60 Years (7)

[Optional, Insert Music: Jeremy Soule - From Past to Present ]

Many years passed ...

Within a great forest, filled with many kinds of trees, their roots deep in the ground, and their branches intertwined with each other as they grew towards the azure sky, their yellow and green leaves rustling and shimmering magically in the light of the sun, the trunks thick and dark brown, two men on horses rode. The road they slowly rode on was between the trees and the ethereal rays of sunlight that penetrated the branches lit it up. It looked beautiful.

One wore Elven armor, his horse was white as was his long hair. He had a youthful face that was very attractive and welcoming, his bearings heroic and majestic. The contradiction between his hair and face made him appear unique and added to his charm. The other was an old man in grey robes with a pointy hat on his head. He appeared quite energetic despite seeming so old.

The only sound in the air was of their horses slowly moving in the forest as birds chirped in the distance and occasionally wind created a unique and calming sound as it traveled between the branches in the forest.

A while passed as they gradually reached a small town. The Town was engulfed in a hazy mist, the light of the sun that was reflected in the mist made it appear slightly gold-colored. The scent of burning wood combined with flowers and the scent of the forest was in the air. Men and women could be seen in the mist going about their lives. Their clothes were unusually clean and they appeared to be very comfortable. No worries were visible on their faces. Since the two rode quite fast, people didn't get to take a good look at them.

As the two passed the Town, The one with white hair looked at the old one and smirked. The old one ignored him with a snort and moved ahead. They continued silently...

They Left the Town and slowly made their way on a stone road. A few minutes passed and a giant gate slowly became visible in front of them. The sides had two white spires, above them, elven archers stood guard. The gate itself was fully open. They passed the entrance and on the other side stood a majestic statue 60 feet tall. It was of a young man in armor with an evil looking sword on his back facing the sky, his face similar to the one riding the white horse. They stopped to look at it.

The old one saw the statue and snorted. "Old friend, You quite like to praise yourself these days... building statues all over the land..." The white-haired man smiled teasingly, "At least, I didn't get drunk in Gold shire... I still wonder how you ended up sleeping with pigs in a barn nearly a mile away in Elwyn's shire. It must have been a legendary tale!".

The old man frowned disapprovingly, "Is that the way to treat an elder? Besides, its the fault of the wine! It was too delicious!". The one with armor laughed and ignored him. He rode ahead. "Arthas, wait, 'sigh' you were so much more likable during those days..."

The road was split with the statue in the middle of it. They rode around it and another big gate became visible in front of them. Two guards in armor stood in front of the gate, the moment they saw the two of them, they bowed and moved away, clearing the path. Arthas and the old man headed inside.

They entered the city. The ground was covered in smooth stone and many buildings and houses were visible on the sides. The streets were wide and spacious, men, elves, dwarfs, and even hobbits could be seen on the streets going about their lives. Many stalls and such were open and people were doing business and trading.

The sound of blacksmiths striking hot iron in their smithies and their forges, people chatting and doing business, horses and guards moving in the streets, and footsteps of people walking about reached their ears. Arthas took out a cloak and wore it to conceal his face. Gandalf chuckled, "Are you afraid of attention now?! You shouldn't have built the statues if so.".

Arthas became annoyed, "Gandalf, I am a king for god's sake... Show a little respect at least?! besides, I had to make those to make sure people don't think I am a myth... You know that! Do you want me to announce my presence? You have to deal with the stampede!". Gandalf coughed shamelessly and ignored him. 'He hasn't changed much, that's good.' Thought Gandalf.

The rode in the streets and eventually, after passing several districts of the massive city, reached another gate! This one was smaller but inside a white palace could be seen. Surrounding the main building was a big and beautiful garden filled with flowers and exotic plants. Their pleasant and refreshing scent brought a smile to Gandalf's face.

The main building was snow white and reflected the light of the sun as if it was shining. Several Silvery spires were on top of it. It appeared almost like a castle. The tallest spire was hundreds of feet tall and the other shorter ones were around it in a symmetrical formation. They dismounted their horses and entered the palace.

