Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
03/01/2013
Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2013 brings you all good health and happiness.
This will be a dialogue and reflection heavy chapter but I hope you shall find it worth persisting with.
gunman: I am glad you picked up Bruce's almost blissful ignorance about Middle-earth arachnids. If Legolas told him about Mirkwood Spiders, Bruce would agree that you would be lucky to walk away from them with your life let alone their silk. Of course that's still saying nothing of Shelob…
Lupin2020: As I said earlier, my highest priority in this story is making the interactions between the characters strong and believable. Your comment gives me reassurance that I am doing a reasonable job of this.
johncorn: To my mind, the key to Loki's redemption is he sincerely acknowledging his actions were wrong. Given the God of Mischief's hubris and immortality I am not confident this will be happening too soon.
ZoeMehefin: I am having too much fun with this not to complete it.
Chapter 11 – Moments of Reflection
Lying on the grass resting on a pillow and mattress, Rogers woke from the peaceful sleep he was having. Given the level of darkness around him, he guessed it was night still. Suddenly, a pair of delicate, porcelain coloured feet silently walked past him. He lifted himself up to see whose feet they were. They belonged to Galadriel who walked between the rest of the sleeping Fellowship. Rogers knew he was not dreaming. He nonetheless wondered how Galadriel had not woken any other Fellowship members from their slumber.
Galadriel halted and then looked over her right shoulder at him. The Lady of the Golden Wood did not have to speak any words for Rogers to know she wanted him to follow her. Getting up, Rogers began to cautiously follow Galadriel who began leading him away from the Fellowship.
Eventually Rogers found Galadriel in a small garden that was accessed by a short, narrow stone staircase. Rogers wondered how she got there so fast despite walking in front of him at a gentle pace. He wondered if she'd been there all along, only projecting an image in his mind to find his way here.
Galadriel was filling a golden pitcher with water from a small fountain. She then poured it into a wide golden bowl that rested on a stone pedestal. The pedestal was carved as a twisting tree trunk. Rogers thought it best to have at least a couple of yards distance between him and the Lady. Galadriel placed the pitcher back near the fountain before eventually looking at Rogers from where she stood directly behind the pedestal.
Prior to Project Rebirth, Rogers was a Fine Arts student specialising in illustration. Rogers doubted if any of the greatest artists from human history could capture the gentle but powerful aura that currently surrounded Galadriel. The enigmatic smile she gave him reminded him of the one in the Mona Lisa.
I am greatly honoured by your comparisons, Steven Rogers.
Rogers stepped a pace backward at the sound of the voice in his head. Obviously Galadriel could pick up even the most casual of thoughts. Rogers now understood why Boromir was so unsettled by Galadriel's powers of mental communication.
"I mean you no harm," she gently assured Rogers in spoken voice. She then quickly glanced at the bowl before returning her gaze to him. "Will you look into the Mirror?"
Now knowing what it was called, Rogers focused on the Mirror and asked, "I'm sorry, ma'am. What is it?"
"The Mirror reveals many things," Galadriel informed him. "Yet what it shows is different for each person. Even the wisest cannot tell what one may see."
I guess this lady isn't one for straight answers, Rogers wryly thought.
He quickly realised that Galadriel could read his mind like an open book. Fortunately the smile she gave Rogers indicated she was not offended by his observation.
Rogers walked the couple of yards that separated him from the Mirror and looked into it. At first he saw just his own reflection before the surface of the water turned black with a series of ripples from its centre. Rogers was stunned by the silent images the Mirror showed him.
He saw countless armoured corpses of Men, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits. They and their broken horses, weapons and banners were scattered across the surface of a blackened battlefield. The sky above it was an evil fiery red in colour. The Mirror drew Roger's gaze towards individual corpses. He saw the bodies of members of the Fellowship – Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, even Merry and Pippin. The Mirror then moved his perspective. Facing him was an impossibly vast horde of orcs and trolls (even more fearsome than the one in Moria) that exalted in triumph. In the sky above the horde, Rogers saw a number flying black dragons on which sat black cloaked riders. These dragons and their riders flew beneath a huge orange cat's eye wreathed in flame that hanged in the sky like some evil sun.
Are these the Black Riders and the Eye of Sauron? Rogers thought.
While all of this was troubling enough, it was what he next saw that really disturbed him. Hulk stood at the front of the horde. But instead of being green, his colour was now a glowing, evil black. Rogers saw Hulk wearing the One Ring on one of his fingers and lying at his feet were the bodies of Thor…and Himself!
