Anariel of Erudin: Valmoria's Wrath | Lord of the Rings

28. Valmoria

Slowly, Half-wing started retreating back into the shadows.

Gasping, I stumbled back and stared in horror at the burned woman who now stood before me. I had seen the fire take her and believed her to be dead—the blade was still buried in her chest, for goodness sake!—but still she lived. And as she held that amulet in her hand, she let out a joyous cry.

"She has chosen me!" she murmured over and over while draping the amulet around her neck. "I can feel her inside me, filling me with her power! Yes, My Queen, I am yours to command!"

As she spoke, her white eyes began to turn black, like a sickness was taking over her. When all the white was gone, her euphoric smile was replaced with a look of innocent curiosity, like a child seeing the world for the very first time.

Valmoria had risen once more.

"The world has changed since I last saw it," she said as she gazed about the cave. "It is cold ... and dark ... and I can feel a great sickness in the air. I can feel it blackening my lungs and filling my heart with such sorrow."

At that, she stared down at her chest, from which the dagger still protruded. She grasped the hilt and drew out the blade with one smooth motion, and no blood came from the wound. It healed by itself.

She looked at me. "Have you seen what is to be?" she asked softly. "Come, I will show you."

I fell to my knees as a wave of horrid thoughts rushed through my head. I saw ships burning and dead men floating in the water. I saw dead hobbits being carried one after another and piled into a wagon like they were spoiled produce. In a bedroom, I saw my hands soaked with red, carrying a blood-stained bed sheet. On the battlefield, I saw Legolas kneeling in defeat and Turin standing over him, pointing a sword at his neck. A pair of red dragon wings sprouted from his back, and everything turned to ash.

A tear slipped down my cheek when it was all over, and I did not have the strength to rise again.

"How I weep for the future, for the innocent who will suffer. This world shall be forever marred and corrupted as long as men continue to rule. They could have all the riches in the world and still it would never be enough to satisfy their greed. Thousands of wars they will fight, and they will keep fighting until the world is lost and everyone is dead. Middle-earth cannot be saved. It does not deserved to be saved."

I shook my head. "You're wrong," I said, finally able to stand. "I have seen horrible things, things that will haunt me until I am dead and in the ground. But I have also seen good things, beautiful things that will stay in my heart even after I am dead. This world of men may be fading, but it is not lost, not yet."

But all my confidence disappeared when she vanished right before my eyes and reappeared behind me just seconds later. Her blackened hand gripped my throat and lifted me into the air.

"Is that what you think?" she questioned, tightening her grip. I could see the burnt flesh flaking off her face as she spoke. "My dear child, you do not know what horror is, not yet. You do not know, for you have not seen all that I have seen. This world is poison—!"

Suddenly, Half-wing sprung out from the shadows and flung himself onto her face, clawing and biting without restraint. Shrieking, Valmoria released me and seized her tiny attacker with one hand, whipping him against the rocks like he was nothing more than an annoying pest.

But the damage had already been done. I had ripped the amulet off her neck while she was vulnerable and now held it over the edge of the cliff.

"This world may fall," I declared, "but not by your will!" And I cast the amulet into the river with all my strength.