CN Fight, death, injury, signs of trauma and early borderline disorder
Naugrim (part 2)
Maedhros was too much of a general not to take such a warning seriously; too many lost battles had made him cautious so that he took no more risk. Without much ado, he ordered Rethtulu to send out scouts to scout the path ahead of them while Maglor tried to locate what he had just heard.
Well, the children had a Maia among their ancestors. Did he really think that none of this was reflected in them? Elros seemed to have an idea of what lay ahead of them, and Maedhros might have done well to listen to it. But how far did this ability extend? Did Elros even possess the gift of foresight? Maglor had heard that some Eldar were capable of this, but never looked into it further. Melian was one of their ancestors, and Lúthien had also been capable of powerful magical chants, no doubt taught to her by her mother. How would this affect the twins?
"We'll wait here," Maedhros commanded as the handful of scouts departed. Soon they had disappeared into the tall grass and were barely visible even to sharp elven eyes.
"Here we are unprotected in the open countryside," Maglor said to himself.
"If someone is lying in wait for us up ahead, they know we are here and want to lure us into a trap," said Maedhros. "If there is to be a fight, then better here, where we can overlook everything, than between the trees. There should still be enough rotting dwarf bones to show that this forest is a good place for an ambush."
Elrond and Elros were sitting on their horses, rather lost in front of Maglor, and didn't seem to know what to do with the situation. Maglor saw clearly that the prospect of a fight scared them. He too was worried that he might put them in such danger. He really should have listened to his brother better.
He put his arms around the children. "I will protect you", he promised. Now it couldn't be helped that they were here anyway.
Maedhros ordered the guards to prepare for a possible attack and to keep an eye on their surroundings. Orcs could be surprisingly stealthy if they wanted to, but the tall grass would make it easier even for humans to hide from them.
Then they waited.
A light breeze brushed through the grass, making it wave gently like the waves of the sea. In the distance, a buzzard cried out for prey, but nothing else could be heard. The land lay empty and silent. There was nothing to suggest that they might be in danger here.
"Elros, has this happened to you often?", Maglor wanted to know. If all he could do was wait, then he could spend the time trying to find out. "Has it ever happened that you knew about things before they occurred?"
Elros seemed embarrassed, as if he didn't like to talk about it. "Well," he kept hemming and hawing. "Sometimes we knew that atto would come home and have a present for us before amya had told us. I think they were sad because it ruined the surprise."
Maglor raised an eyebrow sceptically and wondered what might have led Elros to this assumption. He could not imagine that Earendil and Elwing would have been truly sad if their children had shown signs of such a special gift. Surely the boy had misinterpreted something there.
"You're talking about 'we'," Maglor continued. "Your brother too?"
The twins gave him a questioning, almost indignant look, as if to say, how he could only doubt that they were even alike in this aspect. Somehow they managed to make Maglor feel almost guilty for having doubted it for even a tiny moment. Elrond too, of course.
Maglor remembered all those knowing looks the twins exchanged so often and which seemed to say so much. He had always wondered if there was more to it. After this opening, he strongly believed that there was, and on their return, he set out to search the library for clues about special gifts. He had to admit to himself that he felt a bit overwhelmed. No matter what the world said about his family, he had never found it too challenging to have been involved in the education of his younger brothers. They had all been characterful in their own way, but in the end, they were all Eldar. Now, however, he had taken children into his care who could trace their ancestry back to the Ainur. He should not have assumed that this did not bring with it any special features.
He wondered what other surprises they had in store for him.
Maedhros had stopped bothering to talk to them and was staring at the forest. The guards had lined up around the wagons and had their hands on their weapons. Maglor stayed with the children behind the rows of soldiers, where they were safe. He sensed the twins' restlessness. Armed elves still caused fear in them, even if these elves protected them. Maglor hoped that there would not be a fight in the first place.
His hopes were suddenly shattered by a cry from the nearby forest, followed by clearly orcish howling. The scouts had been spotted and had roused the enemies who had lurked there. Elros had indeed been right about his foreboding.
One of the elves ran out of the forest, followed by a horde of orcs. Arrows flew after him, but he dashed away to avoid them.
"Archers!", Maedhros immediately ordered to give cover to the fleeing elf. The soldiers reacted instantly and took aim at the orcs. But they were not fast enough. The runner was hit by an orcish arrow and fell to the ground; Maglor could not tell if he had survived.
