoth was miles away and they were protected by the Valar. Unlike his own people who missed their old homes and the lands of Middle Earth the people of Lórien were very happy here. Still Elrohir knew if there was even a slight chance of drawing some of them back to Middle Earth he had to try and that was what his father was trying to do as well. They both knew in the end they needed all the help they could get.
Elrond finally took his mind of things and looked at Elrohir; noticing his nervous state of mind he said:
"Do not worry my son; this meeting is more a respect for formality than anything else." Elrohir looked at his father, his strand of thought broken. "Every single being in that hall today already knows who will be going to war and who will not. Maybe a few younger elves will be swayed from side to side but otherwise you need not worry."
Elrohir nodded and tried to heed his father's words but something still burned in the back of his mind: "It's not just that father…" he paused remembering the way his brother was slain "…I just want to make sure we succeed in this upcoming war and that we can avenge Euadan's death."
Elrond nodded and thought for a while; finally he answered: "I would tell you not to fight with a heart filled with anger and a darkened mind, but that would just be a failed attempt of hiding my own feelings. I too wish to avenge Euadan but you must understand that even if he is avenged it will not make you feel any better in the long run, and it will not bring back Euadan."
Elrohir nodded acknowledging that he understood his father's words. After a long silence between the two, in which only a gentle breeze could be heard, Elrohir's mind returned to his sister, Arwen. "Do you think she'll be alright?" he thought out loud. His question seemed more rhetorical than anything, as if it were meant to give his father the knowledge that he worried about Arwen. Elrond answered anyway:
"I can not be certain but I believe we will still find both Arwen and the White City well intact." Elrond grabbed his son's shoulder reassuringly. "As Gandalf said, I wouldn't underestimate the power of men. They may be inexperienced but their lives are too short for them to learn something slowly. Aragorn will make sure Arwen is kept safe. I am blessed with the gift of foresight but I think you know deep in your heart we will succeed in this final battle."
"Thank you father!" Elrohir smiled. "Your reassuring words will do me a great good in leading our people to victory." He chuckled and continued. "And getting more sleep at night. I keep having nightmares about the great evil that lies in the East, and how Arwen seems surrounded by it."
"Then we will disperse the darkness quickly and turn it into something as weak as a dwindling childhood fear of mystery." Elrond spoke powerfully and rose to his feet. "Let us away to the meeting, the sooner we speak our minds the sooner we can depart to war and triumph over evil.
Deep within the forests of Legolas' people laid a giant wooden castle that glowed with a dimmed white light due to the magic of the woodland elves. In this giant fortress were all of the elves of Mirkwood that had traveled across the sea to the Valinor. It was here that Legolas' fifteen thousand elven troops were resting waiting the hour of their departure to war.
Legolas himself was in the smithy crafting two new war knives much like the ones he had used sixty years ago when fighting against Sauron's minions. These new weapons had a mythril edge that had taken a long time to forge into a sharp state. They looked magnificent with a glowing, mythril edge and the ancient elven symbols were written in gold. He had also prepared two swords for Elrond and Elrohir in the same style; mythril blade with golden symbols. Elrond's was about a meter long without the hilt which added about an extra ten centimeters to the blade. The hilt was made of wood from Legolas' forest, and was slightly curved toward the end where the grip ended. Elrohir's sword was the same except for the hilt, which followed the same design but was made of iron wrapped in black leather and had an extra fifteen centimeter blade at the end. The blade also had a mythril edge. Legolas admired his work for a few moments and then sheathed the weapons in leather sheaths. He left his own war knives in his study which was filled with elvish books from many different eras. After he cleaned himself up and dressed appropriately for the debate, he grabbed the two swords he had forged for Elrond and Elrohir and rode on his white horse towards the halls of the Valar where the meeting was going to be held. Two of his wise advisors rode with him; one was named Aegnor after the son of Finarfin and the other Beren after Beren of old who fought against Sauron while he still served Morgoth. Both were very old and you could only tell by the look in their eyes and their admiration for every living thing. Their admiration was one that expressed kindness and wisdom.
