Chapter 3; Many Meetings
The rain fell cold and hard as it stung my face. The heavy sand stuck to my feet as I walked forward; I could hear water ahead of me: unsettled and angry. Thunder rolled as I came to the top of a small, sandy hill. There lay the ocean; it was grey, not a normal, welcoming blue and its waves crashed cruelly against the sand. My feet continued to walk, as if I had no control over them, and I walked to the water's side, the angry waves licking, spraying my feet.
Suddenly from out of the depths of the water, a huge grey wave came toward me. My feet planted themselves and refused to move as the water climbed past my ankles and inched towards my knees. The wave came closer and closer, and I simply watched as it loomed above me. NO! I was screaming in my head, I have to move! I have to move! I'll drown! But my body paid no heed to what I said; it simply stared at the wave as it began to crash down on me.
"Re kaime ten' rer." A smooth voice said as my eyes sprung open,
"Ale' uin marte, amin rangwaya." Another voice answered back, there were two women speaking nearby me, one standing and another sitting down, although I had no idea what they said. The cold chill of the angry ocean side left me and I felt relieved, as if I was slowly sinking into warm water.
"Ar' sii' i'korma naya e' Rivendell, lye caeluva ner now."
"Uma, lle naya-" the second voice stopped. The one standing walked to where I lay and sat. "'Quel amrun mellon." I blinked my eyes a few times and rolled onto my back; I saw a beautiful woman sitting by me holding a washcloth in her hand. She wore a long, red dress that looked like it was velvet. Around her neck was a white, star-cut jewel set in a silver back, it was very familiar. I looked at her in confusion and she said, "Lle quena i'lambe tel' Eldalie?" I looked at her and shook my head as I relied groggily,
"What? I don't understand." She smiled at me and said compassionately,
"It's alright, I know the common tongue as do many here." She set the washcloth to my forehead and let it rest there. I looked up at my forehead as best I could then looked back at the woman. I had known this woman for twenty seconds and already I felt a great respect and trust in her.
"Thank you." I replied as she moved her hand away.
She nodded, rested her hands in her lap then asked, "What is your name? You have obviously traveled from afar." If where I am is for real, then you have no idea, I thought to myself as I answered,
"I'm Laura Barnes." She looked at me as if she was expecting more information from my name. She obviously disregarded whatever thought she held and said,
"My name is Arwen Undomiel. It is good to meet you Laura Barnes." At this I stared at her in doubt. Maybe this place was just weird…
"It's really nice to meet you." I said. I glanced at my feet from where I lay and saw that one of them was wrapped and much bigger than the other; I also wasn't wearing my white Taekwondo uniform any more, but a white peasant shirt and some sort of loose pants. Could a dream be that accurate?
"Is there any pain?" She asked and then nodded to the first woman who walked gracefully out of the room.
"Uh, not in my ankle there isn't, but my head. I feel like I've been through hell and back." Arwen looked at me sympathetically as she brushed some hair out of her face. For a brief moment I saw her ear; it was clearly pointed. At this point my head really started to spin.
"Good morning." Said a clear and piercing voice. I looked to the door and two more entered the room; one was Gandalf but I could not guess who the other man was.
"Hello Gandalf." I said as I sat up in bed; upon moving I felt the pain of the sprained ligaments and swollen muscles in my ankle. It was so strange to call the man Gandalf, but he responded and came to the side of my bed where he rested his hand on my shoulder.
"It is good to see you Laura. You look infinitely better than last I saw you." I smiled nervously as he added quietly; "It would be best if you rest but a while longer."
The first man moved to the foot of my bed. "Lady Barnes," He said, "to meet Saruman and escape with such a trivial hurt is quite a feat, especially now that he has revealed his true loyalties." He was dressed in similar clothing to Arwen and wore a silver headdress. "You will be well again soon." He assured me.
"Laura this is Lord Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, and though he was occupied with another patient, he did help to mend your leg." I looked at him in awe; he looked like a great leader, and with only a look I felt a deep respect for him and his company.
"Thank you." I said sheepishly.
"Laura," Arwen said to me in a friendly voice, "I am glad to have met you. Find me when you are well." She kissed my cheek then left the room, leaving Gandalf and Elrond with me. Gandalf stood as Elrond said,
"Laura, though you haven't spoken much, I realize that you know more than you show. Gandalf told me that you recognized his name." He stared at me and I was too shy and shook up to look back. "Where are you from?" I was silent for a moment, almost unsure of whether to be honest or not.
"I'm from California, well, Colorado too, I've lived most of my life in California though." Gandalf and Elrond were silent; I could tell that they wanted more in my answer. "Umm, California, U.S.A.? The United States of America? Earth?" Elrond and Gandalf looked at each other, they looked as if they did and didn't believe me. I sighed and asked, "You don't believe me do you?" they said nothing and I sighed. There is no way this could be fake. I thought. This is real, unbelievable…but real. I began to relax as I realized that this was not some great hoax or like any other dream I've had before. Elrond held up my white Taekwondo uniform.
