This is probably the soon to be last chapter for this story as I think I have totally exhausted my Muse over Mornel for now. I doubt Mornel or any of the Eldar will have an actual confrontation with the Armada and Ar Pharazon's army. Yet someone must have been there when they landed and to mark the location of the caves where they ended up stuck until Dagor Dagorath.
The Breaking of Arda
The Breaking of Arda
Second Age 3319, somewhere on the outer Pelori
The day had started off harmlessly enough. Weeks of waiting for invasion had turned into months. Some of the Eldar were hopeful that the Numenoreans were having second thoughts about defying the Ban. Mornel was not so sure. Away from the sea, the Teleri grew restless. Many petitioned their king to be allowed to return home. The warriors posted to guard the pass to Tirion and the slopes of the Pelori grew restless too. Troops were reassigned to keep them fresh. The patience of the cities hosting the refugees grew thinner by the day. Something had to give and it finally did.
"And Cousin Turgon was so mad, he ordered Tuor to take the entire Telerin navy and haul their ships off to the Southern Ice!" Celeglass reported. They were on an inspection tour of the defences to ensure they would be ready when the invasion came.
"So did he?" Mornel gasped.
"Nay, Ada was there to smooth things over," the prince reported. "The navy could stay, but they had to haul their ships into the forests or find a bay nearby to anchor in so as to keep from cluttering up the inlet."
"I am glad to hear your father is doing… Caranthir, what's up?" Mornel glanced up as a flustered Caranthir came bounding into the room, his face redder than was the norm.
"Follow me," her brother said curtly. Mornel and Celeglass followed him hastily through the warren of tunnels in this particular fort. Mornel had long learned that the Pelori watch-towers had no fixed plan but seemed to have been constructed by the whims of whichever Vanyar lordling was put in charge by Ingwe. Many were simply too unsound or frivolous to be of use, even in the First Age before they fell into disrepair. At least the fort they were now residing in had had its plans approved by Lord Aule. Rumour had it that Ingwion himself had designed and built this fort under an assumed name. The fort straddled the ridge of the Pelori, with its beacon tower located on the landward side of the mountains.
It was always a start when turning a sharp corner, they suddenly found themselves in full sunlight. The lookout point was so well-hidden, it was all but invisible from below. Yet it offered unparalleled view of the sea, a sea over which the dark sails of a mighty armada was approaching fast.
"Sir, what shall we do?" the young sentry who had raised the alarm fretted. He was barely into his hundredth year.
"Light the signal beacons, and send a message to Tirion," Mornel responded. A pair of soldiers were quickly despatched to light the beacon fire.
Judging by their approach, the ships had no intention of stopping at Tol Eressea and they were too far north for a landing at Alqualonde. Perhaps they hoped to make a landing on the open and desolate beaches of Araman to assemble their forces before the push into Valinor? There were so many sails. Mornel's heart sank. The few warriors at Alqualonde would never be able to hold them back. Perhaps those at the pass would fare better.
"Why doesn't Lord Ulmo stop them?" Caranthir grumbled.
"Perhaps he couldn't." There had been no word from the Valar, or their Maiar.
"We can't just let them land, can we?" Without waiting for his Feanorian cousins' reply, Celeglass took off running, shouting to all the other warriors to follow him.
"Come back here, you fool!" Caranthir bellowed and raced after him. The prince's enthusiasm was infectious and he was soon joined by a mob of the fort's residents. Mornel trusted Caranthir had the clout to rein them in even as they clamoured to be let out onto the beach to face their foe.
"Don't! You'll jam the mechanism!" Caranthir roared. Mornel groaned as her fears were confirmed by an ominous creaking followed by a muffled crash. The vertical cart that provided them with a quick and safe descent down the steep outer Pelori had been acting up of late and they had yet to send for an engineer to take a look at it. She hurried to the hall where a dozen elves were staring down the empty shaft.
"Anyone hurt?" If anyone had been in that cart, there was little doubt they would now be exchanging greetings with Lord Namo.
"Thankfully no," Caranthir glared at a shamefaced Celeglass. The only other way down to the beach was a circuitous trail that would take two hours even at a brisk march. Exposed against the bare cliffs, they would make a tempting target for any enemy archers. Mornel sighed. They were already badly outnumbered based on the number of ships she had counted from the lookout post.
"We go up. Perhaps we can roll some boulders down if they get close enough," Mornel exchanged a glance with her brother. It was a faint chance.