Legolas had his own fears about the upcoming war; he feared for Aragorn's protection and if his old friend could still manage to fight by his side. He also feared for Gimli and if the dwarves would be overrun by orcs in their underground halls. He missed Mirkwood and wished he could have spent more time with Aragorn and Gimli. Most of his people missed their own homes and many of the women wished to return to Middle Earth as well, but he could not allow anyone who was unprepared to leave Valinor. Of course like any leader he also worried how many of his people he would lose in the upcoming battle and if it would be worth it in the end.
The great palace finally came into view and Legolas shook the rains of his horse beckoning the beast to go faster as the wind beat harder on the Eldar's face. Soon they started seeing the houses of Elrond's people. Unlike Legolas' people these houses were all made of white marble, which sparkled powerfully in the mid day sun. Once they reached the top of the hill, where Elrond's house was built they could see in the distance the majestic forest of Galadriel's people. The forest was so majestic and the branches of the trees were so rich and plentiful that not even Legolas with his keen eyesight could see more than two rows of trees into the forest. Elrond and his son Elrohir walked out of the marble home and stopped at Legolas' side starring into the New Lórien. At the edge of the forest he could see the Lady of The Forest herself walking towards the palace where the fate of the Eldar was going to be decided. The three elven leaders glanced at each other for a few moments, remembering the moments they had spent together sixty years ago in the forest of Lórien. Elrohir starred at his grandmother thinking if what he was doing was the right thing.
Amid the branches of the highest tree, of the New Forest of Lórien, slept the Lady Galadriel, the light of her people. Her husband Celebron caressed her cheek gently waking her up in the gentlest way possible. She slowly got up and looked at Celebron smiling. She looked around their chamber; everything was perfect, except there was no light. Galadriel waved her hand at the window and the curtains were pulled magically to the side. Here in Valinor her powers were endless; while she was in Middle Earth all she could dream of was to come back here to Valinor and feel the light of the Valar. This was her birthplace, unlike Legolas or Elrond who were both native to Middle Earth.
"Do you think that's why they want to return…" Galadriel began turning to her husband. "…because they were born in the saddened land of Middle Earth?"
Celebron thought for a while, but he was in no mood for war or argument. "It might be, ma' lady. But then again maybe Elrond just doesn't like his stepmother."
Galadriel chuckled; Celebrían was their daughter, but that never interfered with hers and Elrond's relationship before. Galadriel stopped and laughed at her own seriousness. But what if they were doing was the right thing? This thought made Galadriel think deeply and she frowned trying to remember everything men had done for her. Celebron noticed her frown so he asked:
"Something troubles you, my lady?" Galadriel looked at him and smiled trying to reassure him everything was indeed alright. Still she had to ask his counsel:
"It is nothing, my dear, only…" She paused and tried to think again, but Celebron grabbed her hand beckoning her to go on. "Only, what if they are doing what is right by helping the men of Middle Earth? They are like our younger brothers; do we not have a duty to protect them?"
"Your first and foremost duty is to your people, Galadriel." Celebron reassured her.
"That is exactly my point, Celebron." Galadriel answered her voice rising. "What if the duty of my people is to protect men? And the Valar will fight Morgoth with or without the aid of the Eldar. Should we not aid them?"
Celebron thought for a few moments at first, finding every single word to be true. "There are other things more important then the duty of the people; things like safety and peace. And Elrond and Legolas' people are your own as well just under different rule. What if they should fail? Then their will be none left to defend Valinor if Morgoth should ever decide to attack. Perhaps we should stand by to aid our brothers if their numbers begin to dwindle, but that dose not mean we should rush to war."
