Starchild

by Nuredhel

She was never meant to be there, never meant to exist and yet she did. Pure chance brought her to a world in which her kind was something unheard of, something wonderful or maybe terrible at the same time. But can someone like that find a home where technology is primitive and magic still reigns?

10. Fire in the night

Chapter 10: Fire in the night

The newcomers did change a lot, in fact they changed the very way most saw the world and CeKay had a hard time hiding the fact that she had come across humans before. It was odd that also this world would harbour such creatures and from what she was told they were exactly like the ones she had come across before. This creator were either a huge copycat sort of snatching the ideas of others and making them his own or maybe some designs were just universal and repeated themselves all over the place. The elves who told of the second born and their arrival to Beleriand were stunned by their appearance and their behaviour and last but not least the fact that they seemed to live for just a very short span of time. They seemed to fade away in some manner, as if their bodies gave up after a few decades and fell apart.

The elves of Doriath were discussing these news day in and day out and CeKay had to laugh at some of the crazy assumptions that were made. The fact that the males had hairy chins made many shake their heads in disbelief for what could possibly be the purpose of that? And the females could have a new baby almost every year? Now that was outrageous, and it had to be just exaggerations. Surely they meant one for each decade? The great Eru couldn't possibly have meant for his second born to breed like rabbits?

Apparently Galadriel's brother Finrod had met the humans and their chief named Beör and he had convinced them that he was a vala and a few of the marchwardens claimed that this was proof that the secondborn had to be rather daft for who could possibly mistake an elf, even a half noldo half vanyar one for a vala?! That triggered quite a few hefty discussions for what could the one possibly have wanted when he created these creatures. They weren't superior to the elves, that was for sure for from the looks of it they died very easily, they even got sick from the smallest things imaginable. Could it be that they had some form of hidden powers? Some said yes and others no and the atmosphere of friendly bickering did at least prevent boredom.

CeKay was still monitoring the borders, her little army of furry spies did their job very well and she even hired birds and trees. The elves had a deep connection with nature but she did take it to a new level. She could tap into the electrical signals which travelled from tree to tree through their roots, to her the entire forest was one huge brain, every living being interconnected with the others and she would know the second something was off, even if it was miles away. The last years had been rather tough on her, she wanted to do something, to make a difference but she had to walk such a fine line and she had gotten a rather bad feeling when she heard of the arrival of the humans. She knew this race well, they were resilient, brave and admirable but also vain, stupid at times and easy to persuade. If the enemy managed to get them onto his side they could all be in trouble.

She had also worried about this new threat, the dragons. They had to have been animals once and then Morgoth had sort of warped them into something new and terrifying and she wondered how they were to fight these things. They had to have weak spots, she was damn sure that Morgoth had tried his best to eliminate that but there is always that one little detail nobody really think about. If it had been possible she would have wanted to catch one alive, to sort of check it out but as it were that was impossible and the dragon they all were talking about, Glaurung was way too dangerous to approach without any real information. There was magic involved, that was the only thing she did know for sure and with her lack of understanding when it came to that concept an attempt at attacking the thing was sure to end with disaster.

As it were the current situation within Doriath had an almost sinister quality in some ways, since Thingol found out about the kinslayings and the whole mess which had lead to the noldor returning to ennorath things had changed a lot. Celeborn and Galadriel were having huge problems for Thingol didn't like that his nephew had any contact with the noldor and least of all a relative of Fëanor. He hadn't told them to stay away from each other in public but everybody knew that he would prefer it if Galadriel left Menegroth for good. The language of the noldor had been forbidden and nobody were to even mention the sons of Fëanor and their deeds. CeKay knew that this was what the crew on the ship she arrived on would call a real cock block situation. She did pity them both but there was little she could do about it.

Angband was under siege now and thus the areas which previously had been too dangerous to inhabit were now a lot safer. There were fortresses and strongholds built everywhere and everybody were trying to gather as much strength as possible in anticipation of a counter attack. Orcs still roamed the lands though and through the messengers and the birds CeKay learned of how the edain suffered great losses against the monsters of Morgoth. The borders of the kingdom were attacked too rather regularly and the guards had more than enough to do. CeKay had gotten a feeling of being restless, why she didn't know and she wanted to leave the kingdom again and explore the areas she hadn't visited yet. She felt that it could be wise but she had no idea why, at least not yet. But she chose to wait, for some reason she knew that it wasn't time for that just yet.

