A Light From the Shadows Shall Spring

I walked through the trees and skirted around bushes until the dense forrest broke and I found a stone pathway that lead to a stone staircase. It lead down to a small courtyard and in the middle sat what looked to be a very large birdbath. I carefully descended into the courtyard, and looked around for an explanation as to why I had been drawn here. I walked up to the large birdbath and examined it. Upon closer inspection, I decided it most likely wasn't a birdbath. A voice came from behind me and I turned around with lightning speed, my heart in my throat, pounding away.

"Hello, Cecilia." she said. It was the she-elf from before, who's name I still didn't know. I didn't respond and she continued, "I am Galadriel, and I know you have many questions. I am here to show you the answers, should you wish to see them." Her name sparked something in my memory, and I recognized her as the one who Lord Elrond had mentioned. This recollection made me somewhat more inclined to trust her than I had been originally.

"You can answer all my questions?" I asked. She smiled slightly and began walking gently towards me, though it looked like she was gliding rather than walking. "I have the answers for what you need to know." I took that to mean there were still some things she couldn't- or wouldn't- tell me. Debating on exactly what this would entail, I decided I may not have another chance to have my questions answered so I replied carefully, "Alright. What can you tell me?"

She chuckled slightly, and instead of answering, she produced a large, silver water pitcher and began to pour it into the basin in the middle of the courtyard. After she poured the entire pitcher in, she looked to me and asked, "Will you look into the mirror?" I looked from the basin and then to her. "That will show me what I need to know?" I asked. She replied, "The mirror shows many things. Things you have known but have forgotten, things you do know but do not see, and some things… that you do not yet know, but must."

I turned my gaze away from her and looked at the basin. Stepping up to it, I looked back to her with uncertainty. She was watching me, and I hesitated saying, "I… I don't know if I want to know." She stayed silent for a moment, her eyes intently studying me. Finally, she replied, "The choice of knowledge is for you to decide. But you must decide quickly, for you haven't much time. Soon you will find yourself at a fork in the road, and you will have to choose your path. Should you choose incorrectly, you risk the ruin of many."

With that, I decided I had to know, even if I wasn't ready to know yet. This was going to make everything seem even more real, but I had to do it. A lot of people were counting on me, and I felt like I at least owed it to Gandalf to find out what he had meant for me to know.

I looked down into the basin, and instead of seeing water, I saw a very clear reflection of myself, and I understood why Galadriel had called it a mirror. I leaned over the surface and looked into it. Suddenly, my reflection began to stir, and I felt as if I was being pulled forward, though my feet stayed firmly where they were.

Soon, everything outside the mirror, all my peripheral vision, began to fade away, and all I could see were images the mirror was projecting in my brain.

I found myself standing in the middle of a glorious city, everything here was white, and although I had no clue as to how I acquired the knowledge, I knew this was what Gondor had looked like before the war. I stood in a courtyard I recognized, and to my left I saw the white tree. I recognized it instantly as the same tree I had seen walking by the ravine before I was mercilessly dropped into this world.

Before I could see anything else, my vision blurred and I tried to blink it away. When my vision cleared I saw Gondor as it was now, without its rightful King at the throne. All at once, a rushing sensation flooded my mind and I could feel the thoughts of everyone in the city. They felt hope was lost, they were worried for what would become of their city. Many pleaded with a higher power for the rightful King to be returned to the city.

Again, my vision blurred, and when it cleared, I was taken back in time, to when I was a little girl, and my father still had a realm to rule- a city nestled up against the mountain. I suddenly remembered all the dreams I'd had up until this point, and I knew they were glimpses of my past. I instantly recognized the little girl who ran into the courtyard where she wasn't supposed to be. But she had run there because someone was chasing her. And then, I was the little girl.

I recognized Isildur instantly, and I thought back to the dream I'd had when he came up the steps with his men in tow. My dreams matched the situation playing out before me. As I knew he would, Isildur yelled for a woman to cast me out. He was angry with my father, and he wanted him to suffer by losing me. The woman wouldn't do it- she said I was too young to be cast out of a realm like that.

Isildur grabbed the woman harshly by the shoulder and forced her to tell him the spell that would do what he wanted. As she was whispering to him, I heard a "Pst." come from the trees behind me. Turning cautiously to look, I recognized the friendly face of one of Father's friends. Lord Elrond. He motioned for me to come toward him slowly. I began walking backwards cautiously, never taking my eyes off Isildur. I felt the back of my legs hit a stone wall and I stopped walking. Lord Elrond appeared behind me and said, "Aegliriell, this man means you harm. I can bring you to safety, but you must do as I say. Can you do that?"

I nodded quickly. I didn't like Isildur, he was an evil man. He had threatened to burn our city to the ground. Lord Elrond disappeared back into the trees, but I still heard him when he said, "When I tell you to jump over the wall, you must do it. But do not fear, Arwen will catch you, little one." I nodded again to show that I understood.

