Chapter 1: Escape and grief

The island of Valinor was home of the angelic Valar, the elves, the wizards of the white council and two hobbits. It was also the home of the evil Melkor; he was once compared to Manwë (leader of the Valar) himself. Ilúvatar, the father of all the beings on Middle Earth, sent the Valar into the Void to create Arda, the world of the elves and men.

And so they did: the Great Manwë created the winds and breezes of Arda, his spouse Varda (named Elbereth by the elves) created the stars, which the elves cherish so much. The Valar named Ulmo, who aided the elves even when his peers cursed the Eldar, created the waters of Middle Earth. The next in power among the Valar was Aulë, which created all the lands and substances of Arda. Aulë's queen is Yavanna, which created all which was green throughout Arda, along with the two mighty trees, which were destroyed by Melkor and whose fruits are the moon and the Sun. Next come the two brothers Námo, who dwells in Mandos; he guards over the souls of those who have passed and calls upon those whose time on earth is over. His brother Irmo is the Valar which rules over all the dreams and visions, he dwells in the forest of Lórien (another Lórien) which is believed to be the most beautiful in the world. Námo's spouse is Vairë, who keeps time in her great webs, which rest in Mandos. Irmo's spouse Estë is the healer of wounds; their peers often visit Lórien to feel relief from the great task of ruling over Arda. Another of the queens of the Valar is Nienna, who cries for all of the wounds Arda has been dwelt and turns sorrow into knowledge. Next comes Tulkas, who arrived to Arda to help his kindred to battle with Melkor; laughs in the face of any foe and is tireless. His queen Nessa is very much like him, and loves deer above all the other creature of Middle Earth. Last of the Valar is the mighty hunter of dark creatures, Oromë; he is quick to anger and loves the lands of Middle Earth very much. Oromë's queen is Vána who rules over flowers and makes birds sing.

After the first born (elves) arrived on Middle Earth, Melkor was the first to discover their arrival and immediately tried to twist them into his servants, which he did. If few elves traveled away from their party, Melkor's servants quickly kidnapped them and brought them to his evil stronghold of Utumno, where he tortured them until they were corrupted into the evil orcs. They served him only because of the fear he imposed, but never loved him. When the Valar finally heard of the first born they immediately attacked Utumno with the help of the elves and captured the evil Melkor. Then the elves traveled across the sea to Valinor to live with the Valar. Melkor was released after three ages of living in the captivity of the Valar; Manwë thought that he was cured. Anyway afterwards Melkor made his true intentions clear and the two great trees were destroyed, and Melkor stole the Silmarils because he envied Fëanor who had created them. The Noldor as Fëanor's people were called (there were different types of Eldar, Noldor was one of them) traveled back to Middle Earth to fight Morgoth and take back the Silmarils. Unfortunately this was against the will of Manwë and his peers, so the Valar closed the Gates of Valinor for the Noldor had angered them.

After the elves lived in Middle Earth alone, constantly battling with Morgoth and his minions, the men arrived in Middle Earth as well. Eventually the Eldar were so much driven by greed and pride, especially the nine sons of Fëanor (Fëanor himself was slain by Morgoth), that they began attacking and killing their own kin. Eventually the Valar forgave the elves and aided them in defeating Morgoth and chaining him for eternity. Some of the Eldar returned to Valinor but others remained: such as Galadriel, Elrond, and Gil-galad. This was the age in which the Nùmernòrean kingdom was at its highest peak and always trading with their elven friends. Eventually Sauron corrupted most of them and Ilúvatar sunk them along with their island into the sea. But those that remained faithful to the Valar survived and escaped their Creator's punishment. Then came the wars of the rings and finally all the Eldar traveled across the sea to Valinor.

Outside Morgoth's giant enchanted cave, twenty elves keep watch; their armor is made of mythril and their spears are long and deadly. They also had white bows strapped to their back, and black quivers hang from their belts. A gentle breeze beats on their faces and the mighty Tulkas appears before them. All the guards tuck their left knee under them in sign of respect for the Valar.

"How is he?" asked Tulkas in his deep thundering voice.

"He's still extremely quiet, sir. And that same humming noise can still be made out, if you listen carefully." The guard captain responded, rising from his kneel.

