In An Age Before – Part 223
Chapter One Hundred forty-four
The Hidden Valley – The Third Age of the Sun
Now using her compass, Helluin directed Red west-northwest, one hundred seventy miles in four days to the ford of the Rā. They rested with the garrison there for a day and then continued on a bit more southerly for two hundred fifty miles 'til they came to the ford of the river Silys after another six days. There they crossed out of the Mâh-Sakâ lands. She could not help but recall the weeks of aimless wandering it had taken to cross those same miles when she had come east with Tahmirih, Kiana, Ashti, and the freed slaves of Wahat Xzûwing, all for lack of a compass. 'Twas 23 Nórui, T.A. 2003.
At the ford of the Silys, Helluin found the walled town unchanged. This time, rather than intimidating the populace by appearing as a Nazgûl, she simply rode 'round the town, not in the least surprised that none tried to stay her to demand a toll. She still appeared to be one of Sauron's Nine save by examination at a range closer than any in that settlement dared come.
Twenty-seven years aforetime, when she had last traversed the lands west of the Silys, her party had come 'neath an attack by a company of Rhoxolāni. This time, Helluin barely caught a glimpse of some distant riders, but they did not approach and for the fortnight it took ride the four hundred fifty miles to reach the ford of the river Carnen, she encountered none. The whole area seemed more sparsely populated than aforetime, and considering the company she was likely to meet, she was glad to be left alone. There had been the temptation to take a few days and visit Suat, but she reckoned that the sultan she had met had passed away by then and considering the upset his people had felt at her appearance, the Noldo decided to spare them the fright and herself the lost time. Soon the Emyn Angren appeared amidst the distant haze to the north and Helluin deemed she was getting closer to the lands she knew.
So 'twas that on 6 Cerveth, she forded Carnen and left what was regarded as 'The East' behind, passing from Rhûn into the northeastern grasslands of Rhovanion. Red was ecstatic.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, O Helluin! To a yummy land beyond my wildest dreams thou hast brought me.
He was face down in the sweet grass 'nigh the river, gorging on the native fodder that was far more tender and tasty than what grew on the eastern steppe. Helluin rolled her eyes, but allowed him his head, secretly pleased that he had found the verge of the west so appealing.
Just wait 'til we come to Eriador, she thought with a smile. I must ride him through Sûza someday. Ha! He shall end up as barrel bellied as the ponies of the Periannath and I shall have to race him all the way back to Ürgenҫ to recover his figure. In the mean time, I have 'naught but this waybread.
And now for a healthful beverage, Red announced, ere retracing his steps to the river and drinking deeply. When he was done with his guzzle, he lifted his head and asked, whither now, O Helluin? Shall we find a worthy dessert?
Now we turn our steps west-southwest to cross the plains, and in a hundred and eighty miles, we shall enter the forest of Calenglad.
Forest? What is a forest, pray tell?
'Tis a great collection of trees that runs two hundred miles east to west. Think of it as a giant version of what grows 'round a wahat, save that they are not palms. Thou shalt see, O Red, she said.
The Easterling horse stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Surely thou jest, O Helluin. There are not so many trees in all the world.
Indeed there are, though from what I have seen, most have chosen to set down their roots and grow in the west. Greenwood the Great runs for o'er four hundred fifty miles north to south, and 'tis slowly growing smaller. Thou shalt see some of it, O Red, for we shall traverse it on a well-laid road built long ago by the Dwarves. I hope that we shall not meet with any foes there, for the options to escape them are limited. Yet I deem that such as still abide 'neath the trees are gathered further north, troubling the Elves of the Woodland Realm.
Red resumed a walking pace as he digested his fodder and Helluin's words.
I have ne'er seen a Dwarf, he finally admitted, but I shall be watching where I set my hooves lest I crush one at unawares. Should there be foes, I shall run them down or outrun their arrows, O Helluin. Fear not.
I thank thee, O Red. I am sure that all shall be well. Come, let us be on our way, for I reckon several hours of daylight remain.