The life within the city had become easier in so many ways, her inventions had helped create so much new and many new and exciting ideas and so she dedicated her time and mind to helping the elves create even better tools and weapons. She knew that this time of peace would end for peace was something very fragile and sooner or later the dark lord would break the siege and she was pretty sure that it would be very sudden and also very violent. Then they managed to capture some orcs and even if the creatures spoke unwillingly and little it was rather clear that the dark lord in fact had been absent from Angband for years now. Why nobody knew and CeKay realized that this was her clue. She had to get out there and find out what this was all about. She left the kingdom early one morning and rode to the east, it was an area she hadn't really explored yet and she took very little with her. She didn't need anything really and she wanted to travel fast. She knew that this world was way larger than just the areas she had visited before and so she decided to explore as much as she could, while she had the chance.

The journey made her realize that the power of the enemy was wide spread, there wasn't any area where there wasn't a trace of him and she felt more and more angry and more and more determined to help putting an end to all this. She had reached the mountains to the south east when she first encountered something new, and she immediately knew that also this was something the dark lord had conjured up. She had taken refuge in a narrow gorge and sat there resting when she did sense that she was being watched. She didn't fear anything, after all, few creatures could truly harm her but she didn't like the feeling of insecurity. It was more than one being and she could feel that this was something dangerous. She got curious, created an illusion and did sneak out of the way. She had hidden her horse in a groove of trees and the steed didn't need to move at all so there was little chance of it being discovered. Before long some odd creatures did appear, and CeKay had to blink to believe what she was seeing. These were the most malformed and mangled forms of life she had ever encountered. It was odd really that they were alive for she saw boils and sores and they were oozing puss.

If she hadn't known better she would have guessed that these were the sad victims of radiation, she had seen something rather similar although not so bad when the ship she had been on ran into an old abandoned freighter. The huge ship had been drifting between the stars for centuries and it had ended up in an area where nobody ever went so it hadn't been picked up by the crews who took care of wrecks and transformed the scrap metal into new and useable material. The ship had a leaking power core, that was probably why it had been abandoned by the crew but it wasn't empty. In fact it had been crawling with life for it had been transporting several species of livestock for the outer planets of the original system and the massive cargo hull had over time become a complete ecosystem all on its own. The ship had power still, and water and light and the amount of mutated beasts had in fact looked a bit like these things, although not so grotesque.

There was some intelligence in these beings, but it was vile and twisted and just wrong and CeKay had no idea of what their origin could have been. They were surely the products of Morgoth and his will and she realized that these were goblins but so much more twisted than the ones she had seen before. It was probably the result of inbreeding and isolation and she felt that these creatures could cause problems later on. She decided to follow them, to see where they were heading and learn as much as she could. The creatures got terribly confused when there wasn't anybody there after all and they appeared to dislike magic and light even more. Some of the goblins were so malformed she had a hard time understanding how they were able to move and she saw heads with shapes that were just unreal. They did look like a nightmare come true and as she did follow them in camouflage mode she tried to listen in on their conversations.

The goblins lived within the mountains, she understood that now. They had cities underground and as she entered through a hidden door she did see that this was no city like the ones she had been used to. The goblins didn't know how to form rock, they knew naught of masonry and they had no knowledge of engineering. The so called city was huge but it was made from everything from animal skeletons to dead branches. It was held together by ropes, by sinews and thin twigs and it was terribly rackety and completely unsafe. How these creatures managed to live and thrive down there was anybody's guess for she had never encountered such stench and such a lack of order. They probably fought for every little scrap of food available and even though they probably were cowards there was strength in numbers. Here it was the strong against the weak and the life span of these beasts was probably rather short, even compared to that of a human being. She saw few females and judging from the way the city was arranged they probably were kept where it was relatively safe.