Galadriel nodded and tried to come back to the thought that they should stay in Valinor. The elven lady rose from her bed and walked out of her chambers and down the spiraling staircase that wrapped itself around the giant trunk of her majestic tree. Lanterns still burned on the path, it would take a little while longer for the sun to shine through the thick branches of her trees. Finally she reached stone staircase that descended to a marble level that was all covered in thick green moss. In the middle of the moss covered floor was a single, short pedestal that reached as high as Galadriel's waist. The top was in the shape of an open rose made of a dark marble that was cleanly polished. On top of the open flower lay a large, round silver plate that was currently dry; it also was extremely clean and as the Lady Galadriel glanced into it she could see her vibrant green eyes starring back at her. At the other end of the room lay a fountain; the only part of the fountain that was visible was a stone shelf which supported a tall, silver pouring cup and even the shelf was beginning to get covered with moss. The rest of the fountain was covered with thick vines and large flowers with petals the size of your palm. Nothing could be made out from behind this thick canopy of plants except the sound of running water.
The Lady of the Wood grabbed the silver cup and reached inside the thick covering of vines, filling the cup with water from her enchanted fountain. Once this was accomplished she walked slowly towards the silver plate and gently poured the water so as not to spill a single drop. Soon the water turned dark and inside, Galadriel could see thousands of warg riders, running down horsemen. While their wargs feasted on the horse and its rider their orc masters were chanting the name of Morgoth. Then the image changed and Galadriel could see many corpses lying on the green plains; in the distance she could see many small hills with fire coming out of them as if they were volcanoes. After this gory vision, the mirror's depths changed yet again revealing many taller silhouettes and shorter ones lying on a stone floor. Then with a few ripples evolving from the center of the silver plate the vision disperse and Galadriel's Mirror was clear once again.
When the visions ended Galadriel was still gasping for breath; she looked to her right to find her husband, Celebron, starring at her with worried eyes. She had not used the mirror in fifty years but she had to know what was going on, what will happen and what could happen. In the first years of her second stay in Valinor she used it to check on the changing lands of Middle Earth. She used it to find out how the dwarves recaptured Moria, how Osgiliath became a prospering town and how the dark mountains of Mordor finally began to cover their sharp peaks with snow and mountain animals like goats and eagles. The land itself never recovered from the evil that reeked havoc there for so many years. She knew the first vision was that of the things that were happening in Middle Earth at that moment because the riders bore the emblem of Dale, but the last two visions were uncertain.
"What did you see, my lady?" Celebron asked her, pulling his wife to his chest, embracing her.
"I am not completely sure…" Galadriel answered her mind still on the last two visions. "…but if the Eldar do not make haste the White City might be engulfed by the Great Evil of Morgoth. I must make this meeting as short as possible; rather than argue I shall tell them of my vision and advise them on what to do. You my husband must prepare our people for war and lead them to bless Elrond and Legolas' armies."
Galadriel attempted to walk away but Celebron pulled her back. "Galadriel, what were the three visions?"
"I shall tell you when there is time." Galadriel answered starring him in the eyes, telling him without speaking that he would know in due time.
"Alright…" Celebron sighed, releasing his wife from the embrace. She kissed him gently and hurried off to prepare for the meeting. Celebron looked at the Mirror for a while and then went off in his own direction to carry out his wife's instructions. Galadriel returned to the top of the tree but this time, traveled to a different chamber where her study was. Here she searched for detailed map of Middle Earth; when she finally found one she laid it on the study and wrote small notes about what she had seen in her Mirror. Then without a second thought the Lady Galadriel jumped out of the window in front of her desk. She landed peacefully at the bottom of her gigantic tree (magically of course) and walked hurriedly towards her stables. Here she found a grey horse which she quickly mounted, without putting on any rains or anything. She sped away towards the edge of her forest which was about three miles away and north-east.
Soon she could make out a dim light coming through the trees. She stopped and let her gray steed stand by a nearby tree and patted it on the top of its head. Without any further delay she ran to the edge of the forest and looked of towards the top of a nearby hill. There she could see Elrond and Legolas starring at her solemnly; she returned the same gaze and continued walking towards the palace.
