Twelve Nights In Rivendel
by The Fox.
Chapter Twelve
From Middle Earth
To The Sea.
Sunset Of Third Age
And the seasons passed, but someway, it was always winter for the master of Imladris.
The leaves fell, leaving the trees naked to the cold, the branches hard as swords, glistening in the frozen dew: and like
them, Elrond's heart was hard and hurt, frozen.
The war came and went, visitors came and went, and he took the sword and the ring once again, but his eyes never flared to
life again, as he did what it was needed to do.
And at night, he slept with his eyes open, tired head bare of the Rivendel's circlet, waiting to hear the gallop of Elfaroth in the
Bruinen, like crystals breaking, breaking the ice around his heart.
* Come back soon, my love, or you'll find my heart dead and frozen, still waiting for you…
Where are you? Where did you run to die? Why, oh why had to leave me?
As I rest in this soft pillow, where do you rest your head? On hard rocks? On a sad soil? Are you cold, hungry,
thirsty, hurt, and I can't do anything?
I would embrace you in my arms to protect you from everything. I have enough power, enough strength, and what it
matters?
Nothing.
And I'm so cold, my love, waiting for you…
But you ran away, and you took all of me with you, leaving for them only an empty shell…*
It was in the brilliant days after Sauron's fall, when the Lord of Imladris walked the golden paths of Lorien, where the
leaves fell at his feet and the trees were covered with yellow flowers, where all the beauty was tainted with sadness and
bright laments of what have been.
It was the long goodbye of the elves, and he felt ready to go, that sadness permeating his very soul, as the brilliant silver sun of
shone into the wet soil, turning it into a silver mirror, lightening his features. The wind has become cold around him, forever,
and he let it play with his robes and hair at his whim, no longer his master.
The cold wind was wiping every trace of the Fair Race so quickly, remaining from a lost era. He looked the ring still in his
hand, blue and beautiful. His eyes where cold, and misty.
- Elrond?-
- Lady Galadriel.- he bowed, old grace of elves in his movements, too old in fact, as Lady Galadriel saluted too with a grace
far too ancient. They were old and lost ones, two ancient memories suddenly, bowing at each other with grace forgotten with
Gondolin and Beleriand. A sigh and a whisper of old magic around two of the ring bearers. Their smiles where sad, and tired.
They longed for the ocean.
They longed for the long awaited, rest.
- What do you search in the woods, Elrond? Aren't you ready to go?- she asked slowly, a finger resting in one of the trees that
had grew under her millennial hand. She smiled, beauty and sadness veiling her face in the goodbye to Caras Galadon, where
she had loved and been loved for a entire life.
It was the day of the parting, and Círdan was waiting for them in Mithlond with the Last Ship. They must be going, and as he
had said goodbye to Rivendel, and goodbye to his daughter and sons, whom would be walking into the human's path, he was
ready to say goodbye to a last hope.
- She wouldn't come, isn't it?- he whispered, a sigh in his voice, the pain of an old man in his features.- I need to go. I want to
go, and forget. But if I am not able to, even there, it will be hell, do you know, even in Eressea's shores.-
- The Valar promised us rest and happiness there, Elrond.- Galadriel slowly took his hand, and lead him between the trees,
where the water called them. Elrond closed his eyes, remembering the call of the Bruinen in silver mornings, his whisper.-
They promised us to back home, to all the First Born.-
- But I am not one of you, Lady. No matter how much I try, I am not.- he sighed, voice somber.
- Are you asking me for her destiny, Lord of Imladris?-
- No.- his voice was soft, but deep.- I ask for my own, Lady of Lorien. I need to know…-
Galadriel smiled mysteriously, and filled a silver jar with the clear water of the waterfall, to then let it cascade into a stone pool,
the water splashing in rivulets.
Elrond looked at her, wonderingly. Since the destruction of the One Ring, the Three where powerless, a beauty without of use,
as themselves, the Fair race were. But Galadriel took his hand, and let it in the brim of the once called Her Mirror, where your
desire and destiny can be shown, true and clear.
And he looked. A tired-looking, middle aged man, with impossible sad eyes looked back, lines around his mouth, under his
eyes, betraying his true age.
*My love, are you dust?
Arien, my dear sunset, did you end your sparkling marvel far from me?*
A tear fell into the surface, slow, sad. Rivulets of silver marred the surface, and Elrond closed eyes where silver was
trembling too.
- My answer is not here, Galadriel.- he said, voice thickened. But she smiled her famous smile, and pointed again into the
Mirror.