"He's been like that for sixty years, ever since the Noldor returned." Tulkas said more to himself then the guards. Tulkas' eyes fell on the elves that were still kneeling. "You may rise now."

The elves nodded their heads and returned to their posts. Tulkas vanished with the same gentle breeze that proceeded him. Elrohir, the guard captain, starred off into the west; he thought of his sister Arwen who still dwelled in Middle Earth with Aragorn. Sixty years is a long time even for an elf. Suddenly his ears were filled with an earsplitting shriek that wouldn't stop. He turned around to see the cave he was guarding in ruins and the bodies of his friends lay on the ground with their hands over their ears. Out of the rubble came out a giant hand that lifted up a dark body shrouded in a mist of smoke. The shriek stopped, but now the maniacal laughter of Morgoth rang in the ears of the guards.

Euadan (Elrohir's brother) was the first to attack; he skewered Morgoth's right leg all the way through, with his long spear. The dark lord gave a thundering yell and drew back its leg; the spear magically came out of the leg and fired towards Euadan who dodged it. Elrohir drew his bow and readied an arrow from his quiver; the others quickly followed his example and shot at the giant Morgoth. Using his evil magic, the dark Valar stopped the arrows and shot them back at the elves. Elrohir and Euadan crouched and covered their heads and the arrows bounced of their mythril armor. The others unfortunately weren't so cunning, and the arrows pierced right through their unprotected heads. Morgoth then viciously tried to stomp on Euadan, but the Eldar was too fast for him. Elrohir fired more arrows trying to allow his brother to escape. Morgoth repeated his blocking technique and while Elrohir stood crouched on the ground, the evil creature seized Euadan with his giant hand and began to crush him. Elrohir quickly recovered from his defensive position and quickly shot more arrows towards Morgoth's hand. Unfortunately these merely quickened Euadan's fate, for when the arrows hit the dark hand, the elf was dropped and died when he hit the ground.

"NO!!!" yelled Elrohir in despair. He continued to shoot frantically at his evil opponent, but Morgoth simply cast all of them away except one. That one arrow he enchanted and fired at the remaining guard. Elrohir crouched not knowing that the arrow had been enchanted and instead of bouncing off, the arrow lodged itself into his left set of ribs braking one of them. The elf yelled in pain and fell on his side; the last image he saw before blacking out was Morgoth flying away towards the east, towards Arwen…

"Please, master Elrond, you mustn't disturb his rest." A voice rang in Elrohir's head.

"That is my son, I must see him." He recognized his father's voice arguing with the first one. Reluctantly the wounded elf opened his eyes and spoke in a feeble voice a little louder than a whisper.

"Father?"

"Elrohir!" Elrond exclaimed, running to his side. Elrohir suddenly remembered the dark events he had witnessed.

"Father…" he began but was cut off by the nurse.

"That's enough." She said furiously. "He must rest!"

"No, no. I'm alright, really." Elrohir protested, rising from his bed. The nurse sighed and walked out of the room mumbling something, Elrohir's once keen ears couldn't make out what she said. He really did need more rest.

"What were you saying, Elrohir?" his father asked in a calm voice sitting on the bed next to his son.

"Morgoth has escaped, Father!" Elrohir exclaimed. "He killed Euadan and the rest of the guards. There was nothing we could do, he just…"

"No one blames you, Elrohir!" Elrond interrupted his son's frantic story, calming him down. He sighed and shook Elrohir's shoulder in a way that told him, everything will be alright. "Get some rest and tomorrow I'll tell you what you've missed in the last two days."

"Two days?!" Elrohir exclaimed starring at his father with wide eyes. "I've been sleeping for two days?"

Elrond shushed him and said: "All will be explained tomorrow." He tucked him in like a little child and Elrohir immediately fell asleep in his weakened state.

The next morning Elrohir awoke early and watched the sun rise. He gathered up his belongings from the infirmary and traveled to his father's home, greeting whoever he saw with a hurried wave of the hand. Upon reaching Elrond's house upon a hilltop, he saw his mother Celebrían working in the garden. She heard him coming and turned her head towards his direction.