Maglor drew his own sword and put his free arm around the children, protecting them. He felt them freeze in shock, heard their hectic breathing and took their racing heartbeat.
"Whatever happens, stay with me. Then you'll be safe," he said insistently, hoping that through their panic they could hear him. He couldn't even imagine the horror the orcs' attack coupled with the sight of armed soldiers ready for battle had to unleash in them.
"Do not look," he added.
Frozen like two young fawns, the children in front of him sat on the horse and could not lift a finger.
Maglor estimated the number of orcs attacking at just under half a hosta. A large number for a group of marauding orcs. But Beleriand lay open and defenceless and the enemy had little to fear. So why rely on a small number to hide behind? They outnumbered Maedhros' and Maglor's soldiers by more than double. Now they were still Feanorians and the orcs there were only measly, but Maedhros had learned long ago never to underestimate his enemy. He had made that mistake once and it had brought him years of torture and cost him his right hand.
The sight of the orcs awakened Maedhros's ancient rage. He roared all his wrath against them, and only the sight of him ready for battle was enough to make some of the orcs hesitate. Long enough for the archers to shoot at them. At least a dozen orcs went down when almost every arrow found its target. The rest of the creatures, however, could not be stopped. Yelling, they ran towards the position of the elves.
Maglor itched to throw himself into the middle of the battle. But then he remembered the two children he was responsible for, and he could hold back. Maedhros seemed to be less able to hold back his fighting fury, for with a flashing sword he drove his horse and headed straight for the attacking orcs.
Maglor believed his heart stopped. Images flashed before his eyes. Maedhros stretched out in his own blood, eyes blank and dead. Maglor alone in a world he himself had abandoned to ruin, hated by all and without love. No, no no! No!
"Háno, áva care!" he cried after Maedhros. But he did not hear him.
At that moment something unexpected happened.
"Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"
Small, stocky figures in shimmering armour emerged from the undergrowth of the forest and pursued the attacking orcs with astonishing speed. It took only moments before they caught up with the surprised orcs and swept through their ranks with wide axe swings.
"Khazâd! Khazâd!", the dwarves shouted again and again as they mowed down the orcs.
"Charge!", Maglor commanded his guards. His heart still beat up to his neck, but the dwarves' arrival had cleared his mind.
All this had lasted but a few moments. Maedhros reached the orcs only moments after the dwarves, and if the dwarves were the anvil, he was the hammer that crushed his enemies. When Maedhros faced his enemy, it was as if he unleashed primal powers that hardly anyone had anything to oppose. Then he could do nothing else but fight and his whole mind was focused on destroying his enemies. Their father's fire burned hot in him, hot enough that he ran the risk of being burned by it.
The guards followed him and finally made short work of the orcs. Wiped out between the elves and dwarves, the tide turned quickly against them and they were crushed to destruction. No one escaped.
As fast as the haunting had begun, it was over again.
Maglor drove his horse and hurried after his brother. His breath went frantically. With a grim expression on his face, Maedhros sat on his horse among the slain enemies, the bloody sword still in his hand. Nothing seemed to have happened to him. Maglor breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was reckless of you to rush ahead like that," he scolded his brother.
"Maybe so", Maedhros said coolly. "But I knew that the naugrim were there."
If Maglor had been less worried about the children, he might have noticed the dwarves earlier as well. "Something could still have happened to you, brother."
The look with which Maedhros greeted him made Maglor shudder. There was something in that look that did not please him at all.
The bodies of the orcs seemed to disturb Elrond and Elros. Still they trembled and stared at the dead bodies. Maglor realized that it had not been good of him to bring them so close, but he had been driven by concern for his brother. He led the horse away from the scene a little.
Meanwhile, some of the soldiers had already begun to collect the orcs' bodies and throw them in a pile so that they could be burned. Others brought the wagons with the weapons to be traded. It was those very dwarves they had wanted to meet, who had stabbed the orcs in the back.
"You have done well, Elros, in warning us," Maglor praised.
The children looked up at him with big eyes from which the fear still shone. Maglor pulled the twins into his arms, comforting them.
"You have nothing more to fear now," he reassured them, "They are all dead and can do you no more harm."
Grateful for the protection his embrace offered them, they snuggled up to him.
