Valar Rising

Chapter Five: Rian

The sun rose past the mountain peaks; its golden ray's spilling down into the valley, lighting the drops of morning dew on the foliage surrounding Imladris. Rian sat and watched this through a large open window as she leaned against its frame. She had not slept since returning from the Southern Border, though Hanna - who was slumped over a side table nearby - had dozed off several times. Rian did not mind. It was nice not to have to force conversation while they waited to hear how Arien and Taelen were doing.

Lord Elrond had Rian and Elrohir take Arien and Taelen to the Healing Ward as soon as he saw them, though he had assured them it did not appear fatal. Regardless, Rian had not been able to sit still while she and Hanna waited for clearance to join them.

"Have they come out yet?" Hanna whispered, lifting her head from the table.

"No, but I've heard talking," Rian glanced from the door to Hanna then back out the window, trying not to give tell to the fact that Hanna had startled her after having been asleep for so long.

Hanna nodded and laid her head back on the table a second before the door behind her opened up, and Elrohir came through.

"My ladies," He nodded his head toward the two of them, "I apologize that my Father and Mithrandir have kept you waiting, they have been in deep conversation while Arien and Taelen have rested."

"But we can see them now?" Hanna asked, standing.

Elrohir nodded, and Hanna nearly bowled him over as she rushed past him and into the corridor. Rian's took a deep breath and followed her, albeit at a slower pace.

The room where the small group sat was the only grim scene Rian had seen in her short time in Rivendell. Someone had drawn the curtains on the window, and the smell of incense wilted through the doorway. Arien sat on the edge of a bed with Taelen standing next to her, his arm in a sling. Some color had returned to both of their faces, and Taelen smiled as he soon as he saw Hanna.

"Please sit, all four of you," Lord Elrond said, gesturing to the chairs spread through the room, "This is not how we imagined your reunion, but we should not have thought it otherwise."

He looked from Arien to Hanna and Taelen and then to Rian, who felt her chest tighten and palms start to sweat.

"We have kept you apart so that darkness might not find you, and it is now darkness that has brought you together," Gandalf sighed, "And together, you must face it."

Energy pulsed through the room, and Rian felt the hair on her arms stand on end.

"Arien has had a vision," Lord Elrond spoke, stepping toward Arien as he did so.

"In her vision, Melkor returns through the power of one of the Silmarils, provided him by his servant Thuringwethil - whom you saw last night."

"One of the Silmarils?" Taelen asked. Rian was grateful she was not the only one who did not know.

"Stones forged at the beginning of this world by one of the first High Elves, Feanor," Arien said, "In these stones, Feanor captured the light of the two trees in Valinor, and they have remained hidden since the end of the first age."

"Then how does Thuringwethil have one?" Rian asked.

Gandalf closed his eyes before taking a deep breath, "We are not sure, nor are we sure if this vision is to come to pass in the near or distant future. It could have happened last night; it could happen in a year."

"If we don't know, then how can we stop it from happening?" Hanna frowned, leaning forward in her chair.

"We track Thuringwethil," Rian said, resolute, "If she doesn't have one yet then we kill her and stop Melkor from coming. If she does have one, then we kill her and stop Melkor from coming. Moreover, if she has already brought Melkor back to this world, then we follow her to Melkor and send him back to the void."

She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a smile appear briefly on Taelen's face.

"But it's not that simple!" Arien stood, her face contorted in fear.

"I mean, it sounds pretty simple to me," Taelen shrugged, "We find the evil, and we fight it."

Arien shook her head in unison with Lord Elrond, and they started speaking at the same time,

"You cannot approach this with -"

"I saw other things in my vision that -"

Gandalf stood, silencing both of them.

"There is truth to the simplicity Rian states, though Thuringwethil is bound to be difficult to track."

"So you must approach this with more precision," Lord Elrond nodded, "You must have as much secrecy as you can, for where you go evil will try to stop you. When Melkor was at his full power, he had all the dark creatures in Middle Earth at his command. I imagine Thuringwethil has been recruiting them once more."

He sat back down, but Gandalf remained standing.

"Not only are beasts and Orcs joining him, but as Melkor's powers have pushed against his prison, darkness has been growing in Mordor once more."

Rian looked sharply at Gandalf.

"So you have confirmed Sauron has returned?"

She had been very aware of why Gandalf had taken to journeying to the Eastern lands of Middle Earth. He had shared with her his fears of Mordor and the ring of power.

"Sauron is gaining strength behind the black gate, and the ring of power is on its way to Rivendell in the hands of Frodo Baggins," Gandalf nodded solemnly.

Rian had met Frodo a few times. He was a very kind Hobbit, always willing to have her in for tea and biscuits. She had a hard time imagining him carrying the One Ring.

"But how are we to battle both Melkor and Sauron?" Hanna asked, leaning back in her chair, her brow furrowed as she clasped her hands in her lap.

"Your journey is not that of the Ring of Power," Lord Elrond said, "There are others destined to take that path."

Hanna nodded, and Taelen placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"I advise that we all get some rest now," Gandalf said, his voice weary, "There is much to prepare for, but there is no good doing it with having been up most of the night."

One by one, they nodded in agreement and filed out the door. Rian was not intent on hovering around to discuss anything else and hurried to her room. Her mind swirled from one thing to the next while she undressed and washed the dirt from the forest off her face and hands. Melkor, Thuringwethil, Sauron. These were all evils Rian had never thought she would encounter. Even when Gandalf had told her she was a child of the Vala Namo and Vaire, the promise of facing evil felt far away.

Gandalf had also told her she had possibly inherited powers from her parents or had powers individual to her, though he had not elaborated. Rian knew who and what the Valar were, but she had never studied them individually and knew very little about her parents. But what she did know is that strange things had happened to her as a child, things she couldn't explain.