The three Eldar finally shook loose of each others gaze; Legolas pulled out the two swords he had finished earlier for Elrond and Elrohir, from a pouch attached to his saddle. Elrond merely nodded at Legolas, while Elrohir unsheathed his sword and admired it as it shined brightly in the great sunlight.
"Thank you very much, Master Legolas!" Elrohir said still in awe. He stroked the blade and one of his fingers slipped and got cut on the sharp mythril edge.
"May they serve you well." Legolas responded. "Shall we be off?"
"Of course." Elrond answered; he too had unsheathed his sword and admired Legolas' work. "Merely allow my son and I to retrieve our steeds." Elrond and his son disappeared behind the house leaving Legolas and his advisors to enjoy the pleasant air. Soon they returned on the back of two powerful looking horses. The steeds were both jet black; they had long manes and tufts of hair covered their large hooves. They looked more like they were ment to pull not fight in a war.
Legolas noticing this couldn't stop but ask Elrond about the peculiar size of his ridding horses: "If you do not mind me asking, Master Elrond, but why do your horses look so…" Legolas didn't have time to find the right word.
"Big?" Elrohir finished for him.
"These have been our horses ever since Elrohir could ride." Elrond responded. Legolas raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"We're not really sure what race of horses they are." Elrohir added. "Actually we have no clue but we found them in the Mountains of Angimar and they don't seem to be growing any older."
Legolas thought about those ancient mountains and he remembered the nine riders. It was said they were from that realm (like the Witch King of Angmar); who knows what strange magic had been laid on those two black horses. Legolas didn't have much more time to think about it since they had arrived at the great palace. The top of the castle could not be seen and was surrounded by great white clouds. There it was that Manwë and his spouse rested. The Eldar could just feel the magic radiating from the gigantic, enchanted palace. They continued on a little bit farther to the right of the palace where the stables made of a white wood were built. After securing their horses and making sure they had an ample supply of hay nearby they continued on to the palace.
As they were climbing a small set of marble stairs the voice of Galadriel called out from behind them.
"Master Elrond! Master Legolas!" It was rather interesting how her voice reached them and remained extremely soft and calm, like she hadn't yelled at all. "There isn't much time…are your armies prepared to depart as soon as possible?" Elrond and Legolas seemed rather taken aback by her words. "I have seen in my Mirror…you must hurry, the men of Middle Earth can not hold on too long. They are being hunted by orcs as we speak."
"Perhaps we should go inside and converse more on the matter." Beren suggested. They all nodded and opened the huge oak doors of the palace. Behind the doors the great halls were all arranged for the meeting.
It seemed as if every elf in Valinor had come to hear the expected debate between the three great elven leaders. In the middle was a table with eight chairs. Gandalf the White and Radagast friend of all beasts were already seated at the table; they stood across from each other and were laughing happily about who knows what. Gandalf was wearing his long white robe, while Radagast was clad in a robe of dark brown. Both robes seemed to be made from a fine silk, which was very smooth and seemed to glitter even in the dim light of the hall. These two were the last remaining after Saruman had turned evil and decided to aid Sauron on his quest of dominion of Middle Earth. The elves had named them Istari but the men dubbed them Wizards. At the far end of the hall stood a giant throne made of the same black marble as the top of Galadriel's pedestal. The great Manwë stood on top of the throne. He did not a human like form, but rather took the form of a dancing wind with glowing blue eyes. The Eldar took their seats and waited for everyone else to quiet down.
Galadriel stood up and announced their change in plan. "I know you are all here to hear each of our arguments as to why you should and should not go to war, back in Middle Earth. Unfortunately we do not have time for such formalities." At this the entire hall erupted in murmurs between the other elves. Galadriel waited for them to stop talking and continued. "Morgoth is moving fast upon the world of men, he knows that the Valar will strike back soon and he can't afford to lose any time, so neither can we. He has already captured Esgaroth and will probably move upon the Iron Hills of the Dwarves. This will greatly weaken his forces but I doubt he will give up on the idea of conquering the dwarves' hall there. We probably won't be in time to save them but we have to ensure Minas Tirith is safe. In my visions I saw wargs hunting down horsemen, bodies scattered across small green hills with fire coming out of them and bodies of varying height slain in a dark cave, which I believe to be Moria." It took everyone in the hall a few moments to take all of this information in. After a few moments Gandalf was the first to speak:
"You said something about hills on fire…" Gandalf began.