- Look again, Elrond, my son. Look again, and you'll find…-
He looked again, and a red splendor met his eyes. The Heart of Turgon, brilliant red, hanging from his neck in a golden chain,
was shining…
*Is she alive…?*
Slowly, with hand trembling a bit, Elrond lowered the red jewel into the water, where it touched it and shone red light on his
face.
*Warm…
Her voice singing to me…
… what is she saying…?*
When the cold of winter comes
Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain.
But in dreams
I still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again.
Closing his eyes, Elrond felt a wave of life, passion, love, bathing him. Then, he felt a slow call, a caress in his cheek, a kiss.
A goodbye.
A plea…
Cast you eyes to the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the night seems endless
Please remember me…
*No, please, no,* he begged.* Please, no, no…*
¨I must go. You must go. We'll meet again, didn't I promise it?¨
*Arien, Silmarien, no, my love…
Come…
Come back to me, back again…*
He watched her die, alone in the hard, horrendous land of Mordor, forgotten in a tiny heap in a battlefield, Elfaroth
dead by her side. He watched her fall in last battle, trolls and orcs filling her vision, as she closed her eyes in the gray dirt and
ashes, Culmoth useless in her hand.
He saw her look up into the sky, and smile as clean blue wind caressed her face.
¨Love…
… blue wind…
… I'll be waiting…¨
*No, my love, don't leave me…!*
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there and back again.
Galadriel set a uncertain hand in the shaking back of the last Lord of Imladris, who cried over the mirror.
Cast your eyes to the ocean.
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me…
*Yes, I will sail, my beloved. All the tears of the world would nest over my chest, but no matter where your body
sleeps her last dream, you'll be buried in my heart, my loving arms enveloping you, and you'll exist as long as my
memory does…
How long as my heart lives, you'll live.
You have been my only and one twilight love. How could you not…?*
It was all too soon when Elrond stood, his face still, in the bridge of the Last Ship, saying goodbye in the mist to a all
too painful, too gray Middle Earth. He has bid farewell to Arwen, who had cried in his chest, and they had embraced for the
last time, forever and ever, and his heart bled again, seeing brilliant tears cover the cheeks of the Undomiel.
*You'll see him die. You'll feel as I feel, my little one, and you'll bled as I do, and I would not be there to help
you.
We must not love mortals, and that's our curse.
My dear one, you'll suffer as I do, and I'll pray to Elbereth for you, but is no way to avoid it.
Is the price we pay for the love only them can give us. And I'm glad to have loved, even of bled like this.
You'll have found happiness. May it be longer that it was mine, but nonetheless, is better than have faced all
the ages of this world alone, my child.
Still today my lips taste like hers. I was made complete for the fires of love, and I learnt how deeply I am able
to feel, where and what is made for my heart.
And still today, my love, I give you everything I am.*
The mist had thickened as they traveled, golden and ethereal. Elrond closed his eyes, feeling the mist touch his lips, as
she had done oh so briefly in the Rivendel's bright nights under the clear sky. He had left his circlet and his sword to his sons,
and only his red mantle remained of what he has been. The Lord of Rivendel it was no more: he was the Peredhil, traveling
with the elves, into oblivion…
- Elrond?- Mithrandir, the old friend who knew so much.
- Yes?-
- You look so sad, my friend…-
- I am not sad, old friend. I was… but I am sad no more than I am happy. I just want to arrive soon into the promised shore.-
he sighed.- And into the promised rest…-
- Elrond…- Mithrandir smiled, and put a hand into his shoulder. Turgon's heart, the one jewel he had kept, shone briefly in the
golden mist.- She is with you, you know.-
With that, the magician drifted away, a smile and that unforgettable twinkle in his eyes. But Elrond, smiling back, was unable
to hide the impossibly deep pain in his voice, as he fisted the cold, soft red gem in his healer's hand.
- No, Mithrandir.- he whispered, closing her eyes, the ghost of a kiss there again.- I am with her…-
The mist enveloped him thick and light, and in the gold were a sunset hiding, just beyond reach, a call and a whisper: her voice.
