All Shall Fade

Chapter 8

Dangers of Solitude

In the evening of my second day in Rivendell, I found myself wandering around inside one of the main buildings. People seemed to have been arriving all day, as something important seemed to be happening tomorrow. I hadn’t been told about it, but I’d thought it best not to ask. Instead I had changed into a long red shirt and my black leggings and had gone exploring to try and keep out of people’s way.

I hesitated outside a room I hadn’t come across before and poked my head through the door. It seemed deserted, as none of the lamps were lit, so I went in to investigate, and found myself in what appeared to be a small museum of artefacts and paintings. I smiled and began to make my way around, marvelling at the beautiful paintings. They all seemed to tell a story, but I wasn’t sure what the stories were. I stood before a large, intricate painting of a male elf, dressed in silver battle armour. I frowned as I looked into the stern, proud face of the man as he brandished his long spear. Unlike most of the other paintings, where the figures stood in woodlands, he stood on a barren, rocky landscape. To me, it made the painting seem a little sad.

“I see you’ve found Gil-galad.” I jumped as someone spoke and I turned in alarm, but relaxed as I recognised the person walking towards me.

“You scared me Legolas.” I smiled, turning back to the painting as the blonde prince made his way to my side.

“My apologies.” He murmured softly as he looked up at the painted figure.

“Who was he?” I asked quietly.

“Gil-galad?” Legolas smiled, and for a moment it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything, before he began to chant in a low voice.

“Gil-galad was an Elven-King.

Of him the harpers sadly sing:

the last whose realm was fair and free

between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen,

his shining helm afar was seen;

the countless stars of heaven’s field

were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,

and where he dwelleth none can say;

for into darkness fell his star

in Mordor where the shadows are.”

We stood in silence, as I contemplated the meaning of the verse.

“That’s sad…” I sniffed, “Is it true? Or is it just a story?”

“It is true, but my knowledge of lore is not as great as some.” He smiled, looking down at me, and reading my confused expression. “You have questions that you want answered.” He stated and I nodded.

“Um… What exactly is Mordor?”

“Mordor,” He grimaced as he said the word, “Is a place of great evil, where a dark power dwells that threatens to destroy and rule over all of Middle Earth.”

“W-what?” I stammered, “That’s… Unpleasant.” I strived to find a better word, but my vocabulary failed me as I thought of the Hollywood-Blockbuster style supervillan Legolas was talking about. Of course, there had to be a catch in this perfect world, didn’t there? I felt Legolas gently squeeze my shoulder and I smiled weakly as we walked to a different painting. It was one of two tall trees that sat in an ornate gold frame. “Pretty trees.” I thought out loud, and Legolas laughed.

“Those are the Trees of the Valar, planted in the Undying Lands. They are Laurelin the Golden and Telperion the White.” I turned to him, more questions on my lips and he smiled knowingly.

Legolas lead me from one painting to another, answering every question I asked and teaching me everything I wanted to know about Sauron and his ‘Ring of Power’, Middle Earth and the mysterious ‘Undying Lands’, until we had quite literally made it all the way back to the beginning, and he explained to me the story of creation, and how the worlds had come to be.

“So… You don’t question the fact that you were just ‘created’?” I frowned and he nodded, “But don’t you have any evolution theories or anything like that?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” Legolas tilted his head in confusion. I opened my mouth to explain and elaborate, before I remembered what Strider had told me. He had warned me not to tell anyone about how I came from a different world, so I quickly shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter.” I mumbled, feeling a little regretful that I had to hide things from Legolas. I trusted him, so maybe I’d be able to tell him soon.

“Mae govannen Legolas!” I turned to see a Rivendell elf approach us and greet Legolas, “Aníral toled na gar nîn?” I couldn’t understand what they were saying, so I patiently waited until Legolas turned back to me.

“I apologise, I must leave.” He sighed a little regretfully.

“That’s ok.” I smiled, “Thank you for telling me so much.”

“Not at all,” He smiled in return, “I enjoyed speaking with you. Will I see you at the council tomorrow?”

“Council?” I frowned, “I don’t know… I don’t think I’ve been invited.”

“In that case, I shall see you afterwards.” He bowed a little, “May you have a pleasant night.”

