The air in Queen Isolde's private chambers, nestled deep beneath the royal castle, was thick with the cloying scent of burnt herbs and arcane reagents. Unlike the natural, vibrant energies of Noldor's forest, the power here was cold, controlled, and distinctly unpleasant. Obsidian carvings adorned the walls, depicting distorted figures and swirling vortexes, not for beauty, but for channeling the raw, untamed forces she commanded. A single, flickering brazier cast long, dancing shadows, illuminating the sharp angles of her face.
Isolde paced, her silk robes rustling with every agitated movement. Her steps, usually precise and deliberate, were now tight with barely suppressed fury. Thaldir, her hulking right-hand man, stood rigidly by the chamber's heavy iron door, a silent, unmoving pillar of brute loyalty. His face, usually impassive, was a mask of careful neutrality, betraying no hint of his own weariness.
She stopped abruptly, her gaze, sharp and piercing, fixing on him. "Still nothing, Thaldir?" Her voice, usually a silken purr, was edged with a dangerous, brittle quality.
Thaldir bowed his head slightly. "No, Your Majesty. My patrols have scoured the perimeter of the village, moved through the immediate forest. No new tracks, no unusual signs. The villagers report nothing beyond the usual jitters after a rare eclipse."
Isolde let out a low, guttural sound, like a frustrated animal. "Jitters? Do they truly believe it was mere jitters, Thaldir? A simple darkening of the sun?" She swept a hand through the air, knocking over a small, unlit candle with a clatter. "This was no ordinary eclipse. The veil thinned. The portal... it cracked."
Thaldir remained silent, his gaze fixed on a point just beyond her shoulder. He knew better than to interrupt her pronouncements when she was in such a state.
"I felt it, Thaldir," Isolde continued, her voice rising, infused with the bitter taste of truth. "A momentary surge, a chilling breath from beyond. For a fleeting instant, the spirit realm, the very fabric between worlds, was exposed. And when that happens… something from the outside can come in. Something did come in."
She spun, her eyes blazing with a cold fire. "Did you feel nothing? No disturbance in the local energies? No tremor in the familiar currents of this miserable village?"
Thaldir cleared his throat, his voice carefully measured. "Your Majesty, we monitored the usual energy signatures around Noldor, as commanded. The 'old magic' of the forest, the subtle thrum that Alderon tends… it remained as it always does. A quiet hum. Nothing discordant. Nothing new or invading."
"Meaningless!" Isolde snarled, slamming her fist against a dark, polished stone table, making the scrying bowl upon it rattle. "That 'old magic' is a pathetic flicker compared to what I sensed. Alderon is a fool, a meddling child who understands nothing of true power, only quaint superstitions! He wouldn't know a demonic ingress if it clawed its way out of his own hearth!"
She resumed her pacing, her frustration a palpable force in the room. "The eclipse was an anchor, Thaldir. A conduit. It amplified the weakness of the barrier. It shouldn't have been so strong. The charts indicated a minor tremor, a ripple. Not a tearing of the fabric!"
"My apologies, Your Majesty," Thaldir said, his voice flat. "My men have swept the roads, questioned travelers from the crossroads, even checked the farmlands nearest the forest. No unusual footprints, no missing livestock beyond what wolves might take, no strange illnesses. All is… mundane."
Isolde stopped before him, her face inches from his, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Mundane? You speak of mundane, when the very fabric of reality was rent? When a gateway to the unknown was briefly forced open?" Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper. "I felt a presence, Thaldir. A raw, untamed power. Not of this world. Not even of our world, for that matter. Something… ancient."
"We will increase patrols, Your Majesty," Thaldir offered, his voice lacking conviction but resolute. "My best trackers can delve deeper into the forest, if that is your command. We will keep searching."
Isolde merely waved a dismissive hand, turning her back to him.