The guards bowed and made way for them, seemingly having recognized them. Inside the palace was spacious and decorated luxuriously. The Walls and the ground were made of marble and the roof had carvings of men, elves, dwarfs, and even dragons that held various stories. Serpentine Dragon-like statues on the upper walls and roof, that were seamlessly intertwined with the main body of the palace, held shiny orbs in their jaws that lit up the interior. The orbs shone with a white and golden color that added a unique splendor to everything. It was magnificent.

Strangely, no guards were inside. The palace was nearly empty except for a few maids that took care of cleaning and maintaining it. Gandalf observed it with a raised eyebrow. Arthas ignored him and approached a young human maid. The maid had blonde hair in a ponytail, her features fair and delicate. She smiled and calmly bowed. "How can I serve you, your majesty?"

Arthas nodded and gestured towards Gandalf, "Mila, We have an important guest today, bring wine and food to the main hall. Also, prepare a room for him.". He looked at Gandalf, "You must be tired, go rest. We will meet in a few hours in the main hall.".

He then departed leaving Gandalf whose lips were twitching due to annoyance.

The Maid named Mila approached Gandalf and respectfully bowed. "Lord Gandalf, It's an honor to meet you again. I believe it has been 9 years."

Gandalf smiled at her and nodded. "Indeed, you have grown prettier and maturer. You were barely 18 back then. Look at you now, the head maid of the palace."

Mila smiled and gestured towards the hallway, "You are far too kind. Follow me.". She began leading him to his room. Gandalf squinted his eyes, "So, what has the king been up to lately?".

Mila sighed with exasperation, "Honestly, Lord Gandalf, 'sigh' The king has become extremely lazy. He rarely even shows up to the council meetings. If it wasn't for Lord Eiliandir, Many problems would have risen to plague the kingdom.".

Gandalf frowned, "Can you elaborate?". Mila nodded as she led him to another hallway, "The King led the kingdom with all his energy until he met Lady Areth again... The Lady distracts the king far too much. This time when Lady Areth left, the king remained lazy. It seems as if he is tired of ruling...".

Gandalf coughed, "Are you sure this has nothing to do with you maids taking so much of his time and energy during the night?". Mila's face turned slightly red, "We are merely doing our duty to fulfill the needs of the King. Unlike Lady Areth there is no love involved. So I don't think so.".

"I see, Why do you think Eiliandir summoned me? The King even personally came to welcome me!"

Mila's face became focused, "I had overheard that many Orc had been spotted to the south. Scouts say there is an Army being built in Mordor far stronger than the one 60 years ago. I believe Lord Eiliandir thinks a new war is coming. As for the king, well, when he heard of your arrival, he decided to personally come and escort you...". Gandalf's face turned slightly grave, "Darkness is brewing in the south...".

They remained silent and eventually reached the guest room. Gandalf gratefully thanked Mila, she left soon after. Gandalf decided to rest for a few hours...

On the highest level of the biggest Spire laid the greatest room in the palace. It was the room where the King(Arthas) usually rested. He was gazing at Stormwind, the capital and heart of his kingdom, from the window that he used to stargaze most nights wondering if he was looking at the earth when he looked at the stars. Was someone looking back perhaps?

Arthas looked at the districts of Stormwinds and when his eyes fell on the Elven district he sighed. "Magic of this world can never help me make portals... I need to find a scientific way..." He murmured. He had spent many years discussing magical topics with elves, he even invited Galadriel many times over. He had researched all the languages and mysteries of Quenya and magic. In the end, he had come to the realization that magic was not what he had initially thought it to be. In this world, magic was at most manipulating nature itself. He couldn't manipulate the nature of one world to open a gateway to another. He had to manipulate the great void/nothingness in between, To manipulate the wall between worlds or realities or universes... So, all the research ended up being useless to him but useful to the kingdom.

He had managed to make various artifacts such as magical orbs that functioned as lamps in the night. Magic was enchantment in its most useful form to Arthas and his kingdom so the lamps where mass made using that kind of magic performed by elves who enchanted the orbs as they enchanted swords and armor only with a creative use... The orbs would absorb sunlight during the day and reflect it during the night, on cloudy days the shone dimmer.