"Not on fire, with fire coming out of them." Galadriel cut him off.
"And the dead bodies were they barefooted?" Gandalf continued. His question didn't really make sense to anyone, but Galadriel thought for a moment and realized that they were in fact barefooted.
"Yes, as a matter in fact they were, but…" now it was Gandalf's turn to cut her off.
"Then Morgoth has attacked the Shire." Gandalf sighed. He looked to someone in the large audience of elves. Frodo Baggins was awe struck; his mouth was wide open and his eyes were tearing hot tears of anger.
"No, he hasn't but he probably will." Galadriel corrected him.
"So either our soldiers will be slain in Moria, along with the dwarves or the Halflings will be wiped off the face of Middle Earth." Radagast realized.
"Morgoth must not want to make the same fatal mistake, Sauron made by overlooking the Halflings." Legolas realized. "But then we must send troops to the Shire as well."
"Then we shall." Elrohir answered. "If Morgoth spreads that far east he will probably attack the Grey Heavens as well."
"Elrohir is right." Aegnor agreed. "If we linger we will be met by a heavy company there as soon as we land."
"We can not land in the Grey Heavens anyway." Elrond answered. "The orcs may be afraid of water but I am sure Morgoth has ensnared some servants that aren't."
"Either way we must split up our forces." Gandalf interrupted. "Morgoth might be watching the Anduin as well and that is our best way to get to Minas Tirith fast."
"But Gandalf, how would we sail up the Anduin anyway?" Aegnor inquired puzzled. "We would be going against the flow of the most powerful river in Middle Earth."
"I believe we must ask a favor of our Lord and Master then." Radagast said turning to Manwë.
The great Valar began speaking though you couldn't tell by looking at him since he had no mouth. "You will have my aid there." His voice rang throughout the hall. All the Eldar in the hall bowed their heads in sign of thanks.
"Very well you will divide your forces to protect the Shire, but you must also intercept the Orc force that Morgoth is sure to send towards Minas Tirith." Galadriel interrupted more worried about men than Hobbits.
"And how do you suggest we do that, we have no horses, ma' Lady." Beren suddenly stood up. Until then he had remained silent taking in everything, everyone had said. "We can not hope to defeat their Warg riders on foot and we can't take our horses with us."
"We must seek the help of the Riders of Rohan." Gandalf suggested. "Legolas must meet with their new King, right away, since he was the one that helped defend their lands decades ago."
Legolas thought for a second and then nodded in agreement. "Agreed I will ride to Edoras as soon as we land." Legolas said. However this troubled him; he truly wished to see Aragorn before anything else was accomplished.
"But, what if we do not have time to rally up the Riders?" Aegnor asked. This did pose quite a problem; without the riders there was no way of intercepting the orc force.
"And what of the Ancient Balrogs of Morgoth?" Beren wished to know. "The Dark Lord is sure to have awoken his faithful servants once again."
"Morgoth won't risk his most powerful servants on such a pitiful task of conquering Minas Tirith." Galadriel assured them. "He is sure to know how the White City almost fell decades ago at the hands of the orcs. He also knows how the men of Gondor had not picked up a sword in decades. But Aegnor is right we must have a strong force ready to defend the city, in case you don't rally Rohan in time."
"But even if we do defend the city some orcs will surely escape back to Morgoth and he will just send a much more powerful force to attack Minas Tirith again." Elrond said.
"And what of the Iron Hills?" Elrohir asked.