"Oh, my dear Elrohir, thank goodness your not harmed." She exclaimed rushing towards him and embracing him in her arms.

"It is good to see you too mother." Elrohir said returning the embrace; they stood there holding each other for at least five minutes. Celebrían had feared the worst and now she did not want to let go. Elrohir finally spoke again: "I'm sorry to bring grief to your heart, but I must ask you: what have you done with Euadan's body?"

Celebrían's chin fell on her chest and tears began to roll down her white cheeks, as she released her son from her arms. "We have not burried him yet. Your father knew you wanted to be present."

Elrohir felt a slight hint of relief and then consoled his crying mother. Elrond hearing voices came outside to find his wife crying in his son's arms. Celebrían's watery eyes rose to meet Elrond's concerned ones.

"It will be alright." He told her stroking her hair gently. After a few minutes of consoling Celebrían, the two male elves headed inside the house to discuss what the Valar had decided over a cup of tea.

Elrond told Elrohir that Manwë and the others had discussed the matter carefully and decided to leave it to the Eldar to decide whether or not to return to Middle Earth and capture the evil Morgoth. Now the island of Valinor was basically split into two sides; one side of the Eldar which wanted to return to Middle Earth and fight and the other which wished to remain. Those who wished to remain were mostly Galadriel's people, who rarely ever communicated with men; and those who wished to fight were the wood elves of Mirkwood which used to trade often with the men of Dale, and Elrond's followers which once held the pass to the Misty Mountains. All the elves held Arwen and Aragorn to heart but they believed it wasn't worth it to risk thousands of their own just to save those two. Now the three leaders of the elves of Mirkwood, Rivendell and Lórien, along with a few others, were to have a meeting to discuss the subject, as soon as all the guards that had died at the prison of Morgoth were burried in a proper funeral. Euadan was the last to be burried; all the others were burried at once with all the military leaders present. Since Euadan was the son of the great Elrond the half elven, and a gallant warrior, Varda had agreed to cast him into the night sky where he would become a star. The ceremony would take place the next night and the meeting, the morning after that.

After the two elves discussed and had tea, Elrohir went of to his own home which was close by. It was bigger than his father's because he had a wife and small children; it bore a dome roof with floral designs upon it. It was of white marble and resembled his old home in Rivendel. His wife Míriel (named after Finwë's wife; Finwë was Fëanor's father) and his eldest son Elroèl greeted him as he was coming up the path. They embraced and went inside where they shared stories of the past few days, shared opinions, and tried to be as relaxed as possible about the escape of Morgoth.

"So what do you think, father?" Elroèl asked after a long silence. "Do you think we will go to war or stay here and leave the men to their fate?"

Elrohir thought for a while and then finally said: "Well…the side that wants to go back to Middle Earth and to war is much greater in number then the side that wishes to stay." Elrohir paused, thinking of his sister. "I for one would gladly go back and fight this ancient evil."

"You really miss her don't you?" Míriel asked reading his mind. "Arwen really was a great elven maiden."

Elrohir nodded approvingly and starred off into the east again. He sighed and thought of the meeting to come. "Do you think I should help my father prepare for the debate to come?" he asked.

"No." Míriel answered. "Your father is very wise and has seen many things."
"Yes but Galadriel is even wiser and knows of many more things." Her husband argued. "And Legolas (who had been made king of the Wood Elves thirty years ago) isn't much older than I am. Galadriel may be outnumbered but she is also much wiser than both Elrond and Legolas put together."

Míriel thought for a few moments and chose her words carefully. "Well…if she is so wise then maybe we really should follow her and stay here. Or maybe a compromise will be made; perhaps those who wish to return will, and those who wish to stay will stay."

Elrohir nodded and smiled at his wife. "If that is so, Elroèl and I must train for the battle ahead."

"Yes, indeed let us fence for a while." Elroèl approved. After the elven family conversed some more and had breakfast, Míriel examined Elrohir's wounds and agreed that he was in condition to train with his son. The two elves went outside, choosing a pair of wooden swords as their weapons. They both moved with great speed and agility; though Elroèl seemed to be the faster of the two, his father had much greater skill and dealt quite a lot of painful blows even with the wooden sword. Elroèl did make a lot of drastic improvements however; for example when they began he would slice upwards often leaving almost his entire body open for attack, but after Elrohir gave some well placed hits to his stomach, Elroèl chose another plan of attack. And Elrohir himself learned how to handle an opponent that was faster than him and could outmaneuver him.

