Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 9 - Darkness with a name

With a loud sigh, Gandalf sat down on the opposite side of the small fire Avadis had made and closed his eyes, leaning against a tree behind him. Avadis stared at him a moment, before silently walking into her home and reappearing with all the green produce she could think of putting into a soup. "I will make this for you with the water from the stream," she said quietly, "it will help your strength to return". Avadis did not wait for a reply, she knew he heard her.

Strange she thought to herself as she collected a pan of water to bring over to the fire, he has never been so... worn. It scared her slightly to see him in such a state. For the next hour Avadis sat by the fire, preparing their meal in silence, occasionally sending worried glanced towards the wizard. He appeared to be sleeping, but she did not think he was, because his breathing was too fast and regular. Even Treebeard, who was still stood practically in the same place Avadis had left him, had gone completely silent, apart from the occasional wooden growl when he moved.

Finally, when the soup was ready, Avadis took a small bowl and filled it, taking it over and kneeling next to him."Gandalf" Avadis said quietly, resting her hand gently on his arm, "your food is ready." The wizard made a strange mumbling sound and opened his eyes slightly to look at her. "I will help you, here" Avadis said, bringing the bowl close to his mouth. After a few sips, the magic of the water had begun to work and Gandalf tried to sit up, quite suddenly, basically knocking Avadis over to the ground. She barely caught the bowl before it hit the ground, turning to scowl slightly at him with annoyance. 

"Dark are my thoughts", he began to speak, looking over at Avadis with pure fear in his eyes. 

"I am here" she said, sitting next to him and placing her hand on his own. He looked down at her with gentle eyes, "the world is not as I thought. What was certain is now uncertain, what was bright is now dim. All is dark, a cold, brutal dark."

"What do you mean?" Avadis asked, "do not speak in riddles here, I cannot make sense of any of it" 

"I am afraid to even dare speak this thought into existence" he said, looking out at the sky. After a long pause, he uttered the words Avadis had dreaded most to hear, ever since she was a small child.

 "Sauron has returned"

Avadis paused a moment, letting go of his hand and moving back slightly from him in surprise. "What?" she asked quietly, "why do you think this? Who has told you this?"

"I have seen it, Avadis. I have seen the one ring, and when I touched it, his..." he shuddered slightly, looking back at her, "his eye. A great, red, flaming eye staring into my very soul. He spoke into my thoughts, he read what was on my heart. Yes Avadis I am afriaid I am quite certain now"

"How is that possible, he was destroyed! So long ago now that I barely think anyone alive would remember" Avadis shook her head. 

"I thought the same, which is why I sought Saruman for council. The highest of my order."
Avadis scoffed slightly, "If we are thinking of the same Saruman then I would not flatter him in such a way."

"Sauron has poisoned his mind Avadis. He has, a plantir, one that allows him to communicate with the Dark Lord himself. The two are building an army of both orc and men to destroy all of Middle Earth", Gandalf paused to look back at her, "you have seen this for yourself already."

Avadis nodded slowly. It was all beginning to make sense. The orcs swarming the mountains, the white hand painted on their helmets, the growing rumours. As afraid as she was, she had to trust that Gandalf was right. Sauron had returned. 

Just the thought of him made Avadis frown. She closed her eyes, her body beginning to sway. Memories flooded into her mind, dark memories of dark times. He took them all. Even the children who so loyally followed their mothers into the thick of war. He massacred them, made them hunting sport. He took everything from me. "Avadis?" Gandalf's voice called her from her darkening mind. "Avadis, breathe" he told her, holding her still.

"He took everything from me" she told him, "everything". 

"I know"

"Is there any hope? How can anyone stop him?" Avadis asked him desperately trying to find a reason to stay optomistic. He leant back again, "this is what I have been thinking about, all that time in Isengard. Without the ring, he will never be able to regain his full strength. He is searching for it, the nazgul are hunting down anyone who knows of its whereabouts. His mind is bent on finding the ring."

Avadis looked at him, deep in thought. "But this is no ordinary ring Gandalf, it was forged deep within Mordor. Only there can it be destroyed, you know this."

"I have left the ring with a small hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins. His uncle Bilbo, the one who helped with the dragon incident some time ago, if you remember, took it from a creature named Gollum and has had it ever since."

"If he has followed my directions correctly, my ranger friend Aragorn will have been waiting for his arrival in my place. I have asked him to bring them to Rivendell, where the ring will be safe for a short time under the protection of the elves". 

"Aragorn? As in the heir to the throne of Gondor Aragorn?" Avadis had heard stories from Gandalf about Isildur's heir. "The very one. He is a good man."

The pair sat in silence a moment longer, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Avadis built up the courage to ask Gandalf a question that had long been on her mind.

"Does this... change, perhaps provide the time for me to show my strength to the world? I can help them Gandalf, if they decide to fight." Gandalf sighed uncomfortably, "I know you can Avadis. I only fear that with these growing signs of darkness, it will be easier for you to become yet another haunt from the past. With the threat of Sauron's return, the emergence of a winged demon as they call you would not be kindly treated even by the best of elves or men."

Avadis nodded. "I understand" she said, sadder than she expected herself to be. Perhaps she really did want to help them, more than she had thought. "I am sorry, Avadis. I do not mean to cage you into a box. I only want to know that you will be safe. There is enough death and judgement in this world already" he said, a sad yet loving look coming over his face. 

"I will stay here and watch over Isengard and Mordor from the skies. If I see anything, I will send a message to you" Avadis said, standing and walking back over to the fire. "But for now, I think it is time that you returned to your hobbit friends, they must be worried for you by now." 

Over their heads, the shadow of Gwaihir covered the trees in a moment of darkness. Collecting his things, he turned to make his way up the hill. "No staff?" Avadis asked him, looking around. "I lost it, in a battle against Saruman" 

"Then we will find you a new one, a wizard cannot be without a staff" Avadis said, looking around on the forest floor. "Here!" she threw him a long, sturdy branch. Gandalf brought a glowing gem from his pocket and frowned at the top of the stick, "this will do." Avadis watched in disbelief as the stick moved to enclose the gem at one end, forming itself into a staff that looked practically the same as his old one. "You have lost it before, havent you" she said, hands on her hips with amusement. "Perhaps I have, but that is not for you to know" he said, winking at her before turning to meet Gwaihir.