"And of the dwarves in Moria?" Legolas added thinking of his old friend Gimli. "We must protect the dwarves as well."
"The dwarves are much better prepared than men are." Galadriel argued.
"And that's why Morgoth will send his Balrogs to capture them." Elrohir argued back.
"THEN WHAT DO YOU
WANT ME TO DO!?" The Lady Galadriel sank down in her seat with her
face in her palms. Elrond walked over to her to consol her, and
noticed she was crying. "You do not know what he is capable of,
none of you do. That is why I am preparing my people for war. You
will not have enough soldiers to topple him."
"Now calm down,
ma' Lady, and let us come up with a strategy." Gandalf was by her
side now also. "Let us review our current dilemmas: Morgoth will
send a force to capture the Iron Hills, but we can't help them
there so we might as well forget that, as hard as it is."
"So you're saying we should just leave the dwarves of the Iron Hills to their fate?" Elrohir asked surprised.
"It is the only way we can protect everyone else." Aegnor agreed. "It isn't right but to ensure that we protect Moria, the Shire and Minas Tirith we must overlook the dwarves in the Iron Hills. Morgoth is probably mobilizing on them as we speak."
"This will give us an advantage." Galadriel said rising again. "The dwarves are still a strong race; they will keep Morgoth occupied for a few good days. And if Morgoth is still as arrogant as he was he won't send in his Balrogs right away, allowing the dwarves a good amount of time to diminish his forces."
"And he surely won't send a strong force to the Shire." Beren said. "Gandalf should take a force of about three thousand and ambush them from the Old Forest."
Gandalf nodded and thought of those parts trying to remember what they looked like and how he could use this knowledge to his advantage against the orcs.
"But then what of Moria?" Legolas asked. This posed another strong problem for the Eldar. Everyone in the hall raised a hand to their brows thinking how the Eldar could rescue Moria. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Ma' Lady, which way do you think the orcs will take while they march on Moria?"
Galadriel frowned while she thought of it for a few moments. "Well he probably knows that dwarves patrol the mountain tops so he won't send them there. And the dwarves will see the orcs if they're not hidden. So…"
Legolas cut her off: "They will go through Mirkwood. I and a thousand of my soldiers can easily dispatch of them; it is our forest after all. We can make ourselves unseen while we pick them off one by one." Legolas seemed excited by his ingenious idea.
"But what of the Balrogs?" Beren asked concerned for his lord's well being. "We can not hope to bring them down mainly by disguise and cunning."
"The Balrogs are too big to make their way through the forest." Elrond responded. "They will probably take to the skies at night to avoid being detected."
Manwë's powerful voice rang in the hall again. "Let our faithful Maiar do battle with these forces of evil. They will be more than a match against the dark creatures of Melkor."
Galadriel flinched at the name; she had not heard that name since before Morgoth had stolen the Silmarils from Fëanor. Out of all the years she had fought against the Shadow of Morgoth somehow this time seemed the most important…the most personal. Arwen was her granddaughter and she didn't want her to be seized by the greatest darkness ever to walk the Earth. She wished there was a way Morgoth could be destroyed, but she knew it was impossible.
"Then it is decided." Elrohir said. "Gandalf will take two thousand five hundred elves from both armies and defend the Shire. Legolas will slay the orcs marching on Moria, while father, I and the rest of our troops prepare to defend Minas Tirith."
"But what of the Riders of Rohan?" Aegnor suddenly remembered.
"I and a hundred men will have to escort Aragorn to Edoras." Radagast answered. "Or if we are in dire need we can use the Beacons of Gondor."
"If any Eldar are interested in joining our legions meet us in our Harbor first thing tomorrow ready to depart." Elrond announced to the audience.
The elves said their goodbyes, bowed to Manwë and retreated to their homes where their families awaited the details of the meeting. From afar they could see their ships waiting for them in the harbor. There were hundreds of giant white ships shaped like swans and all were being loaded with varying equipment and supplies. The noble Eldar were ready for war…