Welcome to Gaia! ::

"That is indeed our next destination," Sir Valdemar agreed, tucking the evil book under his arm and holding it tightly. "Come, let us hope we can make the return trip a bit faster than it took us to get down here. I do hate it down here, almost as much as I hate the materials that I must keep hidden here."

He frowned and took the torch from its bracket once more, then ushered Lin towards the door.

Lin didn't need to be told twice, she would rather not be in that book's company more than needed to be, and she couldn't blame Sir Valdemar not wanting to be in here. She hurried along back out the way they came in.

She couldn't help wonder though how much time had passed.

By the time Sir Valdemar and Lin made it down to the queen's study once more (a long way, even if most of it was heading down instead of up), the ancient historian's arms were beginning to ache. Not from the weight of the book, though it was indeed quite heavy, but simply because of the evil it embodied, and the emotional baggage it carried along with it.

Atalya and Reave were talking together in quiet tones when the two arrived, and when they stepped into the room both of them rose from their seats to greet them.

"Sir Valdemar," Atalya said, startled, "you're so pale ..."

Sir Valdemar bowed his head respectfully. "Forgive me, my Queen," he murmured, "but it will pass." He lifted his head once more. "Lin has brought me ... bad tidings," he continued reluctantly, his brow furrowed anxiously. "The return of Altak-Bet Ainúl ... it was ... it has ..."

He swallowed.

"It was not the only thing from the past to have returned."

"That is impossible," Atalya replied without hesitation, though a flicker of fear passed over her face. "They assured us that none save Achaar and their father returned, and both are now dead ..."

"They were mistaken," Sir Valdemar interrupted firmly. "The Morgawr has returned ... Elros, one of the Noldor, sent Lin to tell me. He resides at Haven, with your cousins, as one of the guardians of the ranch. He has been here a few times returning children who had been taken by slave traders ... he was there, my Queen, when the Morgawr first roamed ... and he of all people would know one when he saw it."

Atalya looked sharply at Lin, her eyes narrow as if she couldn't quite believe her.

"And when was this?" she asked curtly. "There is always a long period of time between your visits, if the danger were so great we would have heard something long before this."

"Atalya," Reave said softly, reaching out and putting one hand on her shoulder to calm her.

Almost immediately the queen's eyes softened. "I am sorry," she murmured to Lin. "But I cannot ... I cannot believe that they are back ... it hardly seems possible ..."

"Your Majesty," Sir Valdemar spoke up once again, his eyes hesitant, "there is ... one ... who may be able to destroy the creature ..."

He looked at Lin, eyes filled with anguish. "But it would require that I break a promise," he murmured softly to her. "Lin ... do you believe my Lord would forgive me ... for making his presence known?"

Atalya's eyes narrowed slightly, suspiciously. What was he talking about? Or, more specifically, who?

"He does after all have the knowledge of the Valar," Sir Valdemar murmured. He closed his eyes and shuddered slightly. "Forgive me ..."

He turned back to the queen. "My Queen," he began softly, "also living at the ranch is a man ... and elf of the Firstborn, the Eldar, like myself ... but where my strength lies in knowledge, his is in knowledge, power, and magic combined. He is not just a Firstborn, he is the First Born ... and he has the power of the Valar at his command. He alone, if anyone, would have the power to abolish this creature, to save the entire Four Lands from suffering the same fate as the land during the time of Altak-Bet Ainúl."

"And who is he, that there is so much secrecy surrounding his presence?" the queen demanded. "Why may only our family know?"