Middle-Earth Coma

Chapter 6 - Garden chats

Ayla's POV:

RIVENDELL

I walk through the palace gardens marvelling at all the plants that don't exist in my world. I stop in front of a bush with flowers that look like daisies, except these are translucent and they glow. I look at the flowers dazed at their simplistic beauty when I hear someone walking towards me. I turn around and see that it is Gandalf. I look into his eyes and smile. He gives a slight nod acknowledging my gesture.

"Helo Gandalf, are you nervous about our departure tomorrow?" I enquire. He lightly chuckles and sits on a stone bench gesturing for me to sit with him. I do as he says waiting for him to reply.

"Ayla, in the council you said you could see the destiny of the ring. How come we have never crossed paths before?"

I am taken aback by his question and try to think of a credible reason. I open my mouth as if I was going to say something, but I shut it because I know no words will come out. I look at my lap where my hands are and start fidgeting. I can feel Gandalf is waiting for a response, but I am unable to formulate one so I simply mumble,

"I honestly don't know" My words were so soft and disfigured I doubt he even understood.

I look up to him to see his determined expression on his face and sigh.

"I honestly do not know Gandalf" I repeat in a louder clearer tone. He looks into the horizon, lightly clears his throat and says,

"Ayla, your words aren't sincere, but there are truth in them. I will not force you to tell me who you are or  where you come from, but if we are going to go on this quest I do need to know a bit about you because we are a team, and teams trust each other. I am not sure if you are aware but in order for trust to exist there must be a simple relationship between people, and at the moment, we don't have one"

I gulp. I thought I had convinced everyone that I was just someone normal born with a rare gift. I take a deep breath in and massage my temples with my index and middle fingers while I close my eves. Without opening them I sit up straight and clench my fists.

"My name is Ayla Faith Stevens and I am 24 years old. I know what happens in this quest becuase I have already lived it, multiple times. I am sure you wouldn't believe me if I told you more"

Gandalf looks at me for a few seconds with a lot of intensity. Just as I start getting uncomfortable he stands up.

"I know more than you think I do Ayla, I am very old" he says quietly. He then walks away leaving me confused.

I stay on the bench thinking about everything that has happened in the past 48 hours. My train of thought is interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

Legolas's POV:

I clear my throat gently so I don't startle her. She looks up and the corners of her lips tug up slightly.

"Hello Legolas" she says softly.

"Hello Ayla" I respond, "may I sit?" I ask as I gesture to the area of the bench she is not sitting on. She looks sideways and at where I am pointing and nods. I sit down next to her and prop my elbows on my knees.

"Ayla, do you have any fighting experience?"

She looks at me with a slightly confused look and after about 20 seconds she replies,

"I have.... learnt..... some hand to hand comat, no weapons, but I am sure I can learn to manage some"

She speaks carefully as if she was formulating the correct words in her head. I nod my head acknowledging her answer.

"I could teach you how to use a bow and arrow or a sword, I think you will need it during this quest"

"That would be lovely, maybe we could start today after lunch?"

I nod and get up.

"I'm going to go and pack a few things" I turn around but then swivel back around "And Ayla, you have an alalme lasse [translation: elm leaf] in your hair" I walk off chuckling as she franatically taps her hair and sighs in relief realising it is only a leaf.

---- I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever but I had a big exam and a lot of writers block, I can't promise I'll update more often but I will update at least once a month. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism and if you have an idea feel free to share. If you see any typos or gramatical errors you would like me to fix feel free to tell me----