Chapter One

"We have our orders."

"Is there nothing that can be done for them? So many have passed alreadyÉso many more will die without our interventionÉ"

"We have our orders," the Elf reiterated, his voice stern.  He turned to the younger Elf, placing his arm around his shoulders, speaking this time with compassion.  "This is difficult for you, I know, but it has been predicted since the Ainur first sang the world into being. The Time of Man has come to its end. I do not presume to know the mind of Ilœvatar, or speculate on why He has set us upon this path. I know not why these in particular were chosen to be shown His mercy, but I will not question His judgement.  Would you question the will of Eru, Rœmil?"

"Nay, Haldir, nay.  Still, my heart weeps for those we have passed by.  'Tis not by their own hand that this misfortune has fallen, but by the hand of MorgÉ"

"Speak not of the Dark Lord in my presence, Rœmil!" Haldir warned, silencing his brother.  "Come," he said, steering Rœmil toward the bow of the ship, "we approach the shoreline."

The two silver-haired Elves walked to stand at the gracefully curving bow of the ship, exchanging a meaningful look with each other at the sight of the billowing, greasy black smoke that rose from a smoldering pile on the shore.  Even from this far ashore they could smell the stench of burning flesh, an offensive odor that brought back a flood of memories of many such pyres witnessed during their years in Middle Earth, and resultant mutual shudders of disgust in both Elves. Further down the beach they could make out the silhouette of a structure built high on the dunes, back lit by the setting sun.

Turning to his crew, Haldir barked an order.  "Weigh anchor. We have reached our destination."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ship was first spotted by Elise, a tall, slender, former grade school teacher, who wasted no time in dashing back into the house to inform the others of what she had seen. 

Together, the three women flew to the front door, staring in awe at the incongruous sight of the old-fashioned ship floating off shore, its pristine white sails billowing in the wind, a pale cork bobbing upon the gentle swells of the black water of the ocean.

Anna, the eldest of the three and owner of the house, retreated for a moment into the cool interior, returning shortly with a solid, wooden baseball bat clutched in her hands.  Well worn, and at one time a treasure well loved, the bat's wooden grip was blackened with the oil of decades of young hands that had gripped it in sport.  Now it would serve as a weapon, one of the few besides a handful of small eating knives and a fireplace poker that could be found in the seaside house.

Berating herself for not realizing that she should have made sure to take something more appropriate, and threatening, while at the supermarket, Anna held the bat upright over her shoulder, as if to volley back anything that might hurl itself at them from the deck of the mysterious ship. 

The sun was sinking quickly behind the windswept dunes, casting long shadows onto the beach.  The women watched as the ship's sails were lowered.  Soon, until the moon rose, it would be too dark to watch the ship for activity. Anna motioned for Elise and Rebecca, a short, shy young woman who had been last to join Anna on her trek to the shore, to retreat back into the house.  Closing and locking the door, the three women pulled and pushed at the heavy oak bookcase attempting to manipulate it from its place in the living room, tipping it to lie against the door.  Locking the windows and drawing the blinds, barring the rear door as well, Anna sat with the two women she had come to consider her charges in the living room, a small Coleman lantern flickering on the coffee table, the bat balanced on her knees, waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Orophin leaned his lithe form against the railings of the ship, staring at the landscape of the shore as it became indistinct in the growing darkness, the wind lifting tendrils of his silvery hair, blowing it about his face.  Lost in memory, his vision was turned inward recalling the long ages in Valinor with his brothers.  How content they had been to bask in the joyous song and love of the Valar, yet how eager to don once again warrior braids and weapons, sailing off into uncharted waters on a mission decreed by Ilœvatar, Himself.  The purpose of their quest puzzled him even more, for he had not been privy to the intent, only to the details. 

Sighing, he felt his eldest brother approach, Haldir's soft footfalls coming to rest just behind him.

"Your thoughts are far from here, brother," Haldir said softly, seeing the confusion that etched Orophin's face.

"I do not understand our purpose, Haldir.  I know that we are to gather the human survivors as one would gather the few remaining hale fruits after a blight, and transport them to the New HavensÉbut I do not know the why of it.  They are Secondborn. The Age of Man is done - contrary to Rœmil's beliefs the manner of its downfall is meaningless. Its remnants are ready to dry up and scatter like so much dust on the wind.  Why save these few?"

