Set in Stone - Haldir's Story -

Chapter 3 - Lothlórien

The trees looked rather like hewn from stone than actual living things – their skin was blue-grey and every wrinkle seemed to be precisely placed by some higher being. Haldir, Rumil and Orophin stood in awe for a few minutes – the trees of Mirkwood were huge as well, but not that huge. Now for the first time they understood how the Lórien Elves could build flets in the boughs of the trees and live up there. The brothers led their horses into the shadows of the trees and then stopped again. Orophin turned his head left and right, seemingly not being able to find a difference between the two paths. "How are we ever going to find Caras Galadhon in here? – Our uncle should have given us a map of the woods." – Haldir closed his eyes and listened. "I do not think there is such a thing as a map of these premises. I believe we will be guided. Just listen out." – The other two did as they were told and now all three of them could hear what sounded like the soft rustling of leaves but was in fact elves running through the forest. Mere seconds later a group of five elves joined them. They wore cloaks in the colour of the shadows that would have made them invisible, hadn't the brothers heard their approach.

One elf stepped forward. Haldir thought that he must be very old – he could not make it out from the elf's appearance of course, yet there was something in his eyes: those eyes had seen many a century fly by. Haldir felt young and foolish all of a sudden. They exchanged the traditional greeting, then the old elf said: "You must be Haldir, Rumil and Orophin. The Lord and Lady of Lothlórien are expecting you. My name is Valnin, I am the March Warden. Please follow me."

They started walking and after a short while Rumil leant over to Haldir. "How could they have known who we are? I do not know about any elven power that would allow a person to watch others. I heard that the Lady sometimes has visions, yet I cannot see why she should have a vision about us." – Haldir answered without returning his brother's gaze. "I feel there are many things we do not know." After several hours of walking in silence, the March Warden fell behind so he could walk with the brothers. "You are the sons of Diniel, I believe?" – Haldir shot a quick side-glance at Valnin before confirming: "Indeed, we are." – "Welcome to the woods. The Lady will be pleased to see you." – Haldir noticed that not only his brothers looked confused at that remark, but the Lórien-Elves as well. – "My brothers and I are coming with grave news." – Valnin sighed. "I feared you would. We are not far from Caras Galadhon now. We will reach it at nightfall." – The brothers shared an uneasy look. They usually avoided wandering through a forest at night – it was one of the lessons Mirkwood had taught its elves. The nights were spent inside, but during daylight there was not much that could surprise them – all three of them had been added to the guards by their uncle and they had spent many days running through the Woods looking for elves that had gone missing. They had encountered evil-spirited trees and killed a gigantic spider – hoping it had been the only one in the forest and not yet bred; they had found the few herbs that weren't poisonous and learned to tell treacherous waters. There was nothing that could surprise them anymore – except the fact that there might be a forest in which all of their vigilance was not necessary.

The moon that night was already waning, but for some reason the stars seemed to shine a lot brighter over Lórien than the rest of the world. The forest did not seem to be able to grow dark. There were shadows, but they weren't black and when they finally arrived in Caras Galadhon, that sat on top of a tree-covered hill, the hundreds of flets were laced with thousands of pale lamps. The biggest mellorn tree grew in the centre of the city – steps wound around it, but they weren't cut into the wood: the tree seemed to have grown them. The brothers stopped and stared in amazement. Haldir turned his head upwards and tried to spy the flet in the crown, but even with his elven eyes he couldn't – too many boughs were blocking his sight. Valnin smiled slightly. "You should memorize this moment – seeing Caras Galadhon for the first time will make you think twice in the future before calling something impressive." – Orophin leant over to Haldir. "They are indeed wearing white, brother. And their lamps and fires are lighting the forest up for miles." – Rumil stretched out one hand to touch the skin of one of the huge trees. "This is certainly a most strange forest!" – "You are not the first elf from Mirkwood to make that remark. It strengthens my belief that a dark illness has fallen on your woods, if they have changed their face like that. There was a time when it did not stand far behind Lothlórien in beauty and benevolence. Although it did stand behind." Valnin seemed lost in memories of a long gone past for a few seconds. Then he pointed up the stairs. "The Lord and Lady are expecting you."