It was difficult at first to find my voice, but once I did, my questions and thoughts came easily.
�How do you know of my family?�
Lady Sirithiel looked deep into the fire and I could tell she was remembering a time very long ago. �Many years back, more than I can recall, we found ourselves in search of a new home. We have never stayed long in one place, for it is easier to be hidden when no one remembers where you were last. We had just been made aware of this very island and were camping on the shores of the river, holding council to decide if it was suitable, when strange figures appeared one night in the midst of our discussion. I had not seen the servants of darkness for many ages back and at first, I mistook these beings for Orcs.�
�Orcs?� This was a term I had never heard.
Lady Sirithiel nodded with sad and downcast eyes. �Elves that were taken by the dark forces and tortured till there was nothing left but brokenness and evil. They look little like us now, misshapen in body and twisted in spirit. They hate all goodness and kill for their delight. I am afraid I treated the ruined forms that emerged at our council that night harshly at first, thinking they were Orcs, enemies of old. Once they had been sufficiently bound, our council took on a new subject: what was to be done with them. In the midst of this discussion, one of the dark forms shouted out at us defiantly, understanding what we were saying in our own tongue. �We are not Orcs,� he cried, �We are Hobbits! Do not destroy us!�
�Of course, we had heard of Hobbits since we were in their territory and had observed them before considering this island as a home. At first, I mistrusted his words; an enemy will always lie to save his own skin. But it was Sirviriel who was brave enough to make the first proposal that we put aside our fear and give these suffering beings a chance to be proved truthful. I know you saw her skill of healing when she saved your friend from death this morning and she used that same skill on the figures. She did not heal them much, but enough to be sure they had not been untrue with us. They were indeed Hobbits, troubled in mind and body, but how they had come to be so malformed, they would not discuss with us.
�We took them with us to this island and they spent a full two years in our presence. Daily we ministered to them, using all the healing power at our disposal. The Dolenwaith have been blessed with the ability to relieve both physical wounds and those agonies which afflict the mind. After a time, the malformation melted away and we began to perceive the true Hobbit nature of these beings. They ate more, they talked more and above all, they began to sing. They joined us in our nights of song as little by little they remembered their lives in the Shire and their merrymaking in that place.
�It was at this time that I took aside whom I observed to be their leader to glean from him how they had come to such a state as we had first seen them in. But Lanco would not say more than that someone had determined to destroy their lives. His eyes were proud and he refused to discuss the matter further.�
�Lanco?� It was the one name I already had. �Lanco Proudfoot? I have been told his name. He lived, then?�
Lady Sirithiel nodded. �He did live. He was not brought down. Though, I am not sure it was all for the best in his case. You see, Pady, your kin could not let go their troubles. Although we spent so much time with them to ease their minds, we could not abolish their hate. It was Lanco who encouraged the continuance of this emotion, and after two years, the Hobbits announced they were leaving us. They thanked us for our work in their lives but said they must seek out him who had destroyed them. We tried to dissuade them from such a quest, and even though a few agreed with us, they would not be separated and they all followed Lanco and we have not seen nor heard of them since.�
Seek out the one who had destroyed them? A Hobbit? I sighed. Would my family always be seeking revenge? First I had the story of my family�s betrayal from Odo and now my family�s unalterable hate from Lady Sirithiel. I looked down sadly.
�I think I know where they went when they left you. They went to the Shire and they destroyed its land. They got their revenge.�
�No, I am certain they did not do what you have said.� I looked up at the Lady. She was restoring my hope. �If there is some story you have heard of their actions against your people, it must have occurred before they came to us. Pady, you must not believe they left us with such evil will as to hurt their kin. We fed them with passion for life. What they sought in revenge was that which had twisted them to turn on their own. That much I was able to obtain from Lanco: something had occurred between kindred. That, I believe, is what drew our sympathy to them. We Elves are not blameless. We, too, have turned on each other. Just as we have healed since that time, we worked to heal others.�
�Then where did they go?� If they had not gone back to the Shire, how could I follow their trail?
The Lady continued her story. �On the day they left us, I inquired of Lanco his intentions, but he would not reveal them. He only expressed gratitude once more for what we had done. When they left, they did not travel south, but north and to the east. And that, I have been told, is the direction you must go. Aewvaran made that quite clear.�
There was that name again. �Who is Aewvaran?�
�The one I presume called on you and sent you our way.�
�Then, that tall, bearded man is a friend of yours?� I wondered if he came to see them often. He had left so abruptly when he had delivered his message that I had been left with a number of questions regarding his identity.
Lady Sirithiel looked thoughtful. �He is a friend to many and known by several different names. We call him Aewvaran, and yes, he is our friend, though he comes here seldom and stays but a day when he does. It is not people or Elves he loves, but all nature. It was on one of his rare visits in which he implored us to be of service to you when he had found you.�
�Then you know what his message means?� I was eager. This was the answer I had been waiting for.
�What was his message? Perhaps I shall know.�
�He told me that my kin was in trouble and that I needed to find them. He said I was the only one of them to escape into the wider world. What does it mean?