With a bob of his head, Red proceeded at a tireless trot, and he covered another seven leagues ere evening. Truth be told, he had become intensely curious about this 'forest' and was willing to hasten somewhat to satisfy his curiosity the sooner.
During the next four days, Red ate his way 'cross the green plains where the Northmen had roamed upon a time. During those same days, whilst witnessing his joyous meal taking, the Noldo became increasingly disenchanted with waybread.
Though those lands had long been held by the Wainriders, Helluin came to deem that their hegemony had faded and was retained now in name only, for they saw none of that folk. On 10 Cerveth, she and Red espied the dark line of the forest stretching from horizon to horizon to their west. Red stared at it, turning his head from north to south.
Helluin…is that…?
Aye, O Red, thither lie the eaves of the Greenwood. We shall enter by a path through a fen that arises from the outflow of a river 'neath the shadow of the trees.
A 'fen'? What is a 'fen' pray tell?
A fen is much like a bog save that 'tis fed by running water. 'Tis a low-lying place of soggy ground and uncertain footing. The river flows out of the forest onto flat land that cannot absorb more, and so it spreads and pools on the surface whence it can leave only slowly.
I see, he said, or at least I shall. T'would seem the west has more water than it can use.
In some places, that may seem true, O Red. Perhaps one day we shall come to Mithlond and thou shalt view the sea.
The 'sea'? Ne'er mind, I shall not even ask.
They came to the verge of the fen in the late afternoon, and rather than begin their crossing, Helluin made a camp for the night. Although she reckoned she could find a way through by starlight, there were few dry places to camp within the fen and the path might have changed o'er the years. There were also some hazards for any who strayed, quicksand not the least amongst them. Then too, she did not care to introduce Red to the forest by night.
The margin of the wetland was lush with vegetation. Red found the fodder there as tasty as, and even more varied than what grew 'nigh the bank of Carnen. He soon wandered off, sampling one plant after another like a gourmand at a royal banquet. Helluin watched him for a while, then as darkness fell, consumed another ration of waybread that she finished with a grimace ere settling down to enjoy a view of the stars. Red eventually wandered back and stood dozing a while.
Now with the dawn, Helluin rose and with her dagger, harvested many armfuls of tall grass. This she divided and bundled with twine woven of the same stalks. The Noldo had made two reserves of fodder, each weighing a couple stone, and connected together so as to drape equally on each side of Red's hindquarters.
What is the meaning of this? He asked when she slung the bundles 'cross his back.
Emergency rations, she told him. Aforetime, the Dwarves had kept small fields alongside the road e'ery ten leagues or so to feed their own draft animals, yet I marked that things had grown somewhat shabbier when last I traveled here and so I am taking a precaution.
He nodded to her, a bit apprehensive at the possible lack of forage ahead, yet he complained not nor balked when Helluin began to lead them forward along a well-established path. Now though that path was no longer so clearly defined, or in places not so broad as it had once been, the Dwarves had long ensured that t'would allow the passage of their wagons, and so it still endured in usable form. She ignored the temptation to seek some of the shortcuts she had known, and by noon, they had crossed the four leagues of fen, which meant they had also crossed the river Celduin, though they had seen 'naught of a recognizable river amidst the wetland.
Helluin found the east terminus of the Men-i-Naugrim unchanged from what she recalled from 1976. The northward spur still led off in the direction of the Long Lake. Though littered with leaf fall and twigs, the pavers leading away into the Greenwood still lay mostly flat in their bed. She marked that only a few were broken, and in only a few places had they been uplifted by the roots of trees adjacent to the curbs. As aforetime, there was no signage noting direction or mileage, but there were also neither cob webbing hanging in branches o'erhead, nor any scent of ammonia. The road was much as she had expected 'nigh its end and so she urged Red forward.
T'will become more dismal further into the forest, she thought to herself, and I expect Red shall find it oppressive ere we come a league.