"Were they orcs?", Elrond asked sniffling. "They are even more terrible than amya told us!"
"As long as I am with you, they will never be able to harm you", Maglor promised.
So young and already they had to experience the horrors the enemy brought! And at the same time he was astonished that they had never seen orcs before. At least in this, Elwing and Earendil had done a good job keeping the enemy away from their children.
An enemy at least, Maglor thought grimly to himself.
He saw his brother come to him along with some of the dwarves. He got off his horse, helped the children down and then came to meet them.
One of the dwarves in particularly handsome armour and armed with an impressively large axe stepped forward, apparently the leader of the small group. He pointed to Elrond and Elros.
"Yours?", he wanted to know.
"No, but I am still responsible for them," Maglor replied.
The fear of the orcs was far from children clung to Maglor's legs and peered cautiously past him. Still, the dwarves seemed to draw out their curiosity again. They were hardly bigger than the twins, which was certainly an unusual sight after spending so much time under tall Noldor.
The dwarf growled and put the axe down in front of him to lean on the handle of the weapon. Maglor was amazed that this small creature could even lift such a powerful weapon. On the other hand: It was a dwarf …
"Then they just have learned a lesson for life," the dwarf commented dryly, without elaborating further. "I am Baldur, the squad leader. And you are the lad who wants to show us some nice swords?"
Lad? Maglor almost laughed. How old might this dwarf be? A hundred? Two hundred? Hard to tell with those bearded fellas. But he was definitely much older than this Baldur.
Maedhros stood at his brother's side. "I am Maedhros Nelyafinwe. I'm sure you know my name."
Baldur looked at him. "Indeed. One hears this and that about you and your kind these days - not always good. But Azaghâl has always spoken favourably of you and we remember your brother as well. That is the only reason we are here. So show me."
These days Maedhros rarely introduced himself with his father-name. Probably he had wanted to remember who he was. The Feanorians had always been known for their blacksmithing skills.
While Maedhros went to the weapons with the dwarves to inspect them, Maglor felt one of the twins tug timidly at his sleeve. It was Elros who gestured him sheepishly to bend down to him. Maglor followed suit.
"May I ask you something?" Elros wanted to know whisperingly, as if he was afraid he could be heard.
"Always," Maglor assured him.
"Even if... well, it's a stupid question?"
"There are no stupid questions. Ask all the questions you want."
"Really?" Elros did not seem convinced. "I wanted to know why they have so much hair on their faces.
"Some men at home have beards too," Elrond added in dead earnest.
"But these dwarves have hair everywhere!"
Maglor had serious trouble not laughing out loud.
"Dwarves have beards too, only a bit more voluptuous," he giggled.
"You said there were no silly questions," complained Elros. "Then why are you laughing?"
Maglor fuzzled his hair, "That wasn't a stupid question either, but a very clever one. I just didn't expect it to bother you that much. You know, I've heard that Dwarf women are supposed to have beards too."
"Really?", the twins marvelled in chorus and looked at him tall.
"The naugrim take very good care of their women, so I've never seen a Dwarf woman before," Maglor confessed. "Or I've seen one already and just didn't notice. The rumour is that there are no dwarf women at all and that the dwarves just come out of holes in the ground.
Oh, he really shouldn't put such fleas in the children's ears, but he was just enjoying it too much! Nobody called him a lad without getting off scot-free.
He rose again. "Come. Let's go and see my brother and make sure he's not up to any mischief." Taking each of the twins by the hand, he went to Maedhros.
Maedhros was already in the middle of business talks with Baldur. The dwarf had some weapons shown to him as examples. With an expert eye, he inspected the steel and its workmanship. He swung a short sword on a trial basis.
"Well, yes," Baldur commented with a grim expression - as far as Maglor could make out among all the beard hairs. "I have seen worse steel."
"You will hardly find better steel," Maedhros emphasized, to counter the "but" that resonated in Baldur's words. He drew his own sword. "Look here, Master Dwarf. Forged in Valinor by my own father. And now compare my sword with the weapon in your hands. You will hardly notice the difference.
"Yes, yes, Feanor this, Feanor that. What matters is the quality of the steel, and that has yet to be tested." Baldur was not impressed. "This looks like it's going to be a long one. I don't feel like dealing with it while there are some orcs rotting away back there. And I don't like the forest there either. Follow me."