They trained until sundown with the wooden swords, throwing spears, using shields and of course using a bow. They would throw wooden disks into the air and try and hit it with arrows and spears; the disks for the arrows were about the size of a small bird and the disks for the spear were about as big as a raven. With the shields they practiced blocking wooden arrows, spears and sword attacks; with arrows it was best to kneel and hold the shield above your head, with the spear it was best to simply brace for impact and with the sword it was most useful if one used the rounded part of the shield to divert the enemy's attack and then attack his most vulnerable spots. By the end of the day both elves were dead tired and slept like logs.

The next morning they repeated some of the exercises and then helped Elrond and Celebrían prepare the spot where the ceremony for Euadan's funeral would take place. Elroèl rode around the Island of Valinor on his white steed, delivering the invitations to good friends of Euadan and Elrond. Among them was Gandalf the White, Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, Legolas the king of the wood elves, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn, and many other elven friends. The most exciting part was when Elroèl traveled to the castle of the Valar to give them their invitations; as custom all the Valar were invited to a major event. Back at the hill where the ceremony would take place, Elrohir and his father built many benches for the guests to sit on and raised Euadan's body on a an altar of white marble. Using a scythe they cleared the sight of unruly grass and weeds, and set the benches and altar. The two also built a tall archway, which was thrice as tall as they were. This was where the guests would enter. They sculpted many designs and patterns upon it and Celebrían and Míriel decorated it with many beautiful flowers and ribbons. Then the two elven maidens dressed Euadan in his mythril armor and around his waist was his sheathed sword.

After all was ready the five elves went home to freshen up and change from their working clothes. After they were all ready, they headed back to the location where the altar along with the benches and archway had been set up, and awaited the guests. Soon the guests started pouring in; first were the hobbits, Bilbo and Frodo, then Gandalf, followed by Galadriel and Celeborn and so on. With all of the guests gathered and seated the ceremony was about to start; all of the Valar and Valier (queens of the Valar) appeared at once, even Manwë. Then Varda came down from the heavens in the form of a star and soon took the shape of a beautiful woman with silhouette which glowed of gold. The Valier held her hands over the corpse of Euadan and began to speak in the language of the Eldar; the hobbits tuned their ears to try and make out what she was saying.

"Euadan yondo Elrond, onooro Arwen, Elrohir. Varda herenya Euadan, formenya elen. Formenya elen, herenya Valar. Kara loo fanyare siila kallasilya!" (This means: Euadan son of Elrond, brother of Arwen, Elrohir. Varda blesses Euadan, northern star. Northern star, blessed by the Valar. Make the Night sky shine bright!) With that she began to sing the Music; the Music which created Arda and everything around them. Soon Euadan was surrounded by a silvery white aurora and began to rise towards the darkened heavens above them. The light grew ever more brilliant as it rose higher and higher; when it finally stopped a flash blinded all the guests. It was one of the brightest stars in the north and it could be easily made out from the rest. Everyone started to clap melancholically, some had tears in their eyes. All of the Valar bowed and disappeared silently leaving the guests to mourn in peace.

"Those were some excellent fireworks, Gandalf." Bilbo said his eyes half open. Gandalf chuckled to himself and starred at Euadan the star.

"Those weren't fireworks, Bilbo." Frodo began. "Varda has just transformed Elrond's deceased son, Euadan, into a star of the north."

"Oh, dear, began your pardon, Gandalf." Bilbo apologized to his old friend. "I tend to do these things at my old age."

Gandalf chuckled again and said to Bilbo: "Quite alright my old friend. It's no shame to be old and forgetful."

Bilbo nodded and then something popped into his head. "Yes but it's even better to be old and strong such as you are, Gandalf." Bilbo paused and laughed. "Let's face it old friend, I've known as an old man ever since I was a child." The two chuckled together and starred off into space, remembering who knows what memories of their past. Frodo had wandered off to speak with Elrond.