At first, Red paced along at an easy trot, looking 'round with curiosity at the trees that crowded in about them and soon obscured the view of the plains behind. After rounding a few curves, they were entirely surrounded by a press of aged trunks. No view of the sky remained o'erhead, and it seemed they traveled within a tunnel of grey bark and green leaves whose crown lay high above. The light grew dim, filtered by the lowering forest canopy and populated by shadows. The breeze died and the air pressed in, still and humid. The silence became oppressive and felt threatening, as if an unseen and malign will had stilled all animals and birds with fear. Helluin marked that Red had increased his pace to a swift trot. He was now whipping his head from side to side as if chasing phantoms glimpsed from the corners of his eyes. Shortly, he began grinding his teeth. She laid a comforting hand on his neck and sought to calm him.
Peace, O Red, the forest seems strange to thee, I know, but whatsoe'er danger it may hold is far away, for I feel no threats. Stay thy haste a while. Stand still and just breath, then look about. Despite the trees and the shadows, they are as they appear, no more, no less.
Helluin, this is a dreary place of endless twilight in the daytime, and I wager 'tis black as a cave by night. All 'round us is alive, yet so alien to me that I can take no comfort in it.
Red had come to a halt and stood still, forcing himself to take deep, slow breaths.
'Tis true that all is alive, but 'tis the sleepy lives of trees. O'er countless years, they have come to dominate this place and they have made it their own. Yet they bear us no ill will. For all that 'twas familiar, we faced greater jeopardy in the lands 'twixt Silys and Carnen.
The Easterling horse had calmed as he listened to Helluin's words. Now he looked about, slowly and carefully. He saw endless trees of course, but they were just trees despite their numbers, and he had ne'er aforetime felt threatened by plants. The dimness, the stillness, the silence, all these he could understand when he took a moment to think on it. Leaves blocked the sunlight, trunks and branches blocked the breeze, and plants had no voices to break the silence. The forest seemed odd to him, but if 'aught had been different, then t'would have been unnatural. Finally, he sighed and nodded to himself.
I have been the victim of landscape shock, he said, but 'naught worse. I shall be okay.
Very well, O Red. I wager thou shalt attain a degree of comfort here just in time for us to take our leave. Thy sire too thought the forest depressing, and that after having trod many woodlands in the west. When thou feel ready, let us be away. Thy gait, I leave to thee.
To herself, Helluin thought, 'tis just as well that the Onodrim are long gone. Oldbark or some of his ilk popping up from the shadows probably would have made Red leap right out of his hide, poor thing.
Now in the late afternoon, they had passed one of the lay-bys that the Dwarvish traders had used as campsites. It had lain some nine leagues west from the fen and the eastern entrance of the Men-i-Naugrim. There the pavement doubled in width for fifteen yards and a small field of a twentieth acre stood partially o'ergrown amidst the wood. Valuing the opportunity, Helluin and Red took a half hour's break and Red ate his fill.
Got to get whilst the getting is good, or so says the wisdom of the east, he explained, 'round mouthfuls of grass.
They continued into the evening, the daylight ending sooner and more quickly 'neath the trees than expected, and though nightfall did indeed make the forest black as a mine, the hours of darkness were untroubled. Helluin kept a cold camp as she oft did whilst traveling alone in woodlands. By dawn, Red seemed to have settled from his earlier fright.
'Tis quiet, and despite my earlier misgivings, peaceful here as well, he said. I slept soundly for several hours and deem that any approaching us would be betrayed by treading on leaves or twigs and more easily marked than on the steppe.
Such is true of some foes, O Red, though others accustomed to the forest are as silent as mice.
Despite having become more comfortable in the forest, Red tarried not, nor oft slacked his pace 'neath a fast trot. At times, he broke into a canter or even a gallop for stretches where the road was straighter and flatter. 'Round mid-afternoon they had come upon another lay-by and stopped for a late lunch. The Noldo was glad to see that the lawns were preserved and not o'ergrown with brambles, saplings, or bitter herbs. Red was as glad for the fresh fodder as for the open patch of sunlight that allowed it to grow. Of course, in an Age before, the Ents would ne'er have left a mid-forest patch of ground 'un-treed' for long. The Dwarves had grumbled o'er that for centuries, but their trading caravans had always counted a hay wagon necessary.
