When I was fifteen, I left my village and started my journey to the unknown. Since then, I hadn’t stayed in one place more than days, roaming middle earth from south to north; weeks may pass without me having any kind of human contact, just out there living among the birds and beasts of the wild.

It was early spring when I finally made my way through the mountains of Ered Luin and started my journey into Mirkwood, the elven forest. I had seen a few elves in pubs here and there, mysterious yet comforting folk they are, but strangely enough, through all my years of travelling, this was the first time I ever set foot on elven grounds.

Something was different in this forest than any place I had been, as if a thousand spirits were living in the wind. The trees were ancient, almost as old as the earth itself, and their tops almost touched the heavens. I could feel the magic in every corner, and I wondered what kinds of magical creatures live here. I recalled my grandmother’s stories of elves and their magical forests, which brought back warm memories of my home, along with cold ones.

“Here is a good place to camp” I said to myself as I stepped in a clearance between the trees. I could hear a distant sound of water, but the night was falling already and I really needed a rest, it could wait till the morning. After gathering enough dry branches, I managed to start a small fire to keep me warm, and off to sleep I went.
………………………

After such a long journey, I expected myself to fall asleep till afternoon, but it was dawn when I woke up to the most beautiful voice I ever heard, echoing in the distance with a song that took my heart away without me even understanding any word of it. The voice filled the emptiness of my soul, and I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes, tears of beauty. I started walking in the direction of the voice, which happens to be the same direction of the running water sound, I left my weapons and armor on the ground, such beauty shouldn’t be faced with a sword, and if it is a trap after all, well I would love to fall for such a beautiful trap.
I walked up a small hill, which blocked what lies beyond from the eyes, but not the ears.