Calidis nodded, glancing at Xanderian, who was watching the scholar Selunae with a mix of horror and wonder. 'And who is this mistress of The Masked? Does she have no name? Are there any among those who reside here who could do such a thing? Or has she come from outside of this Valley?'
'She is the one who chose...she has come backwards and has found a way to choose both options at once...' Selunae stared at Calidis. “Is it not clear to you, Daughter of Eregion?
Calidis shook her head slowly as Selunae stepped back to see the full company at once.
Selunae looked at Xanderian, her eyes seeking some awareness…finally whispering. “The Mistress of the Masked....is Xanderian yet to be.”
---
Selunae’s stunning pronouncement, that the Mistress of the Masked, the source of this movement to defy the call west and remain in Middle Earth as it’s rulers, was actually some twisted version of Xanderian herself raised many questions but only one answer…that this had to be dealt with sooner rather than later. After hurried discussions, and consolations with the wise Lady Arahen, Scion of the House of Orodreth, it was decided that despite the horrible visions they had encountered there before, that a return to Imlad Gelair was required. If indeed this Mistress wished a confrontation with Xanderian, then it was decided that the group could not shy away from it.
Calidis spent a few hectic hours at her workbench, preparing a pendant that she felt, or hoped, would offer the group some protection from the strange visions they had encountered before. “I cannot promise this will help…but at least I know it will not harm…” she explained timidly to the company. Considering the urgency of their mission, even that much assurance was enough.
As the reached the the doorway of Imlad Gelair, Xandilif the Champion of the Azure Faithful hung back and looked at her sister..."Go on, Finchley and I will make sure you got a way out when things get nasty…just watch your step.'
Finchley gave everyone a thumbs up with the thumb of her injured hand, and embraced Xanderian quickly.
As the company stepped through the doorway into darkness, Carneryn sighed quietly and stuck close to Nethrida, walking behind Xanderian and Calidis. Next came Eduwiges, peering into the darkness, her sword Badu Druit off her shoulder but still sheathed. She held it in front of her so she could watch the gems that calidis had set in the pommel some monthes ago.
At the rear of the group came Addie and the Lady Arahen.
As they approached the bridge, Eduwiges sniffed the air. 'It smells funny in here...'
Nethrida shrugged, 'Our troubles did not start until here...perhaps that is what you smell.'
Eduwiges thought about that for a moment, then glared at the back of Nethrida's head...who simply grinned into the darkness and continued.
As the group started across the bridge through the torchlight. Addie rubbed her hands together. “Can you not feel it, the temperature is dropping like a stone.”
Calidis ran her fingers against the black stone of the pendulum shaped pendant on her belt. It seemed to shimmer faintly but remained quiet. In fact the silence was deafening…even the strange scratching from far below they had heard on their last visit was absent. No one was sure if they should take comfort from that fact or no.
Suddenly Calidis's pendant began to gleam with a vivid light. Everyone froze and simply stared at it.
Nethrida whispered '..I do not like this at all...'
Xanderian smiled in the flickering light of the pendulum and looked around at her friends. “I have walked the halls of Barad Dur and Carn Dum, strode through the wastes of Gorgoroth, traveled as deep into the bowels of Orthanc as a living creature may…ridden under arms through the most horrible places the wise can name….yet never have I felt such trepidation as I do now, in the Valley of fair Imladris. The irony is almost amusing.”
The group smiled together, focusing their resolve and moved forward. As they reached the end of the bridge and faced into the Grotto of Imlad Gelair, both Calidis and Arahen looked around, reacting to sounds in the gloom none of the others could hear. Arahen breathed softly…”We are not alone…FAR from alone.” Calidis held her her pendant out with one hand and frowned.
Xan nodded to the others the mist from the water around the central pavilion rising like smoke. 'It would seem...we are expected...as I had hoped we would be. Now we come to grips with this mystery…and whatever slew my brother.'
Eduwiges gasped as the gems on her sword began to glow blue and whispered a last prayer to both Bema and Elbereth as she looked forward into the grotto..
Ahead of them in the central pavilion a single figure stood. Dark haired, in a purple gown...and a gleaming silver mask, without eyes or features...both guards standing in the grotto would also be wearing silver masks, yet with eye holes.
Calidis stared into the pavillion, dark eyes locking onto the figure in the purple gown. Her expression was a mask of calm but it was clear her body was tense with fear and rage…and a sense that nothing here was as it should be.
Cursing under her breath in Rohirric, Eduwiges unsheathed her sword, carrying the naked blade forward and ready.
A chillingly familiar voice rang out from the grotto. “Arms will not avail you here, Eduwiges of Faldham.....'
Eduwiges looked astonished then her face hardened, 'I'll keep it handy, thank you just the same.'
A wave of vertigo would seem to wash over the company as for a moment, each could see the horrors they had dreamed of on their last visit, but not all around them as it was then, but as if they were gazing at a painting on the wall, distant and removed from them. The glow from Calidis’ pendant blazed, leading them back to the pavilion of Imlad Gelair.
The masked figure laughed, the sound like crystal bells. 'Most impressive, my love...you have indeed been busy, as I knew you would be....have you considered joining with me, and embracing your true birthright by my side?'