The long day length of summer balanced the shortened daylight in the forest and allowed Helluin and Red to travel thirty-five to forty-five miles each day. So 'twas that on 15 Cerveth they broke from the western verge of the forest at last and beheld rolling grasslands and broken patches of open woods. The road to the ford lay straight ahead with the same pavers continuing into the distance. Red rejoiced at having survived the stuffy, closed dimness of the Greenwood.
Ahhh, this is better, he said, heaving a sigh of relief, for at the last lay-bys they had found the lawns o'ergrown, forcing Red to eat the emergency fodder. Fresh grass! I deem this place a bountiful home to any upon four hooves. Surely, there are other horses to be found in these lands, O Helluin.
Aye, and many, O Red. When last I traveled the Vale of Anduin, 'twas home to the Éothéod, the Northmen that once dwelt 'twixt Carnen and Celduin in the fields thou so esteemed on the east side of the forest. They are valiant warriors, riders who keep many herds. Perhaps we shall meet with some ere we cross the river. I wonder how they have fared since last I saw them.
A score and twelve miles lay 'twixt the verge of the Greenwood and the Ford of Anduin. A mile after the second league, they had passed the crossing of the track that led north south. Helluin looked north towards where Rhosgobel lay a score miles further on, but saw no cyclones of birds or 'aught else peculiar. She deemed that her next visit to Aiwendil lay in the more distant future. Besides, she suspected that Red would be as allergic to the bird dander as Barq had been. With a smile for that memory, Helluin urged him to continue west and they covered a prudent three leagues ere stopping for the night. Despite having seen neither hide nor hair of Yrch or spiders 'neath the trees, Helluin still felt more secure camping away from the eaves of the forest.
Rewarding as her sojourn to Rhûn had been, Helluin felt herself glad to be back in the familiar lands of the west. Even the stars glinting in the night sky above seemed more welcoming. She lay on her back on her ground cloth of naugahydes amidst a small swath of tall grass trampled flat, reflecting on the past score and seven years.
In the east, she had made good friends and fearsome allies. She had found the Ithryn Luin and ridden to battle with her old friend Maglor. Together, they had greatly diminished the threat of the Wainriders, aided in building an empire dedicated to driving Sauron's minions from Rhûn, and assailed Sauron in his eastern sanctuary. They had driven the Lord of Lies to flight. Along the way, they had created a weapon of surpassing potency and stymied the invasive influences of Nehemoth, a threat she had been completely unaware of aforetime.
Surely, as much has changed in these lands as has changed in the east. I imagine that by now, King Frumgar has passed on the rule of the Éothéod to Prince Fram, she thought. And whither fled Sauron from the ruin of Sheol? To Mordor to join his Nazgûl, I wager. Villainous wretch. After Imladris, perhaps I shall pay them a call.
So 'twas that with these and other ruminations Helluin passed the night and little rest did her mind enjoy. When the dawn of 16 Cerveth lightened the canopy of the forest, she rose, consumed yet another ration of waybread and water, and then mounted Red. They returned to the Dwarf Road and continued west. After a score and a league, they came to the Old Ford.
"Here we cross Anduin, the longest river in the Mortal Lands, longer even than the Rā," she told the Easterling horse.
Red looked out 'cross the hundred yards of sparkling water running o'er a bed of colorful marl and gravel, shallow for the most part, but in places taking a depth 'nigh waist high for a Man. He cast a glance upstream and down where the river ran narrower but deeper.
A fine ford it appears to be, O Helluin, indeed one of the finest I have e'er seen, he said, nodding in agreement with himself. From here though, Anduin appears not so long, howe'er I shall defer to thy wisdom and accept thy claims, as I cannot gainsay them…from here.
Helluin had narrowed her eyes, suspecting that the horse was humoring her.
He offered her a grin and asked, whence comes this river and whither doth it go?
"From the mountains to the sea," she muttered with a touch of pique. "Come, let us be on our way and soon, I shall show thee the tallest mountains in the Mortal Lands and perhaps the biggest Eagles as well."
They crossed the ford without incident and continued on their way west, following the Dwarf Road through a landscape that at first appeared identical to what lay on the eastern bank. Ere they stopped for the night, the land had begun to rise and they had halved the mileage 'twixt the river and the mountains. Now the tall grass had slowly given way save in the troughs 'twixt rolling hills clad in pines, hemlock, birch, green and red maples, and beech.
