Defender of Lorien

The sky seemed to grow more and more violent for a long time, until suddenly it was bright blue sky, as if there had never been any clouds in the skies. Anya stopped for a mere moment in confusion to look behind, and there wasn’t a sign of storm clouds anywhere. Curious, Anya thought to herself. Something strange was going on, but Anya didn’t know what, and at the moment there was nothing she could do, but to journey on to Rivendell. She knew she had to get to Rivendell to discuss the strange weather with Elrond.

For the next five days Anya did nothing but ride, not even stopping for a food breaks. Anya was barely able to keep herself conscious as she drew nearer to her destination. Riding over the river, Anya sensed that something had happened here, but wasn’t sure what. She could see Rivendell now, and that was good news for her, because she was about to pass out and Elyana was tired from all the running and trotting from the past five days. Anya began to sway on Elyana’s back as they rode into Rivendell.

Elves looked at the tired rider and her steed, confused as to how an elf could be tired. As Anya was about to fall off Elyana, a man rode up, and saw the beautiful rider. He jumped off his horse and ran to catch her. The last thing Anya saw before passing out from shear exhaustion was a man with steel gray eye and a kindly expression on his face.

“Are you alright?” he asked then everything went black. The next thing Anya remembered was waking up in a very soft bed with green robes laid out for her to wear. Sitting up in the bed she looked around and recognized the room as the one Elrond had give to her the last time she had journeyed here. She climbed out of the bed and walked over to the balcony overlooking the beautiful city of Rivendell. It was early morning as the sun was just rising in the east.

There was a light knock on her door before Arwin walked in.

“Hello my friend, it is good to see that you are awake,” Arwin said closing the door behind her, then walking up and giving Anya a hug.

“Arwin, it has been too long,” Anya greeted her friend, “how long was I asleep?”

“You arrived here yesterday afternoon when a man from Gondor also arrived,” Arwin said.

“Good, I feared that I overslept,” Anya said relieved.

“You arrived a whole week early, were you already away from home when Lady Galadriel asked you to come?” Arwin asked.

“No, but strange things befell me as I traveled and I grew weary of them,” Anya said, remembering the strange clouds that had appeared and just as quickly disappeared. Concern spread across Arwin’s face at these last words.

“What befell you my friend?” Arwin asked.

“First, a single orc attacked me on the road, and the night was chillier than should have been during the spring,” Anya said sitting back down on the bed while Arwin sat on a chair, “and then, one morning after I stopped for a rest, grey clouds circled the sky, and then as suddenly as they had appeared, they vanished with no trace. I’ve never seen such weather and it worried me, so I rode straight here, not knowing what else to do.” Arwin sat there and listened intently to every detail of Anya's story.

“Maybe you should retell these things to my father, he may know what is going on,” Arwin said.

“No, I shall wait til the meeting to recount these incidents, that all may hear,” Anya said. And she did just that, as the days slowly went by until the day before the meeting. Nothing special happened during this time, besides other arriving from distant lands.

But this night, there was to be a banquet, so Anya, not having any fancy clothes with her, went to Arwin to fix this. Walking into her friends room, Arwin was standing there holding a dark green dress, as if she had known Anya was coming for it.

“What do you think of this,” Arwin said handing Anya the dress. Anya laughed.

“Have you learned to read minds during these past couple years and have not told me of it,” Anya laughed. Slipping the dress over her clothes, the dress fit perfectly, then she slipped it back and was shooed out of the room.

Later, after changing into her new dress from Arwin, Anya went to the banquet table and sat next to Legolas, who had arrived just earlier that morning. The table was full with a range of asorted berries, fruits, and vegtables, which was welcome to Anya. Everyone ate and had a merry time, as they knew the meeting in the morning was of grave importance and would hold no happiness.