3. Rising Sun
…
- At Rivendell -
A full moon was shining brightly in the sky, and nocturnal animals could be heard serenading on the horizon. The lively halls of Elrond's home were oddly quiet that night, as everybody awaited the arrival of the fire-wielder elleth.
Thranduil was personally overseeing the safety measures put in place for the anticipated moment, as planned. He was wearing a set of light armor, along with his pair of ornate swords.
The Elvenking stood at a hidden location on the second floor of the manor, which allowed for a clear view of the entrance gate. Tauriel, Feren, and Haldir were also there with him, ready to follow his instructions each step of the way.
Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, were scouting the surrounding areas with their horses to keep an eye out for any unusual sightings. Meanwhile, Lindir was downstairs in front of the entrance gate, waiting for Reiya and her company to arrive.
Even though the hallways and corridors of the manor appeared to be empty at first glance, there were guards strategically placed in certain areas so they could step out and defend the settlement immediately, should there be a need for it. Thranduil was also ready to intervene himself if any unforeseen setbacks were to take place.
The king's attention peaked when they heard steady horse gallops coming from the road outside, followed by footsteps. Just a few seconds later, Reiya's company made its appearance at the entrance gate.
Tauriel's eyes widened with anticipation at the sight of the elleth, as she hoped to get the answers she had been longing for.
Reiya was wearing the same elaborate red mask and hooded cloak as the night of the attack. However, her outfit underneath was slightly different, and her two scimitar swords were strapped to the waist. All the elves in her company were also cloaked, and most of them were armed, just like Thranduil anticipated.
Her group was comprised of various ellith with spears who stood around her, several ellyn with scimitar swords strapped to their backs close behind, and a few unarmed elf-maidens at her side. Reiya stepped forward when Lindir approached them.
"Lady Reiya, I presume?" Lindir inquired in a polite manner.
She bowed her head in confirmation.
"My name is Lindir. I am one of Lord Elrond's overseers here at his residence. Welcome to Imladris, my lady." Lindir put his hand over his shoulder to greet her, per their Elvish customs.
"Mae govannen (Well met), Lindir of Imladris. Gratitude for your welcome." Reiya saluted him back in the same manner.
…
"Is that the elleth in question, King Thranduil?" Haldir asked while watching Reiya's company from their hidden location.
"Yes, that is her. You may proceed." Thranduil responded as his gaze remained focused on the scene downstairs.
Haldir made a hand gesture to one of the guards placed in Lindir's line of sight to confirm that Reiya had been properly identified. Lindir discretely nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued speaking with the elleth.
…
"Lord Elrond has personally requested that I escort you to the hearing hall, my lady. Please follow me." Lindir stated.
"Understood, and yes. Lead the way." Reiya responded.
She and her company proceeded to walk inside.
Thranduil and the other elves in his location also began making their way to the hall. They were taking a shortcut that would lead them there before Reiya's party reached the site.
The reception and partial identification of the fire-wielder elleth had proceeded without any hurdles. However, the Elvenking remained vigilant, as the upcoming hearing would be the most crucial moment of the night.
…
The hall reserved for the hearing was an outdoor space with a large committee table on a higher floor and a speaker platform down some stairs in front of it.
Five people were sitting at the table, partially distanced from one another, while some of their subjects or peers stood behind them on each side.
From right to left, there was Gandalf, who was sitting on his own; Elrond, accompanied by Arwen and Erestor, his chief counselor; Celeborn and Galadriel, joined by Haldir and one of their expedition guards; and Thranduil, with Feren and Tauriel watching over his back.
Once they arrived at the hall, Reiya and her company walked through an open corridor surrounded by guards at each side.
She partially lifted her hand, signaling everybody in the group to stand at the end of the corridor as she continued walking to the speaker platform on her own.
Thranduil narrowed his eyes at the elleth, keeping his watch at all times. Galadriel, on the other hand, looked at her with a neutral expression while making conjectures of her own.
'The energy that was coming out of the scroll... I can also sense it within her.' The Lady of Light pondered.
Reiya stepped onto the platform and looked at everybody attentively before addressing the group.
"Members of the White Council, Elven rulers, and their acquaintances, I thank you for taking the time to meet with me." She bowed her head to them as a sign of respect. "As promised, and with your permission, I will reveal my face so we can speak properly."
Elrond nodded at her as she carried on.
'Very well... Let's see who is the elleth beneath the mask.' Thranduil thought, looking at her attentively.
Reiya carefully removed her mask and hood, revealing the most vivid shade of red hair he had ever seen in his life. Thranduil's lips parted slightly, taking notice of all the traits that distinguished her appearance.
She had pale skin, delicate features that complemented her bright emerald green eyes, pink full lips, and long red hair that fell below her waist, loosely pulled to one side. Her hair did not contain any ornaments or braids like most elves; however, her strands were laid down in light layers and waves that gave a certain movement to it.