"This is proof enough." I was silent. "I have never seen such a garment like this before. Gandalf has told me of what the happenings at Isengard, yet still there is one piece still missing." He paused and then moved away from the foot of my bed. "All I have are presumptions and speculations of how you have come to join our company. I-" Elrond stopped as a scraggy looking man with shoulder length brown hair ran into the doorway. He stood tall and proud, as he briefly looked at the three of us and said to Elrond,
"Lord Elrond." He lowered his head then looked at me again with a glimpse of curiosity.
"Laura, this is Aragorn son of Arathorn." Gandalf said with an amused expression. "Aragorn my friend, this is Laura Barnes." I was amazed; I was meeting Aragorn, the son of kings and the heir to the throne of Gondor. He bowed to me as he addressed me,
"My lady." I looked at him in amazement and asked,
"So this is for real?" Aragorn looked at me as did Elrond. "No joke, I'm here with a sprained ankle in Middle Earth?" Gandalf nodded in an annoyed manner as I shrugged a little and extended my hand to Aragorn and said,
"Hi…" He looked at my extended hand but made no move to take it.
"This is the child whom Gandalf rescued from the Tower of Orthanc." Elrond said to Aragorn then looked at me and continued, "Laura, tell me what happened before and after you were brought to Isengard."
I looked at the faces of all the men in the room with me and slowly said, "I was walking home with Janine." I quickly became uncomfortable and a little embarrassed recounting what happened. "We ate ice cream, left, then on the way home when we were in the park I had some sort of…I don't know, attack or something…" Elrond looked at me with concerned eyes and asked me,
"Is that all that occurred before hand?" I nodded and there was silence. Then I saw Elrond take a glance at my finger before he asked, "That, how did you get that?" I looked down at my finger before answering casually,
"Oh, it's just a paper cut. I was looking at the book Janine gave me and one of the pages got me."
"A book? What kind of book did she give to you?" Gandalf asked; I looked at him and said slowly,
"A blank journal for me to write in."
"What did it look like?" Gandalf asked.
I was confused by his question but I answered slowly, "Well, it was medium sized, black, and had some gold engraved letters on it." Gandalf nodded as if he was satisfied, I continued. "Then later I was at the park walking home and…I ended up in the tower of Orthanc. After that, I was ambushed by creatures…"
"Orcs, most likely," Gandalf interjected.
"Yeah, I guess that's what they were." I said; I was becoming semi-annoyed by his interjections. "They had swords and I was caught, then Saruman questioned me; so I kneed him in the nose, thinking I could get away I guess, then…I sprained my ankle." I indicated my right foot as I finished. Elrond nodded understandingly and Gandalf placed his hand on my back.
"You kneed Saruman the White in the nose?" Aragorn asked.
"Elrond…" Gandalf said; Elrond nodded and replied,
"Yes…I see as well." I looked at Elrond and Aragorn in confusion and I asked in a cynical tone,
"I'm sorry if I come off nosy, but I still have no idea what is going on. My ankle hurts, I'm confused, and I would be more than appreciative if someone could tell me what's happened here." Elrond looked at me with surprise and Gandalf gave me a look, but I didn't feel any remorse. "What?" I asked Gandalf, "I mean, don't I have a right to know? I'm in a strange place, in a strange bed, and these aren't my clothes; I would appreciate if I could be taken into consideration." I saw Aragorn give me a look of curiosity as if he didn't understand why I was upset. Gandalf looked at me and said,
"Laura,-"
"Gandalf." Elrond said in a contradicting voice. I looked at him, angry that I still knew so little. Elrond seemed stiff as he said to Gandalf, "We must talk." Gandalf nodded and Elrond looked at me. "Laura, your ankle should be strong enough for the use of a cane. I will send someone to guide you around Rivendell, do not tell any one where you are from and do not tell anyone what you know of the ring. Am I understood?" I nodded, still disappointed at my lack of information. With that Gandalf and Elrond left the room and shut the door, leaving Aragorn behind with me.
Aragorn then stood to walk out the door, but before he left he said to me "I have faith in you Laura." He paused before continuing, "Do not doubt Lord Elrond for with holding what you want to know. He is very wise and he does nothing without reason. Have faith that you will know what you need in good time." I looked at him and searched for something bitter to spat back at him but before I could he said to me, "Let the power of the elves sooth you, for it may be the most rest you may receive for quite a while. Good day." With that he exited the room and I was calm; I lie back on the soft pillows and shut my eyes. He's right you know, I said to my self, give it some time. Then a nasty little voice in my head said, Ah, yes, but this is not at all how you thought your own adventure would start, would it? I thought on this and said to myself as I drifted to sleep, "No, it would have never started like this."
The rain fell cold and hard and it stung as it hit my face. The heavy sand stuck to my feet as I walked forward; I could hear water ahead of me, and it was unsettled and angry.
