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━━━━ »•» act two. age of shadow

14. splintered «•« ━━━━

* ✧                          .°

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ third age ━━ year 3018

𓇻 eriador; imladris {rivendell}

*.                         ✦                          °.

THE ROAD TO RIVENDELL HAD CHANGED OVER THE YEARS. It'd been dangerous before, but now the world was filled with a darkness that Elgarain had not witnessed since her father died. As their journey went on they could often hear wolves howling in the distance, as if they were searching for something, called out of their holes by some sort of unseen force, a voice heard only by them. They didn't see many people but those they did see, passed them by without so much as a friendly word, their faces covered and the glittering of a weapon always visible beneath their cloaks.

Even the weather seemed to have taken a dark turn. Grey clouds gathered in the sky and a cold western wind followed them wherever they went. Only when they reached the familiar woods surrounding Imladris, Elgarain felt like she could breathe again. It hadn't gone unnoticed by her that Gyda had been tense pretty much the whole journey, hand never straying far from her sword. She hoped the Head of her Guard could manage to find some peace now that they'd reached the House of Lord Elrond.

She wasn't sure she would be able to do the same. Her mind kept straying to the kingdom she left behind. She knew her people were in the capable hands of her mother and with Galwenn at the front in the Healing Rooms, there wasn't much that could go wrong. Still, she felt like she was doing them all a disservice by leaving again without even being able to tell them why. Lord Elrond had requested not to tell her people of the Ring. It would be unwise to create a panic, much like Gyda had said. In some strange way though, it gave her hope that perhaps they were wrong. Perhaps Elrond didn't want people to know until they were sure it truly was the One Ring.

After all, how likely was it that such a mighty weapon would be found in the hands of a Hobbit? Especially without anyone knowing about it. Even Gandalf, who'd always been fond of the Halflings. She supposed she was going to find out at the Council...

Their journey finally came to an end when they entered the Hidden Valley again after sixty years... The road there might have changed but the beauty and serenity of Imladris had not changed at all. Even the wind here felt warmer. Her horse seemed to sense it too, as a sudden new life seemed to take hold of the animal, all weariness from the journey forgotten.

Elgarain smiled and petted its neck before leading the animal across the bridge. She threw a look over her shoulder at Galion, her smile growing when she noticed his eyes searching for a certain Elleth...

"Mae govannen!" A voice called out from the courtyard in front of them.

She turned to look forward and called her horse to a halt, climbing down to greet Lindir. "Mae govannen, mellon nin," Elgarain replied as she put her fist to her chest in greeting.

He returned the gesture but his smile seemed tense. "I must ask you to head to the Healing Rooms immediately, Tári. Lord Elrond requires your help."

She frowned and then turned to look at Gyda and Galion. "I will meet with you later."

Gyda nodded. "Of course, go."

She handed the reins of her horse to Lindir before taking off in the direction of the Healing Rooms. Her feet remembered the way as though it'd only been yesterday since she walked these halls. She wondered what Lord Elrond could possibly need her help with. Maybe they had their own trouble with the Orcs as well and, considering they lived close to the mountains, possibly trolls and goblins as well. But even then, there wasn't a wound inflicted by those creatures Lord Elrond could not heal himself.

A little worried, she finally reached the Healing Rooms and to her surprise there were two guards posted in front of the door. They seemed to recognize her though and let her pass without a word. She closed the door behind her, taking in the familiar design of the rooms. In the corner beneath the window stood Lord Elrond himself, offering her a smile as she approached.

"It's good to see you again Tári Elgarain," he said, putting a special emphasis on her new title.

"You too, Lord Elrond," she replied with a bow of her head.

Then her eyes went to the small figure on the bed. He was small, his skin pale beneath his brown curls. There was a bandage wrapped around his shoulder but he seemed far from healed, judging by the way he was still wincing and writhing in pain.