He closed his eyes, and felt, opening his arms at the wet sparkles of the sea, the wind strong in his robes, his hair flowing
freely, feeling her scent…
…Because I am kissing you…
*…I remember how it felt, fresh peach on my skin, tender embrace as our hair mixed in the dying of the light, and how
you smiled when I called you Silmarien, my jewel, my last star…
And the time vanishes, and you'll wait for me forever, cause I'm kissing you…*
The mist cleared and vanished, and he remembered suddenly his whole life, his entire memories. From the laughing
child days by the Sirion: the darker years when he was imprisoned with Elros, a servant: Maglor's unforgettable voice, and
then the War of Wrath and those brilliant years in Lindon at Gil Galad's right. Then the long years at the feet of Mount Doom,
and his loneliness, in magical Rivendel, the wait…
… and she had come, long orange- blond hair following her like the veil of a red star, laughing and smart, her eyes like pale
blue sky, and she had left with a kiss and a memory of passion and life…
… so I am here, waiting and praying what I know I'll never get. And breaking my heart…
*I want to rest, forever…
I don't want to walk Eressea's shores without you…
… I should have stayed and died alone in Rivendel, watching the spring that once welcomed you pass by my window,
dying with every sunset…
And maybe I could have met you in the other side.
I should have stayed, with my poor little Arwen.
I should have kissed you one last time.
Because we're sunset, light fading from view, hiding beyond the horizon, red and black.*
He looked the blue sky over Eressea for a the first time, a vision of beauty and eternity through his blurred eyes, light
till his eyes dared to go, too brilliant, too brilliant…
He extended a hand to the light, feeling its warmness offering itself to him enveloping him with the welcoming arms of a
mother, soothing his pain. It was like sunset colored hair blowing in the wind, free and clean, and powerfully going through his
body, and filling his heart, swelling it until the point of pain.
His tears flowed freely, and he closed his eyes to the too brilliant light, Turgon's heart sparkling in his chest, not red anymore,
but translucent.
*I will walk through the barrier, any barrier Mandos dares to cross me. And I'll extend my hand, and I will touch
yours, somewhere, sometimes.
And I'll be kissing you…
Her voice…
…Is she singing again…? *
And suddenly he heard her singing, not far, her voice soft and loving.
Singing…
… Please remember me.
*Mithrandir was right.
She is with me.
Come with me into the twilight, my love, my Silmarien.
I will love you forever, a ghost in Mandos's.
I have carried your memory with me into Eressea as you wished, love. I have carried your memory, the one part of
you that could sail, and now I'm so tired.
I'm ready to vanish, love…*
And since the same moment he set foot in the promised shore Elrond, who once had been the master of Imladris, closed his
eyes at the light and the eternal flame of his life started to vanish.
*Let Irmo give me the last message of love you weren't able to, my love, my messenger.*
But in dreams
I can still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again.
In The Dreams © Howard Shore.
Dante's prayer © Loreena Mckermit
by The Fox.
Chapter Twelve
From Middle Earth
To The Sea.
Sunset Of Third Age
And the seasons passed, but someway, it was always winter for the master of Imladris.
The leaves fell, leaving the trees naked to the cold, the branches hard as swords, glistening in the frozen dew: and like
them, Elrond's heart was hard and hurt, frozen.
The war came and went, visitors came and went, and he took the sword and the ring once again, but his eyes never flared to
life again, as he did what it was needed to do.
And at night, he slept with his eyes open, tired head bare of the Rivendel's circlet, waiting to hear the gallop of Elfaroth in the
Bruinen, like crystals breaking, breaking the ice around his heart.
* Come back soon, my love, or you'll find my heart dead and frozen, still waiting for you…
Where are you? Where did you run to die? Why, oh why had to leave me?
As I rest in this soft pillow, where do you rest your head? On hard rocks? On a sad soil? Are you cold, hungry,
thirsty, hurt, and I can't do anything?
I would embrace you in my arms to protect you from everything. I have enough power, enough strength, and what it
matters?
Nothing.
And I'm so cold, my love, waiting for you…
But you ran away, and you took all of me with you, leaving for them only an empty shell…*
It was in the brilliant days after Sauron's fall, when the Lord of Imladris walked the golden paths of Lorien, where the
leaves fell at his feet and the trees were covered with yellow flowers, where all the beauty was tainted with sadness and
bright laments of what have been.
It was the long goodbye of the elves, and he felt ready to go, that sadness permeating his very soul, as the brilliant silver sun of
shone into the wet soil, turning it into a silver mirror, lightening his features. The wind has become cold around him, forever,
and he let it play with his robes and hair at his whim, no longer his master.
The cold wind was wiping every trace of the Fair Race so quickly, remaining from a lost era. He looked the ring still in his
hand, blue and beautiful. His eyes where cold, and misty.
- Elrond?-
- Lady Galadriel.- he bowed, old grace of elves in his movements, too old in fact, as Lady Galadriel saluted too with a grace
far too ancient. They were old and lost ones, two ancient memories suddenly, bowing at each other with grace forgotten with
Gondolin and Beleriand. A sigh and a whisper of old magic around two of the ring bearers. Their smiles where sad, and tired.
They longed for the ocean.
They longed for the long awaited, rest.