17 Cerveth saw them riding west for another five leagues 'til they came to an intersection where the road branched, one track leading south to Khazad-dûm, the other continuing west toward the High Pass. By then, the tall grass had largely disappeared and the hills were crowned with red and black pines, cedars, and an occasional oak. Helluin spent a long time looking south, seeing the Gladden Fields, Lórinand, and Nanduhirion in her mind's eye. Finally, she turned back and urged Red on towards the mountains that were finally becoming visible as a hazy shadow on the horizon.
The afternoon was passing. Anor sank towards the distant Hithaeglir and the Noldo marked a great Eagle soaring high o'er the mountains. Just for the hell of it, she waved. As she watched, he broke from his circling and beat west towards Eriador.
Looking down from an altitude of 'nigh three thousand fathoms, Landroval had clearly seen the Noldo wave.
About damn time, he thought as he turned for Imladris, the Grey Wizard has been waiting for decades.
When they stopped for the night, Helluin and Red had come two score and seven miles and reached the foothills of the Misty Mountains.
"'Tis all uphill from here," Helluin muttered, ere choosing a spot 'nigh a trickling rill and spreading her ground cloth, all 'neath the disapproving chatter of a fat marmot. "Enough out of you," she told the furry creature, "We shall be gone in the morn."
With a curse, she dug a stone from 'neath her ground cloth whilst trying to recline in comfort for the night. The marmot popped back up to continue its scolding. A swift cast stone impacted its face with lethal force and it dropped to the ground, limp.
"Blessed silence at last and I am grown more than tired of waybread."
Helluin collected the carcass and stalked off downhill to perform the skinning and the entrail dump. In short order, she returned with an armload of firewood and kindled a trench fire to cook her supper. After filling her water skin from the freshet and drinking, she sat back and let the marmot roast as she relaxed and waited for the stars to appear.
Red looked up the ascending path and saw that indeed it just kept climbing higher and higher 'til it disappeared amidst bays and ridges. Beyond that, the mountains rose in all their glory, to peaks capped with snow in mid-summer where clouds obscured the highest pinnacles from view. Anor disappeared beyond the heights and it seemed that twilight fell like a dead weight. With nightfall, a chill air seeped downslope, driving the day-warmed air from the river valley and raising a blanket of fog o'er Anduin.
Now on 18 Cerveth, Helluin and Red began their transit of the Hithaeglir. The High Pass had changed not at all since the Noldo had last crossed. The slow breaking of stone and shifting of the paving occurred with centuries of freezing and thawing, and the twenty-seven years since Helluin had ridden Barq from Imladris was a pittance on such a scale of time.
Up they went, first on an increasingly steeply ascending roadway during the morning and then by switchbacks through the afternoon. More and more frequently, Red stared o'er the side of the track and into the receding lowland of hills and valleys. Eventually, he could descry the distant glints of sunlight on the river, now many leagues away. The perspective of looking down on a 'miniature landscape' was very strange to him, having been accustomed all his life to flat land stretching from horizon to horizon, in which 'the far distance' was a bit o'er two leagues from side to side. By the mid-morning when they had ascended a thousand feet, he could see thirteen leagues downslope to the eastern horizon.
That effect continued to increase all through that day and the next. Their ascent became increasingly steep, the air increasingly cold, and the wind increasingly harsh. By the late afternoon of the 19th, they had climbed to ten thousand feet and the view o'er the Vale of Anduin was 'nigh a hundred and twenty-five miles. Red could see the river, all the lands on both banks, and well into the forest. He stood shaking his head in astonishment and trying to take it all in. Eventually, he managed to process his new observations to his own satisfaction.
I had always suspected that places passed by still existed even when gone from sight, he said in amazement, yet now I have proof at last. The forest, the river, and the lands bordering them are still to be seen and therefore they must still persist!
This claim actually caused Helluin to do a double take and gape at him.