Rogers remembered the new genre of horror movies that had commenced a few years before the war. He was never a fan, but he doubted the 'best' of them could make him as scared as what the Mirror was showing him. But unfortunately for Rogers, the credits were not yet rolling on the Mirror's horror movie.
The Mirror then rapidly moved to another reddened sky under which stood the charred and burning remains of a great city. It was the New York in which he currently resided! Millions of burnt and bleeding bodies chocked the streets. He noticed that the SHIELD Heli-Carrier had crashed onto the ground. The Mirror dragged him through its wreckage and he saw all its crew was dead, including Director Fury whose body was slumped forward over a bit of railing on the bridge.
The Mirror finally brought him to the ruins of Stark Tower that had been toppled to the ground. In the ruins he saw the bodies of the Avengers who had not come to Middle-earth – Iron Man (his helmet's visor ripped off), Black Widow and Hawkeye. He saw a monstrous, golden armoured being staring at the dead Avengers. The being looked up revealing it was purple skinned with powerful and heavy facial features. It appeared to lock gazes with Rogers with its piercing blue eyes before giving him an evil grin.
The Mirror then went black before Rogers saw his own reflection again.
Rogers stepped back from the Mirror, gasping and perspiring by what he saw. He thought all his previous nightmares (and his war service had generated many) combined could not have generated the fear he now felt. He looked up to Galadriel who had a neutral gaze fixed on him.
"What was all that?" Rogers blurted out to her. Given Galadriel could read his mind, she must have known what he had just seen.
"I hoped the Mirror may have revealed the reason why you Avengers have been brought to Middle-earth," Galadriel calmly answered.
Rogers was perplexed by Galadriel's answer and her demeanour in light of what the Mirror showed him.
"I don't mean to correct you, ma'am," Rogers replied politely as he currently could. "But the three of us came here due an accident involving the Bifrost."
"Great events are not set in motion by mere chance, Steven Rogers" Galadriel told him in a manner of a mother teaching her young child about the alphabet. "They are often the result of the will of great powers beyond any of our understanding. These power's actions can be so subtle as to go unnoticed long after they have taken place." Galadriel then telepathically spoke him. As a man of faith, you should know this.
To Rogers, questions of predestination were one thing but Galadriel had not really answered what the Mirror had revealed to him.
"But those images I saw," he said to force the issue. "What were they?"
There was undercurrent of grave concern in Galadriel's reply. "Images of events that stand every chance of coming to pass."
"You mean the future?"
Galadriel simply gave him a nod in return. Rogers sensed that the Lady of Lothlorien was not cryptic for the purpose of driving people to exasperation. Galadriel's powers seemed to be balanced by her being restrained somehow in what she could exactly tell people. Rogers thought he could at least get her to revel how he could prevent the future he saw in the Mirror from happening.
"Ma'am, I know you can read my mind," Rogers stated plainly. "So you know I believe the future's not set as long as we're willing to fight for it."
"And it is well you hold to that belief, Captain America," Galadriel replied as she well knew what Rogers was trying to get out of her. "In the end it may be the only thing that saves both our worlds."
Rogers tried to get guidance about the image that disturbed him most.
"Given what I saw about the Other Guy, shouldn't Bruce see this as well?" he asked.
"Even I cannot foresee how Master Banner would respond to what you saw," Galadriel answered before giving Rogers a tiny smile. "Given the Other's temperament, I think you will agree it wise that Master Banner should not risk looking into the Mirror. If only for his own safety and the safety of all Caras Galadhon."
Rogers couldn't help but give a tiny smile of his own in response to Galadriel's 'joke' before following up with, "Should I also not tell him"?
Galadriel's smile widened a bit further. "Before he fell, Gandalf tasked both Aragorn and yourself to take over leadership of the Fellowship. I think one of Mithrandir's reasons was because you understand Master Banner better than anyone else in Middle-earth. Yes, even including Odinson."
Rogers sensed Galadriel was about to bring their private audience to an end.
"The Fellowship shall be departing Caras Galadhon very soon," she stated before politely dismissing Rogers. "Many trials are ahead of you, Steven Rogers. Go back and rest so you may have the strength to face them."
At the end of a meeting with a civilian leader, Rogers normally snapped to attention as a sign of respect. In this case though, he thought it best to copy Aragorn giving Galadriel a short bow before departing.
