Melting a Heart of Ice

Aragorn ran as fast as his legs would carry him through Edoras with Triina’s body in his arms, shouting warnings to anyone he passed to take cover from the mist. Though far too many simply stood and watched him with confused, and worried glances.

He didn’t stop when he passed Aedán, and Legolas, or when they chased him into the Golden Hall with Gimli behind them, shouting pleas to know what happened. Triina’s body continued to grow cold, and her face pale as he nearly collapsed at King Théoden’s feet, gasping and struggling for air, as his lungs felt heavy as if someone had knocked him down and stood on his chest.

“Aragorn, what in the name of all that is good happened to you?” the King demanded, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to look away from Triina’s body, but before he could answer several screams echoed outside the hall as Théoden’s people began to panic. Aedán went to look through a window to feed his curiosity, but was tackled by Legolas as one of Théoden’s men was thrown through the window, nearly hitting the fearful young boy.

The man was dead, but the corpse that nearly hit him wasn’t what had Aedán so frightened as he sat still and staring out of the window, shaking as Legolas held him.

“What is it, Aedán, what did you see?” Legolas pushed, gently shaking him out of his daze.

“The mist, they’re in the mist!”

“What are in the mist?” Théoden demanded.

“Men… d-dead men… I think I saw my father,”

“Shh, Aedán, come away from the window. They are playing tricks on your eyes to deceive you.” Legolas frowned, and lifted him to his feet before leading him far from the windows to stand beside Gimli.

“We will fight these men off as we have every other who has attacked us!” Théoden announced.

“We can’t! Triina tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t run when she ordered me to. Look what I have done to her because I drew my sword when I was told to take cover!” Aragorn snapped.

“My people are dying outside these walls. What would you have me do?”

“Wait, and act when the time is right. Now, we will only sacrifice our lives the moment we step foot outside these walls. Your people will need their king alive to lead them, not a soaked corpse on the steps to his throne.”

“Aragorn,” Gimli called out, nodding to the fragile woman at his feet.

Legolas left Aedán in the dwarf’s care as he rushed to her side, holding her as she began to cough and gasp painfully for air before spitting water.

“What happened, My Love?” he asked softly, brushing her hair away from her eyes as she calmed and relaxed in his arms to catch her breath.

“You are familiar with Ring Wraiths, aren’t you?” she asked anyone who stood in the room, receiving a few nods, “The closest I can describe this is a form of Water Wraith. Ancient creatures neither good nor evil; they just… are.”

“How do you fight them?” Théoden asked.

“You don’t. You can’t! There is no way to fight them, we are not of the same world.”

“What do you mean by that?” Gimli demanded.

“They are like spirits, but attached to nothing known by the Til’Arin. They were never living, but are somehow dead. They come in the mist, as mist, and bring it to be so thick that we drown in the air around us.” She explained.

“The air wasn’t thick with the mist when you collapsed.” Aragorn pointed out.

“But I am Til’Arin. It is different for us; we are connected to the waters. They attack us differently than they do you. By just being near enough to the Til’Arin, they trick our minds into thinking that we are deathly wounded. Our bodies then try to heal themselves, freezing or drowning us in the mist that surrounds us, until we eventually kill ourselves. That is how they kill my kind and why we fear them.”

“And there is no way to defend ourselves.” He muttered, looking out the window as a cloud of mist blocked the world from view.

“All we can do is hide behind closed doors and blocked windows. They have no interest in killing; it is just the nature of their being that kills us. They are curious, envious, and spiteful. Only Til’Arin that are very deeply connected to the magic around us can feel their emotions to know what it is that they truly feel… those old and ancient women and men were arrested, killed, and their practices outlawed when our ‘Time of Peace’ began.”

“It doesn’t sound to me that they are dark beings at all.” Théoden spoke softly, searching the mist outside the window as one of the wraith-like faces peered in at them before darting off. As he made contact with its hollow eyes his own filled with sorrow so strong that Triina pushed herself from the ground to stand at his side and rest a supporting hand on his shoulder.