Her frame was very feminine but notably fit. She had a slim waist, wide hips perfectly proportional to her figure, and a curvy chest. She was also slightly taller than Tauriel and exerted a peculiar air with her presence.
Red was clearly the signature color that identified the group of strangers, and Reiya was showcasing that color in almost every piece of clothing that night.
The attire beneath her cloak consisted of a leather set of red clothing pieces, which included a long dress with two front slits on the skirt, trousers underneath, laced knee-boots, a corset covering her mid-section, and a short vest with long lace-up sleeves. She was also wearing a lightly ornamented golden circlet with an emerald stone on her forehead, which was partially covered by her long red hair. Her attire was quite stylish for a mere traveling outfit, and she wore clothes incredibly well.
Reiya seemed older than Tauriel and Legolas, but not quite as old as himself and the other Elven rulers. If he had to make a guess, he'd say that she was probably around three thousand years old, which would equal early to mid-adulthood in Elven years.
Even though her expression was calm and collected at that moment, her eyes carried the weight of an elf who had witnessed many evils in the world. It seemed like she had experienced her fair share of battles throughout her lifetime—perhaps way too many for her apparent age. Moreover, she looked like someone who had to undertake a role of leadership rather early in her life.
There was also something alluring about her... Almost bewitching.
Elves were innately beautiful creatures. However, the elleth standing before them had been blessed with plenty of it—a distinctive kind of beauty that was rare.
Thranduil was not oblivious to the fact that Reiya was attractive in his eyes. Nevertheless, her beauty was misleading and even deadly to some extent, given that she could burn a man alive with her abilities quite easily.
He wouldn't be so foolish as to be deceived by her agreeable appearance and meet such a mundane fate, of course. His mind was not that gullible.
Thus, he was not going to let his guard down until he was absolutely certain that Reiya was not a part of the lurking threat or an entirely different one on her own. She was still an anomaly among them, and a highly unpredictable one at that, so he would remain cautious for the time being.
Thranduil was brought out of his thoughts when the elleth of interest proceeded to speak.
"Good. We can resume our conversation now." Reiya remarked with a polite smile.
She proceeded to pace towards the right side of the platform. Meanwhile, the king followed her with his gaze, taking in every gesture, mannerism, and word disclosed by her as he continued studying her.
"My mentors have taught me a lot about you over the years." Reiya's smile lightened a bit as she looked at the floor. "Thus, I am somewhat familiar with your names and titles, your realms and battles, your outstanding victories, as well as your inevitable defeats." She stated, looking at each of the Elven rulers on the table.
Her expression, however, turned slightly serious as she continued speaking.
"I even know about the rings of power that some of you possess. It is quite remarkable, the things that you have been able to accomplish with those." She emphasized as she gradually turned around to walk towards the other side of the platform.
Everybody at the table area seemed slightly surprised, wondering how this elleth, unknown to all of them, had come to learn about such an imperative matter. Thranduil's expression hardened as he maintained his caution toward her.
"Yet, you were not aware of my existence until very recently; an unfortunate consequence of the on-going war, and that vile servant of Sauron that my people have been fighting for millennia." Reiya pointed out with a hint of disdain.
Thranduil narrowed his eyes sharply, and Gandalf and Elrond tensed at the mention of the Dark Lord. Celeborn looked somewhat concerned, and Galadriel remained neutral.
The pending evil was linked to Sauron then...
That revelation in particular did not come as a surprise for the Elven rulers, given that the spirit of the Dark Lord had endured the passage of time, as confirmed throughout the conflict at Erebor. However, something about the lurking servant acting on Sauron's behalf felt quite ominous, in view of the recent events.
Making notice of their reactions, the fire-wielder elleth continued speaking.
"Nevertheless, this is a fateful day, as your eyes will be finally opened to the events unfolding." She stated.
Reiya then stopped in the area in front of the Elvenking, and lifted her head to meet him with a fervent stare.
She remained quiet for a brief moment as Thranduil held her gaze relentlessly. Her enigmatic emerald green eyes were fixated on his, not backing down at the sight of him.
Making notice of that, the Elvenking's stare slowly turned into a bit of a glare as his icy blue eyes pierced into her very core.
Intrigued by the peculiar exchange, Galadriel discreetly glanced at Thranduil, then at Reiya, and back at him. She then shifted her attention to the table and smiled subtly.
Tauriel, on the other hand, tightened her fingers nervously as she could feel the tension building up between her king and the fire-wielder elleth. She was the only one who had witnessed the first encounter between those two on the night of the attack at Mirkwood. Thus, she was quite aware of the heated confrontation that had transpired between them.
The others were just looking at Reiya waiting for her to proceed, seemingly oblivious to what was going on.