Walking back to the Fellowship's Pavilion, Rogers pondered what he had observed of Galadriel. People were usually in awe of Captain America's superhuman physiology. But as far as Rogers was concerned, in many ways his abilities seemed insignificant next to Galadriel's power to read minds and possibly control people's thoughts. Her power was all the stronger because it was combined with wisdom gained over millennia. For a brief moment Rogers wondered what it would be like if he could read minds like Galadriel.
Well, maybe young women wouldn't be as much of a mystery to me, he wryly thought.
Rogers felt a flush of embarrassment upon hearing in the distance Galadriel's gentle but melodious laugh.
The region of Isengard bordered the southern end of the Misty Mountains. The heart of Isengard was an old fortification of Gondor called the 'Orthanc'. Orthanc consisted of a ringed stone wall that had a gatehouse on its southern part. The ringed wall was about a mile in diameter, being some fifteen feet tall and many feet thick. In the centre of the area that the wall surrounded was the Tower of Orthanc. Being five hundred feet high, the Tower soared above the ringed wall. It was constructed out of a type of obsidian rock that was near indestructible. At the pinnacle of the Tower, four rock piers had been honed into individual horns that surrounded a platform. Orthanc was nestled in a valley called Nan Curunir or Wizard's Vale. It was an appropriate name given who was the Orthanc's current ruler.
Over 2,000 years ago, Saruman the White Wizard was the first of the Istari to arrive in Middle-earth from Valinor. Sent by the Valar, Arda's powerful angelic guardians, the Istari were meant to guide the Free Peoples in their struggle against Sauron during the Third Age. Since his arrival in Middle-earth, Saruman was recognised as the most powerful of the Istari and was the Chief of the Order. Due in large part to his status, Saruman was given custody of Orthanc by the then Steward of Gondor some three hundred years before the present day.
Within Orthanc's ringed wall used to be a great garden containing trees from all parts of Middle-earth. Now this, and much vegetation from Nan Curunir, had been chopped or burned down by orc labourers on Saruman's orders. Within the perimeter of Orthanc, its black surface was dotted with wooden headframes, pulleys and scaffolding. The orc labourers had dug out large underground caverns where forges fuelled by fallen trees produced steel weapons and armour day and night at a rapid rate. Smoke from the forges' rose through the caverns and out through the surface of Orthanc. It was within these caverns that Saruman stood on a platform looking down on what he considered to be his greatest creation.
Giving him their full attention was all but one of the first two hundred of a new breed of orcs that Saruman had created. Standing between 6'4" and 6'7" they were much taller than the common breed of Mordor orc as well as being much stronger. Saruman had dubbed this new breed of orc the 'Uruk-hai' and he reflected on the events leading to their creation.
The longer Saruman had resided in Middle-earth, the more he grew to disdain his original purpose of aiding the Free Peoples. Hobbits and Dwarves were too small-minded and pedantic to influence the course of great events. The power of the Elves was rapidly diminishing as more of them began to return to the Undying Lands. That left the Race of Men who were supposedly destined to rule Middle-earth into its Fourth Age. Having observed them for more than two millennia, Saruman scorned the idea that Men had the strength to do this.
Generation after generation, Men were driven by petty desires and passions influenced by the fear of death their short lifespan gave them. The Valar had become so isolated from Middle-earth that they failed to see the true nature of the Free Peoples. Saruman believed that for Middle-earth to reach its full potential, it did not need guidance. It needed to be ruled – with him as its master.
It was for this reason that Saruman set himself in opposition to the Free Peoples. He had openly declared himself the lord and master of Orthanc, betraying Gondor's original trust in him. He had entered into (to his mind) an alliance of convenience with Sauron to crush whatever pitiful resistance the Free Peoples could mount. The Uruk-hai had been created to assist his plans. The first two hundred of them were only a small proportion of the thousands that Saruman planned to create from the Uruk pits located within Orthanc's caverns. He was confident that the arms and armour his forges were producing would be, on average, of a much superior quality to the equipment of the Free Peoples and Mordor. But to gain dominion over Middle-earth, Saruman knew he needed more than a multitude of well-equipped Uruk-hai. He needed the power of the One Ring.