“No… not dark at all. Those eyes held no vengeance, no malice.” He whispered.

Silence fell over the room until the doors were thrown open and the thick mist rolled into the room, forming a cloud as tall as a man. Fear consumed many of the men, causing them to flee in terror, but the Fellowship stood firm beside King Théoden, who fought to hide his own fright.

As the mist rolled closer Triina felt Legolas take and squeeze her hand before moving to Aedán’s side as he sat battling tears of terror in the corner.

“We mean no harm to you. Whatever it is you seek, perhaps we can help. We only wish for peace for the lands of Middle Earth, our part in this war is not to cause conflict.” Aragorn spoke, feeling the need to say something as the mist came closer, unsure of speaking to the Wraiths would make any difference. Words made no difference to the Wring Wraiths, but these creatures were far from their brethren.

A thick whisper echoed around them, speaking words that they couldn’t understand as they were mixed with the sounds of wind and rain, creating an eerie chill to consume the room.

“What did it say?” Gimli hissed, but no answers could be given to him. Everyone around him was in too deep of shock and fear to speak until Triina took a cautious step forward. One step was all she could manage though, before King Théoden caught her by the hand and restrained her from getting too close.

With a deep breath she closed her eyes, using what little knowledge she had of communicating with the waters to speak. When her eyes opened they were glowing ice blue, and when the words passed her lips they held the same thick whispered and watery quality that the wraiths held.

Only a few words were exchanged before the mist suddenly swarmed her, blocking her from view for no more than a few seconds before receding, and disappearing from Edoras as if it had been sucked away.

“W-what did you say?” Aedán whispered.

“Only what Aragorn told them, that we do not mean harm to them. They now know that Théoden King does not see them as a malevolent force, and that I, as the queen of my people, would not call force against them.” She answered breathlessly, though smiling.

“Why did they attack you?” Aragorn demanded.

“They at first didn’t believe that we would not bear arms against them. It was a test, and we passed. They were sent by a sorcerer deep beneath Til’Arin; he has promised them mortality in exchange for their service.”

“And by being peaceful, we changed their mind on wanting to be mortal?” Gimli questioned skeptically.

“No. By speaking the truth to them, they have seen his lie. These creatures have been feared and fled for thousands of years! They have known only cruelty and hatred since the very first meeting with the very first beings to venture into the frozen northlands, before even Lothlórien was built. Ours is the first true kindness and respect that they have known.” She smiled.

“And it is brought by the new Queen of their lands.” King Théoden smiled, “You will quickly become a legend, Sillis Triina.”

“She is far too modest to believe your words, Théoden King.” Legolas nodded with an amused grin to the blush that crossed Triina’s beautiful face. “You’re right, I do not believe that what I have done will become legendary. Though instead of speaking about it, we should check on the people outside. There may be some who need our care.” She announced and led them out to face what had become of Théoden’s people.

“We tried to fight, but the moment we struck with a sword the metal rusted and the soldier wielding it fell to the ground! They’ve drowned, My Lord!” Èomer announced, jogging up to them with terror in his eyes. “We have nothing more to worry about them. They have left us in peace.” The King answered and looked over the people. Surprisingly, only soldiers were dead. The others were simply coughing from being NEARLY drowned.

“No other dead?” Aragorn questioned. “No, they spared my people… even after my men attempted to kill them, and my people ran in terror, screaming in fear and shouting warnings and cruel words… they spared their lives.” He marveled.

“To the best of their ability, they have. The very young and very old did not survive. We have lost two infants, and an old couple who were not able to seek shelter in time. Èomer explained. “Though the four lives lost is a tragedy, I still feel thankful to them for the ones that survived. We could have been easily wiped out by their magic.” Théoden nodded and left to tend to his fearful people, nodding thanks to Triina who was using her magic to remove water from the lungs of the survivors.