May it Be | THE LORD OF THE RINGS 🖋

.PROLOGUE. The Lady of Light

My hands deflected most of the branches away from my face but as the forest grew denser, I found it more and more difficult to fight the nature that was closing in around me. I could only imagine the fright people would get once I emerged from the forest with leaves and twigs through my hair and my dress and cloak torn all over. The village people already found my love of solitude to be strange and whispered nasty rumors behind my back; I did not need to give them anymore reason to think me different.

In my haste I managed to pull the hood of my cloak over my head to help shield myself, but looking back now, even that would not have been enough. I ran as fast as I could, breaking down twigs that blocked my path, until I suddenly found myself flat on the ground. The fog moved around me as I laid on the forest floor and looked back to see that in my hurry I had accidentally caught my foot on an exposed tree root. With a groan I pushed myself up slowly and untangled my foot.

Instead of standing and continuing to run, I stayed on the forest floor in a sitting position and closed my eyes. Through it seemed as if the trees were alive and purposely trying to attack me with their branches, I simply focused on my breathing. If anyone had seen me they would probably have branded me a witch. A woman with crazy looking hair sitting in the middle of a forest, surrounded by fog and with her eyes closed did not paint an image of innocence and that of a God faring woman.

Trying desperately not to think of what would happen to me if the village people ever did try and accuse me of witchcraft, I instead focused on my breathing.

The forest was my sanctuary, a place to get away from the scrupulous eyes of the town folk as they stared and snickered each time I walked past. They did not like me, but the trees were just trees. The trees will not harm me, it is all in my head, I chanted over and over.

My heart rate began to go back to it's normal pace and the uneasy feeling in my stomach was beginning to subside. Slowly, opening my eyes I noticed a considerable change in the scenery. Through nothing had changed, it seemed everything had. The shadows of the trees looked as if they had lighten and had become far less intimidating. The branches coming off the trees no longer look as they were hands made of wood reaching out to grab at me, and the fog was beginning to slowly dissipate.

Relief washed over me and I was thankful for the sudden change in atmosphere, yet still very much aware that it could easily change again, and for the worse. With every intention of getting out of the forest and back home, I dusted myself off and looked for any signs of the village or a road. There was nothing.

Back up on my feet, I realized that even my track was no where to be seen. There were no signs that anyone or anything had ever been this far into the forest. Yet the village could have been only meters away due to the forest density making it impossible to tell.

Spinning around, I felt something strange against the back of my neck; it felt as if something was watching me very closely. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary I decided to move toward the direction I could feel it was coming from.

The 'feeling' was unexplainable and did not seem normal or natural. Perhaps the forest did have more stories to tell then what everyone knew of.

Strolling along for a little while, I gasped as I came across a clearing in the forest. Thankful to finally see a blue sky above me, rather then leaves, I grinned upward and breathed in the fresh air. The field was not exactly round but it was close enough to it, but the strangest part about it was the single tree growing directly in the center.

The tree looked much older then any other in the forest. The trunk was almost as thick as a house and the large branches were spread out, allowing sunlight to bathe the field in its warm glow.