Paths That Lead Home (LotR F.F.)

Chapter 24: Look, Ma, I Can Fly (Sort of)

Cathy's POV:

I jerked awake, sitting straight up and breathing heavily. My heart pounded in my chest. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to control my breathing as I stared down at the grassy ground. I then noticed a fire pit a few feet away from me and with a cladded figure on the other side with a hood drooping over his face.

"Who are you?" I demanded. I tried to get onto my feet, but the world started to spin.

"Take it easy," the figure said calmly. "I'm not here to hurt you. Otherwise I would have let you fallen to your death."

That didn't help make me trust him more. It then registered that I was in an open field with what looked like a stream a few yards away. The sky was dark, but I can see it lightening up in the distance. Saruman's tower of evil was nowhere in sight.

"Then why are you here? Who are you? Where am I?" I wonder if I can muster enough strength to command the fire to attack him if need be.

"A friend." He poked the fire with a long stick. "I've been looking everywhere for you and Abby. But by the time I found you two, you were locked away in Saruman's tower and Abby is off with your friends trying to save a city of people." He sighed. "Then again, this provided me the perfect opportunity to see your true character and to help me figure out if I should kill you or not."

I swallowed and tensed. "And what did you come up with?"

He scoffed. "What do you think? You passed. You denied Saruman's offer, something that almost never happens, and you were willing to die to protect the people you care about. That gives you an automated check on my good-guy list."

Something was off about this guy. It's the way he structures his sentences. His word usage was strange to what I've been hearing since I got here.

Then it hit me.

"You're a Seer," I gaped.

"Yes, I am. And I'm here to take you home."

My heart stopped beating. That's-that's- I don't know what to think. I should be happy to return home. Hell, I should be rejoicing. I should be doing cartwheels and celebrating and dancing. Yet, all I felt was sadness. Yeah, I was a bit happy to know that I could return home and see my family and friends again and return to a normal life where my biggest worry was writing that book instead of wondering if I will survive until tomorrow.

But the thought of leaving behind this beautiful world and it's people... Especially when there is a war looming over their heads.

"Cathy?" The stranger tilted his head at me. "You do want to return home, right?"

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I do," I answered hastily. "It's just..."

"You don't want to."

I shook my head. "That's not it either. Like, I want to go home. I miss my mom and dad and I need to figure out what's going on with my sister and what's happening to her. But at the same time, I feel like I can't leave. Not yet, at least. With this war with Sauron going on, I can't leave my friends in their time of need."

"Oh?"

I nodded. "I'm not much, but I can at least do something. I have these powers for a reason, and if these powers will help me save my friends and the people of Middle-Earth, then I have to take it. I can't leave Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the others behind to face this war alone. And if that means that I will die here," I took a deep breath, "then it will be worth it."

The stranger was silent for a couple moments. He then stood and walked over to me with his hand behind his back. I tensed, ready to will the fire into the guy, but he then revealed what was behind his back. A staff. But it wasn't just an ordinary staff...