“You too.” I sighed as he walked away with the elf. I looked back at the painting I had been looking at and frowned as I realised that Legolas had not told me what was happening in it. A man lay on the ground wielding a broken blade as a figure dressed in black armour towered over him. I spotted the golden ring on the figure’s finger and assumed that it was Sauron before he was destroyed. I felt a little happier now that I had some knowledge of this world. It made me feel less of an outsider.

“My lady?”

“Oh, excuse me.” I apologised, stepping back as I assumed an elf wanted to get past, but instead I found myself looking up into the pale grey eyes of a tall, red-haired man. His hair wasn’t as impressively red as mine though –I’m the most ginger ginger here. I once again found my ‘All the guys here are hot’ theory proved correct as I took in his features – not quite as rugged as Strider, but still pretty hunky.

“My apologies, I only wished to look at the painting with you.” He smiled a little and I nodded.

“Sure, go ahead.” I gestured towards the painting I had been looking at, “Who is the man in it?” I asked.

“Isildur.” He answered, “Before he defeated Sauron.” I nodded in understanding, after remembering Legolas mentioning that name. The man turned back to me and spoke, “My name is Boromir, son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.” He introduced himself.

“I’m Alice,” I smiled, “Alice Lightwood. Nice to meet you.” I held out my hand for him to shake, and he clasped it tightly. ‘Whoa… Manly grip!’ I laughed inside my head as he released my hand and turned away from the painting, and then jumped as he spotted something on the other side of a column. I peered around it to see what he had found so startling and smiled as I recognised Strider, sitting reading a book calmly.

“You are no elf.” He stated, walking towards Strider as I followed behind.

“Men of the south are welcome here.” He murmured, glancing up from the pages of his hardback. I tried to see the cover of his book, and then remembered that I probably wouldn’t know any of the books here. Boromir frowned and turned away, but quickly turned back.

“Who are you?” He asked, and I smirked a little – feeling superior in knowledge for the first time since arriving here.

“I am friend to Gandalf the Grey.” Strider replied with a slight smile. Ah, buddies with the wizard-dude, was he? I’d recently discovered that Gandalf actually was a wizard, how cool was that?

“Then we are here on common purpose... friend.” Boromir said as he turned to look at a display. It appeared to be shards of a shattered sword that lay in the arms of a stone statue. “The shards of Narsil!” He whispered in awe as he picked up the hilt and gripped it with both hands, “The blade that cut the Ring from Sauron's hand.” I stared in wonder as he ran his fingers along the blade. For a while I’d doubted the truth of the stories Legolas had told me, yet here was solid proof. I jolted a little in alarm as Boromir suddenly cut himself on the jagged edge of the blade and a drop of blood oozed from his finger. “Still sharp.” He grunted and I took a step towards him as he looked up at Strider who had been watching intently. “No more than a broken heirloom.” He muttered, casting the hilt down onto the display and turning away. I winced as it slid from its place and hit the ground with a clatter. Boromir hesitated, as if he was considering turning around and picking it up, but instead he walked out the door.

“Boromir!” I called after him, casting a confused glance at Strider, who had gotten to his feet. I shot him an apologetic look as he moved to pick up the blade, and I ran after Boromir. I caught sight of him disappearing around a corner at the far end of the corridor and ran after him. “Boromir, wait!” I cried, determined to make sure he was ok. I suddenly found myself out in the dark courtyard. Boromir was nowhere to be seen. I sighed in frustration and glanced around. I felt a desire that hadn’t struck me in a while – the need to be in a high place. It had always made me feel safe, and right now, that seemed to be what I needed. I glanced up at the balcony of my bedroom, but it wasn’t high enough. What I really wanted was a rooftop or a tree or… A cliff. I smiled as my eyes settled on the small cliff that protruded from the valley walls, and had a waterfall running down one side. I made my way over to its base and my smile grew wider as I saw the easy climb to the top. Perfect.

Even though I was inexperienced, the climb was a breeze. It was probably only about eight metres up anyway, so it was no different to climbing a ladder up to the top of a house. That was the way I saw it anyway. I heaved myself up onto the level stone ground at the top and sat on the edge. The climb down would probably be more difficult, but I could worry about that later. I looked out over the forests and gardens of Rivendell and sighed. It was so beautiful here; it really put things back home in perspective. We had no places like this back home. As much as I wished I could be home right now, I wished I could just stay up here a little longer. I looked down at the river that flowed below the cliff and tossed a small rock in, watching as it fell and plopped into the dark water. As my eyes mindlessly followed the river, I spotted a small stone bridge a little way along it, and two figures were standing on it. I squinted and was able to make out that it was Strider and Arwen. They were obviously sharing a private moment, so I turned away, not wanting to pry as I tossed another rock into the river, this time with more vigour. It landed a good bit further away than the last one and I sighed to myself. Seeing Strider and Arwen together like that had reminded me of Toby, and what he’d said before I wound up here.