- What do you search in the woods, Elrond? Aren't you ready to go?- she asked slowly, a finger resting in one of the trees that
had grew under her millennial hand. She smiled, beauty and sadness veiling her face in the goodbye to Caras Galadon, where
she had loved and been loved for a entire life.
It was the day of the parting, and Círdan was waiting for them in Mithlond with the Last Ship. They must be going, and as he
had said goodbye to Rivendel, and goodbye to his daughter and sons, whom would be walking into the human's path, he was
ready to say goodbye to a last hope.
- She wouldn't come, isn't it?- he whispered, a sigh in his voice, the pain of an old man in his features.- I need to go. I want to
go, and forget. But if I am not able to, even there, it will be hell, do you know, even in Eressea's shores.-
- The Valar promised us rest and happiness there, Elrond.- Galadriel slowly took his hand, and lead him between the trees,
where the water called them. Elrond closed his eyes, remembering the call of the Bruinen in silver mornings, his whisper.-
They promised us to back home, to all the First Born.-
- But I am not one of you, Lady. No matter how much I try, I am not.- he sighed, voice somber.
- Are you asking me for her destiny, Lord of Imladris?-
- No.- his voice was soft, but deep.- I ask for my own, Lady of Lorien. I need to know…-
Galadriel smiled mysteriously, and filled a silver jar with the clear water of the waterfall, to then let it cascade into a stone pool,
the water splashing in rivulets.
Elrond looked at her, wonderingly. Since the destruction of the One Ring, the Three where powerless, a beauty without of use,
as themselves, the Fair race were. But Galadriel took his hand, and let it in the brim of the once called Her Mirror, where your
desire and destiny can be shown, true and clear.
And he looked. A tired-looking, middle aged man, with impossible sad eyes looked back, lines around his mouth, under his
eyes, betraying his true age.
*My love, are you dust?
Arien, my dear sunset, did you end your sparkling marvel far from me?*
A tear fell into the surface, slow, sad. Rivulets of silver marred the surface, and Elrond closed eyes where silver was
trembling too.
- My answer is not here, Galadriel.- he said, voice thickened. But she smiled her famous smile, and pointed again into the
Mirror.
- Look again, Elrond, my son. Look again, and you'll find…-
He looked again, and a red splendor met his eyes. The Heart of Turgon, brilliant red, hanging from his neck in a golden chain,
was shining…
*Is she alive…?*
Slowly, with hand trembling a bit, Elrond lowered the red jewel into the water, where it touched it and shone red light on his
face.
*Warm…
Her voice singing to me…
… what is she saying…?*
When the cold of winter comes
Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain.
But in dreams
I still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again.
Closing his eyes, Elrond felt a wave of life, passion, love, bathing him. Then, he felt a slow call, a caress in his cheek, a kiss.
A goodbye.
A plea…
Cast you eyes to the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the night seems endless
Please remember me…
*No, please, no,* he begged.* Please, no, no…*
¨I must go. You must go. We'll meet again, didn't I promise it?¨
*Arien, Silmarien, no, my love…
Come…
Come back to me, back again…*
He watched her die, alone in the hard, horrendous land of Mordor, forgotten in a tiny heap in a battlefield, Elfaroth
dead by her side. He watched her fall in last battle, trolls and orcs filling her vision, as she closed her eyes in the gray dirt and
ashes, Culmoth useless in her hand.
He saw her look up into the sky, and smile as clean blue wind caressed her face.
¨Love…
… blue wind…
… I'll be waiting…¨
*No, my love, don't leave me…!*
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there and back again.
Galadriel set a uncertain hand in the shaking back of the last Lord of Imladris, who cried over the mirror.
Cast your eyes to the ocean.
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me…
*Yes, I will sail, my beloved. All the tears of the world would nest over my chest, but no matter where your body
sleeps her last dream, you'll be buried in my heart, my loving arms enveloping you, and you'll exist as long as my
memory does…
How long as my heart lives, you'll live.
You have been my only and one twilight love. How could you not…?*
It was all too soon when Elrond stood, his face still, in the bridge of the Last Ship, saying goodbye in the mist to a all
too painful, too gray Middle Earth. He has bid farewell to Arwen, who had cried in his chest, and they had embraced for the
last time, forever and ever, and his heart bled again, seeing brilliant tears cover the cheeks of the Undomiel.
*You'll see him die. You'll feel as I feel, my little one, and you'll bled as I do, and I would not be there to help
you.
We must not love mortals, and that's our curse.
My dear one, you'll suffer as I do, and I'll pray to Elbereth for you, but is no way to avoid it.