"Question not the mind of Ilœvatar, Orophin.  Your doubts frustrate you, I know, but you must remember that we are ever the wardens, Orophin.  Be it that we serve on the fences of Lorien as in days of old, or now, as shepherds of the last of Man, still we serve. We have sworn an oath, and with that oath comes the obligation to unquestioningly fulfill our duty. Do not allow these concerns to hinder you or us.  If you cannot trust in the path you cannot see, then I ask you to trust in me."

Orophin nodded, embracing Haldir, giving his trust wholeheartedly into his brother's keeping as he had done all his long life.

"When Anor rises, we shall go ashore," Haldir said, pulling away and placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.  "Rest, for the morrow brings us to the doorstep of the unknown."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn found Anna nodding on the sofa, still holding the baseball bat across her lap.  Elise and Rebecca lay curled on the floor near her, neither having the inclination to leave the others during the night to seek her own bed. 

Rising, she stretched, rubbing her face with her hands to dispel the last vestiges of the sleep that had claimed her regardless of her determination to stay awake throughout the night.  Memory of the previous days came flooding back, including the sighting of the white ship moored just offshore.  Dashing to the window, she peeked through the drawn blinds to see a small boat being lowered from the large white ship.  Three figures were aboard, rowing toward shore.

Calling for the others, she watched the small boat drift ever closer to shore.  In the distance, the rowers looked female, but as they jumped from the boat, beaching it on the sand, Anna realized that they were male.  Long, silver hair flowed about their broad shoulders, whipped by the wind on the open beach, muscles straining at the fabric of their oddly fashioned shirts as they hauled the skiff up onto the sand.

"Who are they?" Rebecca asked, her little girl voice belying her curvaceous figure.  Petite, almost pixie-like in appearance, Rebecca had been an aerobics instructor Before, as they had begun to refer to the time prior to the plague.  In each of their minds the word was capitalized, a name, a personification of life the way it used to be. Before.  "You aren't going to let them in, are you Anna?"

"We don't know that they're hostile, Becca.  Maybe they're just survivors, like us."

"Don't let them in!  They'll want our suppliesÉor worse!" Rebecca cried, her voice becoming shrill in her fear.  "Don't let themÉ"

"Rebecca!" Elise said firmly, as she would have to a hysterical child suffering from separation anxiety on its first day of school.  "It will be all right.  Go sit downÉbetter yet, go get the lantern oilÉ it's dark in here with the blinds drawn, and we'll need the light."

The authority in Elise's voice broke through Rebecca's fright, calming her, giving her direction.  She hurried off to find the oil, leaving the two women to continue watching the men on the beach.

Anna noticed two things immediately as the three men made their way up the dunes toward the house.  First, they looked enough alike to be related, each one handsome in his own way, each possessing the same, odd, silvery hair.  Secondly, they were all armed.  Curiously, she couldn't see a gun or rifle among them, rather they had armed themselves with bows and quivers, and each had a sword in a sheath affixed to their belt. Regardless of their choice of weapons, they were armed, and she reminded herself that caution was the better side of valor. She would not welcome them with open arms until they had proved to her that they meant no harm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haldir led Orophin and Rœmil over the white sand up toward the weathered house that sat upon the dunes.  Holding up his hand, he called a halt, his keen eyes sweeping the dunes for any possible threat. Turning his attention to the house, he did not miss its occupant peeking at them through the horizontal slats that covered the window openings. 

Standing before the house, his legs spread apart in a firm stance, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword, Haldir, his Westron a bit stilted after centuries of disuse, called out in a loud voice, "Hear me those within! We are sent by Ilœvatar, Himself, come far from the Undying Lands beyond the Circles of the World to bear you hence to safety! Come out, let us meet and be strangers no longer!"

His words were carried away down the beach by the wind, as the three Elves waited for an answer from those within the house.  None came.  Again, Haldir tried to communicate with the Secondborn he knew to be within the weathered gray clapboard house.  Again, his only answer was silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is he yelling?" Anna asked Elise, looking at the tall woman beside her.  "Do you recognize the language?"

