The Lure of the Song

Firstly, there are a couple of things you might want to know about this fic. The most important is that it´s a birthday present for Soledad (whose birthday isn´t until October, but, if she has already finished her own birthday fic, what am I doing still at the first chapter??) The other thing is that this story is an answer to everyone who asked me to explain better what was this of Eöl being Thingol´s son. So don´t be surprised if things don´t go exactly as the Grey Annals said...(btw, no wonder, as Thingol is likely to have had a hand in their publication, but I´m not serious, I´m joking, so shut up, please. Thanks.)

Warning: if you don´t like unsolved mysteries, or you are simply too curious, you´d better move to another story. Things are not going to be very explained.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Tolkien.

Chapter One:



Silence.

Then, a sound; the birds were singing. As quiet and still as he could, he tried again to tell apart from them that voice he had heard, and wondered if it couldn´t be just a trick of his imagination.

But then, he heard it again. Deep, mysterious, yet full of grace and sweetness; perhaps forming magical and strange words in a tongue too holy for him to understand; the same voice he sometimes heard in his waking dreams.

Please, stay here! Let me look upon you, fair creature, do not leave me! he thought to say, but he was too much in awe to utter a word. He was only able to keep going forward, at each step drawing nearer to the ethereal singer and farther from his own people, who had settled to wait for Ulmo by the shores of the great Sea.

The dark forest, and then lone and desolate mountains, and plains, were stretched within his sight and much far beyond, coloured ghostly with the soft silvery glimmer of the stars. It was well known that, lurking in the shadows of the deepest places, many horrors could be waiting for any careless Elf who dared to venture there alone, but in spite of this he did not stop for a moment, all fears trampled, lost, forgotten. He was enthralled.

Yes, enthralled. Enthralled as the sweet harmonies came and went in gentle waves through the distance, embracing his fëa and arousing it to the point of burning in anticipation and desire. Enthralled hearing them, listening intently to catch the words, and where they came from... From the forest, he believed. They now seemed to come from there, so there he had to go, and search for her until he at last could see her face.

If they were to be believed, the stories people told about that place where no Quendi dared to enter, magic floated in the air among the bushes in Nan Elmoth, and some brave néri had got lost there, to never return again. It was considered a very dangerous place, and he knew that also. But, did it matter at all?

Birds sang. A faint echo reached his ears, she was waiting for him.

Elwë, lord and king of the host of the Teleri, swallowed hard and headed quickly towards the first sombre trees.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, back in the Teleri encampment at the seashore, two silver haired Elves were sitting at the damp sand, staring intently at the movement of the waves.

"He should be here by now." muttered one of them, clearly the eldest of the two. The other saw his deep frown, and shook his head.

"Seeing your face, I suppose you must be speaking about Ulmo, not about our brother." he joked. However, as the joke passed completely unnoticed, a sigh escaped his lips, and he got up to look at him from above.

"Oh, come on, Olwë, you know that he always has to do things by himself! And he never needed anybody´s help. Look how he even went to Valinor!"

"Yes, but then he had Finwë to look after him." Olwë answered, grinning at the boyish adoration that shone in his brother´s voice as he spoke about Elwë. It had always been so with Elmo, he thought, but since their elder brother returned from the land of the Valar speaking about the wonders he had seen, the whole thing became worse than ever, sometimes almost unbearable. And he, by the way, following the wise principle of making the best of everything, used to have a good time teasing Elwë for it...

"He must be searching for something he wants to see for the last time before we depart, I believe."

"Oh, yes, that excuse." Olwe frowned again. "When he returns, if he does not promise to give up his wanderings, I wii..."

"What will you do?" his little brother asked, eyes wide and amusement showing clearly in his face.

"I will...I will send you with him! That is the worst thing I could do!"

"Well, for you, yes." said Elmo sulkily, and he began to turn away. However, Olwë struggled to his feet and caught his silvery hair with his hand to make him stop.

"Elmo!"

"Yes?"

He sighed.

"I am sorry. I did not mean it."

Elmo shrugged his shoulders, smiling to show once again that his grudges used to last about fifteen seconds. Although he was nearly going to reach his maturity, he was still capable of charming everybody with that smile, even someone that, like him, was more than used to it.

"You are quite right. He probably would not have me at his side, but I am dying to go with him!"

His elder brother lowered his eyes to the sky.

"Yes. I know. You will be like him one day, unfortunately! And now, come on, let us go to see if he has returned."

Although, as he told himself, let me doubt it.

(To be continued)

Note: If you don´t know who Elmo is, check the "History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in the Unfinished Tales. He´s Celeborn´s grandfather.