Prelude

Mirkwood had once been called Greenwood the Great, for at sometime it had been the greatest of all the forests of Middle Earth, all of Arda even. The trees were wide, and their branches spread far, high above, to form a huge canopy. One could feel very small in Greenwood, and even smaller in Mirkwood; for the trees had grown into dark presences, havens were dark creatures lay in wait. Spiders had nearly taken over half the wood, save the areas guarded by the wood elves. The palace, where the elves resided, was a safe place, a sanctuary whose doors were often closed to travelers who were not elves or elf-friends.

Yet deep within the caverns, where even the daylight was as dark as a shadow, and the shadows pitch-black, Fear slept. These were the natural caves that had formed beneath the surface millions of years before, when the Valar had sculpted the landscape, and now something over a millennium old was awakening. Even the oldest and wisest of the elves, the immortals who walked Middle Earth, had forgotten the evil that was rousing in the depths of Mirkwood, concealed in the subterranean gloom beneath the earth.

Eyes -- dark, glittering jade orbs -- opened quickly and closed again as dirt tumbled into them. Claw-like hands with long nails reached up through the soft earth, pushing it aside as it drew itself up. Then the figure, male in appearance though exceedingly thin, emerged from the cavern’s soft, earthy floor in a shower of dust and small stones, stretching emaciated limbs enclosed in grey skin. He then gave a great yawn, opening his mouth to reveal two rows of pearly white teeth, the canines sharpened to fangs.

'At last.�EHe thought, to himself, carefully examining the sleek, bat-like wings that rested on his back. They were free of the wounds that had marked them so long before, healed by time and rest. ‘At last I am awake again...�E

A rough laugh issued from cracked lips, his head tilted forwards so that grimy red hair cascaded before his face as the laugh rose in pitch. Soon he threw his head back and gave a gleeful cackle, the tone rising to manic level. Near the mouth of the cavern Mirkwood’s giant spiders fled in fear, tripping over their long legs.

To be continued...