Through Fire and Water (A Legolas Love Story)

The Palantir

The night is dark and hot and I toss and turn in my bed, desperately trying to get comfortable so that I can fall back to sleep. Eventually the heat gets too much for me and I throw the covers aside, swinging my legs out of bed and standing up, fighting against the urge to throw up and trying not to fall back down as the room spins.

“Ok Ana, avoid alcohol in the future” I say to myself as I carefully pull on my tunic, leggings and boots,  pour myself a cup of water from the jug on the table and drink it far too quickly, then quickly pull a brush through my hair before simply tying it back out of my way.

The door creaks quietly as I carefully swing it open, closing it behind me as I make my way towards the main hall, out of the door, down the steps and into the streets below. The cool breeze feels good on my heated skin and I sit down on the steps, breathing in the calm night air. I sit there until the cold has seeped into my brain and worn away the last negative effects of the alcohol and I’m just about to wander back inside when my head seems to explode and all I can see is a huge fiery eye, whispering things that I can’t quite distinguish, I know what that eye means. It feels like he is here, in Edoras, more specifically in the golden hall. But that can’t be, can it? There isn’t anything here that could summon Sauron. But then it hits me, Saruman’s globe. The wizard must have been communicating with Sauron somehow, right? So that must be it! I push the image of the eye out of my head and start running, heading back into the hall and towards the sleeping quarters where my companions and several other men are sleeping.

The corridors are empty and I run as fast as my legs can take me, meeting no obstacles and covering the distance in no time. As I approach the room I hear yelling and burst through the door. The room is in chaos with people yelling and jumping out of bed and my arrival only seems to add to the disorder of things. The first thing I see is Pippin lying on the floor, his face white. Then I see Aragorn on the floor with Legolas next to him.

“Dad!” I yell, my voice much shriller than I intended it to be, and I drop to my knees beside him. “Are you alright?” I ask, panicking slightly “What happened?”

“I’m fine” He says, sitting up. The entire room is silent now as we all watch the black globe slowly role across the floor, the fiery lights inside much more intense than before. We are all captivated by the flames for a moment before Gandalf has the sense to throw a blanket over it, breaking the spell.

“Fool of a Took!” he snaps, rounding on Pippin. Merry is crouched beside his friend, fear in his eyes, but Gandalf drops down next to him, moving Merry out of the way. Pippin is visibly trembling but Gandalf gently calms him.

“Gandalf, forgive me” Pippin whispers.

“Look at me” Gandalf commands the terrified hobbit “What did you see?”

“A tree ... There was a white tree . . . in a courtyard of stone . . . It was dead!” Pippin stutters.

“Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?” Gandalf asks Pippin.

“I saw . . . I saw him” Pippin says. He is looking at Gandalf but he doesn’t seem to be seeing him, he is clearly somewhere else, reliving the horrible moments he experienced “I could hear his voice in my head” he continues.