"A Hobbit?" She questioned, her thoughts racing to catch up. Could this be the Hobbit Elladan and Elrohir mentioned, the one who was found with the One Ring in his possession? Elladan had called him Frodo... "What's wrong with him?" She couldn't recall ever seeing these kinds of symptoms before. It looked like some sort of poison but as she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, his skin was not feverish. Instead, he was as cold as ice.

Lord Elrond reached for his bandage and pulled it aside. "Perhaps you recognize this," he said, gesturing to the wound.

She bent over the small frame of the Hobbit to take a better look at it. The wound wasn't bleeding, instead it was rotting, as if having skipped several stages of a normal injury. Black veins spread from the cut across the skin of the poor Halfling. A mixture of Athelas had been applied to the cut but it didn't seem to do much except slow down the process of whatever was happening to him.

As she examined the wound, the pieces slowly fell into place. She'd read about this kind of injury once, though she'd never before seen it with her own eyes. The fact that she was seeing it now was more confirmation of all the rumors than anything else she'd heard so far. "He's been stabbed by a Morgul blade," she said, unable to keep the slight tremor of horror out of her voice.

Her eyes searched for Elrond's, only to find him already looking at her with a grave expression. "Yes, he was," he confirmed. "He and his companions were attacked by the Nine on the road."

The nine. The Nazgûl. Nine Kings of men who'd fallen under Sauron's will, turning them into ghosts, shadows of who they once used to be. All they lived for now, if one could call them living, was to do his bidding, to search for the One Ring and return it to its master. The mere mention of their names was enough to make her shiver, to make her want to reach for her weapon, the spear Gyda had gifted her with all those years before. It was enough to make the shadows in the room come alive with unfriendly eyes and gaping mouths.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. No matter how powerful the Ring Wraiths were, they would never be able to enter Imladris, at least, not as long as Sauron wasn't reunited with his Ring.

"What can I do to help him?" she questioned.

"I thought I'd done all I could to help him but his condition has only worsened. Which led me to the conclusion there must be a piece of the blade left inside the wound, poisoning him still. It has to be taken out and I need you to help me."

She nodded, determination taking over as her features hardened, the way they always did when she prepared for a surgery. But as her eyes scanned the small and fragile frame of Frodo, she wondered if he would survive such an undertaking. It was a miracle he had managed to make it this far...

Lord Elrond must've guessed her thoughts because he placed a steady hand on her shoulder. "You are not the only one helping me." And as soon as he finished speaking, she suddenly noticed a ring on his finger. It was a sapphire set in a band of gold, blinking in the sunlight. The ring seemed to exude a certain power that wrapped itself around her, warm and familiar. She wondered how it had escaped her notice before. Almost as if it had appeared only because Lord Elrond had willed it so.

"This is Vilya," he explained and at the mention of the name, she suddenly recognized it.

"One of the three rings Celebrimbor forged in secret," she said, eyes wide, the feeling of familiarity that had settled inside her chest suddenly made sense. "He gifted it to my father. I thought it was lost when he died."

Lord Elrond smiled, though it was a sad smile, filled with the sorrow of a painful memory. "It was and your father gifted it to me for safekeeping. Until you were old enough to carry its weight."

A sudden sadness took hold of her, weighing down on her bones. There'd been a piece of her father's legacy here in Imladris all along. Elrond, as Gil-Galad's herald, had carried it with him all this time. Her father did not just live in Lindon, but his memory could be found all across Arda, protecting the good things still left in this world.

She smiled as she blinked her tears away, focusing on the wounded Hobbit in front of her once again. "What do you want me to do?"

"When stabbed with a Morgul blade, the fëa passes into the shadow world and becomes a Wraith like them. Vilya will aid me as I attempt to heal his fëa. You will heal his body and take the splinter of the sword out of the wound. We must work as one and heal both the fëa and hröa at the same time or he will fade."

