Fayn (A LOTR novella)

Chapter 2: Alhena

Fayn sits quietly with her knees tucked up underneath her, staring out at the peaceful lands below. The waning moon had just appeared in the sky to cast an enchanting light over the valley of Alhena. The trees of the ancient forest below sway in the breeze, seeming to sigh in relief. It had been many winters since these lands were so peaceful and quiet.

As she sits with her legs resting against the bare rock, she remembers the battle that had occured only two days ago. Fayn had fought alongside the Menkar, the last of the good people of this land, to defeat the poisonous race that had begun to destroy everything. The battle that had ensued had been a bloody one filled with many casualties on both sides, but the Menkar are a sturdy race of adept fighters, and they saw the battle through to the end.

Though now is a time for rejoycing, Fayn remains in a somber mood, the absense of many of her dear friends stealing away light and happiness from her. In her time in Alhena, Fayn had grown close to its people, and every single death was like a knife in her side.

The foulness of these lands had been pushed back into hiding for now, too weak from defeat to be anything but a nuisance. She knows it will come back eventually, for evil will never entirely disappear, but that is why she is meant to protect the land and its people. But now, and for many years to come, there is peace.

Fayn watches as the Menkar warriors celebrate their victory in merriment far below, her keen eyes able to pick them out clearly through the dense foliage of the forest canopy, even with the distance between them. As always, she keeps watch over them, protecting them from danger.

She does not feel content though, knowing that for now the evil is vanquished. Something else feels wrong to her. It makes her uneasy, even though she knows the evil from this world will not be seen again for many centuries to come. The sensation does not ease, but instead grows stronger with every passing moment that Fayn sits on her rocky cliff face.

It takes her a few moments, but she soon comes to realize that this feeling of uneasiness comes from some other world under her protection, one that has been pushed to the back of her mind with all her worries prioritized on the land she resides in currently. Now that there are no problems to distract her attention in this land however, the sensation invades her mind fully. The emotion pulls at her thoughts like a hook, urging her to leave this now tranquil land and help another.

As Fayn listens to this sense of growing evil in the back of her mind, she realizes it is from a land that she has not visited for a very long time, one of the first put under her protection, and a land that has not needed her help since many years ago.

Middle Earth had would always be the land most dear to Fayn, because it was the first that she was to protect. Fayn remembered well when Iluvatar had first asked her to watch over Middle Earth; it seemed as though she had been little more than a child all those years ago. It was the first land she had ever been given the responsibility of watch over, but the reason it remained her favorite is because of the people living there.

Throughout her many visits in past years she had made friends, though the only that might still remain is the wizard, Gandalf. It saddens her slightly to think of this, but even more so to realize that Middle Earth is in danger and once again needs her help.

Fayn stands up, brushing off her exposed legs to rid them of dirt, and begins to walk down to the valley to speak with the Menkar. If Middle Earth is in need of help, then there are many things she must accomplish first.

***Just some backstory.  The plot will pick up in the next chapters.***