"I only speak English and French, and I remember a smattering of Italian from collegeÉbut that doesn't sound even vaguely familiar," Elise replied, peeking out the blinds again at the men on the beach.

"I know it's not Spanish, and that's the extent of my linguistic skills," Anna added.  "Rebecca, do you speak any languages besides English?"

The pert athletic instructor shook her head, her eyes still wide with worry. 

"How are we supposed to know what they want if we can't understand them?" Elise asked Anna, biting her lip.

"Maybe they'll think no one's here if we keep quiet," Rebecca offered hopefully, her hands nervously fondling the bottle of lantern oil they held.

"Rebecca, these are the only other living, breathing people we've seen since BeforeÉwe have to try to communicate with them!" Anna countered, frowning at the petite brunette.

"Why? We're doing okay by ourselvesÉwe don't need anyone else!"

"They do have bows and arrows, AnnaÉ" Elise commented, sounding as though she agreed with Rebecca.

"And we have a baseball bat and a fire poker," Anna retorted, nodding toward the black, wrought iron stick Elise held in her hand.  "If we were to go out to try to find other survivors, I'd wager that we'd arm ourselves, too.  I think that if they were going to attack, they would have done so by now.  They wouldn't be standing on the beach in the open like that trying to make contactÉhow do they know we don't have guns in here?"

Her logic seemed reasonable to Elise, if not to Rebecca.  Nodding her assent, Elise slowly raised the blinds on the window.  Raising the pane, she motioned for Anna to say something to the men on the beach.

"Who are you?" Anna called loudly.  "What do you want?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What language does she speak, Haldir? I do not recognize it," Rœmil asked, looking questioningly at his older brother. 

"'Tis not familiar to me, Rœmil. 'Tis not Westron - of that I am certain.  Nor any of the few other tongues of Man I am acquainted with," Haldir replied, frowning.

"They live at the sea's endÉperhaps it is the language of the Corsairs," Orophin suggested, peering at the two women who looked out at them from the window.

"Nay, I have heard those blackguards speakÉtheir language was guttural and foul to the ears," Haldir answered, stroking his chin thoughtfully at their predicament. "I have never heard speech such as this before."

"How then are we to communicate with them? Better we should leave them and find others in their stead," Orophin stated. "Others who would speak a civilized tongue."

"Nay, brotherÉwe are intended to take these - 'tis the will of Ilœvatar.  It must be these and no others," Haldir said adamantly, frowning at Orophin.

"There is something that speaks the same meaning in every language I have ever known, Haldir," Rœmil said, looking at both his brothers.  Warily, he took a few steps toward the house then removed his bow and quiver, setting them on the sand.  Next he removed his sheath, setting it and the sword it held next to the bow and quiver.  A broad smile on his face, he held up his empty hands toward the females who watched him carefully from the house.

"You have more intelligence than I often give you credit for, Rœmil," Haldir said, a smile turning up the corners of his lips.  He nodded at Orophin to do the same as he worked to imitate Rœmil's actions.  Disarming themselves, they stood on the beach, palms upraised, smiling, and hoping that those within would realize that they bore no ill intent.

Standing on the beach, they could hear dragging and thumping sounds from within the house, realizing that the women had barred the door from within.  A moment later, the door creaked open, two women coming to stand just within the doorframe.  The Elves could make out the form of a third standing behind them, although that one looked more skittish and ready to bolt than the others did.

The first woman to step outside the door held a wooden club in her hands, the other a black, sharp, iron stick.  Neither looked too certain to be standing outside the protective walls of the house, and neither gave any indication of coming any closer to the Elves.

Rumil and Orophin looked to Haldir for guidance, not sure what to make of the three women who stood in the doorway.  Their fear was palpable to the Elves, even at that distance.  It would be an easy enough task to overpower them, but the Elves knew that strength of arms was not always the wisest course of action.

"Stay behind me, make no sudden movements.  Do not take your weapons," Haldir whispered, as he stepped forward toward the porch of the house where the women stood.  His palms still upraised, showing them to be empty of weaponry, a smile still on his face, he stopped at the bottom step, easily within swinging range of the woman holding the club.

TBCÉ