"Master Elrond." He called. "I'd like to say that I am extremely sorry for your loss. I came to know Euadan quite well over these passed sixty years; he had a very good heart and was most gallant."

"Thank you Frodo Baggins, I'm sure it would have meant a lot to Euadan to hear you say these wonderful things about him." Elrond responded patting the small hobbit on his shoulder. "Now if you will please excuse us, I must get a good rest for tomorrow."

"Oh yes, of course. And good luck tomorrow!" Frodo responded.

"Thank you, Frodo." Elrohir responded for his father.

Elrond walked up to Gandalf the White, and started conversing with him about the debate: "What do you think, Gandalf? Do we have a chance of returning to Middle Earth and defeating Morgoth?"

"Morgoth has been captured before, Elrond." Gandalf answered. "Though I do believe, you won't get all of the Eldar on your side. Galadriel is a very strong speaker, and if you don't mind me saying she is a lot wiser than you." Elrond nodded approvingly; a warm and calm voice came from behind them.

"Thank you, Gandalf." Gandalf and Elrond turned around to find out that the voice belonged to Galadriel. "I do hope that Master Elrond realizes that I have nothing against him."

"Quite well in fact." Elrond responded, calmly. "I realize that your people simply have different views than my own."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Elrond. I just wanted to be sure this meeting will not interfere with our friendship." Galadriel said. "I wish you a good night's rest and good luck tomorrow!"

"And to you, my lady!" Elrond returned the farewell. After Elrond was done conversing with lady Galadriel, he and Gandalf continued talking about the war to come.

"Do you think you have enough soldiers, without Galadriel?" Gandalf asked.

"Well of course." Elrond responded smiling. "You know that my own people are twenty thousand in number, with about nine thousand that are more than able to fight. And we all train…"

Gandalf cut him off: "Yes I know I can see you from my tower. Every morning for three hours by the shores of the west coast. What of Legolas' people, are they able to fight?"

Elrond thought a few moments, but he didn't get the chance to speak. "Yes indeed they are." Legolas answered. "Hello Master Elrond, Gandalf. I and my people are great hunters in our forest realms."

"Well that I can't see from my tower." Gandalf admitted smiling. "Your forests are very mysterious, Lord Legolas."

"That is how we have always lived in Mirkwood." Legolas said his mind traveling for a moment to his former home in Mirkwood. He soon awoke from the small trance and spoke to Elrond: "Do you think the Elves who have lived here, in Valinor, the ones who remained when Fëanor left; do you think they will join us?"

"No, I truly doubt they will." Elrond responded frowning. "Though I doubt they would do us any good anyway. Most have never even picked up a sword. Though they would be very useful if they could fight."

"You should not worry about numbers, my friends." Gandalf interrupted the two elves. "You both forget that there are still men in Middle Earth."

"Yes, but you forget, Gandalf, that these men have lived peacefully for sixty years." Legolas argued. "Most have no skill with any type of weapon, and those who fought beside us are all probably dead or dying."

"I still believe you underestimate them, Legolas." Gandalf argued back. "Do you not remember the battle at Helm's Deep. You, Gimli and Aragorn did not survive that battle by yourselves." Legolas nodded, recognizing that he had lost the argument.

"Still…"Elrond began. "It wouldn't hurt to have a few extra elves on our side, Gandalf."

"Then you two better go prepare for tomorrow's meeting." Gandalf said. "Good night to you!" Gandalf slowly walked away towards his tower, holding on to his white staff as he walked, leaving the two elves by themselves.

"I have already told all my smiths to begin the production of weapons and armor." Legolas began. "They are making many great weapons, and more are made each day. The Valar themselves have given us mythril to transform into armor."

"Very good Legolas, that is very good to hear." Elrond agreed. "I myself have been given mythril as well and all of my smiths are preparing weapons as well. But I suggest that we combine our carpenters to make our ships."

"Excellent idea, Master Elrond, I shall notify them first thing in the morning." Legolas yawned and said his farewell to Elrond. And so all the guests went off to their homes. Some still mourning the loss of Euadan, others worrying more about the upcoming meeting. Who knows what would await their kind after this important meeting between the three Noldor?