Isildur had turned his attention back to me and was striding towards me angrily, a dark look in his eyes. He was muttering to himself and he was only steps away from me when an arrow soared past his head, causing his hair to ripple in the wind. He stopped and looked around. He looked back to his men and I suddenly realized they were all laying on the ground and the woman was no where to be seen. He called out to them and behind me I heard Lord Elrond say, "Jump now, Aegliriell!"

I did as I was told. I climbed up on the wall and wasted no time in jumping. This courtyard was very high up, and my heart pounded furiously in my chest as I traveled downwards faster and approached the ground, the wind whipping past my body. I was just about to scream out when I felt as if I'd been plucked out of the air by a cloud and I looked to see a she-elf with long, dark brown hair, and a friendly smile holding me, and she began quickly climbing down from the tree we were in. "Hello, Aegliriell," she said, her voice low and silky smooth.

I said hello and we were soon on the ground. A white horse was waiting there and Arwen swiftly picked me up and placed me in the saddle before mounting the horse swiftly herself. She spoke to the horse in a language I recognized but couldn't understand, and the horse took off, carrying us through the forrest and finally out onto an open plain.

My hair got in my eyes and my vision got blurry. I felt my body stop moving and I removed my hair out of my eyes and I watched as the girl I knew to be me sat in the very room I had stayed in when I traveled to Rivendell with Aragorn and the Hobbits. I watched as Lord Elrond walked through the door and knelt down to the young version of myself, who was sitting on the bed. He looked at me gently and said, "Aegliriell, I'm afraid I must tell you something that you may not like." He paused, clearly debating whether or not to tell me the news he had. Finally, he continued, "Isildur has burned your city, and driven your Father out of the lands, along with his men. I'm afraid no one knows what has become of them. You must live here now, Aegliriell. It's not safe for you anywhere else."

My vision changed again and I saw a glimpse of my younger self playing in a courtyard with the boy from my dreams. I remembered his name was Estel. I then remembered Aragorn had told me that was his childhood name.

I blinked and the scenery changed. I was outside, sanding on a shore, and I watched as Arwen stepped onto a beautiful, large boat. I knew she was sailing west, but I was confused. She and Aragorn were in love! Why was she leaving?

Yet again, my vision changed, but I knew I was no longer in the realm of Middle Earth. I was in my own world, and for a moment, I wondered if I had been sent back. I panicked- I hadn't helped the people I needed to help yet! I couldn't be sent back!

However, as I looked around, I noticed the scenery and time period were different from what I remembered. I was standing outside of an old farm house in what seemed to be the middle of the desert. I looked down to see myself wearing a handmade dress that was thin, a stained apron tied around my waist. I could feel that my hair was tied up into a bun, but wisps escaped and fluttered in front of my face due to the harsh wind. Looking around once more, I noticed everything was covered in a red dust. Everything looked barren. And suddenly, I knew where I was. I was in the middle of the Dust Bowl era.

The sun was setting rapidly behind the mountains in the west, and I could feel the wind start to pick up. The red dust that hung thickly in the air helped shield the sun and before I could figure out what to do, everything was pitch black.

Out of nowhere, my hair stopped blowing in the wind and a bright flash of white light blinded me, causing me to quickly bring my hand in front of my eyes. When I removed my hand, I realized I was back in Middle Earth, but I was still not in the present time. I noticed I was back in Gondor, and I saw a large gathering of people in a courtyard. I made my way over and gasped at what I saw.

Standing at the head of the crowd, with an elegantly adorned crown on his head was Aragorn. My heart started pounding furiously and I felt shocked. He was the King.

FLASH. White light blinded me again, and this time, I was in a room I did not recognize, and I watched the present-day version of myself get helped into a white dress by women I didn't know, and for some reason, I had no knowledge of what this vision was, only that it was of myself.

I felt myself being pulled backwards, and a strange rushing sensation enveloped me. When I opened my eyes this time, I was back in present-day Middle Earth, Galadriel standing behind me with her hand on my shoulder. My head was absolutely reeling from all the information I had just seen, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I looked to her and said, "I don't understand... I thought... I thought that I would remember everything about Middle Earth. About my life here. I saw some of it, but that's not enough. I still don't understand."

Galadriel looked at me with a sweet smile on her face and touched my face and she said, "In time, Cecilia. For those memories are not mine to give. You have them, and you will find them, when the time comes."

Without saying another word, she wandered away from me, and before I had time to fully register what I had just seen, she was gone. Out of all the new information I had just received, one thing stuck out in my mind: Aragorn was the King of Gondor.

It was true that I didn't have very extensive knowledge of this place, but what I did know was that Isildur had also once been the King of Gondor. If what I had seen was indeed true, then that would mean the only explanation was that Aragorn was a descendent of Isildur. And Isildur had hated my Father and wanted me to suffer. I pushed aside the fact that I still had no knowledge of my Father, because that was not the most important thing now.

I walked out of the courtyard and back up the stone steps, following the path that I knew would lead back to where everyone was asleep. I was stunned. This must have been what Gandalf didn't want me to know, and what Aragorn didn't want to tell me. I suddenly felt a huge pang of fear strike me right in my gut. What if I was only here so Aragorn could finish what Isildur could not? Could anyone in the Fellowship be trusted?