CeKay did find the entire society rather fascinating, it was a world on its own and it had its own set of rules and the main rule seemed to be "if you want it take it!" There were fights all the time, may goblins did fall to their deaths every day but that didn't cause any mourning at all, just a whole lot of gloating on behalf of the poor dead ones. Empathy and compassion were alien concepts here and she did find out that the goblins in fact were rules by a sort of king but that his rule was what she would describe as terrible at its best. The inhabitants of the city were allowed to do as they pleased as long as the king got the best food and got to punish someone from time to time.

Soon she did discover that there were things these creatures did fear though, deep down underneath the city there were systems of caves and gorges and some were flooded by underground rivers. Apparently something did live within these lakes and whatever it was, the goblins didn't dare to mention it. Sometimes they had to approach the rivers to get water and even though it was a rare event the ones sent did sometimes not return. CeKay wondered what sort of creature this could be, if it lived that deep within the mountains it was probably natural, not something Morgoth had created but that didn't mean that it was benign in any way. The world was old and who knew what sort of life had thrived there before the valar started to shape the world, it could be a survivor of a far older world than this.

The mountain held many secrets and she wanted to discover them all, so she started to climb down, the goblins had primitive stairs and ladders and she knew that they had to have a very good eyesight to be able to navigate in this near complete darkness. Here and there fluorescent moss or mushrooms did lighten up the surroundings but she didn't need those. She used her infrared vision and could thus venture down the narrow cracks with relative ease.

The rock itself was old and brittle and she found plenty of gems and precious metals down there but that wasn't interesting to her at all. She was searching for life now and indeed she did find it too. There were a huge lake there, it filled several caves and it was hard to tell how large this system of water filled caverns was but it had to be enormous. It probably reached the surface here and there for she saw fish in the water and it was perhaps connected to lakes up there. CeKay didn't need air, she could live underwater if she wanted to and so she started to explore the cave system systematically. She had a sort of sonar and created a map of each cave as she went through them and she kept going for days before she finally encountered that thing which the goblins did fear.

At first she believed that this was a whale for it was massive and it moved slowly too, but a whale cannot live in an underwater cave and as she got closer she realized that this was something rather odd. It had perhaps been an octopus or something very similar to an octopus but now it was something very different. It was huge and its shape very strange and she did realize that this was no mere animal. It had a sort of intelligence and it was cold and patient. The thing started chasing her the moment it realized that it wasn't alone and she had to really struggle to keep it at bay. She could swim way faster than this huge beast and so she escaped it but she had seen that it had a huge mouth with vicious teeth. CeKay decided that she had seen enough, there had to be more than just one of these things for no species can consist of just one individual and so she retreated towards the goblin city yet again. On the way she did find also some strange colourless lizards with no eyes and insects which had lost all colour too, and their antennae were many times the size of their bodies.

When she did get closer to the city she did see how these creatures gathered food, they set traps within the woods and brought in all sorts of living creatures, from the small like mice and voles to deer and birds. Everything edible was eaten and not a scrap was left. The goblins did store the food in larders and it was rather apparent that they ate even rotten food willingly. There didn't seem to be any knowledge of how to preserve anything. She was scurrying by one of the larders when she heard a sound, sometimes the goblins would bring in living beings as well as dead ones and she got curious. This larder was a small cave and it was stuffed full of things, some primitive jars held huge grubs which probably had been pulled out of rotting trees and other jars held fish which by the smell had to be months old. The sound came from the back of the cave where things were hung and she gaped when she saw what it was, it was an elf. He was hanging by his feet with his hands bound behind his back and he was gagged and seemed to be unconscious and he did appear to have been in a fight for he was bloody and appeared to be wounded. CeKay almost panicked, she couldn't let these goblins kill an elf! She had to get him out of there, and fast.

She ran over and cut the crude ropes which held him and lifted him down, he was decidedly an avari and he was burning hot and probably very ill. CeKay dragged him out of the larder and listened carefully. There were no goblins nearby so she carried the elf with her upwards until she reached a sort of narrow crack in the rock. The goblins hadn't explored that yet for it seemed to be too small for anyone to use for anything but she had discovered that there was a rather large cave behind it and there was even a small stream going through it. She sort of hauled the unconscious elf into the cave and then she laid him down to access the damage. It was rather bad, he had a nasty cut across his stomach and it was clearly infected and he had a lot of smaller ones almost everywhere. He wore just a pair of bloody doeskin pants and a leather ribbon had been tied around his braid which by now had come undone. The elf was groaning and she knew he needed help right away. She created some light using her powers and then she washed the wounds and cleaned them carefully. She did cauterize some of them and the huge one she fixed using nanites. They sort of glued the wound back together again and made sure that the tissue would heal well.

