Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR characters, whose births are credited to J.R.R. Tolkien.


I follow their journey into the mines. I feel the vibrations of their feet running through the stone halls in terror. And I lose the sound of one labored step. He's fallen. Just as the first set of feet step out from the mines, the first non-orcs or goblins in a very long time.


Elrond is perusing more books in his study when Arwen and I find him just before twilight. "I am leaving," I say to Elrond. Arwen's hand is warm in mine.

"They exited the mines?" Elrond asks.

"Fled is more like it," I mutter.

Elrond's eyes snap to mine, "What has happened?" Arwen looks at me, too.

"Gandalf has fallen into darkness," Arwen says, her eyes not leaving mine. Elrond's brow furrows.

"And Aragorn?"

Arwen looks at him, surprised her father is asking. Seeing her questioning look, Elrond elaborates. "If Gandalf cannot lead, he would entrust leadership to Aragorn. He is trustworthy, wise, and strong." Elrond looks at me again. "If Aragorn, too, is lost, than we all are lost."

I smile. "Aragorn leads them now."

Elrond sighs. "Thank goodness."

I return to the task at hand. "I have but days to reach Galadriel's realm, I should leave now, while it is dark."

"Very well," Elrond says. "I need you to deliver some things to them as well."

"I will be in the pavilion waiting for you," I say to Elrond. Then I let go of Arwen's hand and I leave to grab traveling gear and supplies.

The first stop is my room, where I have kept my leaf charms. I hid them all around my room; one under my favorite pillow, another under the cushion of my chaise, one drifting across the surface of a bowl of water, all hidden in places where they could not touch my other charms. I gather them together and put them in a small bag I tie tightly around my skinny waist. My white hooded cloak, that I have not touched in decades, I wrap around me. It is the only cloak that will hold during flight and hide me from sight, even Sauron's.

I trek towards the kitchens of Rivendell and stuff food into a large drawstring sack. I take with me several packages of lembas and two wineskins filled to the brim with water. I do not take any cooking supplies with me, because I plan to spend most of my journey in the sky, stopping on the ground only for sleep or brief rest. It would be inconvenient to carry extraneous things for a journey uninhibited by obstacles like rivers, cliffs, and other natural landmarks that take time to cross and circle.

As soon as the bag begins to sag, I tighten the touch leather and the bag's opening shrinks and shuts. Then I heft it across my back diagonally so its strap crosses between my wings. I adjust the bag so it hangs in front of my legs, allowing me easy access to its contest in flight and preventing any of my supplies from spilling out mid-air.

Once I have everything sorted to leave enough room for Elrond's packages, I walk towards the pavilion. The Elf lord is already waiting for me, with his daughter and several attending Elves. "I need you to deliver this," he hands me an envelope, "to the Lady Galadriel." I nod.

I will deliver it personally, I sign.

"Safe journeys," Elrond says to me.

"Safe journeys," the other elves repeat.

I turn my back to them and draw my hood over my head. I roll my shoulders to release tension before I manifest my wings. They rise from the markings on my back. At first they are dark black, like sketches on paper, but then they lighten to a soft silver. In the sky, with my white clothing and silver wings, I will almost be transparent.

The joints in my wings creak as they are unfurled for the first time in a long time. "Hn!" I wince as the muscles stretch out, too. My wingspan stretches from one side of the wide pavilion, to the other. Large, majestic limbs of beauty. Until the feathers start to die and fall out. "Ahhh!" It hurts to feel the life of the feather shrivel and fall, like autumn leaves on an old tree at a thousand times the speed. I gasp and my knees tremble. I bend down a little to catch my breath, waving away the Elves who try to help me. At this point, I've already lost a third of my beautiful feathers. The pain is already blinding me. Before I can catch my breath and lose my nerve, I launch myself up into the serene blue sky. With five powerful flaps I clear the valley and gain altitude quickly. The warmth of the rising sun and the cool wind distracts me from the pain.

I can do this, I think to myself. Two breaths later, I am flying full-speed towards Lothlórien.


The trees passing under me grow tall and strong, in true Elven fashion. Lothlórien is close. The sun has started to set. Flying at my full speed has allowed me to arrive in a little less than half the time on foot. By the time I see Lady Galadriel, the Fellowship will have just reached the entrance of the wood. I land in soft green grass and fold my wings back into me. The wing muscles protest at having to be put away so soon after being released into the world, but I have lost enough feathers for today. I walk the rest of the path alone, until I see elves hailing me ahead.

"My Lady," they bow to me.

I nod in reply. We walk in silence, the leaves rustling softly under our feet. My back aches with the decay of my wings, but it has receded into the dull ache that has accompanied me all these years. My pupils adjust to the earthy, covered setting of the forest. It is beautiful here, much more quiet and flat than the falls of Rivendell, but also much more ominous.

We reach the central tree, where Celeborn stands at the foot of a long winding staircase. "Lady Lyraniel," he bows to me. I nod to him, and I gesture up the stairs with a questioning look. "Yes, of course," he said. I take a deep breath, and slowly work my way up to their reception chamber, close to the top of the treetops. Some Lothlórien guards are stand around the room, each face as impassive and apathetic as the other guards here, no flicker of friendliness or sign of a smile present in their faces. Elves have long memories and lasting grudges. I miss Rivendell already.