Is the price we pay for the love only them can give us. And I'm glad to have loved, even of bled like this.
You'll have found happiness. May it be longer that it was mine, but nonetheless, is better than have faced all
the ages of this world alone, my child.
Still today my lips taste like hers. I was made complete for the fires of love, and I learnt how deeply I am able
to feel, where and what is made for my heart.
And still today, my love, I give you everything I am.*
The mist had thickened as they traveled, golden and ethereal. Elrond closed his eyes, feeling the mist touch his lips, as
she had done oh so briefly in the Rivendel's bright nights under the clear sky. He had left his circlet and his sword to his sons,
and only his red mantle remained of what he has been. The Lord of Rivendel it was no more: he was the Peredhil, traveling
with the elves, into oblivion…
- Elrond?- Mithrandir, the old friend who knew so much.
- Yes?-
- You look so sad, my friend…-
- I am not sad, old friend. I was… but I am sad no more than I am happy. I just want to arrive soon into the promised shore.-
he sighed.- And into the promised rest…-
- Elrond…- Mithrandir smiled, and put a hand into his shoulder. Turgon's heart, the one jewel he had kept, shone briefly in the
golden mist.- She is with you, you know.-
With that, the magician drifted away, a smile and that unforgettable twinkle in his eyes. But Elrond, smiling back, was unable
to hide the impossibly deep pain in his voice, as he fisted the cold, soft red gem in his healer's hand.
- No, Mithrandir.- he whispered, closing her eyes, the ghost of a kiss there again.- I am with her…-
The mist enveloped him thick and light, and in the gold were a sunset hiding, just beyond reach, a call and a whisper: her voice.
He closed his eyes, and felt, opening his arms at the wet sparkles of the sea, the wind strong in his robes, his hair flowing
freely, feeling her scent…
…Because I am kissing you…
*…I remember how it felt, fresh peach on my skin, tender embrace as our hair mixed in the dying of the light, and how
you smiled when I called you Silmarien, my jewel, my last star…
And the time vanishes, and you'll wait for me forever, cause I'm kissing you…*
The mist cleared and vanished, and he remembered suddenly his whole life, his entire memories. From the laughing
child days by the Sirion: the darker years when he was imprisoned with Elros, a servant: Maglor's unforgettable voice, and
then the War of Wrath and those brilliant years in Lindon at Gil Galad's right. Then the long years at the feet of Mount Doom,
and his loneliness, in magical Rivendel, the wait…
… and she had come, long orange- blond hair following her like the veil of a red star, laughing and smart, her eyes like pale
blue sky, and she had left with a kiss and a memory of passion and life…
… so I am here, waiting and praying what I know I'll never get. And breaking my heart…
*I want to rest, forever…
I don't want to walk Eressea's shores without you…
… I should have stayed and died alone in Rivendel, watching the spring that once welcomed you pass by my window,
dying with every sunset…
And maybe I could have met you in the other side.
I should have stayed, with my poor little Arwen.
I should have kissed you one last time.
Because we're sunset, light fading from view, hiding beyond the horizon, red and black.*
He looked the blue sky over Eressea for a the first time, a vision of beauty and eternity through his blurred eyes, light
till his eyes dared to go, too brilliant, too brilliant…
He extended a hand to the light, feeling its warmness offering itself to him enveloping him with the welcoming arms of a
mother, soothing his pain. It was like sunset colored hair blowing in the wind, free and clean, and powerfully going through his
body, and filling his heart, swelling it until the point of pain.
His tears flowed freely, and he closed his eyes to the too brilliant light, Turgon's heart sparkling in his chest, not red anymore,
but translucent.
*I will walk through the barrier, any barrier Mandos dares to cross me. And I'll extend my hand, and I will touch
yours, somewhere, sometimes.
And I'll be kissing you…
Her voice…
…Is she singing again…? *
And suddenly he heard her singing, not far, her voice soft and loving.
Singing…
… Please remember me.
*Mithrandir was right.
She is with me.
Come with me into the twilight, my love, my Silmarien.
I will love you forever, a ghost in Mandos's.
I have carried your memory with me into Eressea as you wished, love. I have carried your memory, the one part of
you that could sail, and now I'm so tired.
I'm ready to vanish, love…*
And since the same moment he set foot in the promised shore Elrond, who once had been the master of Imladris, closed his
eyes at the light and the eternal flame of his life started to vanish.
*Let Irmo give me the last message of love you weren't able to, my love, my messenger.*
But in dreams
I can still hear your name
And in dreams
We will meet again.
In The Dreams © Howard Shore.
Dante's prayer © Loreena Mckermit