And thus by extension, the eastern steppe, the Magi Lāžaward, the Khātūn, and 'aught else left behind in Rhûn still exist as well! He reasoned triumphantly.
Ere Helluin could comment on his revelations, he continued with a further observation.
I find myself irritated that whilst I am now forced to endure the consumption of mountain sedges and heathers, all that sweet grass still exists on the far side of the forest.
By this point, the Noldo was struck dumb in shock and could find no quick reply.
Rest assured, O Red, that much else exists which cannot be seen, she finally managed to say.
Such as? He asked.
The spirits of all things that live, the wind, the Immortal Realm, Sauron, and the passage of time for starters, she said.
So then, were I to climb high enough, all things should become visible! Let us continue!
Despite the peculiar logic he employed, the Noldo deemed Red's intention of climbing higher to be a good one and she nodded her agreement. They continued their ascent and by evening had reached the highest altitude of the pass. There the track wound along the upper slopes yet continued west, and after rounding a curve, they passed out of sight of the Vale of Anduin. Now, ahead and behind, the vista was of the mountains only.
Wait a moment…what happened to all things? Red asked, bewildered as he stopped to look behind.
Rest assured that they still exist and shall reappear at thy next coming. Soon enough, new sights shall be presented.
But, all I can see is mountains and more mountains.
By the end of the morrow, a view of the lands west of the mountains shall be revealed. Trust me, O Red, I have come this way oft aforetime and 'tis e'er the same. For now, let us take some rest.
Very well, O Helluin, I shall trust in thy wisdom. After a lengthy pause, he said, In my mind I can still see the sweet grass in the fields east of the forest. Perhaps, if I see it clearly enough, I shall be able to eat it as well.
Helluin rolled her eyes at that.
"If wishes were fishes, we should all be fed," she muttered.
Eat fishes? Yuck!
Later that night, Helluin marked that in his dreams, Red was chewing, chewing, chewing. For once, she was reasonably sure what a horse dreamed of.
Now 20 Cerveth passed high in the mountains and indeed all that was visible was mountains and more mountains. Red grumbled and Helluin counted off the miles against her memories. She deemed they were making good time. O'erhead, she marked an Eagle, perhaps the same Eagle, soaring. As she watched, it bobbed its wings as if waving.
They had already begun descending, when in the late morning of the 21st, they rounded a curve and 'neath them opened a view of the Coldfells of Rhudaur stretching into the distance, and closer, the foothills of the Hithaeglir riven by gorges and deep valleys cut by down rushing mountain streams. Helluin breathed a sigh of relief. Red simply stared.
All this has come into existence whilst all seen aforetime remains!
Helluin looked at him sharply.
The world grows larger at e'ery turn!
Throughout the remainder of that day, the world seemed to diminish as their altitude decreased, yet Red was confident that it all still existed despite having passed out of view. He had learnt that 'aught once seen existed thereafter¹. For her part, Helluin hoped that association with the horses of Imladris might serve to assuage the most blatant of Red's 'lateral thinking'. The descent from the High Pass was far easier than the ascent had been, and as evening drew down, Helluin rode Red into the Hidden Valley. ¹(Object permanence, a fundamental concept in cognitive development)
And whyfor is it called that, for I can see it all quite clearly?
'Tis not so obvious when approached from the west, Helluin told him, and 'tis oft sought after by some with only mixed results. I doubt but one in ten from Gondor would be able to find it.
Helluin was saved from further questioning when Lindir appeared on the trail. He seemed in haste and gave her a look of relief when he finally caught sight of her.
"Mae govannen, meldis nín," he offered in greeting, "Hír Elrond dartha cin¹." ¹(Hír Elrond dartha cin, Lord Elrond awaits you. = hír(lord) + Elrond + dartho-(v. wait) + -a(3rd pers. pres. form, he awaits) + cin (2nd pers. sing. dir. obj. pron., you) Sindarin)
"Mae govannen, Lindir, tirion govannathad en Hír Elrond¹," Helluin replied. "Tulon siniath.²" ¹(Tirion govannathad en Hír Elrond, I look (forward) to meeting the Lord Elrond = tirio-(v. look) + -n(1st pers. subj. pron. suff., I) + govanno-(v. meet) + -atho-(future v. suff.) + -ad(inf. v. suff., to meet) + en(the) + hír(lord) + Elrond Sindarin) ²(Tulon siniath, I bring(bear) tidings = tulo-(v. bring) + -n(1st pers. subj. pron. suff., I) + siniath(tidings) Sindarin)
The Peredhel's seneschal sighed and gave her a look of regret prompting a questioning rise of Helluin's brow. For once, he offered no humor in his retorts.