Calidis clenched her fist about the gem and her calm demeanor cracked just a little. "...Do NOT call me that. You are not the one who I have given my heart to though you may share similarities. My answer to your madness is…no."
The figure inclined her head, seeming disappointed for a moment. “MY madness? Yes..I suppose you would think so…Yet you are the ones who came seeking me...'
Calidis gritted her teeth, as Xanderian simply stood amongst the others, watching the figure with a strange, faraway look in her eye., 'You have forced our hand.' Calidis whispered, trying to remain calm.
The figure nodded reasonably. “Yes...I suppose I did...but I knew you would come. My ally amongst the Unsealed saw to that, showing you a sliver of the truth, of the fate of poor, misbegotten Xanir. He should have died as an infant, or never been born at all as our mother would have prefered. Instead, he died here? Do you know how that felt? Well, I imagine you know, yes, I made sure you would feel it along with me…with us....oh the look upon his face...'
Xanderian made a sound something like between sob and a snarl and moved forward along the bridge, toward the figure....
Nethrida clenched her fists and raised her voice in anger. "How dare you! You're nothing but a twisted reflection!" She barked out while Eduwiges stepped forward, eyes flat, nothing said, just the quiet promise of death in her eyes.
The figure stepped forward, approaching Xan as they came towards one another step by slow step, as if to embrace. “So much needs to be changed...to be advanced....and how do any of you know that I am the reflection, and not her? How do you know which of us are twisted? Who are you, Nethrida of Arnor…to speak of twisted?”
Nethrida swallowed hard and called out, 'Because our Xan would've NEVER made light of her brother's death. You are a monster…yes, a TWISTED monster!'
The figure sneered, the blank mask facing Nethrida. “All the ferocity and stupidity of the Last born.....you simply prove my point, that leaving this world to your ilk would be the true madness, the work of the truly twisted...I…She…loves you NOT, Captain of Ghosts..'
"Twice in history did the blood of Numenor save your kin." Nethrida barked, rage and heartbreak in her voice. Those brave souls are my ilk, my blood. Xanderian knows this…you are NOT her.”
Carneryn 's knuckles whitened as they tightened around the hilt of her sword, fighting back the urge to tell Nethrida to stop drawing the creature’s attention.
Calidis followed after Xanderian almost as if sleepwalking, hands still clenched into fists, barely maintaining her calm. "Who else is there here to speak for YOU? There are none here who would claim you belong in this reality. Our Xanderian is here with those who love her…who loves you, in your horrible, broken world?"
As Calidis spoke, the company slowly realized that the shallow water around them and the pavilion was filled with spirits, beneath the haze....as the murmuring voices were now be loud enough for all to hear. Spirits, but not of the dead..but of those yet to be or who never were. In addition, there were several dozen masked figures on all the islands around them...and now behind them as well, standing as silent witnesses to the ceremony.
Arahen stared at the figure, revolted by every sensation she was taking from her. “Who…ARE you…?” she cried.
The figure laughed. “Who am I, Lady Arahen of the Orodreth....ah yes, as always you have arrived to this party late and empty handed….have your so called friends not made it clear who I am?'
Calidis glanced about the area, hands clenching tighter, nails digging in. She turned her dark gaze to the masked and gowned figure again, staring like a deep, bottomless well as she carefully maintained her tenuous focus and calm. It seemed there was no escape from here without battle.
Addiela stared into the water, but her voice called out to the figure. "So you truly killed him? Your own brother?"
The figure reached up when there were no more than 10 paces left between herself and Xanderian…and removed the silver mask slowly, precisely, as if part of a ritual. She then lifted her face to the company. They watched in stunned silence, as if transfixed, as they realized that looking back at them was indeed Xanderian, perhaps slightly more worn and scarred, her eye sockets dark and empty, her cheeks etched with the same runes as had been cut into Xanir’s dead face.
She smiled, a horrible mockery of their friend. "I AM Xanderian, my Lady Arahen....as I was meant to be. Yes, I killed him, my brother, our brother...and let him enjoy his dying view of his sister slaying him...to bring about this moment, this hope, this new beginning....NOW.”
As she said NOW, the Mistress replaced her silver mask with an audible snap…and with a cry, the Xanderian they had known seemed to grow indistinct, and then fade from view. Her bow Heartbreaker went dark and silent..and clattered to the stone floor of the pavilion.
The Mistress stepped forward. "And so...the world advances....only one reality, only one Xanderian.”
Eduwiges howled, "Bring her back you BITCH!" and tried to shoulder her way past Nethrida and Ryn to rush the bridge.
Calidis tentatively reached out to the space where Xan had stood and her mask of calm dropped completely... to reveal shock and sorrow. "Selunae spoke truth...What have you done?" she whispered.
The Mistress gestured flamboyantly..and the banners of Rivendell all around seemed to shimmer and fade..replaced by purple pennants, in the center of each was the symbol of a slim, silver hand, fingers gathered gently as if at ease.
“You all shall now be the first witnesses, or the first sacrifices, to the Fourth age of the Eldar!” The Mistress cried, arms raised in triumph, her foot resting on Heartbreaker.
They all saw the horror and loss on their own faces, reflected back to them, in the Mistress’ silver mask.