Elgarain nodded and stood up to get the necessary equipment. She didn't have to search, muscle memory of years working in these Rooms made her move without having to think. She cleaned the tweezers, then made her way back to the bed. She hoped Lord Elrond would be able to calm Frodo enough to stop him from twitching, or else she could end up doing more harm than good.

Lord Elrond took the pale hands of the Hobbit in his own hands and closed his eyes. He nodded once and as he did, the ring on his finger started to glow.

Immediately Elgarain got to work, as slowly and carefully as she could, she lowered the tweezers into the wound, searching for the splinter. Frodo twisted in pain and she froze, waiting for him to still before she continued her work.

Vilya was bright like a small star on Elrond's finger. He was like a statue, seated there perfectly still. Elgarain had no idea what exactly he was doing. She'd done lots of readings on the healing of the fëa but never before had she seen it being done.

She lost track of time as they worked. Slowly, piece by the piece, the Hobbit was healed, the poison slowly leaving his body as he moved back into the light. Finally she managed to get a hold of the splinter. It was buried deep so it wasn't strange Lord Elrond hadn't seen it before.

She took a hold of it but waited with pulling it out until she'd gotten a sign to do so. Body and mind, healed at the same...

Finally Lord Elrond opened his eyes, nodding at her.

She pulled the splinter free, at the very same time he let go of Frodo's hands. Vilya's light flickered until it faded and the ring had disappeared from Elrond's finger again, as if hidden by some sort of spell.

Only then did she notice how tired she was and when she looked outside, hours had seemed to pass, which was perhaps the strangest thing of all. But it hardly mattered, what mattered was the Hobbit on the bed in front of them.

"Did you heal him?" She asked.

Lord Elrond nodded. "He was far away, but I managed to pull him back. Annon allen, Tári Elgarain. Now there is nothing for us to do but wait."

She put the bandage back into place and together they left the Healing Rooms behind. Elrond ordered the guards to leave and only now did Elgarain understand they had been stationed there in case Frodo passed into the shadow realm...

"Get some rest, Elgarain. We shall talk later," Lord Elrond said, before bowing his head and leaving into the direction of his study.

She took a deep breath, trying to shake the fatigue from her bones before making her way back to the courtyard. She had no idea if they were expected to stay in their old rooms, or if new rooms had been made ready for them. She would have to find Lindir first and ask him.

She made her way down the stairs and crossed the hallway, when she paused in her step. Through the arches of the pillars surrounding the hallway, she could see the balcony of Gyda's old room. The Elleth was standing there, staring at the waterfalls as they fell down the cliffs. There was something in the way she was standing that made her worried. She couldn't remember ever seeing her head lowered and shoulders slouched like that, except for that time she returned from the long battle in Mordor.

Elgarain picked up her pace as she rushed into the directions of their old rooms. She came to a halt in front of Gyda's door, hesitating for a moment before raising her hand and knocking softly.

"Gyda?" she called softly. "Can I come in?"

Faint noises came from the other side of the door before Gyda finally appeared. "Elgarain?"

"Is everything all right?" she questioned, worried.

Gyda blinked, subtly pushing some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just-" Suddenly she started doubting herself, maybe she'd just been imagining things. "I thought you seemed distressed."

Gyda cleared her throat, ducking her head for a moment before facing Elgarain again. "It was just a...surprising encounter. Nothing to worry about, Tarinya."

"Well, the fact you can hardly look at me while saying this does have me kind of worried," Elgarain said, hoping to break the tension with their usual banter.

Her guard chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "It's not for you to worry about Elgarain." She pressed with a shake of her head.

Elgarain frowned, unwilling to let it go but she realized in order to get her to open up she was going to have to try something different. "Alright," she shrugged.

Pausing unsurely for a moment as the two stared at one another, Gyda decided to change the subject. "How's the Hobbit?"

Elgarain took the opportunity of the change in subject and pushed past her into the room. She took a seat on one of the chairs, at least Gyda couldn't send her away as easily anymore now. "He'll make it. It took some work, but Lord Elrond says he'll be fine."