"Lord Elrond shall have many tidings to offer thee, Helluin, and they are not good. Much has come to pass in thine absence," Lindir said, sadly shaking his head.
T'would seem 'tis as thou said, 'much exists which cannot be seen', Red said, causing Helluin to groan aloud.
They hastened towards the Last Homely House as fast as Lindir could trot and soon came to the settlement where Red was remanded to a groom. He went willingly in hopes of gourmet fodder and sick to death of sedges and heathers. Helluin followed Lindir to the Peredhel's study, a feeling of foreboding growing like a ball of ice in the pit of her stomach. They passed many householders who stared at them surreptitiously and whispered comments and speculations.
The Lord of the Hidden Valley had obviously received word of her coming. The door of his study was open, a chair was set for her before the desk, and Elrond was waiting, drumming his fingers on his blotter, his face grim, whilst a goblet of wine and a salver of seeded cakes sat upon the desktop. Lindir announced her arrival and then withdrew with palpable relief.
Helluin entered, feeling as grim as her old friend looked. She hung her cloak on the coat stand, dropped her travel bag beside the chair, and set her bow and quiver o'er the ear of one stile. She sat, not knowing what to expect save that she wanted to hear it as little as Elrond wanted to say it. Finally, she took the goblet of wine, quaffed it in a couple gulps and then sat looking at him expectantly. Elrond took a deep breath ere speaking, and Helluin deemed that an ill omen.
"My old friend, I am glad thou hast come," he finally said, then seemed to falter, uncertain of what to say. "I learnt of thy approach from Landroval, whom Mithrandir had set to keep watch on the High Pass in hope of thy return."
"I saw an Eagle repeatedly after crossing Anduin, and he gave a sign that he had marked me," Helluin replied, wondering if they would next discuss the weather in their attempt to delay the inevitability of sharing ill tidings.
Finally, after another deep breath, Elrond blurted out, "Helluin, Hadhodrond is fallen!"
The dark Noldo stared 'cross the desk at the Peredhel. At first, his words barely registered. She could not accept them. The strongest, most militant fastness in the western lands had fallen? How? To what foe? She had long believed Khazad-dûm impregnable, to stand defiant even if all the other free realms fell, just as it had thirty-seven centuries aforetime in the War of the Elves and Sauron. Elrond was frozen in place and Helluin was barely breathing. The silence drew out, a full minute, then two. Each seemed an eternity, measured in pounding heartbeats. Finally, Helluin shook herself and swallowed, finding her tongue dry in her mouth.
"When?" She croaked, barely above a whisper. "How?"
Elrond made as if to answer, yet it seemed he found his mouth as dry as Helluin's. Instead, he reached for a decanter and refilled both their goblets. They emptied them 'nigh as quickly. When the Peredhel went to refill them again, he found only dregs settling on the bottom of the decanter, grimaced in irritation and exchanged it for another from his sideboard. From this, he filled their goblets a third time. Whilst he had been occupied thusly, Helluin had consumed a pair of seeded cakes.
The Lord of Imladris took several sips of wine, and then set his goblet aside. He sighed and resettled himself in his chair. Finally, he seemed prepared to resume his tidings.
"We know not for certain what happened," he said, "the reports are partial, some conflicting, and none that we have spoken with saw the foe. Rather, they saw the aftermath, collapsed tunnels, halls shot with fire, companies of defenders slain, and whole guildhalls exterminated by suffocation.
It began in Narbeleth of 1980, when miners from the Eighth Deep working the Barazinbar Spur were found roasted alive by superheated air. As I believe thou know, there had been problems in the mine for centuries, yet none were able to discern a cause."
