Interlude (2)

Ysildea sat on her throne and calmly observed the respected lords of Silvermoon and Ironforge argue over supplies and war. She sighed internally as she turned to look at the empty Throne that the King was supposed to sit on with a hint of a smile in her eyes.

She became distracted in her own thoughts as she reminisced of the past.

When she first opened her eyes, she saw a light so blinding that it mesmerized her. Her skin felt the wind and water and she smelled the scent of life, the sound of rushing water reached her ears. She saw a tree and a lake within which she had awakened besides.

After she admired the land and the sky, she felt lost and confused for she did not know her place therein. She saw the sky and the name 'Menel' Came to her; She saw the land and the name 'Mā' came to her. She looked around her surroundings and memorized the names that came to her thus she learned a language.

She moved and observer and learned the way of nature until she came upon another like her, one who seemed to have been just born. She decided to help her kin and thus she thought him the language and her understanding of the world.

She thus found a companion and the two set to explore the land, they came upon another and another and their kin increased until one day, they were dozens like her; Her kin and family.

No more did the land give birth to her kind, so she decided to explore further. She left the great tree that was her home and traversed the mystical land filled with myriad creatures until she came upon a great being.

He walked on the winds, his magnificent blue robes trailing long behind him. His eyes sparkling blue with dazzling brilliance. His visage was majestic yet kind. He wielded a scepter of Saphire in his hand.

He descended upon her and smiled kindly and spoke the primitive language, "Young one, where are you heading?".

Ysildea rejoiced for she had found one who could answer her doubts, "I search for those like me, those who are my kin and need my help. I ask you to help me to find them.".

The being laughed in good nature, "I see, newborn of Arda, I am Manwe and I shall help you.". He led her and the two of them searched the lands but found none like her.

Seeing no kin of hers existed beyond the mystical land, she decided to return and invited Manwe to thank him. The two reached the great tree and her kin welcomed here and Manwe. Manwe named their tribe the Drasil and gave her the name Ysildea.

Manwe stayed with them for a while before he spoke to her on his last day with them, "Ysildea, you and your kin are the gifts of Eru to Arda. This land is a land changed due to a pure light with origins unknown, your birth caused by the light. I shall traverse middle-earth once more to find this light and return with it to Valinor. Sail the great sea to Valinor in your darkest day. Farewell..." and thus he left.

She lived a peaceful life until a Dwarf from the north discovered their land. They treated the Dwarf as an honored guest in their houses built on the great tree. The Dwarf left and returned with an army from Erebor.

She and her kin were frightened but another army intercepted them before the Dwarf army could reach them, an Army of men and elves who looked like them. Ysildea saw as the Dwarf army retreated in fear when they saw the man leading the Army of men and elves; She felt gratitude.

The Leader of the said army entered their land alone with no guards, all the while looking amazed by her and her kin. He was the king of Lordaeron named Arthas. He could speak their language unlike the Dwarf who couldn't understand them, they had to communicate with signs and such with that Dwarf.

He gave her a special feeling as if looking at one's father. She felt like she could trust him and she did. He taught them the common language and the elves taught them Sindarin. They helped her and her kin to build a respectable home and taught them agriculture and the customs of the world.

They learned of the vaster world out there and their place in it. She saw that her kin needed a leader and accepted the role and became the lord of Yggdrasil, the name of their land. she learned that her land was part of a kingdom ruled by that king so she decided to explore it after leaving behind instructions for her kin.

She traveled the land and visited many places; She took an interest in magic and the various languages of the world so she spent most of her time on that topic. After years of traveling and learning, she visited the king to ask him a question.

She found herself before the king and asked, "I have researched and thus have learned that I was born due to Nature dealing with a foreign form of light energy, I ask you this, where did that energy come from and why do I feel like I can trust you?".

The king smiled and answered, "Back in the days, I spent a portion of my time experimenting with my power in that land; When my energy and the energy of nature collided, many mutations occurred from which I don't understand most. All I know is my energy that used to remain in that land is gone, It is completely absorbed by nature and I think you were born due to that.".

She learned how her kin came to be and found herself curious about nature. She wanted to find out why and how all these matters worked so she began researching and learning. The king offered her a place by his side and resources to research magic with her. She joined him and many years passed.

She learned that wizards and those who practiced magic in the world be it elves or the Ainur all used spiritual force of the mind and soul to perform great feats and manipulate the world to their will be it for good or evil; The king, however, was different; His spiritual force merged with his physical energies and created a unique type of power that manifested as light.

She learned that the world responded to the ancient language of the elves in a unique way and researched it. She realized that the world as per the descriptions of her King was born from the thoughts of an omnipotent entity known as Eru, she herself could be considered a child of Eru since the world gave birth to her using her King's energy. These led to her discovery that since thought and language governed the mind; A language had to exist that could govern the world birthed from the mind.

After years, she discovered the language and managed to find certain ways of inscription that triggered different responses from the world. She named them runes.

She saw how the ring was made for her king thus she used the same method to inscribe runes on her eyes. She gave herself the eyes of truth and no illusion could fool and no truth could be hidden from. She did this to help her king to find his desire, traveling between worlds and to do that she needed to see the truth of the world.

Since none could lie or hide secrets in her presence many grew to be afraid of her, she gained a fearsome reputation but that didn't deter her in the least; She felt indebted to her king that could be counted as her parent in a certain sense since she was born of his energy. She was fiercely loyal to him.

