Willowriel (A Lord Of The RIngs Fanfiction)

Prologue - I Ride Off To Rivendell

"Willowriel! Come back!" I ran into the flames as my mother called out to me, searching for my brother. My bright hair flew behind me, stained with ash.

"Where is Aegthalon?" I wailed, tears streaming down my face.

"You must get back to your mother!" One of the guards running past scooped me up.

I fought against his hold, but he was a full grown elf, I couldn't get past him when I was only fifty years old.

"Aegthalon!" I cried out, sobbing. "I want my brother!"

After the fire had passed, I ran into the ashes, searching for a familiar face as my mother walked behind me. My tears streaked lines on my face against the ash. As I ran around the corner I heard the most terrifying sound in my life. My brother's scream. I sprinted towards it, shrieking at the top of my lungs. I withdrew my dagger, hoping I wouldn't have to use it. I glimpsed my brother through a bush, he seemed to be fighting something. I cut through it, the thorns making scratches on my arms. 

The scene before me shattered my heart, I almost lost all control of my emotions. I saw my brother, with a huge gouge in his stomach, bleeding out. The next thing I saw was an Orc, a small one, leaning down to torture him even more.

The next thing that happened felt like a dream. I charged forward, crying out my despair as I plunged my dagger into the Orc's back. I fell to the ground, kneeling beside the corpse of my brother and the feebly moving orc. My pure white dress was muddy and covered in ash as I sobbed into my brother's blood-soaked tunic.

"Aegthalon." I whispered weakly, my face stained with blood.

Suddenly, I felt a huge pain on my arm. I looked towards it in shock and saw the orc whom I'd just stabbed, holding a dagger that had sliced my arm from my shoulder to my wrist, the wound circling around my arm. The orc died as I started to gasp with pain. Darkness clouded the edges of my vision. The last thing I saw as I fell was my brother's blank face, staring up at the night sky as voices echoed around me. I vaguely registered a dark shape, kneeling over me. The dark shape flashed from white to dark. There was a crown on its head... fear pulsed through me but I couldn't move. As I fell numb, the last thing I felt was a burning sensation on the inside of my forearm. All I could think was one thing: My brother was dead. As easily as tearing thin leaves. As easily as dropping a glass object onto the floor, the glass spraying everywhere. My brother, my kind brother, was gone.

"My Lady Willowriel. Would you care to walk with me?" A voice shook my out of my trance. I hadn't even realised I was touching the scar that the orc had left and the brand that the shadow had given me.

I turned to look and barely suppressed my sigh. It was that elf, what was his name again? I'd honestly forgotten but he was one of my brother's friends and he wouldn't stop pestering me. I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded and we started walking together. 

"How have you been?" The elf tried to start up a conversation.

"I've been alright." I replied. (what was his name what was his name?)

"My daughter." I turned to see my mother striding towards me.

"Mother." I greeted her. (Merellion! That's right!)

"You have been asked to attend the Council of Elrond." Galadriel told me.

Yes, I was the daughter of Giladriel, Lady of Light. I looked nothing like my parents. They both had long blonde hair and wore white and grey. My hair was a dark as the night sky, and I favoured darker colours. The only resemblance I had with my mother were her almond eyes and fair, glowing skin. 

"I'll have to leave you here." I turned back to Merellion and started walking with my mother, to my room.

"But why?" I asked.

She took a deep breath before glancing at me. "I do not know. You will have to travel there if you want to find out. I fear you will not return for a long time."

I quickly packed my things together. It was a long journey to Rivendell. A few moments later and I was shrugging my bag onto my back, hurrying towards the stables.

"I wish you a safe journey, my daughter." Giladriel handed me my bow as I sheathed my dagger.

"I'll be fine." I smiled down at her from my horse. "I'll be back soon."

"You know you have always been different from the other elves. There is a tragic past in your heart that you have not let go. Some may try and use that darkness against you." She warned.

I paused as she said those words. "I will be careful, mother."

"You might meet someone special, you haven't been as happy as you were ever since Aegthalon died. The Prince of the Woodland Realm is atten-"

I sighed. "When will you stop pairing me up with him? I don't even know him! His father is Thranduil, who only cares about himself and his people! His son is the exact same! I don't want anything to do with him! And besides," I added. "I'm a young elf maiden at the age two thousand one hundred and sixty! I have many years ahead of me!" 

Before my mother could respond, I squeezed the horse's sides slightly with my legs, jolting him into action. We galloped away from the only home I'd ever known since I was born, Lothlorien.