His former friend and fellow Istari, Gandalf the Grey, refused to tell him the location of the Ring. It offended Saruman's pride and twisted sense of rightness that such an insignificant creature as a hobbit should be its current owner! Through his crebain spies he found out Gandalf led a Fellowship of eight representatives of the Free People southwards from Rivendell. Given that the Fellowship contained four hobbits, Saruman had no doubt that one of them had to be the Ring-bearer. Although he knew about the Fellowship he was still unsure to what purpose Gandalf had for the Ring. Using foul magic, Saruman had been able to drive the Fellowship into Moria where he hoped the goblins or Balrog would kill them all. The latest reports from his crebain indicated that the Fellowship had survived Moria and fled into Lothlorien. It would appear that Gandalf was no longer in their number but he was surprised to have been told that the Fellowship had three new members.
His crebain described three men dressed in a manner he was unaware of. As his crebain could not penetrate the veil around Caras Galadhon, Saruman had to resort to more drastic measures to get the information he needed. Exerting a great amount of his power to prevent discovery by Sauron, Saruman saw through his palantir (or 'seeing stone') the battle within the Chamber of Mazarbul. Two of the three men were tall and used powerful weapons with a strength and agility well above even the greatest of Men. But it was the remaining man of the three that Saruman was most interested in. Despite being only of average height, the man possessed an ability to transform into a green skinned monster of limitless strength, incapable of being harmed by normal weapons.
Saruman thought his Uruk-hai were an accomplishment worthy of his talents. But this short man might hold the key to a quantum leap in knowledge. If he were like most Men, perhaps he would reveal his secret with the right reward and even swear to Isengard's service. If not, Saruman was confident his methods of experimentation would deliver the result he required. With the One Ring and an army of Uruk-hai possessed with the short man's ability, even Sauron would pose little threat to his ambitions. Saruman thought that with such power at his disposal, perhaps he could even challenge the Valar for the rule of all Arda.
Saruman brought himself out of his dizzy dreams of conquest. He knew that the Fellowship had to leave Lothlorien soon as the Lady Galadriel would not want to risk being tempted by the One Ring for too long a period. He spoke his first ever orders to a group of Uruk-hai.
"Hunt them down!" Saruman said referring to the Fellowship. "Do not stop until they are found!" He exhorted the Uruks even further. "You do not know pain. You do not know fear. You will taste man-flesh!"
The Uruk-hai before him raised their weapons and shields and roared their approval of their master's orders.
Saruman then turned to his right where a single Uruk-hai stood alongside him. The Uruk was the first created within the caverns of Orthanc. The Uruk was also still the strongest, cleverest and most savage so far created. He had messy shoulder length black hair and a painted white hand a fellow Uruk had pressed on his face. Saruman had dubbed the Uruk 'Lurtz' and had given him the command of this force of Uruk-hai.
"One of the halflings carries something of great value to me," Saruman privately told Lurtz. "I would also like to question the short man." Just to be sure that Lurtz understood, Saruman told him with quiet but menacing authority, "Bring them to me alive and unspoiled." Lurtz gave a restrained snarl to indicate his understanding but also his disappointment that prisoners were to be taken. Saruman placated him by finishing with, "Kill the others."
From his balcony on the southern face of the Tower of Orthanc, Saruman watched Lurtz lead the company of Uruk-hai through the Orthanc Gatehouse. The former White Wizard felt confident that all the means he needed to bring a new order to Middle-earth would soon be his.
As Galadriel had told Rogers, the time had come for the Fellowship to leave Lothlorien just after a few days of their arrival. They were leaving at dawn on a clear, still day. The Galadhrim had provided the Fellowship with four rowing boats to travel south down the Great River of the Anduin. These boats both represented the quickest means for the Fellowship to continue its journey as well as putting distance between any enemy forces that could be pursuing them. In the first boat were Aragorn, Frodo and Sam; in the second were Boromir, Pippin and Merry; the third had Legolas, Banner and Gimli; and the final boat was crewed by Thor and Rogers.
The Galadhrim had also given many supplies to the Fellowship to take with them including the Elvish Way-bread known as 'Lembas'. When Legolas told him that one small bite of Lembas could fill the stomach of a grown man, Rogers thought the Galadhrim could have the solution to the age-old military problem of 'an army marches on its stomach'. Each of the Fellowship was provided with a grey cloak fastened with a green, silver-veined leaf brooch. The Galadhrim told them these cloaks would help the Fellowship to remain unseen from unfriendly eyes. Although Thor accepted the Galadhrim cloak given to him, he declined to replace his red Asgardian one with it. Instead he pinned the cloak's brooch just above the clasp of his red cloak as a sign of his gratitude.
