Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 30 - Darkness has a voice

The night before they were due to leave, Avadis was restless. She tossed in her bed for many hours before finally giving up, walking over to the window to sit and look out at the stars. She had much to think about. She was about to embark with hundreds of other men towards a battle against the same dark lord that had stolen her people in ages past, and yet she still had no idea what had happened or how he had done it. 

Why did he want us? How did she and her mother come to survive? Why did he not reach us? Was she walking into the same trap? Is he looking for me? The thoughts kept her awake, and the lack of answers only frustrated her more. She could not expect Gandalf to answer her, he was wise, but he had no more knowledge of the matter than she did. 

Outside her window, a dark form moved over the moon. Meneldor. She sprung up and opened a window, sneaking her body through and out onto the ledge, pulling with her the cloak which she had hung on the chair. Tucking it around her, she silently slipped away and up into the air, feeling for the first time in weeks the cool rush of night air brush past her wings which brought a familiar smile to her face despite the worry.

"Just the one I came to see" she heard him call out to her, "hello youngling, it has been too long."

"It has, my friend" she replied, landing on his back and using her legs to grip to his body. "I have much to tell you." 

The eagle soared in a circle before flying over to the mountain pass, taking them through the cavernous passages until at last finding a safe space to land. There, Avadis climbed down and he nestled himself comfortably on the rock, folding his wings carefully against his body. His eyes were deep with memory, and as he looked out over the moutains, his magestic stature was illuminated by the stars twinkling in his eyes. Memories flashed through her mind of when she had lived with them in the mountains, how powerful they looked against the harsh and difficult terrain.

"I have been watching these lands closely since you have arrived here. The men are preparing to leave?" 

She was brought quickly back to reality, "the beacons were lit. They are joining together to march to Gondor and to war."

"The lord of Mordor is not easy to defeat."

Avadis remained silent. "You wish to go with them, I assume?" 

She sat down and crossed her legs, feeling the coolness of the stone press against her body, and rested her arms on her knees. "I wish to do so, yes. But before I do, I must ask you some things, about..."

The eagle's chest rumbled and he shook his feathers. "About him. About that day." 

She could feel the pain in his words, and realised for the first time how selfish it was of her to think that it was only her who felt such ways. She lowered her voice slightly, "only if I may. I do not mean to make you relive the pain."

"If you are to fight him again, then you must know. You must be prepared."  

"I must know how it happened. How he came to our land and took us without warning, and without debate. Whatever he did, I need to know what I can do to protect myself from him, so that it does not happen again." She leant forward to listen to him, resting her chin on her hands. The wind howled down the cavern, and a cloud moved to cover over the moon, throwing the pair into a foreboding darkness.

"He came from the north, with a hundred foul creatures behind him. He took tunnels and paths that we did not guard, he hid in places we could not see. We did not know he was there... until it was too late."

"Somehow he knew you were there. He knew who you were, and he knew you would be powerful. He had a plan to take you from us. He brought ahead of him a great cloud, covering the mountains in a darkness not even the best of eyes could see through. Many eagles lost their way in these clouds trying to find your people, some still remain so today. We had no way of protecting you."

Avadis breathed in quickly, eyes wide as she pieced together the fragments of memories she had from that time. She remembered the cloud, she could still see it coming towards her as she stood on the edge of her cave, just a small child. The memory had never left her, it haunted her dreams. "The darkness was his plan?" she whispered, gritting her teeth at the cruel realisation of what had happened. 

"It was not by accident. He knew we would protect you, as we had done for generations, and he did not give failure a chance. The darkness came, and we were forced to flee. Gwaihir was the last to leave. He refused to do so until he had searched the far most caverns for anyone left. And that was you, and Faydira. If he had not done so, you too would have been lost."

The eagle fell silent, as if the story had ended there. But Avadis knew it had not. "What then?" she whispered, letting the story sink in. 

"Then..." his feathers ruffled again, "then he took them deep into Mordor, where I cannot tell you what happened. But when we saw them again, there was no beauty nor kindness left in their hearts. Their bodies were twisted, their wings dripping black and their eyes glowed of hatred. They came to attack and, we were forced to..." his voice broke, "I cannot speak of that yet." 

Avadis leant her head against his neck, a tear trickling down her cheek which fell onto the stone below her. 

"Do not weep, young one. They would not want you to do so. Through all this sorrow, what kept me going was the knowledge that you were alive. You Avadis, have been the hope we needed to keep going. To honour your mother, I will care for you always." Meneldor took a deep breath and opened his wing around her, shielding her from the wind and wiping her tears from the ground below her. 

"I did not know" she sobbed, curling her knees into a ball. "I did not know anything. I assumed so but... I did not know. I'm so sorry." She broke down, tears streaming down her face, which she covered with her hands. The eagle remained silent, a gentle hum sounding in his chest which soothed her cries. 

"I still do not understand how he took them" she sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"No one knows, youngling. It was as if their minds were in a trance. We tried to speak sense to them but they just did not... hear us." 

Avadis froze. Their minds. Her mother had told her many years ago, it was as if they had gone mad. Like they were under a spell. Sauron did not defeat her people with weapons or deciet, he defeated them by controlling them, as if they were his very own puppets on a string, doing as a wished. The realisation made her sick. 

"He controlled their minds" she said slowly, "he took over their thoughts, Meneldor. That was what he did. That was why they did not hear you, because they were listening to him. As if he was speaking..." she shot to standing staight up, the colour draining from her face and a shiver running down her spine. Puzzle pieces were forming quickly, and in a way she dreaded. 

She took a deep breath, "as if he was a voice in their mind."