A Greater Destiny: Sequel to The Last Queen {Lord of the Rings Fanfiction}

1. Fire by Name & Nature

The twilight sky bathed the Golden Wood in ethereal light, only extenuating its fantastical and enchanting aura. A beautiful haven, a place of dream like qualities, were time stood still and one could be revived simply by breathing in its clean, fresh air.

It was here on the rocks, which surrounded the Nimrodel falls, that a lonely figure of an elleth sat. She was fair and feminine, with grey eyes, which shone like white flame in the fading light of day. Dressed in a light, chiffon dress, deep green in colour, made only for the purpose of modesty to bathe in open water - the elleth gently wrung excess water from her sleek blond locks.

She hummed quietly to herself, enjoying the peacefulness of her favourite time of the day, for she was a grey-elf and they loved to watch the stars awaken in the twilight hours. On closer inspection one could tell this was no ordinary elleth, no, this was one of noble birth, for her features were regal and her aura was both commanding and captivating. However she was not of the Galadhrim, this was evident in her reclusive behaviour, her less elaborate garb, and the fact that at twilight she had no fear to wander alone in the forest.  At her side sat a deadly sword, which she could wield like a graceful extension of her arm and with terrifying skill. This elleth was none other than the Princess Ellenya of the Woodland Realm of northern Mirkwood.

On this evening, Ellenya, feeling a sense of uneasiness - like a gentle tugging at her heart that something was amiss - decided to take a swim to dispel her anxieties or make sense of them, whichever came first.

The fresh water and comforting tones of the forest calmed her and helped her think sensibly.  So the elleth splayed out on the rock and relaxed. A few thousand years had passed from her first coming to Lothlorien as an elfling and she still marvelled at how quickly it's beauty and life revived her.

Ellenya had stayed as an elfling in Lothlorien, under the care of the Lady Galadriel for some centuries, before returning home.  Though she still frequented the Golden Wood and its people, for she had built many friendships and enjoyed keeping the political channels open between her home and here. Unfortunately her current reasons for visiting her second home - as she affectionately thought of it - was not by her own choice! Less than two decades earlier her Adar was disturbed by the growing darkness in their lands, fearing for Ellenya's safety he had pleaded for her to go to the sanctuary of Lothlorien, and remain there until such times as it was safe to return.

Of course she had no real intention of sticking to that timeframe; she would find a reason to return home soon enough. She had obliged her Adar, knowing he worried himself sick over her health, though she considered herself almost completely recovered from the traumatic events of her childhood.

Ellenya kept in regular contact with Legolas, her brother, through letter.  She relied heavily on him to tell her the honest truth, as often correspondence from her Ada was heavily censored...another one of his bright ideas to keep her from worrying.

Reading between the lines of her Adar's sketchy details and Legolas' more frank letters, Ellenya gathered things were only getting worse, and she put her recent anxieties down to this. She was alarmingly homesick and fretted for her people on a daily basis, the guard was already stretched to maximum capacity, and Legolas was run ragged trying to maintain the mountain road, and keeping the pathways to and from the Woodland Realm open and safe.

In recent years her Adar had eased on his isolation policy, extending more help to the race of men that dwelt in Dale, in the form of aid and creating trading points. Since the battle of the five armies, the woodland elves had reawakened their slumbering hearts, and knew that they would have to engage with the world if they were going to survive this coming evil. With the emergence of the evil one in Dol Guldur, they were not safe and would never be safe until they were freed from it.  They could no longer ignore their part in the destiny of Arda.