I do not own, neither did I create Erestor, Manwe, Ulmo, Middle Earth, or the Noldo. J. R. R. Tolkien did, and I am extremely grateful to him.:)

I did create Mellolaes the Silvan nurse and the new, or rather, ancient characrer shown in this chapter.

This piece has been written for entertainment purposes only, so please read and be entertained.

A figure walked along the mountainside. Its limbs were slight and back bent, but it was so tall the stoop did not make the form short. It trudged as straight as the cliffs and slopes of the mountain allowed never looking to either side or behind, but only at what lay before it. Rags stiffened by a crust of dust covered the form in places. A shadow passed over its head. Finally, the elf looked skyward.

Another form wheeled there. A bird of prey circled so high and silhouetted against the noonday light, it was hard for the details of its form to be seen by even elven eyes. A scowl washed over the elf's face. He picked up a stone and threw it at the eagle.

The rock was fist-sized, but far more aerodynamic. The projectile flew straight and high like an arrow, before gravity pulled it back down. The eagle had not even had to shy for it. The bird gazed back at the thrower with pity. Somehow, the figure noticed or guessed this. He shouted back.

"Do not waste mercy on me, slave! Go back to your master and tell him I curse his name! I defy those who call him merciful! If your master had truly known mercy, he would have sunk our ships moments after they left his shores! Instead he watched us land here in the bosom of his brother. I know how gentle Melkor's caresses are now. And every one of us here will soon know the same. They will also taste his lash, see his face, hear his laugh … We were fools … But his own brother must have known. He let us race here to our own punishment. Perhaps it was only 'just', but how dare he allow himself to be called Merciful!"

A rumbling sounded from above and to his right. The elf bent his head only slightly to gaze up the mountainside. Eagerness flashed in his eyes. The rock higher than he and just as wide rolled toward him. He closed his eyes and remained still, only opening them again when he felt the breeze of its passing a good arm's length away. He turned and stared after the boulder as it fell over a cliff.

The ellon screamed and fell to his knees. In the silence that followed, a sound reached his ears. He held up his head. A grim smile curled up his lips. He looked up at the bird again. "Your master thinks he can play with me and cheat me of quick and sure death? No, not if Ulmo will show me more mercy than he!"

Now the elf ran straight ahead with all his strength. His hair flew back. The cold air rushed over and around his face, but he never broke stride the whole way, not even when he approached a different cliff than the one the boulder fell over. As his body rushed down through open air he straightened himself, hoping to break his skulls on rocks beneath the water. Instead he felt the shock of liquid all around him. He sank like the stones he knew so well, into the darkness, but not to his death … Indeed, his story was only beginning …

. . .

Mellolaes had closed her eyes as she told the tale. Now she opened them again. A corner of her mouth curled up as she looked into the face of the ellon huddled beneath the covers of his bed. Then she bit her bottom lip to hold back a giggle.

Erestor was giving her the dirtiest look she had ever seen on his face. Black brows squeezed together so tight they almost didn't look even like a "V" anymore. The black eyes beneath them were so scrunched they almost didn't glint. Mellolaes tightened her whole being to keep back the ripples of trapped giggles inside, but humor still came through the lilt in her voice. "Shall I continue?"

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God Bless

ScribeofHeroes