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Chapter VI
"Eruanna."
The Dragoness looked behind her, fear taking hold of her body. In front of her stood Thorin and his nephews, Fili and Kili. They looked the same as they had when they were alive, only older and dimmer. A feeling of gloom and dread danced around them as Eruanna watched them with wide eyes.
They should have lived. They deserved to live. The only dwarves of the company who didn't make it. The line of Durin had nearly been extinguished with their deaths.
From time to time, they haunted her thoughts. She'd sworn an oath to them and then broken it when Thorin became consumed with Dragon Sickness. Eruanna was haunted by her choice to abandon him and side with her kin. How many could have lived had she gotten to him before the sickness did? Why had she left him to fight it alone?
"You abandoned us", Thorin accused.
"You promised us", Kili added.
"You turned against us", said Fili, so sadly.
"I thought the Dragon Sickness would take you. I didn't think you could fight it. I thought you were too far gone", Eruanna said. "I'm sorry. I had no faith. I had to stick by my people", her words came out fragmented as she scrambled to form sentences. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Apologies spilled from her lips like the tears from her eyes. The three dwarves looked on in sadness as they disappeared, only to be replaced by the same elf with golden hair and grey eyes. Eruanna looked up at him, tears running down her face. He looked down at her. "Why so sad, Everstar?", he asked in the smoothest, most melodious voice she'd ever heard as he brushed her tears away and she leaned into his touch.
Suddenly, an inferno consumed the elf. Eruanna gasped as she beheld Sauron, flanked by his ringwraiths. Spirits who were once mortal men, corrupted by rings of power. Eruanna's blue dress swirled around her as she stared them down.
"You'll never meet him, Eruanna. Your own fire will be the one to consume you", came Sauron's deathly voice.
Eruanna shot awake with a gasp. Sweat ran down her forehead as she panted, clutching her bedsheets to her. With the back of her palm, she wiped her forehead, gasping for air. Tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry", she found herself murmuring over and over. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Eruanna?", the Dragoness jumped and saw Galadriel, who had opened her door and was looking at her great-granddaughter with concern. "You were apologizing over and over. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine", Eruanna said, shakily. Her great-grandmother was unconvinced. "Another nightmare, Úlumiel?", she asked. Eruanna nodded.
"I had many nightmares after the exiled elves of Valinor crossed the Helcaraxë", Galadriel told her great-granddaughter. "After Fëanor committed the kinslaying at Alqualondë, the Valar exiled his followers and forbade them from coming to Aman", Galadriel responded. "My brothers and I followed our uncle, Fingolfin, the younger half-brother of Fëanor, as you know."
Eruanna nodded. Galadriel spoke little of her youth and Eruanna swallowed up her stories. "Fëanor had abandoned us and forced us to cross the frosty and unforgiving Helcaraxë. Thousands of elves made the journey. Hundreds died. Even my close kin and friends. When we finally came to Middle-Earth, I was plagued by nightmares. Even after I wedded your great-grandfather, they sometimes came back to haunt me."
"How do you survive it?", Eruanna asked.
"I have my family", Galadriel said with a smile. "Because family is always first. They will always be with you, Úlumiel. You shall never be alone."
"I know", Eruanna smiled. She shakily placed a hand on Galadriel's own. "Will you stay with me tonight?", she asked, feeling like an elfling again. "I don't think I can sleep alone."
Galadriel smiled and got under the covers, pulling her great-granddaughter close.
The next day, Eruanna came to her dragons who immediately acknowledged her. Eruanna felt Ceveniel's snout. With such dark days ahead of them, Eruanna could hardly fly them around as they used to, for the threat of Sauron consuming her mind scared her and her dragons. Eruanna felt a deep sorrow as she recalled the first time she rode them.
Eruanna Úlumiel was nearing her majority and had grown into a slender teenager with long black hair and curious blue eyes. She strode towards the area where her five dragons were resting, smiling as she watched Naurion lazily pluck an apple from a tree before eating it. The neat thing about elemental dragons was that they ate anything they fancied - whether it be an orc or an apple.
Ceveniel was the first to acknowledge her Mistress, lifting her large head. The dragons were now twice the size of a horse. They were nowhere near as big as the dragons of old yet they still had time to grow. Despite that, they were still hard to miss.
Eruanna stroked Ceveniel's snout which caught the attention of the other dragons, all of them gathering around Eruanna hoping she would pet them. The dragons were friendly with the elves but Eruanna was the only person they allowed to touch them. Elladan, one of Eruanna's uncles, had tried that and he'd ended up tossed into a bush by Sûlion.
The Dragon Princess chuckled and petted her dragons. Ceveniel let out a noise - unlike Morgoth's dragons, they couldn't speak, though they understood the tongue of dwarves, elves and men - and grabbed Eruanna's attention.
Ceveniel adjusted her positioning and extended her wing to Eruanna. Eruanna frowned, not understanding the dragon until Ceveniel motioned to her back. Eruanna's blue eyes widened. Ceveniel wanted the Princess to ride her.
Eruanna looked at her dragons who gave her encouraging looks. She looked back at Ceveniel. As daring as she was, she had to admit that she was frightened. She excelled on horseback but riding a dragon would mean going up into the sky.
Flying. It was a fantasy she carried in her heart, a beautiful dream she had imagined, yet a terrifying prospect when faced with actually doing it.
"You'll catch me if I fall, right?", Eruanna asked Ceveniel. The dragon nodded her head.
Fire overtook her heart and her boldness won out any fear. Nodding to herself, Eruanna slowly climbed onto Ceveniel's back, using her wings to help. Eruanna held onto Ceveniel's scales for dear life but she tried to not injure the beast. Ceveniel jumped up into the sky and Eruanna let out a shout.