So they packed their things and left with the dwarves. Soon they came to the Dwarf Road, which led along the river Ascar in a straight line towards Belegost and Nogrod. It was evenly paved and still well maintained these days, although it was hardly used any more. If dwarves built anything, it was for eternity.
Baldur led them to one of the fortified posts along the road. In days gone by, the dwarves had regularly set up such posts to store provisions, but also to provide overnight accommodation, before leaving the shelter of their mountains completely and the wild expanse of Beleriand lay before them. So he had no intention of letting them into Belegost. Maglor had expected nothing else, but he would have liked to show the children a Dwarven city from the inside.
This time it was Elrond who secretly tugged at his sleeve and asked for his attention. "Why did the dwarf lie?" he asked quietly as Maglor bent down to him.
Maglor looked at him confused. "What do you think Baldur was lying about?" he wondered.
"He pretended he didn't like the swords, but that's not true," Elrond explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Oh, did he? Well, he will try to keep the price down by not admitting that our weapons are of good quality. Because then he would have to pay correspondingly more for them. If he pretends not to buy them because they are too low quality, he can get us to lower the price so that we keep him as a buyer."
He looked at Elrond and saw that he had not really understood this. "But actually, he was totally enthusiastic. I don't get it."
Well, enthusiasm was different... "What is it that makes him so enthusiastic?" Maglor asked.
"Well, I saw it. I just..." Elrond suddenly interrupted himself and looked at his brother. It was almost as if the twins were having a mute conversation. But after realising that Elros could apparently sense future events, Maglor would not be surprised.
Elrond took a deep breath and then said: "I just know when people are lying. If your brother says he hates us, I know that's not true. I know that he never wanted to hurt us. Or that you yourself do not believe that amya will come for us, although you always say the opposite."
That hit Maglor like a hammer blow. It was boiling hot for him that he had completely misjudged these children. He should never have underestimated Melian's legacy. Elrond and Elros were blessed with far more gifts than he had expected.
"Brother, have you seen a ghost?" Maedhros shouted to him, tearing him from his thoughts. "Is all well with you?"
"Yes, all is well", Maglor hurried to say. He had to sort out his own thoughts before he could talk about it.
"That was a lie too," Elrond whispered to him.
Maglor tried to collect himself. "Do you possess this ability too, Elros?"
This one shrugged his shoulders. "Elrond is much better than me." He pulled a face, apparently not happy that there was one thing they weren't identical in every way.
Elrond looked up at him worried. "Have I done something wrong? Amya always said, you shouldn't eavesdrop on other people because it's rude."
"You haven't done anything wrong, little Elrond," Maglor stressed. "Apparently, you both possess very special gifts, and that is something to be very proud of."
"But we are still giving you trouble," Elrond concluded.
"And we don't want that," Elros added.
Maglor saw that he should be more open with them in the future. Apparently, he couldn't hide much from them.
"Well, it's like this." He took a deep breath and considered his next words carefully. "Yes, I have doubts about your mother coming back. But I also see how much you hope she will. Knowing how attached you are to her, I have let you believe so as not to hurt you."
Then they fell into silence. Maglor felt the sadness in the children as it came back up in them.
"I would understand if you hate me for what I have done," he whispered, wishing he could undo everything.
Elrond looked up to him and in his eyes seemed a wisdom far beyond his years. Wordlessly, he took Maglor's hand. Maglor was so stunned that he did not respond. Elrond seemed to expect no words either.
So they finally reached the stopover Baldur had mentioned. It was a fortified farmstead, with a large stone building at its centre that provided sleeping quarters for a good fifty Dwarves. Since neither Maglor nor Maedhros were keen to sleep with so many Dwarves in such a small space, they decided that only some of the soldiers accompanying them would spend the night here. The remaining Elves and Dwarves looked for a place to sleep in the barn, in the camp or simply in the open air.
"Are the noble princes too fine for a few Dwarves, eh?" Baldur snorted, but agreed to it.
Maglor wondered how Elrond had been right in saying that Baldur was far more interested in the Feanorian weapons than he was willing to admit. Of course, Maedhros had exaggerated when he compared his own sword to the weapon of a common foot soldier. Yet their weapons were not entirely without quality. This knowledge could still be of use to them in the coming negotiations, and at least for the moment Maglor preferred to think about it rather than deal with the twins' gifts.