From the beginning, the elf lords had wished for me to reside in Lothlórien. Its militic force is the strongest of all the elf havens, and Galadriel's power was the strongest of the three as well. Her people never understood why I chose Rivendell over their home, a true safe haven. Arwen was the deciding factor for me, all those years ago. True, she had not been born quite yet, but I could feel that something great was coming. Of course, I could not outright say I would go with Elrond on a hunch that greatness would come from his house; so instead, I told them that Elrond's wisdom may be a better protective veil than a militic force and foresight. Thranduil's people understood and retreated peacefully to their land. Elrond's people were delighted and apprehensive; they were honored that I would choose to reside with them, but apprehensive that their living space would not be to my expectations and comforts. In contrast, the good elves of Lothlórien took great offense. Was their land not good enough? Did I not feel protected enough? Or was I simply jealous of the beauty and power Galadriel had that I was losing? The lady in question was quite calm and accepting, smiling at me knowingly. She made her people retreat back to their lands and bid me a fair good-bye. Tensions in Lothlórien lessened a bit with the birth of Arwen, whose beauty and unearthly presence were inherited from her grandmother Galadriel. They understood that Arwen was the great one for whom I had chosen the openness of Rivendell over the security of their land. But her house has still never fully accepted my decision all those years ago.

"Welcome," Galadriel's voice breaks my musings and memories. She stretches her hand towards me. I take it as I also smile in greeting.

Your hospitality is ever-inviting, I mindspeak. Galadriel is the only other being on Middle Earth who can stand my mindspeak, but Arwen has always been the only one whose voice I can borrow.

"What brings you here?"

New plans and movements to overcome out enemy.

"I know already of the Fellowship."

Of course you have, but I doubt even you have the power to see the outcome of this next war. The final war.

Her eyes narrow a bit. "Do you?"

For the future to happen we must pass the present, I say. I am here to help facilitate preparations for the rest of their journey.

"Do you not believe that we can prepare them well enough?"

I take a leaf charm from my waist and place it in her hand. Her hand hesitates to pick it up.

It's perfectly safe, I say. Her hands picks it up delicately.

"What is it?"

Leaves from my favorite tree, enchanted with protection charms. I mean to give them to the Fellowship as gifts.

"You, yourself?" A raised eyebrow and a smile.

I laugh. You know what I mean. They are coming, you know? You will be the one to greet them and send them away. These gifts will be "yours".

"How soon?"

Your judgement will be enough for this part of the journey.

Putting the charms down, she looks at me. "Why deliver these yourself? You could have sent followers soon after they left Rivendell. You could have even gifted these before they even began their journey."

Plans change, I mindspeak to her. You know as well as I, what will happen. I get up to leave, suddenly drained from my flight. I leave Elrond's envelope on with the charms, Galadriel's name written in elegant Elvish script. I beg your leave, my Lady. Weary am I from my journey here. As I turn to leave, I suddenly remember. The Fellowship must not know I am here. It is not time for them to know.

"And your beloved son?"

He can sense my presence well enough. He probably knows even now. I am wary with what I say to Galadriel. She tries to evoke a reaction from me, I will not give in. She tried to evoke my motherly side by speaking of my dear Aragorn, my son Estel, hoping to see a little weakness in me. I will not give her that satisfaction. She is simply unhappy her granddaughter may choose to bind herself to a mortal prince, and she wishes I opposed as well. But I care for my son, and whatever makes him happy makes me happy as well.


They enter the forest, finally. Eight footsteps instead of nine. Still in bed, though it has been a mere four days since my arrival, I turn into a more comfortable position. Then, emitting a low groan of exhaustion, I spread my awareness to the edge of the woods. Gandalf is no longer with them. This news should be enough to alarm me, but knowing his origins, Gandalf will soon return. Gandalf no more, but another Saruman. A true Saruman. A Saruman worthy of his name.

As Galadriel's welcoming party leads them toward the center of her city of trees, I curl up more and try to fall back into nothingness. The pain and rot of Middle Earth seeping deeper into me. I whimper as I feel more ache in my back, where my wings have folded back into the markings there. Cold. So cold. I cough a hacking cough, then I drift to sleep, dreaming of my lost life.


The next time I wake, I know the Fellowship has left. It has broken. I know, because I can feel the deadness of one leaf charm. Boromir. I warned him. A true Man to his end, he indeed died a brave warrior. The rest of the party has been separated. Sam with Frodo, Merry with Pippin, and the unlikely trio of Man, Elf, and Dwarf hunting the latter. I sigh. My time is coming soon.

Still aching, bone-weary, and poisoned, I struggle to drag myself from my nest. Feet delicately treading over the soft terrain I grip the trees tightly as I make my way to the heart Lothlórien, to be closer to purity. When I finally reach the cleanest place in the area, I collapse to the ground, hovering between awareness and nothingness. Someone will find me eventually and bring a pallet for my body. Meanwhile, I must quickly regain strength to aid my son. My time is coming.


AN: I actually wrote part of this chapter while rewatching the movies, on TNT! Things took a lot longer to complete the chapter, because inspiration is different from coherence and flow. Things are boring now, but I promise I'll spice things up when our characters reach Rohan! But gawsh, I can't explain how long I've wanted to write a flying scene!

In the next chapter, I hope to be able to write the one scene I've wanted to write since I began this. If only I can figure out how to get there, and remember the exact details I wanted to use...

Also, sorry for the long long wait. Just moved into college, then a slew of things came blaring through. And I only write when inspiration hits me. Which is sad and inconvenient, but that's how I work. Very sorry.

Now please, review review review! Need more inspiration!