“Can’t you see that there’s been someone here all along who loves you?” His confession echoed in my ears as tears welled up in my eyes. I made no attempt to stop them; there was no one here to see anyway. How could he feel that way? After all these years why did he choose to tell me now? “Idiot…” I growled under my breath as I sniffed and ferociously threw another stone into the river. Several more angrily-thrown rocks followed before I broke down sobbing. “Toby you idiot…” I whimpered. He’d ruined everything. How dare he feel that way? It was his entire fault I was here!

No… I couldn’t say things like that; I was angry and just looking for someone to blame. If anyone was to blame it was me. I shouldn’t have run away.

“Alice you idiot…” I sniffed, rubbing at my eyes. I jumped as I heard footsteps behind me and my head whipped around. “Oh… It’s just you.” I sighed as Strider walked towards me.

“I apologise, I didn’t realise you were here.” He murmured as I wiped my tear-streaked cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt.

“I-its ok.” I sniffed as he walked over to me and sat beside me on the edge of the cliff. His long legs dangled past mine over the edge, reminding me of how tall he was.

“Are you alright?” He asked stonily, as if he really didn’t want to know, but now that he was here social etiquette demanded that he do so.

“It’s nothing really… I was just thinking about something that happened before I came here.” I shrugged, making a feeble attempt at acting nonchalant. “My friend… He… He told me that he loved me.” I frowned, saying it out loud made it feel even more wrong.

“Do you love him in return?” Strider asked, starting me by the sudden interest he had taken.

“No… Well, yes and no… Of course I love him, but he’s always been more like a brother to me… I could never love him like he loves me.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Ugh, I’m so mad at him right now!” I sniffed as my fingers knotted in my hair. “He was always there for me – no matter what stupid decisions I made – and now he’s changed things!” I cried as fresh tears fell from my eyes. “It’s so stupid, why did things have to change? I wouldn’t even be here if he hadn’t said that stuff!” I wiped away my angry tears and looked up at Strider. “S-sorry… I’m just ranting now and you probably don’t understand half the stuff I’m talking about-”

“I think I do.” He interrupted me quietly, “It’s like… Whenever you fell, he was there to catch you, but now that he’s changed things, it’s like he’s moved, and now when you fall, there’s no one to catch you.” He murmured softly, staring out at the river that snaked away into the distance as I found myself unable to take my eyes off his face. He’d just summed up everything more perfectly than I ever could have.

“Yeah…” I sighed, following his gaze as I watched the moonlight ripple across the river. I looked up and stared up at the stars. “I wonder if they’re the same stars.” I whispered to myself. I wasn’t much good at identifying stars or anything like that, so I would probably never know. Even if I did make it home, I wouldn’t be able to compare them. I glanced over at Strider and noticed him looking at me. “I’m sorry.” I mumbled, “I should go, you came up here to be alone.” I stood and brushed off my leggings as I prepared to climb down.

“Sometimes it is better to speak of your troubles with another than to ponder them alone.” He murmured, making me glance down at where he sat. What did he mean? Did he want me to stay? Did he have something he wanted to talk about? I frowned in confusion as he spoke again. “Did you climb up here?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“There is a path back there.” He gestured to where he had walked from and I suddenly felt stupid for going to the trouble of climbing. I thought I saw him smile a little, as if my stupidity amused him, and then he looked up at me. “You can go if you wish.” Ah, so he did want to be alone.

“Ok…” I sighed, turning away. “Goodnight Strider.” I began to walk away as my eyes scanned for the path.

“Aragorn.”

“Huh?” I turned around at the sound of his voice. He still stared out at the river as I took a step back towards him.

“Aragorn, my real name is Aragorn.” He said softly and I smiled.

“Aragorn…” I repeated, “I like it, much better than Strider anyway.” I smiled as I turned away. “Goodnight Aragorn!” I called over my shoulder as I found the path and began my decent back down to the courtyard.