Aria the Black (Book 2 of the Daughters of Durin Trilogy)

Chapter 12: The Mirror

That very same night, well after Aria was sound asleep in her private room, Frodo was wide awake and tense. As the journey had progressed, he knew the Ring had wrought an increasing toll on the hobbit. Frodo Baggins was not the same hobbit that had come from the Shire. Weight was the only way to describe it; the weight on Frodo's shoulders had only been increasing with each calamity the Fellowship had encountered.

Just as Frodo began drifting off, not from peace, but instead exhaustion, a radiant white light filtered through the trees. It had come from a clearing in the woods where the Fellowship slept, not far off, and he followed it with interest.

Galadriel, the Lady of Woods, awaited him, a clear basin of water by her side. Half of her blinding golden hair cascaded down her shoulders, the rest separated to the front of her figure by her silver Elvish crown. Her white dress trailed after her as she approached him, made of the finest silk. But to Frodo, she seemed unearthly- her radiance gave him the impression that she was made of the purest starlight.

She did not speak directly to him, but instead her voice echoed inside his temples.

It is a great darkness, the terrible thing you carry. One cannot even imagine the horrors it is capable of, when fallen into the wrong hands. But, we can see...

She turns her gaze down to the basin of water, taking the ewer beside her and filling it with water. Then she poured it into the basin, raising the water to the brim and almost causing it to spill over.

"Will you look into the mirror?" She asked, her voice as smooth as honey. It was the first time the Lady had spoken to the hobbit directly.

"What will I see?" He replied, meeting her eyes.

"Even the wisest cannot tell, for the mirror shows many things." She returned his look, moving away from the basin so as to give him space. "Things that were, things that are, and some things..." she trailed off. "that have not yet come to pass."

Frodo walked up to the basin and peered into it, at first seeing nothing but his own reflection. But the, the mirror cleared and showed him a vision of Legolas, Merry, Pippin and Sam. Powerless to stop the destruction, the four fell, and behind them he saw the burning of the Shire and Bag End. Screams of his people filled the air and his ears as he watched Orcs of all kinds alight Hobbiton in flames, their growls of success menacing and mocking. The hobbit now enslaved, Frodo watched with horror as Sauron's eye filled the mirror, the Ring receiving its call. It pulled Frodo's neck closer and closer into the water, as the Black Speech of Sauron screeched in his ears.

Terrified, Frodo grabbed and pulled the Ring back to his chest, throwing himself off of the step where the basin was and throwing himself onto the grass. As he panted in shock, Galadriel gave a nod of understanding, knowing immediately where his fear had come from.

"I know what it is you saw. For it is also in my mind." Her grim expression bore not even the slightest wrinkle on her face. She spoke to Frodo telepathically again, staring him directly in the eyes.

It is what will come to pass if you should fail. The Fellowship is breaking. It has already begun. He will try to take the Ring. You know of whom I speak. One by one it will destroy them all.

For the first time, Frodo truly realized the immensity of the quest, and it scared him. All it took was the comfort of the Elves to remind him, of how much he truly had changed since he left home. Galadriel looked so fair, so safe to him that he felt he could no longer bear the journey's serverity.

If you ask it of me, I will give you the One Ring. The Hobbit responded. Opening his palm, he offered the Ring to her, and her eyes flared with greed and want.