While it was common for the northlands to be much colder than the rest of Middle Earth, Arwen who had traveled this far north in the past, found it unusually chilled. As they journeyed towards the Blue Mountains, the iciness in the air continued to grow until frost began to appear on the leaves of trees they passed. The sharp cold invaded the warmth of their cloaks and pierced their skins as the ground become harder and the woods continued to descend into a premature winter. Arwen began to notice something else as she drew closer and closer to the mountains and that was a decided lack of any sort of life. She heard no singing voice of birds, felt none of the quickening pulses of the smaller creatures that dwelt upon this land. It felt curiously abandoned.
Uneasiness began to seep into Arwen the further along their path they continued. It was not long however, before the surrounding woods with their silence and absence of all things living save themselves, affected her other two companions as well. Their rest periods became shorter since none of them were overly anxious to close their eyes and when sleep did come, it was under one of their number’s watchful gaze. Throughout all this ominous foreboding, Arwen watched the path of the moon in the sky and noted with growing alarm that the time between its reaching fullness was dwindling rapidly. The journey here had taken almost three weeks and Arwen knew that they would reach the Enemy with barely enough time to spare to formulate the strategy to kill him.
They saw no evidence of the threat that had driven the elves living in this part of Middle Earth southwards but there was no doubt that it existed. The woods they crossed reeked of death and desolation. Something unnatural had seized the land and was unrelenting in its bony grip. Arwen could feel its tendril clawing up her back, cold to the touch and the babe inside her stirred as well, perhaps feeling the threat to its existence its mother was trying so desperately to prevent. Eowyn and Melia spoke nothing of their own fears but Arwen sensed they were anxious for their guard was almost always watching for danger now. Whatever threat had worried Cirdan so much was fast approaching.
They could all feel it.
They had expected to find remnants of the towns abandoned or destroyed by the unseen menace, anticipating charred destruction to meet them when they finally happened upon them. However, nothing of the kind greeted them. Instead of finding a community leveled by fire, the scene that met them was entirely the opposite. The town whose name Arwen did not know and would never learn was covered in sheets of ice. To look at it, one would have been forgiven in assuming that someone had embarked upon the laborious task of sculpturing a representation of the town in ice. Every structure was covered in sheets of ice, even the poor unfortunates who had been caught in the disaster.
"What in the name of Valar happened here?" Eowyn asked rhetorically as she swept her gaze across the town.
They had climbed off their horses, leading the animals through the town so that they could investigate what had taken place here in hopes of avoiding the same fate if they encountered the cause of the tragedy. Anything that had not been encased in ice was brittle to the touch. Melia’s efforts to kick away a doll that had been lying on the ground had resulted in the complete disintegration of the object. It crumbled around her boot as if a blast of cold had turned it into glass. The ranger’s shock was obvious and after that no one was terribly eager to touch anything that was not covered in ice.
"A freak blizzard perhaps?" Melia asked. The lands where she had come from were warm where this kind of cold was almost never heard of.
"I could believe a snow storm could cause some ice, but nothing natural could have done this," Arwen responded as she paused at a seemingly unaffected bush and touched one of the leaves on its branches. The leaf crumbled in her hands as easily as the toy had disintegrated beneath Melia’s foot. The fragment of green in her hand felt like sand or ash, she could not tell which for sure, only that it frightened her. It was no small thing to destroy life in this fashion and the unnaturalness of it could not be ignored.
"We should keep going," Eowyn stated. "I have no wish to encounter what did this whilst we are here. We have more important matters to attend."
"Normally I would be the first to agree with you Eowyn," Melia replied softly, her grip on her horse’s tether was tight. Her nails were digging into her palm but she hardly noticed it. This place frightened her more than orcs or any other evil she had encountered in the lands of Rhun since leaving her home in Far Harad. She wanted to run away from this place, to ride back to the safety of the woods she knew in Angmar but it was impossible. She had made a pledge to the queen and she would see her oath through but also because during the course of their travels, it had ceased to become an obligation, as it was now an act of friendship. Here were two women with whom she shared a great deal, who waited for no man to decide their destiny and who knew what it was to remain true to themselves instead of complying with what was expected of them.
"I too wish to ride away from here and not look back," Melia gazed at her two companions. "But what did this awaits us ahead on our journey. The only thing we will accomplish if we ride hastily forward is run headlong into what destroyed this place."
"You are right of course," Eowyn frowned, despising the sense of Melia’s words because she felt similar anxiety being in this icy graveyard. "However, I do not think that there is anything to find. What leveled this place has moved on, assuming that some manner of evil did this."
"This is no aberration of weather," Arwen declared. "Something or someone wrought this destruction. I am certain that the way is being cleared for the Enemy."
"Cleared?" Melia stared at her.
"Yes," Arwen nodded taking another long look at the town because it was only the prelude to what was coming. "This is the work of the Enemy I am certain of it. He seeks to ensure that no one knows of his existence and this means destroying those who might be able to carry word of him to the rest of Middle Earth."
"To ensure that when he does emerge, he will do so to the complete surprise of those who might if, forewarned, be able to stop him," Eowyn concluded.
"Your child might be the first step," Melia pointed out. "If what you tell me is true about the Enemy attempting to infuse your child with Melkor’s spirit, then it is possible he intends to take Middle Earth, to prepare it for Melkor when your babe grows to manhood."
Arwen closed her eyes at the horrific plan and knew that both Melia and Eowyn were right about their suppositions. The Enemy would create a kingdom worthy of Melkor and when her son grew up to be King, he would inherit that dark empire. It would also mean that the Enemy would have to eliminate all those she cared about who were still left within his reach in order to achieve his plan.
"I believe you are right," Arwen nodded when she finally looked at them again. "In that case, we cannot delay in reaching the Forest of Brethil. Despite what has happened here, our best hope of averting this terrible outcome is to find the Sword of Turin."
The others seemed to agree with her and as they mounted their horses, preparing to leave the town behind, Arwen prayed it was altogether as easy she claimed.
