CHAPTER EIGHT - "Nymeria Dale."
THUNDER ROARED IN THE WIND, rain fell rapidly - much to the horror of the, now soaking wet Company. Nixie was the only member that was not fussed about the rain, her face was tilted to face the sky as she rode Cerberus. She basked in the glory of the precipitation; like how a Dragon would bask in the light of gleaming gold. She felt at home as the scents of damp woodland hit her nose; Nixie could agree though, the rain was unusually torrential.
"How can you ride so happily in this weather?" grunted Fili from beside her, the Dwarf was extremely bitter about the weather. Although the blonde's hood was up, the ends of his hair were still extremely wet, as well as the rest of him.
Nixie beamed, "What's there not to be happy about?" she giggled lightly, out of the rainwater she conjured a small water horse in the palm of her hand - it then raced off, around the Company's heads; much to their confusion, before bursting over her damp, silky, white hair.
"Mr Gandalf," called Dori from further up the line, "Can't you do something about this deluge?" he inquired furiously, frantically rubbing the water off of his face much to Nixie's amusement.
Gandalf turned with a smile on his face, "It is raining, Master Dwarf," the Wizard emphasised the word raining, turning his twinkling eyes to glance at Nixie. "Perhaps you are speaking to the wrong person," rhetorically quizzed the Grey Wizard.
Dori turned, looking at the Water Nymph who rode beside Fili and Kili happily. "Well is there anything you can do?" barked Dori, desperate to get the rain off of him.
The Nymph rolled her eyes at all of the Dwarves behaviour, who were all now murmuring and trying to watch Nixie with great interest. She waved her hands and almost immediately, the rain stopped above the Dwarves but rained everywhere else. "Jasaku arimordium," the Nymph whispered into the wind, soon enough, everyone was dry again.
They all looked bewildered by the events that had just occurred, though they decided not to say anything except for a loud chorus of "thank you."
⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛
HOURS LATER,
⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛
The rain had ceased hours ago, the sun had begun to dry the grass and the trees, as well as everything in between. The birds were back out tweeting their fabulous new tunes, the Nymph listened to them, finding peace in their sharp melody. The Company approached the side of a burnt down building; it was recently burnt down, Nixie could tell, mainly because the wood had told her so. The grass was a vibrant colour, no thanks to that of the watering of the rain and it'd been well fed.
Regardless of the burnt down Farm, Nixie felt uneasy - that may have been down to the fact that she was so close to it; her home of Nymeria Dale. She saw the mossy spire in the distance, just in front and to the left of the forest, surrounded by black, burnt, ash trees of its own. The Water Nymph frowned as she looked at it; reminiscing of her days in the Palace. She missed it; desperately. She longed to restore it to its former glory.
"I think it'd be wise to move on," Gandalf suggested, to which the Dwarf Lord raised an eyebrow approaching the Wizard. "We could make for the Hidden Valley," the Grey Wizard explained and Nixie could see the blind anger lit up in Thorin's eyes at the mention of the Elvish City.
The Nymph tentatively walked over to them, "I have told you already," hissed Thorin, stalking past Gandalf and into the house of where the farmer had once lived, "I will not go near that place," he growled stubbornly.
"Why not?" huffed Gandalf, clearly irritated by the King's way of thinking. "The Elves could help us," Gandalf reasoned urgently, tapping his staff on the ground, "We could get food, rest, advice."
"I do not need their advice!" boomed the Dwarf Lord, turning on the Grey Wizard harshly, with his intimidating glare.
Nixie shook her head, piping up, "We have a map," she pointed out. "We cannot read it, Lord Elrond can."
"Help?" muttered Thorin in disbelief, stepping forward to the shorter woman. "A dragon attacks Erebor," he said bluntly, "What help came from the Elves?" Thorin continued, stepping closer every single time, "Orcs plunder Moria," he spat out, "discrete our sacred halls, the Elves watched on and did nothing."
The Nymph rolled her eyes, suddenly becoming enraged by the Dwarf. "These are not the same Elves!" exclaimed Nixie, not believing the Dwarf's pride. "If anyone should have a quarrel; it is my race and your race, Master Oakenshield," she hissed out, "After the fall of Erebor, we let you into our home," Nixie raised her voice, "But when we were attacked, you refused the call!" the Nymph shook her head, "All of the races of Middle-Earth refused our call, leaving us to die!"
Nixie stomped off, leaving the Dwarf King quite speechless. Gandalf looked up, following after the Water Princess. "Where are you going, Nixie?" Fili and Kili called in unison, quite concerned.
"To my home!" Nixie yelled, swiftly mounting Cerberus, shaking her head with utter discontent. "Ride to Nymeria," she told the Pony, Cerberus neighed and took off like a bolt. She knew it was a reckless action; that would surely have consequences later - but at the moment Nixie didn't care.