Years passed and after much research into runes, she discovered world travel to be impossible. No rune could manipulate the great void between worlds, only nature and forces of the world itself could be manipulated for they were governed by a certain rhythm and language.

This news caused the king to lose interest in magic for he could not use it at all. His spiritual force couldn't be separated from his unique energy.

With her king losing interest, she too stopped researching and returned to Yggdrasil and became a proper ruler for her kin and taught them magic and fighting until the king summoned her recently. She returned her gaze towards the still arguing duo and sighed while shaking her head. Ruling a kingdom was very difficult, she wondered how her king did it so easily...

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, why had Manwe not found the king?

--------------------------------------------------------

Within the magnificent halls of Valinor above the great snow, on a great balcony decorated with beautiful flowers of all kinds. A woman too enchanting to be described by words, her face filled with the light of Eru and her beauty too great for any mortal to fathom, looked at the dusking sun. Her mantle filled with stars and her presence filled with the light of the starry night.

She was Varda of the Valar, Queen of Arda, Queen of the Stars, Queen of the Valar. She looked at the great snow and the magnificent halls, she looked at the lands of Valinor and the skies above, and yet she found no joy as she used to, and she knew the reason why... She remembered...

On that fateful day, she had sensed the walls of the great void beyond the stars that held the universe together tremble. None of the Valar beside her sensed it because she was the one who ruled the stars.

On that day, she left Valinor and searched for the cause of the disturbance and that search led her to a place where a bunch of Hobbits lived. She observed from the spiritual world and found her target, A young man wielding a strange sword. She could instantly tell that the sword carried great evil but she couldn't pry into it. Her curiosity kept her observing...

She saw the young man take a journey and how he learned to use his unique power which interested her for she had not seen anything like it. She observed his feats in battle and saw his determination. She grew more curious about the nature of his power and the mystery sword she couldn't pry in even with her great power.

So, she secretly communicated with Thranduil, the king of the Woodland Realm, and ordered him to request an arranged marriage with the young man. She wanted to observe him closely and unravel the mystery she had found, she would then leave and another elf would marry the king. Despite the many hesitations, Thranduil had accepted her order out of respect.

She took the form of an elf girl and adopted a personality that suited one and decided to stick with it until her business was done. She took the name Areth.

She spent some time with the young man and to her embarrassment which she did not feel as intense in spiritual form, she failed in her first meeting...

After a while, she decided to try again and every time something embarrassing happened. She grew more and more curious regarding him since she couldn't his mysteries out after all that time so she decided to remain with him for a while.

Years passed as she lived in the newly made palace of Stormwind and she grew attached to it. It was not as beautiful as Valinor nor was it as grand but it was filled with life and energy. She quite enjoyed her time.

The Ainur did not feel emotion like Mortals especially emotions like attachment and love. The only Ainur to feel emotions as intense as Mortals do would perhaps be Melkor who grew Dark and evil. Varda was the same, she didn't feel emotions much and her relationship with Manwe was like that of a close friend and companion. The Mortals deemed them a couple but it was not as such truly.

Varda discovered that the reason behind that was the body, A mortal body would intensify the emotions whether good or bad and since Valar didn't usually appear in mortal bodies, they wouldn't experience such things as spirits. She realized this was why dead spirits longed to live again; And, why her Maia Ororin(Gandalf) grew to resemble Mortals and live exactly like one...

Since she lived in a body for a few years she began feeling such foreign emotions and she gradually formed a strong bond and attachment to the King. She realized it was a form of love and on a fateful day, she did what mortal lovers do with her mortal body and the king.

She experienced something incredible, the feeling of being one with another spiritually and physically, the feeling of trust and adoration, the pleasure of the flesh from which she never had experienced ever. She grew slightly addicted and continued such activities... She liked feeling Emotions as intense as such. She, however, never told Arthas of her true identity.

As she slowly came to realize that she desired to live such a life forever, she sensed Manwe's presence near Stormwind; She met him before he entered the city and inquired his reason for being in middle-earth.

Manwe told her of the happens with Yggdrasil and the mysterious appearance of this kingdom and his desire to find the reason. She knew that nothing good would come of Manwe examining Arthas closely since he would feel the Darkness in the sword and unlike her, would destroy it and Arthas with it. So she said it was all her who created a new race of beings like Aule had done with the dwarfs and created a kingdom to pass time and influence, Arda, in a positive way.

Manwe accepted it and they returned to Valinor together; She wanted to remain but she knew that by remaining near Arthas, he would be in danger. She realized her feelings were influencing her decision but she simply didn't care. Mortal love had a major influence on her. Initially, she wanted to destroy Arthas and his sword due to its threat after revealing the mystery but she simply couldn't bear thinking of such things after she had been with him so long. Not only didn't she manage to reveal the mystery, but she herself also fell in love...

How far she, the great Varda has fallen due to mortal feelings...

She laughed at herself as she looked at the stars, she who is the noblest and one of the mightiest Valar could feel mortal emotions and love for another mortal; She didn't know what to do and felt slightly lost... She thought that perhaps she should seek Eru for help for she did not like the feeling of loneliness and being apart, however, she knew that Eru already knew everything for he was Omnipotent so there was no point.

Even though she was one of the greatest in the universe, she felt vulnerable for the 1st time, she didn't know what to do but wait for a miracle, even with all her power she felt helpless and stuck.

----------------------------------

The clueless Arthas, who didn't know he had dodged a lethal bullet a few years back and had a smirk on his face, sat on a carriage with Gandalf, who looked like he was on a field trip with an idiot, saw the final hill before reaching Hobbiton.