To this, Helluin nodded. In Narbeleth of 1975, she had personally investigated one of the most affected sites in the mines at the behest of Uzrak Tulkh, the illustrious twenty-eighth generation heir of the House of Gneiss. She had found heat radiating from the rock walls, but 'naught more. There had been no sensation of evil or of any intelligence at all. Yet five years later, disaster had struck. With a nod, Helluin prompted Elrond to continue his recitation.
"From what we have been able to learn, the problem soon grew worse. The deaths spread outward and upward 'til all the Eighth Deep became too treacherous to abide. Yet because the source of so much wealth was centered in those deep mines, the Naugrim were loath to abandon them uncontested, even though they knew not what enemy they fought. The Black Companies were the first to attempt the armed reclamation of the Barazinbar Spur. Well 'nigh all were o'ercome by the heat. 'Tis said that they were roasted alive in their armor of blackened steel, like crabs steamed in a kettle. The few survivors reported that it seemed the heats moved to meet them and cut them off from retreat, and that the temperatures rose too fast to flee."
The Lord Elrond shook his head sadly. Like those few Naugrim that the Elves had heard the tale from, they understood it not. The foe had no face. It bore no weapon save temperature. Yet the places affected and level of heat had always varied since the affliction began, and if 'aught was truly different now, 'twas that it came more quickly and the temperatures became extreme much faster. And as Helluin had discovered, and Beinvír had learnt ere that, there were none of the associated characteristics of volcanism. There were no explosions, no steam, no tremors, no gasses, and no magma.
For a while, Helluin sat pondering the report. She absentmindedly gnawed her lip and her hands clasped the arms of her chair with a white-knuckled grip. Bad as what she had heard sounded, she deemed there was more and worse, for Elrond had said that Hadhodrond was fallen, not just that the mines had been abandoned. When she met his eyes again, she saw that he was wringing his hands at unawares. We shall all develop ticks from this, she thought.
"Say on, my friend, for there is more to tell, is there not?" She prompted.
"Aye, there is more, and dark grows the tale if t'were not sufficiently so already," he said. "By the end of Hithui 1980, whispers were spreading that the House of Gneiss, who had from the start held claim to the Spur and had reapt great wealth from it, were somehow responsible for the deaths of the miners and warriors that had been lost. In better days, such talk would have been dismissed. 'Neath the pressure of economic loss and sorrow for the fallen, ears were turned to gossip and rumor, and tempers soon flared."
Helluin better than most knew how much wealth had come of the mithril mined from the Barazinbar Spur, the vein of ore that she had discovered in the 142nd year of the Second Age and ceded to the master craftsman Gneiss son of Gnoss for the price of her peerless armor. He had been the first to call her Mórgolodh. O'er forty-eight centuries had passed when Gneiss' twenty-seventh generation descendant, Aslâm son of Utrab had said, "The armor thou wear, which my ancestor Gneiss wrought for thee, weighs sixteen pounds, give or take, and wise art thou to hide the nature of it. O'er the last 4,800 years we have mined some three hundred and seventy tons of ore, from which we have obtained o'er twenty-three tons of mithril." That had been four and a half centuries ago. The astonishing wealth wrested from the Spur had propelled the House of Gneiss to a predominant position of influence within Khazad-dûm, and it had surely whelped jealousy and resentment as well.
"In Girithron of 1980, a mob stormed the House of Gneiss. The head of the house and his brothers were taken captive. Despite the commands of King Durin to spare them, they were tried in the street by a false court and hanged. The House of Gneiss was ransacked, its treasury looted, and many craftsmen were slain. Durin personally led the army to suppress the mob and many Dwarves died in the fighting. 'Twas civil war…inconceivable. I am sorry, my old friend, I know they were dear to thee."
Helluin sat in utter shock at Elrond's words. Ere a blackness took her, she whispered, "His name was Tulkh son of Aslâm, the twenty-eighth heir of the House of Gneiss." Then, so softly 'twas barely to be heard, she said, "To lead warriors against his own rebellious people must have broken Durin's heart."
To Be Continued