New Dawn Rising

A/N This story is told from Raven’s point-of-view. I would also like to thank my new Beta reader, Anne Withane, who also guessed the name of Phoenix’s lover…Legolas (as if you didn’t know). Her name will be mentioned in this story.
Ch. 5 - The Sky In Between
If You Asked Me To by Celine Dion
“Used to be that I believed in something
Used to be that I believed in lo It' It's been a long time since I've had that feeling
I could love someone
I could trust someone
I said I'd never let nobody near my heart again darlin'
I said I'd never let nobody in…”
I remember a night many centuries ago after one of my first battles with Phoenix. We had ambushed an Orc raiding party and between the two of us, they hadn’t stood a chance. We then went to a nearby lake to wash the blood and grim off of our bodies. While we waited by a fire for our clothes to dry after our swim, Phoenix told me story. I was still a young elf then, no more than 200 years old. As such, Phoenix often got her more serious lessons across to me by telling them in the form of a parable or tale.
Phoenix told me about a princess who was loved by all and had everything in the world. Then, in the dark of night, all of those she held dear left the young princess. They never returned and left the young girl to fend for herself in a world of death and destruction. I remember asking Phoenix what was the lesson of such a sad tale. Her exact words were, “Be faithful to that which exists nowhere, but in yourself.” I would later come to find that the princess in the story was Phoenix.
As I looked back at her family, I realized something. Phoenix’s demons of her past didn’t come from the failures of her family; they came from herself. Internally, she blamed herself for not being able to stop Sauron in time to save those closest to her. That was why Phoenix desired death; to escape the self-doubt and regret she had carried inside of her for so long. She was her own worst enemy. And it was slowly killing her.
Halden must have seen the realization in my eyes because he left without a moment’s hesitation to go and make sure Phoenix was alright. For all his faults, Halden was the most devoted, loyal commander yet to serve under Phoenix. Did I just compliment that son of an Orc, I thought with a twisted smile.
As the door closed behind him, I sat back down on one of the chairs beside the now-empty bed. Most followed my lead, taking up places on the oversized bed or in chairs around the room. For awhile, no one spoke for everyone seemed lost in his or her own thoughts.
The elf I knew to be Phoenix’s long-lost lover interrupted the deafening silence. He looked around as if waiting for someone to speak first, then asked, “I do not know about the rest of my friends, but I for one would like an explanation for the lady that claims to be the daughter of the new King and Queen.”
Straightforward and b. No. No wonder she found his personality refreshing, I thought. Suddenly, I was bombarded by questions from all in the room. Everyone seemed to want their question answered because they had hundreds more behind that one. The only one who hadn’t asked me anything was King Elessar. I think he knew somewhere in his heartt Pht Phoenix was his daughter, even if it did seem far-fetched.
Finally, I threw my hands up and shouted, “I cannot speak until everyone is silent.”
This seemed to get everyone’s attention. Even though I am the smallest between Halden and Phoenix, I have the loudest voice. Exasperated, I began to pace the length of the room, trying to decide what to tell and how to say it. Finally, I just decided to start at the beginning and go to the end. Nothing like a straight line to get where you need to, I thought.
“I know that you all have dozens of questions and I don’t blame you. You just overheard the tail end of a conversation that is best understood with all the facts,” I explained.
One of the hobbits, a mischievous-looking fellow, asked, “Where did you and your warriors come from?”
“Not where, my friend, but when,” I answered, “And I only stand command over twelve of those warriors. My coven, the Order of Shadows. Halden commands the actual soliders and the lady you just saw fly out the window is our leader.”
“So you are from another time? But how is that possible? No such magic exists,” a rather tall, dark-haired elf asked. Lord Elrond, I assumed.
“It is quite possible, but because of the spell’s degree of difficulty, many do not have the training or the ability to successfully see it through,” I answered, nodding my head to Gandalf, “you’re resident wizard here is aware of such a spell.”
“Aye, I am. But it is black magic in its truest sense. Such a spell requires a heavy knowledge of the dark arts. As does the spell to summon a Balrog,” the wizard replied, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Whou hou have all the time in the world to either fight or die, you learn quickly,” I said with sarcasm laced in my voice, “now, would you like me to tell my story or keep interrupting with questions?”
I took their silence as a my cue to continue. Either that or they were afraid I’d yell if someone so much as hiccupped. I moved to the door leading to the balcony and watched as the sky unleashed its anger on the world. At least she’s in her element, I thought.
