Fan Fiction ❯ Lord of the Rings: Stargaze ❯ And In the Darkness Bind Them ( Chapter 3 )

And In the Darkness Bind Them

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt.

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.

It lies behind stars and under hills,

And empty holes it fills.

It comes first and follows after,

Ends life, kills laughter.

The answer is dark…

The dark…"

A Night Elf among the Fellowship. It seemed they would have a small stroke of good luck.

~*~

The Elven sub-race known as the Night Elves were not actually natives to Middle-earth. They had come from an unknown country adjacent to Middle-earth about 900 years before the war against Sauron. No one knew exactly where they had originated from. It was rumored among the Elves that they had come from the West.

It was unbelievable.

It was completely impossible to prove.

Wherever they had come from, the Night Elves were amazing. They were hunters and warriors all, they worked as one in battle and were extremely difficult to beat. Fiercely loyal to their leader and their friends, it was a strange thing that the Night Elves were independent as a rule. They traveled as loners, although there were a few instances where a Night Elf would make a few good friends outside its people. Then it would become devoted to those precious friends. Death would come valiantly if it would save those few.

The Night Elf leader was a chieftain. The current Chieftain was a warrior known formally as Kallendros Dragonstar. He was called Kayin by his friends and people, for each Night Elf had a formal name and a friendly one. Kayin, black-haired, pale and starry indigo-eyed, was easily the best Night Elf among them. His strength, speed and bravery were unmatched, and he led his people with pride and love. The difference between a chieftain and a king was intimacy. A chieftain was one of his people, and so Kayin was.

Kayin had made a great name for himself in his home country. According to the legends that followed his journey, he had traveled through all parts of that world many times over. He had fought many battles and won them all, thanks to his own skill and the loyalty of his family and people. He had saved the country several times from the forces of evil that had stirred in their respective origins. When he had led his people to Middle-earth, it did not take long for him to create a great name for himself again. His favorite weapon was his green-feathered arrows and his beautifully crafted bow. He was the best archer in all of Middle-earth, but he wanted no such attention from possible admirers.

When he was very young, Kayin found a lifemate in a beautiful Elven woman. Her name was Lorialae, Lonny among her people. Lonny was descendant of an ancient Elven race of phenomenal magic powers. Although that particular race had long since died away, Lonny remained the one existing member of her people who still carried the beauty and the magic that had run so strongly in the ancient Elven blood. Lonny was quiet and calm, with long brown hair, golden skin and eyes that were a stunning shade of cerulean blue. She loved her lifemate deeply and hated to be parted from him, and she raised her children to be good and strong.

When the Night Elves had met the Wood Elves of Lothlórien, there had stirred between them a petty fight resulting in a disagreement of opinions. They were fighting over their female leaders. The Lórien Elves, of course, insisted that Lady Galadriel was the greatest beauty in all of the Elven world, while the Night Elves stubbornly maintained that Lady Lorialae surpassed any in her own loveliness. The foolish argument lasted until, surprisingly enough, it was Master Kallendros and Lord Celeborn who settled the problem. They determined that Galadriel was like the sun and moon: untouchable, breathtaking and ethereal, as the loveliness of a goddess. Lonny's beauty was earthly, soft and warm, as if the flora and fauna had blessed her with their essence. Their respective leaders had forgiven easily, but the lesser members of the two tribes still intensely disliked each other.

Kayin and Lonny had been blessed with three children, one boy and two girls, all who possessed the best qualities of both of their parents.

The eldest was the Night Elf Prince, Aranthias Dragonstar, or Arian. He was a mirror image of his father, and wanted nothing more than to follow in Kayin's heroic footsteps. He had black hair and his father's deep blue-violet eyes. He was an archer, a hunter, a swordfighter, anything that would make him stronger and faster and more of a warrior. When Kayin was gone or busy elsewhere, Arian took on the role of war leader and chief hunter. He was well suited for the job, and all of his warriors respected and trusted him. He had become clever and battle-crafty from his experience at the front.

The second child was their daughter, Jahlana Dragonstar. She was the elder princess, called Jewel by the Night Elves. Jewel was beautiful like her mother, black-haired with Lonny's blue eyes, and the magic of that ancient race flowed through her as well. She was ambitious and confident from use of her growing magical powers, and perhaps better suited to the role of Chieftain than her brother at times. Arian would inherit the position from his father, but he did not want to; he would rather be free to run wild and have adventures. Jewel dealt well with power and was used to it. Because of this difference in sibling preferences, Jewel always took up the political leadership when her father and mother were absent, while Arian kept to his favored spot in the military.

Arorilaia Dragonstar was the youngest, the one who had agreed to follow the Fellowship until it reached Lemahna-hai. Although Arora had been born in Middle-earth, her brother and sister were at least one thousand years older than she was and had not. Arora was the one child that looked most like the Night Elves themselves. She wasn't as skilled with a sword or as fast with a bow as her brother, and she could not conjure things or make plants grow like her sister, but she was learning. Her specialty was what she called her Shower Bow. She would pull out a handful of arrows, and she would aim them perfectly and slay several enemies at once. Jewel had taken an amused interest in her little sister's desire to be as accomplished at battle or magic as her siblings, and had given Arora magic pouches. When Arora tossed one of these pouches into her quiver of arrows, the arrows inside became enchanted with an elemental power that added strength to her assault.