She got the poisons out of his blood and then she started monitoring his heart and breath. He was weak and needed food and water and so she returned to the larder and found some relatively fresh meat, a rabbit and a sort of large bird. She used some clay to form bowls she heated up and then she made some thin broth. She was no cook but at least it had some nutrition in it. The elf remained unconscious for more than a day, his body was working hard to fix the damage and she was relieved when he finally started to move. He did look better now that she had washed him and gotten rid of the dirt and blood and she did see that he was a very handsome fellow. The hair was rather dark with a soft mahogany glow to it and he had dark green eyes. The elf did wake up with a yell and she laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, he did look terrified and CeKay put a finger across her lips to indicate that she wanted him to be quiet. The green eyes were enormous and filled with disbelief. CeKay smiled and didn't remove her hand. "Be still, there are goblins near by"

He groaned again and closed his eyes, he was still in pain but no longer in danger and CeKay wished that she had had some blankets or anything like that. The cave was very cold. "Where am I? Who are you? How…how did you get me out of there?"

She sat down and held his hand. "You are in a small cave not far from the larder where they…held you. My name is CeKay, I carried you out of there"

The elf gasped and swallowed hard. "A larder, they were gonna eat me? Oh Eru, I…"

CeKay patted his hand. "I know, don't speak, you are weak. You need to rest if we are to get you out of here unseen"

He frowned. "How is it that you found me? What are you doing here? Those goblins are very dangerous"

She smiled. "Yes, I know, but they are stupid too, and I have some special abilities. Worry not, I will get you out, what is your name and how come these little bastards got you?"

The elf sighed and relaxed a bit, he was still a bit pale and he shivered. "I am Charadan, I was with two other of my tribe when we were ambushed by orcs. I got wounded and tried to run back to the camp to warn the others but I passed out before I could get so far and the goblins sort of picked me up"

CeKay cringed. "That sounds like bad luck indeed, I have some broth here, do drink it. You need your strength"

Charadan looked at her with confusion for she did glow slightly and the odd light seemed to come from everywhere but she had saved him and he grasped the bowl and did eat. It wasn't the best food he had had but it wasn't bad either and it was warm. CeKay gave him some water too and he drank deeply. The fever had left him very thirsty and she just hoped that he would regain enough strength to be able to leave soon. This was no place for healing even if it was relatively safe. He put the bowl down. "You haven't answered my question, what are you doing in here, it is a goblin city is it not?"

CeKay nodded. "It is, I was curious, I haven't encountered goblins this malformed before and wanted to explore, see if they pose a threat. Apparently they do"

Charadan rubbed his belly, there was just a scar there now and he bit his lower lip. "Are you a healer?"

Cekay shrugged. "Kind of, I am many things, rest now. You need to recover. I can hide but it will be very hard to hide us both if you aren't able to move"

He still looked confused but he did allow her to re braid his hair and help him find a more comfortable position. The floor of the cave was made up of sand and it was soft but here and there smaller and larger rocks did hide and they weren't that comfortable to lay on. CeKay did lay down next to him to provide heat and Charadan did slowly fall asleep, he was probably terribly tired and his body needed rest more than anything else to recover completely.

She did make the lights go almost out completely, she didn't want any goblins to find the cave and she wanted to be undisturbed. The elf was very lucky that she had come this way, or else he would have ended up as a meal. The very idea made her shudder, very few species did accept the devouring of other intelligent creatures. She started to wonder how she could eradicate this goblin plague, they shouldn't be allowed to continue this way, they were a danger to the elves and the other goodly beings of these areas and CeKay was rather sure that it would be a good deed if she helped the world get rid of these beasts.