Each side kept to itself, and not all the furtive glances cast at the other group were friendly. Just because Maedhros and Caranthir had not left the Dwarves with the very worst memories, it did not mean that friendship prevailed between them. The tension was almost palpable.
The twins kept close to Maglor, but turned shyly towards the Dwarves. Maglor looked at them as they were literally burning with curiosity. They knew Elves and humans, but Dwarves were something completely different.
He smiled. Then he leaned down to them and said: "You may go to them. But be kind and polite, will you?"
The children looked up at him with big eyes. Then they grinned at each other and scurried away. Baldur watched their coming sceptically and then threw a critical glance at Maglor without pausing in the grinding of his axe.
Elrond stood in front of the Dwarf and crossed his arms behind his back. "Hello, Master Dwarf. I am Elrond and this is my brother Elros," he introduced himself.
"Aha", Baldur said. "In five minutes I'll forget which of you is which anyway."
"That's really not difficult," Elros assured him. "My brother is the coward."
Elrond pushed his elbow into his side. "Not true at all!" Then he turned to Baldur again: " Master Dwarf, we wanted to ask if we could touch your beard. It looks so soft."
Maglor noticed how Maedhros had watched the scene in amusement and was now grinning inside himself.
"The beards of the little creatures seem to have done it to them," he whispered to Maedhros and had to hold on to himself in order not to grin too much.
Baldur grumbled sullenly. "If that's what it takes. But don't pull on it! Or you'll get something on your fingers."
If he had hoped to be left in peace afterwards, he had been quite wrong. The twins were delighted with the dwarves' beards and the elaborate braids they woven into them. Soon they convinced Baldur that he should braid their own hair in the same way. So that kept them busy for a while.
Maglor watched them smiling for a while. But then the memories of the day's events came back. It was time for him to talk to his brother about it.
"Nelyo, do you have an ear for me?" he turned to Maedhros in a lowered voice.
Maedhros had sat in his place in silence until now, eating his meagre supper. He looked up at Maglor. "What is it?"
"I want to talk to you about Elrond and Elros."
For a tiny moment a dismissive look flitted across Maedhros' face. He quickly concealed it under a neutral expression, as if he didn't want to be seen. Maglor credited him for getting involved in this conversation.
"Elros seems to have a certain talent," Maedhros remarked.
"More than that," said Maglor. "It seems that both of them possess the gift of foresight to a certain degree. They also seem to be able to see into the hearts of others, Elrond even more than Elros. And there are those looks they always exchange with each other. As if they could communicate with each other without words."
"You sound worried," Maedhros noted.
"Much more likely to be simply overwhelmed." Maglor tried to cover it up with an artificially relaxed tone.
"Melian is her ancestress. You didn't seriously think it wouldn't have any effect at all."
"At least I didn't think about it earlier. I guess that was a bit naive of me. Do you know if we have anything in our library?"
"No, and I don't know who you could ask about it. We've either killed or driven out of Middle-earth anyone who could give you answers."
Maglor remained silent and pressed his lips together. Sooner or later, every one of their conversations had to come up with that.
"Maybe you can find something in some dusty and forgotten tome," Maedhros tried to save the mood.
"At least the children's gifts can prove useful. Elrond knows when someone is lying, and he quickly realised that Baldur is very interested in our weapons. Remember this when you resume negotiations tomorrow."
Maedhros glanced at Baldur, who was still besieged by the children, braiding their hair.
"Dwarves are grocers through and through. I learned a little bit from Carnistir in dealing with them. Baldur will not be able to pull me over so easily."
For a while, the brothers silently watched the little Half-elves, still excited about the braids Baldur had plaited for them. Meanwhile, some of the other Dwarves had joined in, and were making harsh comments about Baldur, who had involuntarily become a nanny. He didn't seem too enthusiastic, apparently, and grumbled grumpy.
"I don't know what to make of all this, Kano," Maedhros said quietly at one point. "When we found them, I made you promise to be a good father to them. But at that time everything was so confused and messed up. I just wanted at least you to experience something good, and that seemed the first thing that came along. And yet I see how attached you are to them and how much you care for them. But I can't help but think that one day Earendil could come back and claim them. Yes, maybe even in exchange for our Silmaril. What that would do to you ... It would break you, Kano, and that is what I am afraid of. Loving them holds dangers, but without that love you might sink into the same abyss as I do. Ai, two souls dwell in my breast and I am torn between them."