They (Cerberus and Nixie) rode through the woodland, that seemed dull and unpleasant. It gave Nixie a bad feeling, but she continued forwards: determined to get to Nymeria Dale. The grass wasn't like the grass by the farmer's home, it looked sickly and grey, as did the rest of the forest and the streams that ran through it. Cerberus snorted suddenly, neighing, clearly annoyed Nixie had made him run - full pelt. Nixie hushed him, waiting for when they saw Nymeria Dale.
The pony rider had soon passed the clearing where Gandalf had found her, looking at the skeletal corpse of what was once her friend: Lyssa Goodchild. She didn't dwindle for long, they were soon in the reach of the tall, burnt-black ash trees, that circled the white overgrown palace of Nymeria Dale. Everything was just how she remembered, the wooden dance floor that was laid out on the grass; though it was now covered in blood stains.
The grass here and there was burnt, a blood-splattered golden harp, along with two violas rested on the floor. Nixie dismounted Cerberus, leaving him to his own devices as she wandered around the Palace Grounds. Everyone had come to Nixie's Wedding; everyone. By the Palace steps, were two, slightly larger skeletons; Nixie recognised them to be the bones of her Parents. The King and Queen. The Water Nymph breathed in heavily, she approached them, crouching down next to them, their heads further away from their bodies: they had been beheaded.
Bubbles of anger bubbled off of the Nymph; someone or something had taken her Mother and Father's crown. She inhumanly growled, but continued on, opening up the great stone doors with a loud groan - it too a lot of strength, managing to do it eventually. Inside the Palace was beautiful, in the centre of the palace by the two grand marble white staircases was a waterfall that still remained to flow. The white stone wall behind was now overgrown with ivy, that clung to newly formed moss - the rocks that surrounded the pool that was created by the waterfall were now cracked and covered in plants.
The rose bush that grew near the waterfall remained to be the same, Nixie sniffed slightly as she paced towards the rose bush. The flowers hadn't aged a day (they were under an enchantment) and had been there for well over a thousand years, then she noticed something; something she hadn't seen before. At the bottom of the waterfall, there was a cave, how had she not noticed this before?
Cautiously, Nixie made her way past the rosebush that adorned the sides of the staircases, then onto the fragile cracked rocks around the clear, pristine pool. She tentatively placed her feet on each rock, not wanting to fall in, not that it mattered, she could dry herself anyway. She leapt into the abyss of the cave, bracing herself for impact; she was sprayed with water vapour as she rolled across the cave floor.
In the middle of the cave was a pedestal, built into a small fountain. It called Nixie; she knew she shouldn't go anywhere near it - if her parents hadn't told her about it, it must have been dangerous. But it beckoned her; it was a force she couldn't describe. It felt like the pull of home. She walked forwards, with the intent of looking at it.
Nixie frowned, realising in the pedestal it only had been water. She turned to leave, but she looked into the water again. She saw her reflection, but it wasn't her reflection. It was distorted, then, suddenly an invisble force pushed her head into the water. The Nymph screamed as she was pushed under.
Before her eyes, was the world around her - a future world. Nixie heard a voice, it didn't sound warm neither did it sound cold. "You must tell no one of this," the voice said, "If you remember this clearly, you will save all," it said, Nixie strangely, couldn't tell whether the voice was male or female, "Fail and those you love will die," it snarled.
In a clearing, by the farmer's burnt down house (she was sure) Nixie saw three, ugly trolls roasting the Company. She saw a Warg killing Thorin Oakenshield, she saw a huge, ugly Goblin clubbing Ori's head clean off his shoulders; she saw Bilbo finding a golden ring. She saw huge arachnids capturing and devouring the Company, she saw a mighty Dragon (she assumed to be Smaug) flying over a small village by a lake and burning it to the ground. She saw Thorin Oakenshield going mad trying to find a large opal stone.
Nixie saw Fili being stabbed and thrown off a tower and to his death, she Kili being stabbed by an Orc. Then, she saw Thorin being impaled by a sword and finally, herself, dead on a river of ice. Then she saw the face of evil: an orange eye, like fire glowing with light and a dark power radiated from it.
The Water Nymph gasped, as she was able to finally gain control of her body again and she pulled herself out of the water. She shook uncontrollably, but she had to move; if what she had seen was true - the Company was about to be spit-roasted. Her shaking legs leapt nimbly over the rocks, bounding out of the Palace and back out into the courtyard, where she saw Cerberus trying to attempt to eat a burnt ash tree.
The Nymph, without alerting Cerberus, jumped onto his back startling the beast of a pony. "Find the Dwarves now, boy," she told the pony, Cerberus neighed in response and ran. He ran, hearing the dire need of his Mistresses voice. She couldn't forget the vision she was shown, or they would all die. She would die if something wasn't done right and that scared her. Death truly scared the Water Nymph.
A/N: If you wouldn't mind showing support by giving the story a vote, it'd be much appreciated x