"What other sources?" Aragorn enquired. The look he had seen on Gandalf's face was far from encouraging. "What could change the nature of a creature so much that they become as twisted and evil as an orc?"
"Oh," replied Gandalf, "The nature of the orc was always evil, and their ancestors were even more potent."
At the entrance to the passage, the wizard stopped and turned, causing the two behind him to stop abruptly. Gandalf looked the man and dwarf each in the eye before speaking.
"Imagine an elf," he said, "But with the nature and emotions of an orc, only ten times more potent. Imagine the evils that they could inflict on the land that they control. These elves are a terror to all who meet them. They are uncannily beautiful, even for elves, and their incredible beauty clouds the minds of their victims."
Gandalf turned and strode off down the dusty corridor, cloak flying behind him. The resulting dust cloud nearly blinded the shortest member of the group.
Gimli hadn't spoken for some time, but when Aragorn closed the portrait behind the trio, he quietly said, "An evil elf? Perish the thought. I wonder if the Arkenstone they possess can spy on elves as well as dwarves, men and orcs."
Aragorn glanced over to him while walking, "That, I doubt. The elves were ever more powerful then the other races in Middle Earth, and if the elves could be spied upon Gandalf would have mentioned it."
"Maybe not," said Gimli, "For if elves could be spied upon, perhaps wizards could be too."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The trio exited the Library, and walked into the clouded evening. The Wizard, Aragorn noticed, had a particularly secretive manner as the King led them into the Palace. He would take them to spare chambers and they would stay the night, to leave as soon as possible for the Lonely Mountain.
As the King was walking back to his throne room, a horrible realisation struck his brain. Aragorn groaned. He had just remembered the announcement that he had planned to make that day.
Arwen would not be happy.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"You promise we would announce it today!"
Aragorn winced, he had been right, Arwen wasn't happy. "I know I did, love, but a problem has arisen." Arwen raised one, perfectly shaped eyebrow, "Really? What kind of problem?"
Aragorn sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, "A big one. An extremely big one."
Arwen walked up to him and stared him in the face, "What is this big problem?" When the King didn't answer, Arwen turned away and strode to the window of the throne room, "I've been hearing the most ridiculous things. The people claim that they've seen Gandalf, and we both know Gandalf is nowhere near Middle Earth."
The King said nothing.
Arwen turned away from the window and walked to him again. When she spoke, it was much quieter, "Aragorn, Gandalf isn't here, is he?"
The king grimaced and said quietly, "Yes, dear, he is."
"Why?" Aragorn knew what Arwen was capable of as a warrior, but he still fought an overwhelming desire to protect her from his troubles, but perhaps this was her problem too. Besides, this was going to be more difficult to cover up.
He may as well come out with it, he thought. "Gandalf is here because of the theft of the Arkenstone. The thieves knew of its rather remarkable powers, that to control the mind, and to kill without contact. The thieves were well versed in dwarf security forms, and the Lonely Mountain, but they were not Dwarves. They are Elves. We do not know who they are, nor where they come from, but they are evil."
At this, Arwen went pale. Her normally radiant complexion went white and dull. Aragorn hastened towards her, alarmed, and he managed to catch her as she fell. "What is it Arwen?" he asked concerned. But she didn't reply with any words he understood. All she would say was the word 'Ghâshbúrz'. As he was puzzling over its meaning, Gandalf walked in.
"I could have told you not to tell her." Gandalf said quietly. "This news has the same reaction with many elves. Although," he said, brows furrowing as he bent over Arwen, "Not always to this extreme."
"She just fainted." Aragorn said, "When I told her that the thieves were elves, she went pale and passed out."
As they both gazed at the prone figure of Arwen, her eyelids flickered, and she again murmured, "Ghâshbúrz …"
The wizard froze and stood up, "Ghâshbúrz. I should have known… But they are gone from this world, and they cannot return." He looked at Arwen, still lying in her husbands arms, for a moment and then continued, as if talking to himself, "They are among the foulest creatures of all the earths."
The wizard turned to face Aragorn, "The Ghâshbúrz, or Dark Ones, as they call themselves, had their origin at the same time as the elves, many thousands of years ago. But they were created as an imitation of the elves beauty, a mockery of their powers. The Ghâshbúrz's powers however are still deadly and powerful. They are as skilled with a blade as the elves, and also possess their mastery over healing and magic." Gandalf walked over to a window and surveyed the scene before him. The hills of Mordor bit into the horizon sky, and as Aragorn watched the wizard he felt a sudden foreboding over the information about to be imparted to him.
"The Dark Lord created the Ghâshbúrz. No, not Sauron," said Gandalf as the king opened his mouth to speak, "his Lord, his predecessor. The evil one named Morgoth."
Aragorn stared at Gandalf, his eyes widening. Morgoth's theft of the Silmaril jewels was legendary, and evil. He was, after all, an outcast of the Valar, Aragorn thought. Morgoth was quite capable of creating the Ghâshbúrz as a mockery of the Valar's creation of the elves.
"When did Morgoth create the Ghâshbúrz, I mean Dark Ones? And why?"
Gandalf laughed sourly. "You ask the questions that no-one knows the answers to. Morgoth created them some time in the first age, but the exact time is not known. As for why, I can take a guess at it. He created them partly as a mockery of the elves, and as part of a plot to take control of middle earth and its inhabitants. Luckily, his plan was discovered by the Valar, and it was thwarted easily. However the Valar did not destroy the Dark Ones until many years had passed. In the few years that the Valar allowed them, the Dark Ones grew in strength and numbers."
Gandalf sighed and continued, "The Valar did eventually destroy them, or so they thought. The evil of the Dark Ones has somehow lasted into this age and now they have stolen a significant source of power to further their own cause."
"And what is their cause?" Aragorn enquired, avoiding Gandalf's eyes, afraid of what he might see there.
"The Dark Ones want every evil creature wants, power and destruction." Gandalf replied, "It's that simple. The Ghâshbúrz want to destroy the men, dwarves and elves in Middle earth. But their reach, with the Arkenstone, would stretch beyond our land. They would be unstoppable."
"This is a foe beyond men and dwarves," Aragorn said quietly, "We cannot fight them without the aid of the elves, or another equally powerful race."
"This evil cannot be defeated through strength of numbers and military might alone," Gandalf replied, as he gazed at the King, "This foe has a mastery of the magics that inhabit Middle earth, and the lands across the sea. Not even those who reside in the Grey havens would be completely safe from the Dark Ones evil."
Gandalf turned again to survey the scene before him as he stood at the window, before speaking again. "We must fight magic with magic, power with power. There are few equipped in middle earth to do so, but I know of one. He is an elf, of great and terrible powers that reach beyond anything that you, I, or any other elves can even comprehend. Galadriel and Elrond, and even Bombadil bowed down before his strength and prowess in the matters of magic."
Gandalf turned, and walked swiftly to Aragorn, watching him carefully, staring deep into his soul, and, Aragorn thought, gauging his reactions. "We must seek this one out," Aragorn said, "We must seek him out and ask him to aid us."
Gandalf smiled, as if pleased, and began to walk out of the throne room. Aragorn stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder, before quietly asking, "Where is he? And how are we to find him if we are travelling to the Lonely Mountain at the dawn?"
Gandalf gave a peculiar smile and said, "He will find us."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hey all! Thanks again to my reviewers, please keep it coming. Sorry this took so long to post, but I had major writer's block!
By the way, I would like to recommend Water – Star as a writer. I especially like the Jimmy Neutron story "An Impossible Reunion" :-P