And, since he couldn't use magic like the elves(His paladin magic/Light magic was unique to him.) it was essentially useless to him, so he gave up on the research. It lost its priority in his eyes thus the speed of research had slowed down to a crawl.

He began reminiscing about the past years. After he had turned an undead legion and gave Smaug's soul a body to possess, he had made them act as an evil army with Smaug as the master. Smaug's soul was different because it was a dragon, it had its mind, it was still under his control but consciously and sapiently. Smaug had accepted his new role as Kel'Thuzad and led his Legion of the Damned to help build the cities and fight them.

After the horrifying truth of the undead was confirmed in Erebor and Woodland realm. both kings had sent an army to aid him. Even Lorien had sent an Army. He led them and his paladins with the help of Gandalf to defeat the undead and in the end kill the Evil lich Kel'Thuzad also known as The Damned Necromancer. It was all a show, of course, he merely absorbed back the souls.

He used that excuse to 'Discover' The two cities of Asgard and Olympus built by his undead and had some people of his kingdom populate them in order to get influence in the north.

He returned to his kingdom and years passed as he ruled fairly and advanced his kingdom mostly to research magic which had turned out not what he had expected.

As the years passed, His hair grew white gradually but his face remained young. He realized that he could potentially live forever. Frostmourn granted him the power to remain youthful and in his prime forever because his soul wouldn't leave his body and his life force was drawn from souls in Frostmourn which granted him limitless lifeforce. (Not limitless in output! Limitless in amount and very limited in output, just enough to keep him young.)

Eventually, The number of souls in Frostmourn increased to incredible levels as he killed more and more in the years, His mind began getting corrupted day by day so he sent several paladins to search for Celebrimbor who he knew was a wraith at the time.

The paladins named, Valentin, Atanas, Dimitar, and Zoran the four greatest human paladins of his kingdom excluding Bard, Returned with Celebrimbor's Soul who had wished to go to Valinor and Talion. Arthas had convinced Celebrimbor to make him a ring in order to resist the corruption of Frostmourn. Celebrimbor agreed to help him if he lent him a hand in destroying Sauron. Arthas promised to lend Talion and Celebrimbor his power. Celebrimbor studied Frostmourn and became astonished in its evil, he helped Arthas because he realized that Frostmourn was a far worse calamity than Sauron if unleashed.

Arthas came into possession of a Ring of power, the 21st one, meant to keep the wearer calm and pure of mind. Protected against magics that targeted the mind. It was strong enough to stop Frostmourn's corrupting influence thus freeing Arthas of its effect. It also functioned as a powerful defense against anything that targetted the wearer's mind.

He granted Talion paladin powers to repay them. The Two left to achieve their aim's in Mordor. Unfortunately, their fates remained the same with the only difference being that Talion didn't turn into a Nazgul. He died a human and remained dead due to his paladin power inherited from Arthas.

The population of his kingdom had increased exponentially due to him encouraging his people to reproduce which meant that eventually, he would have more manpower and military might. He made a Faith and created laws and expanded his kingdom. He even used cultures and ideas from earth to shape the culture and create all sorts of schools for thought. He created schools and created an education system, one that didn't have the mistakes of the one on Earth. And many many other things...

The years past and Arthas eventually grew tired of the ruling. In the beginning, it was fun like playing a game but over the years it just became responsibility. And the idea of everlasting responsibility made him become a bit afraid, so he became hedonistic and decided to enjoy life. More of a guardian than a ruler until the War of the ring. He had a plan for Sauron and he knew that the possibility of world travel existed if he succeeded. His blue eyes sparkled with desire.

The knock on the door broke Arthas out of his thoughts, he turned to see Mila standing there. He tilted his head to the side as a sign of questioning. Mila respectfully said, "Your majesty, Lord Eiliandir, and Lord Gandalf are awaiting you in the main Hall.".

Arthas stood up, "Let's not keep them waiting, shall we?". He went to meet them, He knew that the war for the Ring of power was close. The events of the Lord of the rings was going to begin soon.