Athëa - Queen of the Savages

The Odyssey of Athëa and the Elven Queen

"In the beginning of the third age, a league of Elves of Mirkwood and Men of Rhûn rode further and further south in the forrest before known as Greenwood, on a quest to regain the lands of Oropher from the evil grip of Sauron.

A group of men from the East had offered their allegiance to the king of Mirkwood, should he ever wish to widen his boarders once again. The king Thranduil brushed away this idea at the moment as it had been presented. But his Queen Elluinë did not agree with this decision. In the shadows she, and a small group of Thranduil's army, formed an alliance with the men of Rhûn and an elleth whom Elluinë trusted in silence.

You see, Athëa had once belonged to the elven kin. As daughter of Elwing the White and Eärendil the Mariner, she was the sister of Lord Elrond. But when their mother threw herself in the great sea Belegaer in order to protect her Silmaril from the Sons of Fäenor, Athëa seeked away from the world she knew.

Athëa found herself as a servant of Eru, protecting the good in Middle Earth. In the belief that her parents some day would return from Valinor with the Valar to help men and elves defeat the evil Morgoth, she fought for centuries trying to hold back his forces.

Lord Elrond felt his sisters absence as betrayal, and he banned all tales of her, thereby erasing her from elven history.

Athëa's prayers of salvation were heard, and the Valar imprisoned Morgoth in the Halls of Mandos. But Morgoth's right hand Sauron disappeared, and they could therefore not imprison him as well. Now Sauron was building an army and taking over more and more of Middle Earth - including the forrest of the Greenwood realm.

And so the small army fought their way through Mirkwood, defeating Orcs and spiders, and now found themselves in the middle of Dol Guldur. Easterlings and Elves side by side.

Walking through the narrow, cold and moist halls, Elluinë couldn't help but wonder of the silence. It was too silent. It was a trap! She turned to warn the elven army, but it was too late. Athëa and the men of Rhûn had betrayed them and Sauron had known of their plan even before their departure from Mirkwood.

The Queen of Mirkwood fell in the greatest battle never to be seen nor told of. When King Thranduil heard of the betrayal, he swore never to speak of his love again and fell into great grief." Aragorn's story ended.

"But you could not be the same Athëa, could you?", Aragorn said now looking at Athëa.

In a second Legolas had made his way to where they were sitting, now aiming an arrow at Athëa - the arrowhead almost touching her eye. "She can't be, because then she should have died, betraying her kin as a coward!"

Athëa sat in calm silence and it was as if she looked right through Legolas and upon the scenery behind him. She had heard these accusations many times before, and the hurt no longer affected her.

Gandalf interrupted: "This is not exactly how I remember the ending of this tale." he said calmly.

"As I recall Elluinë and Athëa almost defeated Sauron that night in the halls of Dol Guldur, despite of the betrayal of the Easterlings. Elluinë managed to take the one ring from Sauron, but at the same moment he took her life. Athëa chose to try and save the queen instead of finishing the quest. And for that she is forever in dept to Middle Earth. But she is no traitor." He continued smoking his pipe, with a small smile on his face.

Athëa looked up at the fair Elven prince in front of her. And their eyes met in despair. Legolas lowered his bow as a tear fell down his face. Never before had he heard the story of his mothers passing and now he stood right in front of the elleth who had tried to save her.

Athëa stood up and put her hand on Legolas' cheek to wipe off the tear and he leaned into her hand.

Boromir interrupted: "It does not seem that the elves trust her bravery in this tale, Gandalf. How come you do!?"

"Because he was there", Athëa looked at Boromir, her hand still cupping Legolas' cheek.

"I found myself alone and injured in the halls of Dol Guldur. Elluinë was my friend, and one of the few who believed my predicaments of Saurons arising. Yet I had deceived her, taking her on a doomed quest that ended her life. And that was where Gandalf found me. Knowing that I would not be welcome in the west, he took me to the East." Shame filled her eyes as she lowered her hand to her side.

"And there she has been residing ever since. Building an army of outcasts and believers with one purpose only. To defeat Sauron and secure the freedom for all in Middle Earth!" Gandalf arose from the rock he had been resting on. His eyes were fixated on the Gondorian man.

"Your men of Gondor was not killed by the Savages. They left their life behind to join them", Gandalf finished.

Legolas looked the sad elleth in the eyes, and took one step closer to her. He laid both hands on the sides of her face, as he leaned in to rest his forehead on hers. Athëa was surprised of the Prince's unexpected reaction. Why wasn't he angry with her?

But Legolas wasn't angry. It was as if a great burden had been lifted of his chest. Most his life he had been searching for answers to his mothers death, but had only found very few. Now he knew that she had died on a quest she believed in, with a friend by her side.

"I am sorry", Athëa gasped as a tear ran down her face.

Legolas smiled and was about to answer her sad statement, when they were interrupted by Sam: "What is that in the sky?" A strange black cloud was heading directly at them.

Legolas opened his eyes and separated his forehead from Athëa's looking up: "Crebain from Dunland!".

"Hide!" Aragorn yelled as the flock of Sauron's spies flew closer.

In a matter of seconds all the companions hid under bushes and rocks. The black birds yelled and screeched as they filled the air above the fellowship. Legolas had pulled Athëa with him, under some bushes. He could feel her crying soundlessly in his chest. He held her tightly, feeling an overpowering urge to protect her.

*****

So what do you think? Does the battle in Dol Guldur make sense?

Also is Athëa crying too much? I want her to not be 100% in control of her feelings, being a little bit human and all ;-) But I don't want her to appear to much of a whimp.

Leave your comment, please :-)

And remember to vote, vote, vote! :-D

Thank you sooo much for reading! And come back next week, where ten members of the fellowship goes up the mountain, but how many comes back down?

That was the words from Middle Earth

- nindeanin