The elleth's silent stare finally ceased when she turned her attention towards the others. "I will reveal everything, as promised. Hence, two distinguished guests will join me for such a purpose." Reiya pointed out.
Thranduil raised an eyebrow, wondering who she was referring to.
"I shall bring forth my most trusted advisors. I believe Master Gandalf is already acquainted with the two of them, respectively." She stated, smiling politely at the Gray Wizard, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Following her statement, two concentrated spheres of blue magical energy appeared behind her all of a sudden. Soon after, two figures materialized out of the spheres as they stood on the platform.
The two individuals appeared to be elderly men with long gray beards wearing blue robes, hats of sorts, and golden belts. Moreover, their robes contained simplistic golden patterns at the ends of the sleeves, and their staffs resembled the one wielded by Gandalf. However, the shade of blue in their attire was slightly different from one another; one was cobalt blue, and the other was indigo. Their staffs were both made out of wood, but the stones at the top of them were somewhat distinct. One was diamond-shaped, and the other one was square-shaped.
Reiya smiled at her advisors in a welcoming manner, while everybody else looked visibly shocked at the sight of them.
Thranduil immediately went on alert when he realized the two individuals had not been in Reiya's company when she first came in. His hand was already on the hilt of his sword as he got ready to make a stance.
The two figures glanced at everybody on the table, but their gazes halted at the sight of the Gray Wizard.
"Gandalf?" The individual in the cobalt blue robe addressed him, stepping forward.
Mithrandir stood up from the table, and he gradually began approaching the two figures on the speaker platform as he spoke.
"Five wizards make up the Order of the Istari: I, Gandalf the Gray; Saruman the White; Radagast the Brown; and then there were the two Blues..." Gandalf emphasized as he stood in front of the figure in the cobalt blue robe. "Yes… I believe I remember their names now... Alatar and Pallando, wasn't it?" The Gray Wizard inquired, waiting for the two individuals' confirmation of his statement.
A few seconds passed, and the figure in front of him nodded and smiled.
"It's good to see you again, my friend." Alatar, the wizard in the cobalt blue robe, extended his arm to his peer in acknowledgement. Gandalf grabbed his forearm, returning the greeting.
"Greetings, friend. It's been a long time." Pallando, the wizard in the indigo robe, also approached Gandalf and greeted him in the same manner, with a light smile on his face.
Everybody at the table area looked more relaxed when Gandalf got reacquainted with the Blue Wizards.
Thranduil softened his grip on the hilt of his sword as their new guests appeared to be acquaintances rather than foes, but he remained observant regardless.
The Elvenking had never really trusted wizards the way his peers did.
He was aware that Radagast the Brown was living on the opposite end of the Mirkwood forest, but they never interacted with one another. The Brown Wizard seemed more concerned with the animals living in the woodlands than having dealings with elves, and the Elvenking himself did not have a particular need to seek him out either.
Saruman the White had always seemed way too sketchy for his liking. He'd never voiced his wariness about the White Wizard out loud, because Saruman was highly regarded as one of the Wise Ones. Thus, he had assumed that the other Elven rulers would not validate his opinions on the matter. The fact that his counsel would never be taken seriously in that regard had always aggravated him to some degree.
Nevertheless, he was acquainted enough with Gandalf to know that the Gray Wizard always acted in the interest of protecting others, regardless of their conflicting interests at times. Mirthrandir had also encouraged him to focus on rebuilding his relationship with Legolas instead of endlessly seeking the gems that would have belonged to his late wife.
That fact alone had persuaded the Elvenking to rely on Gandalf's intuition, just this once. If Mirthrandir was inclined to trust the Blue Wizards, then he would listen to what they had to say, at the very least. Reiya had introduced them as her advisors as well, so they were likely to provide valuable insight on everything that was going on.
"Where is Saruman? We assumed that he'd be present at this hearing since he is a member of the White Council?" Alatar inquired, noticing the absence of the White Wizard at the meeting hall.
"Yes. He would have attended the hearing if he were nearby, but he is not. He traveled east to subdue the remaining essence of the Necromancer, the incarnation of Sauron that unleashed a massive attack in Erebor thirty years ago." Gandalf pointed out.
Alatar and Pallando looked at each other in confusion, wondering why they were not able to sense the White Wizard's presence regardless. However, they quickly disregarded those thoughts and refocused on the issue at hand.
"Well, that shall be a conversation for another time, as we have other pressing matters that we should attend to now." Pallando remarked.
Gandalf nodded at the Blue Wizards and went back to sit at the table, while everybody kept listening to them attentively.
"Greetings, Members of the White Council. As Gandalf already established, we are Alatar and Pallando, the Blue Wizards from the Order of the Istari. We have also gone by the names Morinehtar and Rómestámo per the customs of your Elven ancestors. We have come before you at the turn of a tide to provide clarity and warn you of what's to come. In order to do that, however, we should go back to the time when our journey began." Pallando remarked.