Maglor looked at his brother with concern. Once, Maedhros had been a proud commander who confidently led the Noldor into battle. Never would he have allowed such doubts to eat him up. But the blood on his hands had broken him.
"All will be well. Somehow, all will be well again," said Maglor, hoping that he himself could believe in it someday. "One thing at a time. Look, the boy, Gil-galad, has given us only a mild punishment, and you are already trying to find a solution. You will make a satisfactory trade with Baldur, I am sure. Remember, he's more eager for the weapons than he wants us to know."
Maedhros clenched his hand into his fist. "If only I could still be capable of such optimism..."
His mood swings have been getting worse lately, Maglor realised. This was not a good sign.
"Take care of yourself, little brother. Because I don't know if I can protect you from myself any longer." With these words Maedhros rose and walked away.
Maglor looked after him in silence. Fear enveloped his heart. How deep had they sunk? Had they already reached the bottom or did they continue to sink further into the abyss?
When Elrond and Elros came to him, he forced himself to smile.
"Look at our great braids," said Elros enthusiastically and proudly presented them to him.
"Very beautiful," commented Maglor.
Elrond did not fail to notice that something was causing Maglor great concern, and he examined him attentively. "Is everything all right?"
Maglor did not know what to say in reply. A day ago, he would have fobbed them off with a little white lie, hoping they wouldn't see through him. But now he knew better.
"Things are not as simple as I would like them to be. It worries my brother and me, that's all," he said. It was at least part of the truth.
"Are we to blame?" asked Elrond worried.
"No, absolutely not!" At least that one thing Maglor knew with certainty. The world might be hostile and dangerous. But he would never, ever regret taking in the two children, no matter what trouble it got him into.
Elrond, however, did not seem convinced.
"What's bothering you?", Maglor wanted to know. "Aren't you happy about your lovely new hairdo?"
"Yes, I am," the boy replied. "It's just that you look so sad. I don't want you to be sad. Can I help you?"
"You are already helping me more than you know," murmured Maglor. Then he pulled himself together. He should not burden these children with his worries. "Quitting time, you two. It's late and you must sleep."
They pulled faces, but refrained from giving vent to their displeasure. Another thing that caused Maglor concern. They were always so anxious to behave in the most appropriate way and not to cause him any trouble. But they were children, they should be allowed to play, to romp and to do silly things. But how could he convince them that they were allowed to do that? That it was not their job to please him, but that they were allowed to be children?
They fell asleep quickly, but Maglor did not find sleep for a long time. Too many worries robbed him of his rest, his head was full of them. He felt correspondingly tired the next morning. Maedhros had already sat down with Baldur again and continued the previous day's negotiations. Maglor allowed the children to join the Dwarves in Baldur's entourage, and was glad that they were able to get so excited about the little people. He himself used the time to join Maedhros and support his brother in the negotiations.
They were tough negotiations that dragged on for a long time. But Maedhros was finally able to play his trump card, which he had received from Elrond, and Baldur surrendered. Maedhros even offered to teach him something about Jewel-smithing , a small bite of what Feanor had once taught his sons. This tidbit tempted Baldur to even add a small bonus to the price.
Finally, they came to an agreement, and at least that was the end of the matter. The Dwarves accepted the weapons and paid the Feanorians a reasonable sum of money. In the coming weeks, Baldur would send some of Belegost's smiths to Amon Ereb for Maedhros to instruct them. Then they went their separate ways.
Maedhros looked at the chest with the gold and let his fingers slide through the coins. "I really don't know how Carnistir put up with these stubborn people," he sighed. Then he closed the lid and made his way back.
The sum was nowhere near enough to cover what Gil-galad demanded of them. But it was a start. At least that worry was now a thing of the past. Maglor breathed a sigh of relief.
hosta - quantity, large number; Qu. (Numeral for the number 144, comparable to our dozen)
Háno, áva care! - Brother, don't do it!; Qu.
Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! - Axes of the dwarves! The dwarves are upon you!; Khuzdul
The next chapter definetly has to wait because I really must write my Bachelor Thesis :c