Charadan didn't wake up again for quite a while, she let him sleep and she didn't need to move so she just laid there and made sure that he was comfortable. That the goblins had been brazen enough to drag an elf in there as food told her they were way too bold for comforts and also that they didn't fear retaliation. So they feared light? Oh she would bring the light for sure, and everything else they were afraid of. But first things first, Charadan had to be returned to his people and she had to be sure he was strong enough first. She had more broth and it was easy to warm it once it was needed. When he did wake up he did look a lot better and she gave him more broth and water. He did eat in silence and she could sense that he still was feeling rather confused and that he didn't really knew what to think of her.

She did check his wounds again, they had healed very well and there was little pain now, just a little soreness here and there and she was sure that he was a rather tough one who could push himself through some pain, in order to get out of there. She made sure that he ate everything that was left of the broth and then she ordered him to rest a little bit longer. In the mountain there was no night or day but the goblins had a sort of resting period and she wanted to leave while their guard was down. She laid down next to him again and he stared at her. "You are so warm, it is like sitting next to an open stove, and you are so very pretty too. Are you a maia?"

CeKay shook her head. "No, you may compare me with one though"

He cocked his head. "Then I am honoured to be here with you"

CeKay smiled and tried to remain calm, there was adoration within those green eyes and she just hoped that he wouldn't become infatuated with her. That would be hopeless from the start. She just closed her eyes and pretended to be sleeping and after a while she did hear that the sounds of the goblin city became fewer and more faint. She got up and smiled. "We can leave now, you must stay close to me and don't make a sound"

He nodded and got up, felt how his legs and arms did function once more and he grinned. "I am as good as new"

CeKay sent him a warm smile. "Good, lets go. The goblins wont sleep for all that long"

They did climb down from the crack rather silently, CeKay guided him down onto a rather rackety walk way made from the remains of an old carriage and she could smell goblins near by. She grasped Charadan's hand and whispered. "Not a sound, I can camouflage us both but it won't work if you let go!"

He held onto her hand in confusion but didn't make a noise as they moved forth, the path back to the exit was already mapped within her head and finding the way was no problem at all but she still had obstacles to cross. In one place they had to cross a guarded bridge and there were two rather large goblins standing there with spears. CeKay did the only thing she could do, to pass them by would be impossible since the bridge was very narrow, instead she kicked one of them over the edge and Charadan did the same with the other and then they ran over as fast as they could. Running while holding hands isn't that easy but they did manage to get to the exit. That was guarded too, by more than just two goblins and they wouldn't be so easily fooled. CeKay had to think fast, the goblins had swords, crude blades but they were sharp enough to kill and she didn't want Charadan to get hurt again. She whispered to him. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you so"

He obeyed, a bit nervous but he did trust her and CeKay released nanites again, let them attack the rock around them and created a veritable tornado of rock dust. The goblins were confused, there were no wind so why did the dust move like that and suddenly the dust started to behave like there was a will behind it. The goblins tried to run but it was too late, dust particles were thrown at them with such force their lungs and airways got filled within seconds and they all dropped down, dead. Cekay grasped Charadan by the hand yet again and pulled him with her outside. It was dark there and cold and rather wet but she didn't hesitate. They did run down from the mountainside and he did lead the way now. He knew where his village was and CeKay wanted to know more about this area before she returned to the city to clean up.

They ran until it got light, then they rested a little and by noon they reached the valley where Charadan's tribe lived. They weren't many but they were fierce and brave and CeKay sensed the shock and joy they felt when Charadan suddenly returned to them. Some ran forth and embraced him and others cheered. He pointed at CeKay who came behind him. "Everybody, this is CeKay, she saved me. The goblins were gonna eat me"

The chief stepped forth, he did look like a very hardened warrior and he stared at her for a while. "You saved my brother's son, I am very grateful, whoever you are"

CeKay bowed her head. " I just did what every decent person would, it was an honour"

The chief tilted his head. "You are no elf, I can tell that for sure, are you sent by the valar?"

CeKay shook her head. "No, but I am powerful, and I want to raze this threat from these mountains but I need information first Have you seen the goblins often?"

The chief smiled, a rather stiff smile. "My tribe came here hundreds of years ago, the goblins were already there then, but they were hardly a threat. Small and few and more nervous than a mouse and the only damage they did was stealing every now and then. They were never more than bothersome and a slight nuisance at times but it changed a decade or two ago, they got bolder, ventured farther from their nest and sometimes they do pair up with orcs too. We have lost several of ours to them, we were sure we would lose Charadan here too."

