"Mount Doom," Raileen breathed, crouching behind the mound of earth Ellhamier had erected to give them some cover from prying eyes.

The volcano hissed steam from the top of its wide mouth as lava erupted, flying high into the dark sky before it rained down. Boiling red liquid overflowed from the volcano, running down its sides. The sky lay dark behind the red glow of the volcano and the surrounding rocky terrain lay in shadow.

"This is the worst time to be here," Jaiz groaned. "The volcano is active. How will we ever get in?"

Thranduil waved his hand in the air, concentrating on the lava. To his surprise, the lava parted, the fire within is subject to his strong will.

"Stay behind me," Thranduil said. He stepped out from behind the mound of earth and ran toward the slop of the volcano. The lava ran around his feet as he parted it, creating safe ground for him and his companions to walk on. The Five Masters charged up the hills and inclinations, running up the slopes that led to the telltale door in the base of Mount Doom. As they neared the door, the red glow became visible and the air grew hot. Sweat ran down the five elven faces. Thranduil parted the last flow of lava as he reached the door and entered. Once inside the volcano, the short ledge stretched out over the bubbling lava beneath, running along the top of the rock of the volcano. Thranduil had difficulty breathing the hot air. Lava leapt up all around the ledge, held back from converging in on the Five Masters by Thranduil's bending. Under the entire body of thick, hot, deadly lava rested the Tower of Guarded Secrets.

Jaiz peered down off the ledge. "Valar, give us a sign! Tell us what to do!"

"The valar are unlikely to help us," Ellhamier said drily. "After all, this is their Tower and they put it here to hide it from the world."

Thranduil started bending the lava aside, creating a path through the molten rock below them. Ciran joined him, finding he could bend the lava as though it were water. Ellhamier moved the molten rock within the lava and Raileen kept a tunnel of air blowing down the path Thranduil, Ciran, and Ellhamier cleared. The lava moved, parting to the groans of its combined masters, until a path lay cleared far below the ledge. The path ended at the tip of a tower of black stone. There were four windows in the top of the Tower that somehow refused the lava admittance.

"Jaiz!" Thranduil yelled, turning his head to look at his nephew while his hands kept back the lava. "Enter the Tower! Learn the secret! Go! We cannot come with you; we must put all our strength into keeping the lava at bay. Be quick'; the lava is strong and we can hold it only so long."

"I need a rope to reach the path below!" Jaiz yelled, looking down off the ledge at the lava-free path far below him.

"Cut off my hair and use it for your rope!" Thranduil cried.

"But—" Jaiz objected.

"Do it! Every minute you argue with me is one minute less you have in the Tower!"

Jaiz gave in. he drew his sword and sliced off Thranduil's braid, leaving behind only two feet of hair that unbraided itself and hung down Thranduil's back. He knotted the thick braid in his hands at the top to secure the loose tresses where he had cut it from Thranduil's hair and lassoed it over a rock. He dropped the braid down the ledge, relieved to see it hung down long enough for him to slid down and reach the path below. He slipped down the silky smooth hair and ran for the Tower window, the blood boiling in his veins. Jaiz hurled himself at the Tower window as he neared it, curling his body into a dive. The window admitted him and Jaiz landed lightly on his one hand and his knees on the cool stone floor of the Tower's interior.

Jaiz straightened up. The room he stood in existed at the top of the Tower of Guarded Secrets. The room lay empty before him save for a huge, double faced mirror in a gilt frame that stood in the middle of the cool room on a stand of stone carved to represent dragons coiled around its base. The dragonheads met on either side of the base of the mirror, holding it in place.

Jaiz circled the mirror, feeling as though the mirror had some significance. Fancy lettering caught his eye on the curve of the base between the dragon tails. He leaned down and blew the dust away, tracing the letters with his finger: The secret to becoming a great warrior stands here.

Jaiz started up with a mixture of shock and eagerness. His reflection stared back at him from the mirror. It as some kind of miserable joke! Where was the secret? Jaiz gazed angrily at his indignant reflection and slowly he came to understand that no secret existed. There was just him. As long as he believed in himself, he could do anything. Jaiz smiled at his own stupidity.

After a last look at himself in the mirror (Valar, he looked terribly dirty) he crossed the room to the door he spotted in the wall and exited the room to explore the Tower. He followed a winding staircase down in spirals, passing many doors. At the bottom of the stairs, Jaiz passed underneath a tall archway carved into the shape of a serpent. He entered a huge library, the room filled with shelves of books and manuscripts. The silence echoed and the room stood alone in loneliness. Jaiz stood in the archway and looked in.

An elf spoke at his side and Jaiz screamed, spinning around, his hand on the hilt of his sword. The elf had long, silver hair and a face like a mask. His blue eyes were ageless. Jaiz stared at him suspiciously, his hand still on his sword hilt.

"Welcome," said the elf in an impassive voice. "It has been a long time indeed since I have been blessed with any visitors. I am the librarian, Nairar, enslaved son of the valar to look after this Tower for eternity."

"Humph! The valar must have been cruel parents, in that case!" Jaiz said, relaxing slightly.

Nairar blinked. "What is it you wish to know? I can introduce you to the past, the present, or . . . the future."

"How is that possible?" Jaiz asked. "You can show me my future? How?"

"The Tower was created by the valar to preserve all their knowledge. When the valar came into this world, they created a rift in the circle of time. This Tower exists at the beginning of life and at the end of everything. Therefore everything that will happen in this world has already been recorded here. To you the recorded events after your time would be the future. Chose wisely what you wish to learn for you are given only one choice."

"So you knew I would come here," Jaiz said in delight.

Nairar paused for the first time. "No, I did not. You seem to have been left out of the recordings."

Jaiz frowned in annoyance. "Oh, so the valar considered me to be of too little importance to add me to their books? What a bunch of rotter's!"

"Do not insult the gods," Nairar said sternly.

"I should like to see the future," Jaiz said evasively. "Specifically, I should like to see the events that unfold after Sauron attacks Middle Earth for the second time."

Nairar led the way through the library, past the great shelves of books. He glided under another great archway and entered a big room. By a pool of water in a raised bed of rocks he stopped. He gestured to the rippling water. "Come to the water, Jaiz. Come to the water and tell it to show you what you desire to see. Then sit back and watch the future unfold before you."

"Have you consulted your future?" Jaiz asked.

"Always it is the same," Nairar said sadly. "I live here to no end while those who bore me laugh."

Jaiz cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I share your grief."

Nairar blinked.

Jaiz took a deep breath and approached the water. He stared down into the blue liquid, voicing his wants in his mind. The water swirled, forming images at its bottom. Orcs attacking. So many orcs. Sauron rising. An alliance formed between elves and men. Death. Death. Death. So much death! Gil-Galad dead and Elendil dead—dead! Jaiz's eyes riveted to the person he saw in shock. The sword plunged into the elf's chest, causing Jaiz to jerk back to reality. He had to return to his companions! He had to tell them! How long had he been standing here watching the future unfold? What if ada and the others had not been able to hold the lava back all the while he had been inside the Tower? What if he . . . was trapped?