𝕰𝖑𝖊𝖓𝖆

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Prophecy

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The crisp cool of the night enveloped me. Entered into my lungs, and passed through my body. Gently poured over my skin. The dead silence was almost serene. But not to me. Not now. The moon was at the peak of its ascent, beginning its journey back down towards the horizon. Any sensible being had long since retired to the warmth of their bed, but I was still awake. My mind was in no fit state for sleep.

It constantly revisited that moment, only hours ago, during which I'd felt more torn than ever I had before. Where did my heart lie? With Legolas, Aragorn, or Middle-Earth? Was I condemned to choose only one, and lose the others? And if so, was it entirely selfish of me to long for the prior two, rather than the latter?

I'd had a taste of the danger and the adventure Middle Earth had to offer. I'd experienced life outside of Aerith. I'd gotten involved in the war, and I'd contributed to my kingdom's affairs. And I found myself now only wishing I'd heeded Gandalf's advice, and gone home when I'd had the chance.

I felt a horribly bitter sense of guilt when these thoughts entered my mind. It was selfish enough to spend any time at all dwelling on affairs so foolish as relationships amidst the ongoing war, without my longing to escape it. Without biting back the temptation to flee like the coward I'd always feared I was.

Somehow, while my mind swelled around these other matters, I'd found that my walking had led me to the foot of the large hall in the centre of Lorien. I felt a strange pull from beyond the doors, and pushed them open, my curiosity getting the better of me.

It would have been pitch dark inside the hall, were it not for the insubstantial lighting coming from the flickering sconces that sparsely lined the walls, the last remaining few emitting their dying pulses of light before extinguishing. I felt the curious pull grow stronger as I stepped inside of the hall, and found that it only continued to do so as I pressed further on. Eventually, I found myself in a narrow hall that led out to a large room, the ceiling so high and so widely arched, it almost appeared as though it were a dome.

The pull felt almost tangible now, and I continued on, through a large set of wide open oak doors, and into a closed off garden, surrounded on all sides by elevated land, rollings hills, and of course, trees so dense you couldn't see ten feet through them. I found myself walking down a set of of marble stone steps, and at last, was met with the white-clad back of Lady Galadriel. She stared down into something concealed from my view. But immediately I recognized it as the source of the pull. Before I could utter a word, Galadriel spoke, somehow aware of my presence in spite of my quiet step.

"Great trouble hangs over you this night, Elena Galrevia," she said almost dreamily, without turning to face me, "A dilemma whose likes you've never experienced... One such dilemma in which you feel overwhelming shame."

I brushed aside her strange remarks, provoked directly from my mind, and instead opted to pry into a different topic. One the discussion of which I'd been awaiting for days.

"You told me you would explain. Everything," I said flatly, but could not restrain the twinge of eagerness nipping at my voice.

"And I will. When you are in a fit state of mind. You do not appear as though you are now in a fit state of mind to me, Elena Galrevia."

"You cannot deny me the knowledge of my own self. It is the most basic of rights owed to all beings to know whom they are," I said, surprising even myself at the short tone I took on.

"A fair claim," she smiled, at last turning to me, "Very well, you seek information I possess, and I will give it without protest."

She stepped aside, revealing what appeared to be a shallow, circular basin, filled with the most crystal clear water I'd ever seen, and I was instantly reminded of Mirrormere. But this water, it possessed a sort of bluish glow that cast shadows over Lady Galadriel's face. The night time fog that hung in the air over this basin adopted this same vivid blue, and I felt myself drawn towards it. Galadriel waved an arm, gently beckoning me closer. I steadily approached it, and peered into its contents.