Lord of the Rings: Adurna's Quest
"The Journey Begins"
Sunlight poured into the white walled room. Adurna opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around. Trees were carved into beautiful marble walls and thin white curtains covered the large arched windows. Looking at what she was sitting on, was a soft bed with cream colored sheets and pillows that could easily be mistaken for clouds. On a perch that was on the side of the bed, was Edar. "Forgotten where you were?" ,he asked. "Ya, I forgot that we are in Rivendale. By the way, what time is it?" , Adurna replied getting out of the bed. On the other side of the room was a bowl with a pitcher of water next to it. Adurna poured water into the bowl to use a mirror. Her hair was so messy that it looked like she fought a wild boar in the middle of the night. She picked up a brush from a near by table. "It is ten minutes until the council. Oh, you missed a spot. No, to your right. There, you got it." bobbing his head, Edar moved over on his perch as he observed Adurna as she brushed out the tangles. " Thanks." Adurna moved across the room to the foot of the bed. Her night gown she also noticed was cream colored, just like the one she had a t home. There was a bench with delicate carvings in it of trees and birds. On the bench was her clothes she wore the previous day. Dark green, long sleeve shirt with tan pants. Her brown leather belt with her tan herb pouch and her long sword in its sheath was laying next to the bench. Yet, on the other side of the bench was a beautiful white dress. The dress had long sleeves and silver embroidery on the edges of the dress and sleeves. Silver threads were braded to form a belt. On the dress ,laid very neatly, was her silver crown. It was the one she wore to meetings back in Lorien. It was long pieces of silver twisted together, with silver leaves placed here and there. It was indeed a piece of master craftsmanship. "Mother and Father must have sent this here, because they know I'm in Rivendale." Adurna said breathlessly. " Well, that means that they want you to represent them. You might want to wear the dress instead of your regular clothes. Just for today at least." , Edar said with a matter-of-fact voice. He glided down from the perch to the bench. "Well, I better get ready."
A few minutes later, Adurna was looking in the mirror. "If you had blond hair, you could look just like your mother!" Edar exclaimed as he took a closer look. "You coming to this council, or would you rather fly around outside?" ,She replied. "Outside sounds better than some boring council.", he jumped up and floated towards the windowsill. "Don't you dare volunteer yourself again. Got it!", Edar turned around, after landing on the windowsill, and glared at Adurna. " You better hurry, or you'll miss the great thermal updrafts." Adurna spoken softly to the falcon. Then the falcon stretched his wings and flew off into the light blue sky. Adurna moved to the door, opened it, and walked into the hallway.
When she got to the room that the council was to be held, she saw chairs that were placed in an arch around a stone podium. Adurna noticed that Dwarves, Men and Elves were present. Then a gray, tall hat stuck out from the crowd. "Gandalf!" Adurna cried as she reached the old wizard. "Ah, there you are Adurna.", chuckled the wizard, " There is someone I want you to meet." Gandalf glance at the small person who was sitting in the farthest chair to the left. "Frodo, come here." Gandalf called. As Frodo stood, Adurna was surprised to see how small he really was. When Frodo standing next to Gandalf, Gandalf introduced Frodo to Adurna. "Frodo, this is Lady Adurna from Lorien. Adurna, this is Frodo Baggins from the Shire." "Pleasure to meet you Frodo Baggins." Adurna said bowing ever so slightly. "It is nice to meet you , too." The hobbit replied giving a clumsy bow, trying to be nice.
"Please, everyone , take a seat." , Elrond sat down at the head seat, behind the podium. Everyone took a seat, which the Elves sat on the left side, Dwarves in the middle, and Men all sat on the right side. Adurna sat down, with Gandalf on her left and an elf on her right. This elf had long blond hair and wore a brown cloak with a gray shirt underneath. He had on dark brown boots that were crafted by Elves. On the right side of his cloak was a pendent with a birch bark tree leaf on it. "That is the mark of Mirkwood. I wonder if he is an ambassador of the king from Mirkwood?" Adurna thought as the council started. " Bring the ring forward, Frodo." Elrond spoke. Frodo carefully got up and placed a round object on the stone podium. It was the dreaded ring of Sauron. Everyone was silent. The elf next to Adurna shifted slightly to get a better look at the ring. Suddenly, a man from Gondor stood up and was proposing that we use the ring against Sauron. "You cannot wield it. None of us can. The ring answers to Sauron alone." ,came the voice of a Ranger from the other end of the room. The man from Gondor remarked "And what would a Ranger know of this matter?" The elf next to Adurna stood up in furry. He said "This is no mere Ranger! He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. And heir to the throne of Gondor." The man just looked at the elf and then Aragorn. "This is Islidor's heir?" he sneered. Aragorn spoke to the elf, "Sit down, Legolas." The man from Gondor spoke proudly, "Gondor has no king. It does not need one." And the man sat down. Elrond then concluded, "There is only one choice. The ring must be destroyed." "Well, let's destroy it." boomed a dwarf. He pulled up his ax and hit the ring. A clear note pierced the air as the ax broke apart, the ring was not harmed. "The ring can't be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glo'in by force. It must be destroyed from where it came, the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade." Elrond calmly told the dwarf.
The man from Gondor whispered loud enough so everyone could hear, "Mount Doom is in Mordor. One does not simply walk into Mordor! It is foolish." Adurna stood saying directly to the rude man, " Did you not hear what Lord Elrond just said? The ring must be destroyed!" Gimli blurted out, "And I suppose an Elf is to do it! I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of an Elf! You can never trust an Elf!" At that moment everyone started arguing among themselves. A small figure then loudly spoke, "I will take it! I will take the ring into Mordor." "Oh no, plese not Frodo." Adurna prayed. When everyone settled down, they saw that it was Frodo who spoke those words. Quietly he added, "Though I do not know the way." Gandalf turned to Frodo and gently said, "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear." And with that he stood behind Frodo. "At least he is not alone on this quest." thought Adurna. Aragorn walked slowly up to Frodo, bent down , saying" If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword." A strong voice came from Legolas, "And my bow." Gimli saw that an elf joined so he told Frodo, "And my ax." Adurna could not miss this adventure starting right in front of her so she proudly said, "Frodo, you have my protection and blade. I will help you till the time it is destroyed." Adurna walked over to Frodo and placed a hand on his shoulder while she spoke to him. When she was finished, she stood next to Gandalf and the elf, Legolas.
The man from Gondor, talking as to a child, said, "You carry the fate of the world, little one. If indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done." A sound from near by bush startled everyone as a small figure jumped out declaring,"Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" "Sam!" Frodo called. "Wait, we're coming too! You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." replied two more figures coming from the bushes. "Marry, Pippin!" Frodo gasped. One of the smaller ones, Frodo called Pippin, spoke to Elrond, "anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission… quest… thing." Adurna smiled as Pippin's companion, Marry, said, "Well, that rules you out, Pip." Proudly Elrond turned to the ten people, replying to them, " Ten companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring." Pippin turned to Marry and replied, "Great. So where are we going?"