Ceveniel's wings flapped in a graceful rhythm, testing the winds before gliding around Imladris. The other four dragons leapt into the sky. Naurion and Helegiel flanked Ceveniel on the right. Faroniel and Sûlion flanked her on the left.
Eruanna steadied her breathing slowly as she looked down below. She couldn't help but smile at how beautiful Imladris looked from above, from the rolling green hills to the gorgeous buildings. Elves from the ground looked at their Lady and Princess, stunned to see her riding a dragon. They had been stunned when she brought five elemental dragons to Imladris but this was beyond their imaginations.
In the sky, it was just Eruanna and her dragons. Time wasn't even a factor up there, let alone the sanity of it all.
Hiriel raced out onto a balcony and saw Eruanna. "Iell nin! What are you doing?", she called out.
Eruanna noticed her worried mother and grinned. Steering Ceveniel towards the balcony, she leapt off the dragon and onto the balcony's floor. She faced a stunned but relieved Hiriel. "What were you thinking?", breathed the Lady of Imladris.
"I flew on Ceveniel. It was...", Eruanna's eyes grew distant. "Exhilerating."
"Have you lost your mind!?!", Eruanna found herself facing her flabbergasted grandfather in his office. Elrond hardly raised his voice but the thought of Eruanna riding a dragon was almost too much for him.
"No, I have not", Eruanna stood firm, a fire in her eyes that reminded Elrond of his children. "How am I supposed to properly bond and strengthen my connection with my dragons when I cannot even ride one of them?"
"What if you fall off? You will fall from a great height and not even all the power of Imladris would be able to save you! Your life is precious, Eruanna."
"You've been telling me that ever since I was born", Eruanna said. "Like it or not, I'm not a glass doll that will break. And riding a dragon isn't that different from riding a horse. It's a matter of trusting the dragons, who are smart, thank you, and trusting yourself."
"You're riding a larger creature", Elrohir, Eruanna's uncle, said. "In the air." "I know", Eruanna rolled her eyes. "I can handle it."
"What if you fall?", Elladan asked.
"Ceveniel will catch me."
"If she doesn't?" "Her siblings will."
Eruanna glared at them. "I understand your concerns. But with five very smart and very loyal dragons, I fail to see how I'll fall. I can see how I'll rise. I know my dragons. I raised them. Not the Valar. Not Erestor or Glorfindel or Lindir. Me. I trust them with my life."
"If you want to build a saddle, build it. If you want to accompany me to assure yourself I'lll be safe, please do so. But if today showed me anything, it is that no one can or will keep me from the skies."
Elrond looked at his granddaughter who stared at him unflinchingly. He sighed. "Do at least try to keep yourself from Mandos's Halls."
Eruanna straightened up and nodded. "I will. I swear it."
"Valar help us all then", Elrond said. "You may as well be shaping up to be one of the most powerful elves Middle Earth has ever had."
"Hiril nin", Haldir's voice caught her attention. The marchwarden of Lothlórien was one of the top guards who guarded the Northern borders of Lothlórien. He was a handsome elf, with long blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
Eruanna would be staying in Lothlórien as it was deemed to be unsafe to have her travel back to Imladris. However, she wasn't keen to sit around and do nothing. Celeborn and Galadriel were hesitant to let her patrol the borders now that Sauron's malicious interest in her was known. Eruanna listened to their concerns and was content when Celeborn allowed her to help draw up reports from patrols. He put her in charge of the northern border since the last elf had recently sailed to Valinor as most elves had been doing.
"Haldir", Eruanna smiled. "Coming to report?", she sat down at her desk and took out a fresh scroll to write in.
"Yes, Princess", Haldir said, briefly eyeing the beautiful elf maiden.
"Have the attacks at the border increased since my arrival?", Eruanna said.
"They have, yes. But not as much as we were anticipating. The orcs are loyal to Sauron but some of them are cowards who value their lives. With the presence of Nenya and your dragons, most of them were easy to finish off. Thanks to your dragons, who intervened during our attack, we lost no soldiers. However, at least a dozen were injured and two were severely injured", Haldir said.
"Everyone fears death", Eruanna mused as she wrote the report. "Even the greatest of Kings feared it. We elves don't know what awaits us in the Halls of Mandos. All we know is that we wait there until we are restored to life and kept in Valinor. But men go to only Eru knows where. And orcs... I hope Eru has a special place in Hell for them", she handed the scroll to Haldir. "Give it to the Commanding General, as always", she said. Haldir bowed and left.
Watching him leave, she mused. In another life, she may have loved him. He was a handsome elf but he was much older than her and she sometimes felt he was too stern. His younger brothers, Rumli and Orophin were also handsome but not as striking as him in her eyes. She'd caught them eyeing her as well. Yet, she'd spent most of her life in Imladris and thus, she wasn't close with them.
The only elf she could think about was the handsome male with thick golden hair and starlit grey eyes who kept reappearing in her dreams.
"Why so sad, Everstar?"
She'd been unable to reply to him but she wished she had. She'd never seen him before but he felt so familiar. He looked like Glorfindel, but unlike the Balrog-Slayer, his eyes held no shadow. He was... innocent in a way.
"You'll never meet him, Eruanna. Your own fire will be the one to consume you."
Her heart thudded against her ribcage.
"Eruanna?", Celeborn poked his head into her office. She looked up at him.
"Your father and the Fellowship have arrived. They will be resting in Lothlórien for the night. Your father wants to see you", he said.
"And you're telling me this now?", she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Sorry", he said, sheepishly with a rare grin on his face. "I thought Haldir would've mentioned it to you. It seems that it slipped his mind. But your father is asking for you."
"I will see him then."