The Night Elves had chosen to stay in a place that came to be called Lemahna-hai, the Hidden Valley. It was filled with waterfalls and streams and emerald trees, but it was surrounded by and impassable wall of sharp, jagged gray mountains. These mountains were fearsome, and even the bravest of explorers were discouraged by them. If anyone tried to approach by air, all they would see would be a sea of green grass where nothing else lived or grew, thanks to Lonny's bewitchment. The only trail up through the mountains was practically invisible, and twice as hard to actually find.

Some years after the Night Elves had arrived in Middle-earth and Kayin had established his standing as a warrior and a leader, two leaders of other Elven groups came to him. They were Elrond Undomiel, Lord of Rivendell, and Thranduil Greenleaf, King of Mirkwood. They were impressed with Master Kallendros Dragonstar and wished to ally with him. Kayin was deeply grateful and respectful of these two, and he agreed with pleasure. So Kallendros, who reveled in challenge, Thranduil, who reveled in wealth, and Elrond, who reveled in wisdom, together formed what came to be known as the Trinity Alliance. Assistance in war and trade flowed freely among the united Elven tribes.

It was for this reason, combined with Kayin's thirst for tests of his skill, that the Night Elves gave their strength and courage in the Last Alliance of Men and Elves against Mordor. It was well worth the risk, for the Night Elves proved their high standing among the greatest warriors ever. But not even Kayin could defeat Sauron and the power of the One Ring. It was finally Isildur who managed to bring down the Dark Lord, and who snared the One Ring for himself.

Disgusted by this display of weakness, the Night Elves withdrew to Lemahna-hai and rescinded their power from the Last Alliance. From then on, an inherent distrust of all Men grew in the hearts of the Night Elves for generations to come. The Trinity Alliance kept up their dealings, but Kayin firmly explained to his friends that his people simply would not help the race of Men. It was not their fight anymore. Thranduil found that it did not affect him either way, and so he accepted it without question. Elrond, however, knew the potential that Men could have, and continued to try and change Kayin's mind.

Things quieted down in Middle-earth considerably, and Thranduil made more of his connection to the Night Elves than Elrond did or wished to. Every month Thranduil would make it a point to meet with Kayin, either in the Mirkwood palace or that of Lemahna-hai. Sometimes Elrond would join them, but more often Thranduil and Kayin were left to themselves and Thranduil's aspirations of riches for them both.

Kayin's eldest son sometimes sat in on these meetings, in an effort to please his father by delving into Night Elf affairs. Despite the fact that Arian found these meetings extremely dull and Thranduil's temper rather unsettling, he admired his father's unlimited patience and vowed that if Kayin could do it, so could he.

Jewel sometimes joined them as well, since she was the child who found the sort of thing interesting. She would even respond for her father in some cases, and add her own opinions and ideas. She was a born ruler.

Thranduil also had a son at this point, who would inherit the throne in many years to come. This was Khisanth Greenleaf, who had great promise as a swordsman and a strategist, but little as a politician. He was easily bored by such things and, although Thranduil would force him along to a few councils, he would simply ignore the others and possibly sleep through it all. Arian and Khisanth did not like each other from the start, which suggested dark times in the future for the Trinity Alliance if something was not done.

The younger children, of course, did not participate in such adult matters. They did not understand any of it. It was left up to them to entertain themselves. And it was through this fact that Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood and Arorilaia Dragonstar of Lemahna-hai became such great friends.

Legolas was the second-born son to Thranduil and Lauranna. Despite his elder brother's shortcomings, Legolas seemed to be a true leader from the start. While Khisanth had what seemed nothing more than a gang of a few shady Wood Elves, Legolas had friends everywhere and got along spectacularly with his parents' subjects. He was one of the people and an energetic, skilled young archer. He was curious about his father's work, the problems that his brother would take over instead of himself. So one month, when the time came for Thranduil to travel to Lemahna-hai for another council, Legolas excitedly asked if he could go, too.

Khisanth, who was at the time a teenager by Elven standards, had almost thrown a fit. He was the heir to the throne, not his pathetic little brother, so why should Legolas share the same privileges? Legolas had simply stuck out his tongue at his older brother and appealed to his father again. Thranduil was wavering towards Khisanth's opinion, because his eldest was indeed his heir, but Lauranna intervened. She explained that it would do no harm to allow Legolas to accompany them to Lemahna-hai, and that she was certain Master Kallendros would not mind, as he had children of his own. She also pointed out that Khisanth had never shown any interest in his so-called "privilege" before. It was settled, and Legolas happily hopped onto a small horse to follow them, with Khisanth shooting him looks that suggested he'd be perfectly happy if Legolas fell off his horse and died.

When they had arrived at Kayin's simple palace, the young prince stared around in wonder and excitement at all the new things. Kayin said nothing in objection to Legolas's presence, but Khisanth absolutely refused to let Legolas attend the meeting. Legolas did not argue much, since he was aching to go and explore, so Thranduil gave in to Khisanth's wishes and told Legolas to get lost for a few hours, if it was all right with Master Kallendros. Kayin nodded calmly and said it was more than all right. Legolas was thrilled.

Kayin told him to explore anywhere he wanted and stay out of trouble.

Thranduil told him to be polite to the youngest princess if he saw her.

Khisanth told him to drown himself in the lake.

Legolas silently vowed to put some of that giant spider-web stuff in his brother's hair as soon as they got home.

He happily scampered away to leave his family members to their business while he looked around, his mind filled with thoughts of adventure and new things and revenge on his elder brother, never dreaming that he would soon have his first encounter with the youngest Lemahna-hai princess…