"We traveled to Rhûn in order to join the fight against Sauron. Thus, our mission was to aid the tribes of men leading the resistance against his forces in those lands. However, we failed in the task, given that most of the Easterlings fell in battle or were ultimately persuaded to join the enemy forces." Alatar pointed out.
"We had believed that everything was lost. Nonetheless, we continued our journey further east until we reached the Land of the Sun. That is where we met Lady Reiya's kin. The elves in that land were one of the few groups that were still making a stand against the forces of evil." Pallando remarked, looking at Reiya approvingly, and she nodded back in acknowledgement.
"Elves in the Land of the Sun? Weren't those territories supposed to be uninhabited?" Celeborn inquired.
"We had assumed as much, Lord Celeborn. Nevertheless, we soon found that was not to be the case, and there is an explanation for it as we speak." Pallando pointed out.
"The ancestries of the elves are tracked back to certain regions of Arda. Particularly, it has been foretold that the first elves woke up in the region of Cuiviénen, at the shore of the Sea of Helcar. What most of the Western historic records do not indicate however, is that there was also a group of elves that woke up in the Land of the Sun and chose to remain there." Alatar clarified.
"Those elves built a nation that your histories deemed nameless, and later abandoned without any apparent reason. That nation is the one place where Lady Reiya's group came from." Pallando clarified.
"I see… That would help explain the vague historical references to an extinct and nameless settlement of elves presiding under a sun symbol." Elrond commented, remembering the manuscripts that they had inspected that morning.
"That is correct, Lord Elrond. That nation was ultimately destroyed by the enemy that presently threatens us all. However, a substantial number of elves living in those lands survived the catastrophe, and they sought a new life here in Middle-earth." Pallando remarked.
"In other words, my lords and ladies, those elves are still around and continue to resist the forces of evil. I am the one who commands them." Reiya pointed out, stepping forward. "My kin are the Sun-elves, or Anar elves, to make a clearer distinction. We came from the Land of the Sun, and the emblem in the scroll that I handed to Captain Tauriel is our sigil." Reiya explained, looking at them attentively.
Everybody at the table area had an intrigued expression on their faces, as they were getting acquainted with the new group of elves that had just been introduced to them.
Meanwhile, Thranduil was pondering inquiries of a more pragmatic nature.
They had already learned that the strangers were Sun-elves who had journeyed from the Far East. However, that fact only opened the door to more questions which remained unanswered.
Were those elves just a faction rallying against the unforeseen enemy in secret? Or was there more to their operations?
Likewise, were they always on the road? Or did they have some sort of settlement there in Middle-earth?
Inquiries still surrounded Reiya's command as well.
Leadership could take on many forms, depending on the actual role performed by those in positions of authority. Thus, was she the only one commanding such a group? Or were there others taking on a similar role?
They had not addressed Reiya's ability yet either, which clearly made her different from the other Sun-elves in many regards.
The Elvenking did not foresee the startling revelations that would follow next, as they concerned the nature of Reiya's power and her more formal role in the on-going war.
…
A/N: The world-building begins!
More big reveals coming up in the next couple of chapters :)
In case you guys are wondering, the geography explained in this chapter has a foundation in the canon lore. See a couple of points below!
Tolkien's texts indicate that Middle-earth was only one of five continents in Arda (the world as a whole). There were the Undying Lands to the west; the Land of the Sun to the east; the Dark Land to the south; and the Frozen Sea to the north.
The Land of the Sun (the Eastern continent) was believed to be an uninhabited territory (The Shaping of Middle-earth, "V. The Ambarkanta: Map V").
The Blue Wizards traveled to the eastern side of Middle-earth to help men fight Sauron's forces, but it was implied that they failed on their mission (Unfinished Tales, "The Istari").
Since that part of the lore is shredded in mystery, I always wondered what would have happened if the Blue Wizards ventured further into the Eastern continent (The Land of the Sun) and met other elves there. Drawing on that curiosity, I imagined this new group of elves (the Sun-elves), which I am introducing in the context of this story.
Anar is 'Sun' in Elvish. So Anar elves = Sun-elves.
Reiya and the rest of the Anar elves are from the Land of the Sun. Thus, they are from an entirely different continent, even though they are currently residing in Middle-earth.
The Elvish names that Tolkien designated for the Blue Wizards (Morinehtar and Rómestámo) mean 'Darkness-slayer' and 'East-helper' (The Lord of the rings, Appenix B; The Peoples of Middle-earth " Writings). That is why I used the first of the two terms when Galadriel was describing her visions.
Canon characters on this chapter not featured in the films, but mentioned in the books!: Alatar and Pallando (The Blue Wizards), Erestor (Elrond's chief counselor); Elladan and Elrohir (Elrond's twin sons)