1. Into the Void
Darkness was all there was and nothing but silence filled the void. And yet that realm was full of potential, though only the voices of the Ainur poured sound into the emptiness. Melodies formed in Melkors mind and often would he sing befor Ilúvatar with joy. Performing his songs gave them more substance and made them seem more real then they were before yet did it not change anything about the endless void.
Nothing had he seen yet but the light of Ilúvatar himself and when he went into the void and wandered, he started to imagine different things, ideas and dreams of light and form. Deeper he went in search for a way to give shape to his ideas until he would retun and sing of his visions. Then he would feel at rest again and stayed with his brethren for a while, yet soon his longing for more would make him grow restless once more and he would wander back, deep into the nothingness of the world.
Soon he grew sad of the emptiness and wanted to fill not only the halls of Ilúvatar with his melodies and ideas but wanted to enrich the void to make it a brighter place filled with beauty. But when he went to sing in the darkness of the void, his melodies seemed to vanish into thin air and all his music was in vain, leaving nothing behind but a memory and grief for the lost beauty.
As he now had heard of the Imperishable Flame, he went more often in search for it, hoping it could help him to fulfil his longing of bringing more than sound into existance. Soon desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, yet he had found nothing but emptiness. The longer his search lasted, the more the themes of his songs changed, pleading for permission and power to create other things in front of Ilúvatar. As still no change came, sadness coloured his melodies and sometimes his songs grew rapid, restlessly changing from one theme to another and still had he not found the Imperishable Flame. It seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void and nothing would ever change. He did not understand why everything should be empty when it would be so easy for Ilúvatar to create more for had he not created all the Ainur alone. If just he would receive a bit more of this power, Ilúvatar could remain where he was, whilst Melkor would be happy to work hard to fill the void with all sorts of shapes and things he had in mind.
In his despair Melkor went to seek council from his brother Manwë, but all he did was urging him to be patient and trust in Ilúvatar. But Melkor had already waited too long and he felt like his burning desire was consuming him from the inside, creating another void deep within himself.
It was then, that Ilúvatar gathered all the Ainur to create a great music and Melkor finally saw his chance to convince him by bringing others on his side, for he did not understand Ilúvatar's plan. But as he sung and heard all the other voices he heard sounds and ideas he had never thought of. And for a while his desire weakend as he followed Ilúvatar's theme and great harmony was in the music. After the endless waiting it finally felt like no single note he sang was in vain and every sound awoke something more in the world, something he had so long dreamed of. And as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar, for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. Soon the Ainur around him followed his lead and now he knew Ilúvatar could no longer ignore his desire and before any other Ainur he understood that this music was more than just sound. So they continued until Ilúvatar stopped his discord and a new theme arose.
Melkor would join in, taken by the new melodies, flowing with the music until his will grew strong enough once more. Leading other voices, he felt power growing inside him and a hunger for bringing more on his side and make them sing the way he wanted. After all he had the greatest power and knowledge among the Ainur, so why should he not reign himself and have servants? So powerful was his voice that many of the Ainur standing between the melodies of light and darkness who would not join his own theme, were dismayed and sang no longer, and Melkor had the mastery. But before he could expand his will enough, Ilúvatar stood up once more and Melkor went quite and a third theme grew amids the confusion.
Why did Ilúvatar not even let him sing the way he wanted? Did he have no trust in Melkor's skills? And this time Melkors song was coloured by the frustration he had felt whenever he had wandered the void. Soon his melodies echoed his sadness about the long emptiness and anger caused by Ilúvatar's idleness and more voices joined the discord of his deep and dark synphonies whilst others grew silent. He had hoped his brother Manwë would join him in his song and together they could be strong to lead the song down their own path. But Manwë remained faithful to Ilúvatar's theme, leading a melody that was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came and over and over he would take Melkors chords to weave them back into the overall theme. The war of music continued until Ilúvatar rose a last time and silence was amongst all Ainur as he spoke to them.
So it was true that new things came into excistence by their music and glad was Melkor to understand that all his longing was not in vain. But as Ilúvatar spoke about him in front of all his brethren, Melkor was filled with shame, of which came secret anger. Quickly had he forgotten all praise and only those bitter words circled around in his mind.