CeKay looked very concentrated, she was thinking fast. "So they have expanded their territory, it is not likely then that they will stop anytime soon"

The elf nodded. "We have considered moving, but this area is secluded, and there aren't that many orcs here. We like it"

CeKay sighed and made a grimace. "Good, I will do whatever I can to remove those goblins from the face of this earth, I cannot let them roam freely when I know they are this dangerous and wicked."

The chief looked puzzled. "You must be very powerful if you think you can eradicate these beasts, there are many of them, and they are like spiders, they can be everywhere"

CeKay nodded. "And like spiders they do go for the unsuspecting, the weak and the young right?"

The elf nodded again, his eyes sad. "Yes, children have disappeared, we think the goblins got them!"

CeKay felt an odd taste in her mouth, knew it was bile. She almost snarled as she decided what to do next. "Exactly, they are servants of the dark one, whence I take them out there will be one threat less to worry about for the future."

The elves were staring at her and it felt a bit odd, she didn't like the attention. She turned to the small crowd. "Do not leave the village tonight, stay close and don't worry about me. I will be alright, the goblins on the other hand…."

Charadan came over again and he hesitated for a moment, then he leaned forth and hugged her quickly. "Thank you, I owe you my life. "

She hugged him back, a bit awkwardly but it was a hug nevertheless. "I will return after I am done, then you can celebrate, alright?"

He smiled and CeKay felt a sort of emotion she hadn't experienced before, a protectiveness? She had no idea of what it was so she turned around and started to run back towards the goblin city. Now she could travel at full speed and it didn't take her long to return to the entrance. It was soon dark again and she bared her teeth. The anger she felt was burning hot and she let manifest itself in her appearance. She was glowing as she entered the city, like a star fallen from heaven and her hands became blades. Now she shed everything even resembling an elf, she had a humanoid shape but no real features expect her eyes, glowing white. Around her a cloud of nanites formed, all creating tremendous heat and she started to move forwards through the city. Dry wood caught fire spontaneously, ropes snapped, rock split, a roar of overheated air could be heard as she rushed forth surrounded by heat and steam. The rivers and streams she did encounter were turned into water vapour instantaneously and many goblins were literally boiled alive as she kept going. Some dared to attack only to be split apart by the glowing blades and the goblins probably believed that she was some sort of balrog, gone rogue. CeKay forgot about everything except this one task, destroying these goblins. She let her fire fill every crack and crevice, heat made the very mountain split up and rocks did fall from the roofs and bridges did collapse. Steam and some did burst forth from the peak as if from a volcano and she didn't leave any tunnel or cave untouched. What she left behind was a scorched and blackened killing field, everything was on fire and she didn't spare anyone.

She turned the entire nest into a killing field, there were no way to run and desperate goblins tried to escape by going downwards towards the lowest levels and the lakes. She chased them, relentlessly. Screams filled the air and yet she didn't hesitate. These creatures were vermin and this was what she had been created to do, remove such filth. She didn't stop until the entire system of tunnels and caves was scoured clean, burned to the very rock itself. There was nothing left and she let herself rise in the hot air and she shot out of one of the vents which had formed on top of the mountain and landed next to it, still a creature of sheer flame.

She waited for a few moments, feeling the power surging through her, then she allowed herself to return to her previous state, looking exactly the way she had before. She smoothed out her hair before she started walking down the mountain, feeling rather pleased with herself. She called her horse to her and rode back to the elven village, on the way she felled a deer to bring as a gift and she felt an odd thrill running down her spine. She had been an observer but perhaps she could be a protector as well? She couldn't change the large events but what about those small things? Yes, things like this would be okay to do, after all, it was very useful.

The elves were waiting for her as she entered the village, they had seen the smoke from a distance and they had feared for her but she raised an arm and grinned widely. "It is done, the goblins are gone!"

Everybody cheered and she got off the horse and was hugged again by Charadan, it felt good and she hugged him back, with zeal. "Let us celebrate, this is a day of joy"

She let him hold her hand as she was being dragged forth into a circle of singing and chanting elves. "Yes, a day of joy!"