Turning back to my captivated audience, I began my tale. “You all were very fortunate the other day; you defeated a great evil. In my time, the outcome was not in our favor. The companies of the West marched on the Black Gates. They did not know Sauron had seen into the future and knew of hemisemise when the One Ring was destroyed. So when Frodo was captured by his orcs, he had them specifically look for the ring. They went in search of the other hobbit, Sam, and took the ring from him. Once he had it, Sauron was able to take physical form. He marched with his tens of thousands of orcs, Uruk-hai and assassins. Under his command, his army thought they were invincible. And they were. What should have been a relatively equal fight became a slaughter. All but one walked away from that battle alive in my time. But we shall get to that person later in my tale,” I explained, then paused so that all I had said could sink in.
“But where does your crazy friend come into all of this,” the dwarf Gimli asked.
“That would be the next part of my tale, Master Dwarf,” I said as I took a breath and began my tale again, “my friend is known by many names, but Phoenix Darkstar is the one most use. She was the adoptive daughter and apprentice to Sauron in the first 500 years of his reign, then she surpassed him in the dark arts and left to join the growing rebel forces. Not much is known about her life before her time with Sauron, but Halden and myself are close enough to her that we know the whole tale. Her given name is Aurora Peredhl, daughter of the late King Aragorn and the Lady Arwen. She was the last child born in the free world; the last to ever see the sun set. She was born on the day of the Final Battle and her mother died moments after her birth.”
This news was a lot for her family to take in. The hobbits began to speak amongst themselves in hushed tones and her grandparents looked surprised, if elves could. I looked to Arwen and saw that she was caressing the evident bulge of her stomach. From the looks of it, I guessed she was due any day.
She must have felt my gaze on her, because she looked up and asked in that soft voice of hers, “I was going to name my daughter Aurora. After the rising sun I saw after the Final Battle.”
“The more things change the more they stay the same,” I said, then continued with my story, “For the first year of her life, Aurora was raised in Lothlorien, the last safe haven on Middle Earth. It soon became evident to her grandfather and great-grandparents that she was no ordinary half-elf. By the time of her first birthday, she already had the body of a young woman.
Sauron’s quest for domination eventually found its way to Lorien. On the eve of Aurora’s first birthday, he attacked with a vengeance. The Golden Wood was burned to the ground and all within fell. In a last ditch attempt to keep their granddaughter safe, her guardians bound her soul to Sauron so that she would never die until his death. Then, they joined the three Elven rings to make one silver ring. The very opposite of the One Ring and the only one thing able to destroy it.”
I paused for another breath. The storm outside had begun to abate, but the howling winds still plagued the forests around Minas Tirith. The dark sky outside reminded me too much of home.
I moved to stand by the balcony doors and started my story again, “Sauron killed the remainder of her family and took her as his heir. He re-named her Phoenix Darkstar in order to hide her true lineage from her. But Aurora was not so easily fooled. She knew of her true background, but played along with Sauron in the hopes of learning as much as she could from him. For 500 years, she trained under him in the dark arts deep within the bowels of Mordor. She trained so hard, in fact, that by her 500th birthday, she had surpassed him in skill and ability.
On the eve of her 500th birthday, guards brought the captain of the growing resistance to Sauron, who told Aurora that the captain’s death the next day would mark the coronation of her as Princess of Mordor. After all had retired for the night, Aurora packed what little things she owned and escaped to the dungeons to free the captain. She knew her time had come to retake what was hers.
Upon entering the cell, she found that the captain was another elf like herself. But she also found that he was the rumored survivor of the Final Battle. He was one of her father’s oldest friends and a Prince in his own right. He was…”
I would have continued, but the balcony doors blew open with a force by the winds like none I had ever seen. I heard Halden screaming outside for me to get to Phoenix and I remember the Queen’s handmaiden, Anne, passing out from fright. As I looked up at the cloaked figure that stood on the terrace, I saw what Halden had meant.
In the doorway stood Phoenix. She was wet from the storm and her honey-brown hair fell in chunks around her eyes. Her white tunic was torn and scratched from what I assumed were tree branches. But it was her eyes that held me with worry. The black orbat Iat I had so long grown accustomed to were glowing white.
I quickly called my staff to me and watched as her family back away carefully. I approached Phoenix as one might a cornered animal; cautiously and softly. Once I was at her side, I noticed she was breathing heavily and the cut in her stomach had re-opened. When she felt my hand on her shoulder, she fell to her knees. I fell with her as I caught her before she passed into unconscious. As I looked at her body, I vaguely heard her whisper, “Legolas, A'maelamin.”
As her family caught her words, I looked to her face and nearly fell over with relief; her eyes were no longer white, but the clear blue they once were.