She was calling a retreat to the beacon tower where a small pass led into the inner Pelori. If the signallers had done their work, the rest of the watch towers would be alerted to the danger by now. However, it was doubtful any of the other forts could engage the enemy before they reached Alqualonde. There was an ominously strong wind blowing in from the sea, which would wreak havoc for their archers.
Above their heads, Vingilot hung lower in the sky than was normal and too far west. No doubt Earendil was worried about the armada now making landfall. For the first time since Tuor, mortals had set foot upon Valinor. Mornel urged the stragglers onwards. She had a nagging feeling she had to get everyone up to the upper fort. There was no tell-tale smoke to signal that the beacons had been lit. No one had gone up to check the wood in a while, and she feared the wood might have gotten wet thanks to their complacency. Hurrying onwards, they lost sight of the armada as they crested the ridge.
In the upper fort tucked behind the rise of the ridge, they encountered the two warriors who had run on ahead to light the beacon fire. They were struggling to get the hopelessly wet wood alight.
Then it happened.
The ground beneath their feet tilted and there was an almighty roar. There were screams of fear and shock. Mornel almost stumbled into a chasm that had opened up before her and was only saved by Caranthir yanking her back from the abyss. Elves were tossed about and thrown onto the ground by the violence. It seemed forever before the shaking stopped. Strong arms were holding her tight.
"Moryo, you can let me go now…" Mornel mumbled into the front of her older brother's tunic.
"An earth-shake… There has never been one so bad in Aman…" Caranthir muttered as he released his sister. All around them, their warriors were picking themselves off the ground. Most were shaken but otherwise unhurt. One elf had fallen over a log and twisted his ankle. Another two unfortunates were pinned down by a fallen tree.
"Is everyone alright?" Earendil's voice called out. The Vingilot had broken from her routine and now hovered low over them. A rope ladder was dropped for Voronwe and another crew member to reach the warriors.
Caranthir flinched visibly at seeing the Silmaril so close in his still-shaken state, a painful reminder of the Oath that had marred his first life. He scurried off to help lift the tree off the injured elves. Fortunately, it was not a large tree but the ellyn might have a few broken bones from the impact.
"What happened?" Mornel asked as she surveyed the damage from the deck of the Vingilot.
Caranthir had declined to board the ship when Earendil offered to lift their wounded off the Pelori. Some of the warriors accepted the offer, eager to avoid a long trek off the mountain. Others like Caranthir opted to make their way off the Pelori on foot. Celeglass was not one to let such an opportunity pass him by and was now trying his hand at steering the vessel under Earendil's watchful eye.
"I don't know. Maybe the Valar… The stars have shifted…" Earendil was also struggling to make sense of it. Something definitely felt different. Mornel turned to the two more seriously wounded elves laid out on the deck. The elf with the twisted ankle was tending to them and she set her mind at ease, knowing he was a trained medic. Earendil had judged it best they set a course for Alqualonde first, then Tirion.
"What happened to the armada?" It was Celeglass who first spotted the much-altered coastline as they crested the top of the ridge. The entire side of the mountain where the greater part of their fort once stood was gone. "Looks like half the Pelori dropped down on them!"
"You are right, young one," Thorondor's mighty voice boomed as he swooped by them. "Eru Illuvatar has judged them," the messenger of Lord Manwe added. "Aman has been removed from the circles of Arda."
"What does this all mean?" Mornel blurted in astonishment but Thorondor did not reply.
Instead, he reassured Earendil that his wife was quite safe, visiting her maternal grandparents on their farm when the earth-shake demolished her tower. He also assured Mornel that the other watchtowers along the Pelori had survived with few casualties. A mighty wave had caused some damage to Alqualonde but stopped short of the palace where the few remaining residents dwelled. The far south where the Teleri ships had sought shelter was untouched thanks to Lord Ulmo's protection. The few mariners who had been caught out in open water and thus scattered were now being guided back to Aman by Great Eagles and Lord Ulmo's Maiar.
Escorting them part of the way, the Great Eagle then flew off in the direction of Lord Manwe's mountain. Earendil set his vessel down in the ruined harbour of Alqualonde to pick up any wounded who might need transportation to Tirion, among them was Cousin Arakano, who had tumbled down a flight of stairs in the palace and broken his arm thanks to the earth-shake.
What does Thorondor mean by Aman has been removed from the Circles of Arda? Hopefully the Valar would be more forthcoming in answering their questions this time.
Author's Notes:
Probably 1 more chapter as an epilogue to round things up a bit. This will definitely cause some upheaval in Valinor and some major changes to the geography as it did in Middle-earth.