Just before the Fellowship's departure, Celeborn privately spoke with Aragorn and Rogers. The Lord of Lothlorien advised them with the latest reports on enemy movements. Beyond Lothlorien, Mordor orcs patrolled the eastern banks of the Anduin. Of equal concern, on the western bank a sizeable company of a new breed of orc, rumoured to be called 'Uruk-hai', had been seen bearing the White Hand of Isengard. When the Fellowship left Lothlorien, it faced the risk of being spotted by enemy forces from all directions. Rogers and Aragorn agreed that the Fellowship would need to complete its journey down the Anduin with speed.
Now in their boats, the Fellowship commenced paddling southwards. Galadriel had given each member of the Fellowship a unique, individual gift. As the Fellowship rowed by the Galadhrim gathered on the banks of Caras Galadhon, the three Avengers recalled the words that Galadriel spoke to them as she presented their gift.
"To you, Thor Odinson, a helmet."
Thor was given a peaked war helmet that was silver in colour with a pattern of intertwined white vines. The helmet had a nose guard as well as being designed to cover the back of his neck. There was even a leather strap at its back and a hook provided so Thor could carry it on his belt.
"It was forged with the finest Elven Steel and with what mithril we can spare," Galadriel told him. "A helmet worthy of the greatest warriors – even the God of Thunder himself."
"I shall always be indebted to the smith who crafted it," Thor graciously replied. "And to the Lady who presented to me."
Not even Celeborn objected when Thor gently took and kissed Galadriel's hand.
"To you, Bruce Banner, a braise."
Galadriel handed Banner what appeared to be a pair of knee length boxer shorts. The silky smooth braise was silver in colour and appeared to have been horizontally stitched.
"It has been crafted by our most skilled weavers," Galadriel informed him. "Unlike other undergarments, it will not tear and will shift in size to match the wearer's shape."
Banner realised his gift was so he wouldn't be completely naked following further appearances of the Other Guy. Was Galadriel's gift also an indirect confirmation of Banner's theory in relation to the vortex's effects? Banner looked at the braise while trying to find something appropriate to say. He was prevented when Galadriel gently raised his chin with her hand. Banner thought he might drown in her blue eyes.
"Do not despair, Bruce Banner," Galadriel comforted him. "You and your Other will find harmony before too long."
"In many ways I have given you your gift, Steven Rogers. But allow me to present you with one more."
Galadriel handed Rogers an old style straight razor that he could shave with. Its handle was coloured silver (Rogers had longed guessed that silver appeared to be the Galadhrim's favourite colour) and embossed with a golden symbol of a Mallorn-tree.
"It is rare to find one from the Race of Men whose pride in their appearance is not driven by vanity," Galadriel remarked by way of explanation.
As Rogers considered himself to be a plain speaker, he knew Galadriel would find his gratitude sufficient when he simply said, "Thanks ma'am. For everything."
Soon the Fellowship rowed past Galadriel. She stood there dressed in a white cloak over her head and about her shoulders. The Lady of Lothlorien upraised her right hand in farewell to the Fellowship.
As they Caras Galadhon behind them, Gimli quietly commented to Banner and Legolas, "I have taken my worst wound at this parting, having looked my last upon that which is fairest. Haugh, henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me."
"What was it?" Legolas asked.
Gimli revealed, "I asked her for one hair from her golden head. She gave me three."
"You obviously don't believe Galadriel's a witch any more," Banner observed. "But you're certainly under her spell, Gimli."
"Aye, that's true," the Dwarf conceded with a soft smile.
If he had known more about Middle-earth's history, Banner would have realised he was witnessing a historic act of rapprochement between Elves and Dwarves.
I must admit that I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. In large part it was written as a tribute to Sir Christopher Lee's portrayal of Saruman in the film trilogy. Some have said his performance was one dimensional, but to my mind he captured Saruman's hubris and ruthlessness perfectly. I hope my writing captures at least a tiny part of Sir Christopher's mastery.
So why did Galadriel chose Steve to look into the Mirror? I think she would have agreed with Erskine's observation that because Rogers was physically weak before becoming Captain America, he knows the value of strength and power. The events the Mirror revealed has given Steve warning of what may yet happen in Arda and Earth. Galadriel would believe of the three Avengers, Rogers to be the wisest in how he decides to eventually respond to them.
And I hope people didn't mind me using Thanos following his cameo appearance during the end credits of The Avengers.