Hunter of the Rings

Chapter 34

Wherever Maddie had found herself, heaven or hell or wherever else she could go, she did not want to leave. There was no pain, nor any exhaustion. Two things she had grown so accustom to feeling; it almost felt strange to go without. The poor girl couldn't remember the last time she had felt such relief. It was so, what was the word? Peaceful? Yeah, peaceful. Maddie was aware she was dead, thus she wondered if she was in heaven; she couldn't see or feel anything, so she wasn't entirely sure. Why was she there again? And why had she been suffering so terribly? Maddie's mind was blurred. Where was she? What had happened? Even so slowly, the teenager began to feel something; it was a sort of dull ache, covering the entire body. It wasn't too bad, certainly noticeable, but not enough to make her plead for it to go. Well, that might change as she could feel the pain continue to grow. "Uh..." Maddie groaned, her eyes hesitantly fluttering open as they fought against the bright light that seemed to surround her. "Don't worry, young miss, you're safe" a voice, female and kind, suddenly spoke; the teenager had to wait until her eyes had adjusted the light before they landed on a elder woman standing beside her, smiling down at her. "There we go" she encouraged the girl, happily helping the young girl as she tried to push herself up "take it easy now, would hate for you to rip any of your stitches" she insisted, placing a pillow behind her patients back. "St...stitches?" Maddie repeated, only to enter a coughing fit from how dry her mouth and throat were; the woman, a healer if her clothes and actions were anything to go by, rushed to grab a cup of water from the bed side table and held it to the girl's mouth, insisting she drink slowly to avoid choking. Doing as she was told, the sixteen year old took the cup and held it herself, taking in her surroundings and she drank the glorious liquid. Maddie was in a room, a bed chamber to be exact, that had large windows that allowed the sun's gaze to light its entirety. She was lay in a bed, the sheets that of cotton and silk. Wherever she was, it was of fine standing. 

Looking to the woman, Maddie asked  the only thing she could think of: what in the Middle Earth had happened? "I...I just remember such pain and being so tired" she recalled, shivering at the dark thought; the healer checked over the girl's bandaged injuries as she reminded her of how she had destroyed the One Ring to Rule them All. "But Mount Doom began follow suit, but with you in it! You're lucky Gandalf got to you in time" she insisted, shaking her head at such a disturbing thought; this only succeeded in confusing her patient who had more questions than she started with. "He used his eagle friends to fly over the mountain and find you" the healer revealed as she secured a bandage that had begun to unravel on her patient's arm "he got you back here just in time for us to get to work this nasty injuries of yours" Maddie had asked how in all of Middle Earth they had reached her all the way on Mount Doom; she wasn't quite expecting to hear that Gandalf had saved her with the help of the eagles. But hey, she was hardly going to complain. "We've done all we can to heal your wounds, though you will have a wide variety of scars" the kind woman warned, merely earning a shrug in response "but we've mostly just been waiting for you to wake up to see if you would make a recovery" the woman explained, alarming the teenager as her eyes widened. Though she was reluctant, Maddie asked for how long she had been out; she was ready to have a heart attack when she heard that it had been a number of weeks since she had been rescued from Mount Doom! Three to be exact. "You said Gandalf brought me here, but where is here? Where am I?" Maddie questioned, the room she was in having given her no hints as to her location; the healer merely smiled "you're in Gondor, of course" she assured. 'Gondor? But that means...the others!' Maddie realised with wide and worry filled eyes.

"Now this is a day I have been waiting far too long to see" a voice, familiar and welcomed, spoke; the sixteen year old's eyes widened as she looked over to the door across the room, her gaze landing on a kind face. "Gandalf!" she exclaimed, a smile spreading wide across her face as he stepped into the room, followed by rushed dwarf; Gimli let out a deep joy filled laugh as he approaching the girl's side. It took the healer exclaiming for him to keep the girl's fresh injuries to stop him from engulfing her into a bone crushing hug; he chose to simply grasp the teenager's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. It had still hurt, it being the hand that Gollum had bit into, but Maddie didn't care. Next to enter the room was the beautiful sight of one blonde elf, his signature smile shining brightly as his eyes landed on the girl. Legolas stood beside their dwarf friend, leaning down as he planted a kiss to the teenager's cheek while stating his relief to see her awake and well "as well as can be" Maddie chuckled, quickly returning the comment as she asked how they had been. The three shared looks of disbelief; they couldn't believe that Maddie was asking if they were okay after all she had been through. But never the less, they reassured her that they were fine, far better now that she was with them. "I'll leave you be, but please, the young miss needs to take it easy and rest" the healer reminded before taking her leave, allowing the friends some privacy. It was appreciated as Gimli instantly suggested they "break her out" with a chuckle; Maddie happily agreed, but there were two others who strongly disagreed. "So what have I missed?" the girl asked, sipping some more of her drink as the three chuckled "enough to need a few hours to explain" Legolas stated, their dwarf friend barking out a laugh "understatement of the century!" he agreed. Wishing to give the sixteen year old some good news, Gandalf explained how Gondor were excitedly preparing for the King's coronation; Maddie smiled as she listened, but it took her a short while to realise what the wizard had actually said. "King's coronation?" she repeated, earning eager nods as Gimli continued "dwarves, men and elves are coming from all Middle Earth over to witness the coronation, so far as Rivendell and Erebor" he announced. 'King's coronation...Rivendell...' Maddie fell into her thoughts as she processed the information; it was in that very moment she realised what those two things meant.