"That's good news." Gyda nodded as silence enveloped them once more. Gyda shuffled uneasily, seeming desperate to fill the quiet. "When I was in Mirkwood...there was a soldier I got acquainted with."

Elgarain suppressed a smirk, her persistence had worked. She hadn't even asked about the subject and yet Gyda had guessed, correctly, she wasn't going to leave without an answer. Gyda had never liked the silence..."And why are you telling me this now?"

"I didn't expect to see him again. I didn't even know his name." She pushed her hair back again, a habit she only showed when something had made her uncomfortable, Elgarain noted.

"So, does that mean you saw him again just now?" Elgarain guessed, slightly thrown off at the sight of a nervous Gyda. She didn't remember ever seeing the Captain of her Guard so...flustered.

Gyda swallowed nervously. "He was not who I thought he was." She glared at the wall across from her, arms crossed over her chest defensively.

Elgarain frowned, trying to get the story straight in her head. "And why is that a bad thing? You said you didn't even know his name."

"He should have been honest and said who he was. I have made a fool out of myself for even talking to him," she snapped.

Elgarain took a shaky breath, thinking back to that night beneath the waterfall long ago. "Well, sometimes we don't really have a choice about who we are. Maybe he just wanted to be someone else for a change and he could do that with you."

Gyda scoffed, "You can't deny who you are." She rubbed her temple, "it doesn't matter, after the council, we can part ways again. I'll go back to Lindon, and he can go back to being a princeling."

Elgarain opened her mouth, only to close it again. "Are you trying to tell me you had something with Legolas Thranduilion?"

"I did not have something with the prince of Mirkwood." Her head snapped up to look at Elgarain. "We only talked a bit, and he taught me how to shoot a bow properly...and we might have fought some spiders in the forest?" She trailed off unsurely, staring at Elgarain. "It meant nothing."

She tried her hardest not to smile but it was hard not to when it was Gyda who was struggling with her feelings for once. "If it meant nothing, like you said, there is nothing to be mad about, is there?"

"There is something to be mad about," she denied. "He knew who I was, knew I was captain of the Queen's Guard. He should have told me he was a prince. I could have stayed away then."

Elgarain got to her feet, voice soft when she spoke again. "Okay, tell me this then. Would you have been happier if you'd stayed away? I saw you when you returned from Mirkwood, Gyda, you were glowing."

Gyda just looked away. "That doesn't matter. I know my place."

"You and I both," she sighed. Then she walked forward and pulled the guard into a hug, hardly caring about the way Gyda tensed, or how she couldn't seem to bring herself to hug her back. "I guess we finally have something in common, nésa."

She decided not to torture Gyda any longer and released her. With one last reassuring smile she walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind her to leave Gyda alone with her thoughts. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who was separated from the person she loved most because of a title...

°∴,*⋅✲✦ ( ♕ ) ✦✲⋅*,∴°

𝕬𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝕹𝐎𝐓𝐄 . . .

They're back in Rivendell! And it seems like there happened more in Mirkwood than Gyda was willing to share at first. If you want to know the details check out A Ballad of Broken Swords by -voidlegends!

I also really enjoyed writing Elgarain and Elrond teaming up to save Frodo! I hope guys found it an interesting read because I realise that the previous chapter had a pretty big healing scene as well.

Next chapter we're gonna see some familiar faces as a certain council is about to take place. I cannot wait to share it with you guys! Until next time!

xx Nelly

ELVISH TRANSLATIONS:

Mae govannen ― Well met

Mellon nin ― My friend

Tári ― Queen

Fëa ― Spirit or soul

Hröa ― Body

Annon allen ― I give thanks to you

Thranduilion ― Son of Thranduil

Nésa ― Sister

NOTES ON LORE:

Athelas ― Athelas, also known as Kingsfoil or Asëa Aranion, is a healing herb that grows throughout Middle-earth. It is especially effective against poison or infections.