Hope Almost Lost

Prolouge

His blond hair fell nicely. His quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder and bow in his hand. His pale skin showing all his features. The boy that stood in front of me was undoubtedly an elf, moving with the same sure swiftness of one. He would have been beautiful, if not for his eyes. They were black. Not like a natural black eye color, but where his eyes should be was just emptiness. As if someone had taken over him. I was sure to never look too long into his eyes, for fear of getting taken away and loosing all control.

We were both standing on solid rock, but the rock was stained red from blood. But there were no signs of death or battle anywhere. No dead bodies. In fact, there was nobody to be seen hundreds of miles from where he and I stood. The ground wasn't flat, and in the distance a small mountain could be seen. Not a mountain- a volcano.

The sky was blood red, and no sun and clouds nor moon and stars were visible. The time of day was uncertain. It could be early morning, or it could be noon, or it could be midnight. There was no way to tell.

As for me, I lay on the ground, propped up on my right forearm, struggling to get to my feet. I was dying. My beautiful white dress was stained with blood coming from a stab wound in my chest. Had he stabbed me? No. His dagger was unsheathed by his side, untouched. Although, he didn't seem to show any affection toward me either. I coughed up blood, yet for some reason felt absolutely no pain.

He opened his mouth to speak. His voice was soft, but it cut through the air like a knife. I didn't know what they meant, nor what he was speaking about.

"The sun has set one final time. A new rule arises. A new chapter is written. It may not look as so, but this is peace. This is unity. This is what has been missing all this time. One ring, now rules them all. One ring found them. One ring brought them all together." He held his open hand, and in it, a golden ring. "Now, all He needs is you. Three were given to Elves, seven to Dwarves, and nine to Men. This One Ring was not made for the Dark Lord himself, as others believe, but for you. This small little object created right here in Mordor has the power to create and destroy, in the hands of one such as you. You can create a new era of hope and beauty within all the people of Middle Earth." He bent down and leaned in closer to me. "You are the final piece needed. You are the key. You, my dear, have more power than the greatest of Wizards, the highest of Elves, the mightiest of Men, the strongest of Dwarves. This is your reason for being here. Put on the Ring, and unleash all the power stored within you. Remember this- love does not mean trust. The ones you love are not always the ones you can trust."

I took the ring from his hand. He smiled at me as I slowly put it on my finger. As soon as the ring was on my finger, I closed my eyes and concentrated. He had said I had power to unleash, so I concentrated on the ring he gave me and felt a sharp pain in my head. I suddenly went limp and hit the ground.

I woke up suddenly, hitting my head on the headboard of my bed. "Ow," I muttered. My breathing was heavy and I felt a drop of sweat trickle down the side of my face. It was only a dream I told myself.

After a few minutes, I had calmed down. I got up out of my bed and walked over to the mirror in my room. It was still nighttime so my room was quite dark, but being an elf I was able to see my reflection clearer than others might've seen.

My hair was messy from sleep, and my face was pale. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to neaten it out a bit. It was what my brother called "autumn" colored. I, personally, just considered it to be dark blonde. Elathalion, my brother, had nicknamed me "Autumn" because of the red and lighter blonde highlights that make my hair look like a tree in the fall with all its beautiful colors right before it loses all its leaves for the winter.

I had my mother's eyes- a deep shade of sea green. The elves around here always said I looked like her. I had her fair skin, her thin frame, her long, wavy hair. But what set us apart were the lines on my mother's face that showed her old age and suffering. Sometimes some wondered if her death in battle was intentional on her part. I believe that not to be true. My mother lived a happy life for many years, her smile always brightening up the room. Although, I am young (for an immortal elf anyway) and most say she lived a long, hard, and depressing life. My mother has been gone for many years now, but her memory still brings tears to my eyes.

Wiping away a teardrop tricking down my cheek, I walked over to my desk. On it was a book given to me as a gift from my parents. I used it to write and paint in. Mostly write though, because the paper isn't really meant for painting on and the paint would bleed through sometimes. I kept repeating in my head what the boy had told me in my dream. Deep in thought, I dipped my quill in ink and let it guide my hand across the paper as I wrote.

When I had finished, a newly written poem was staring me in the face. I have always loved writing poetry, it was my favorite way of writing. I smiled down at the words on the page, each one written neatly and delicately.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

A/N: Eek sorry I know these things are hated but I just wanted to say that this poem (above) was not my own work and is the work of J. R. R. Tolkien. Sorry don't want this to seem like plagiarism or anything! Hope you all liked this first part!