In An Age Before – Part 66
'Twas in late-Narbeleth, (October) of S.A. 3433 that Helluin's practiced eye discerned the impending troop movements upon the Plain of Gorgoroth. The armies that Sauron had mustered there were preparing their camps for deployment in the spring. In Rhovanion on the eastern side of the Hithaeglir, the winters had been harsher than in Eriador during the last decades, and so the campaigning season would start later, perhaps in mid-Gwirith rather than in late-Gwaeron. Indeed the timing of Sauron's earlier attack on Minas Ithil proved the Noldo's tactical assessment.
"When their march begins, we must change tactics," Helluin told Beinvír gravely, "and I shalt be engaging the enemy in a manner I have long foreseen."
The Green Elf looked at her partner with fear-widened eyes. "Thou shalt seek thy single combat with Sauron Gorthaur at last, shalt thou not? Thou shalt go hence into the Black Land to face him alone, forgetting all else save thy rage and thy lust of vengeance." A tear made its way silently down her cheek.
Helluin looked at her beloved in shocked confusion for a moment and then realized that such a conclusion should have been far from a surprise. Oft enough had she chaffed at Sauron's flight from her, and thrice now had she challenged him. 'Twas only logical that Beinvír should believe her capable of laying aside all concerns to pursue the great enemy of her people in a quest to redress a hatred borne through two Ages of the world. Tempting as that was, 'twas not her goal. She took Beinvír in her arms and gazed deeply into her eyes, speaking silently to bypass the weaknesses of words.
Not to face Sauron do I go, meldanya, nor to exact vengeance upon him. Long ago our friend Glorfindel spoke with foresight saying that not from the hands of the Eldar would his ruin come. This I believe, for somehow I feel the truth of it. Nay, I seek not the root of the evil, but rather its servants. I believe thou can see the reasoning of it. Thou may see too the necessity of it. Of all the Dark Lord's thralls, there art but Nine against whom Men cannot stand. They come forth with terror that saps the courage and freezes the mortal heart. But I can hold them at bay and perhaps defeat them, for aforetime I rendered one unto his master's service, and still can I send unto the Void even such fell spirits as theirs.
Thou seek to engage the Úlairi? 'Tis hardly better. They art spirits fell and steeped in the sorcery of their master. Helluin, I fear for thee.
Fear not, beloved. They art the shades of Men, bound and corrupted. Nothing more. Wherefore have I e'er feared the spirits of Men? The dead hold no terrors and these wraiths can make no threat I should take seriously. I hope to destroy them, but at the least distract them. They cannot be allowed to take the field, for Man and horse shalt shy from them. Of the Naugrim I know not, save for Durin's words that some kindreds may be held subject to two of the Seven. Nay, the Nine cannot be allowed to face the Alliance.
Then take me with thee…
That I cannot do. By my armor am I protected from such weapons as bite flesh, and by the Light of Aman am I protected from such weapons as would strike the fëa. Thou hast neither. And more, I would not see thee in such danger for all the world, and whilst thou cannot escape the war, thou needs not place thyself in such jeopardy.
Then what would thou have me do? Flee back to Eriador, there to await word of thy triumph or fall? To skulk in the rolling hills and downs whilst all others oppose the great evil of our times? Nay! I shan't! The Green Elf clenched tight her jaw and narrowed her eyes in stubborn determination.
Helluin regarded her partner's adamant expression. No, she would ne'er return to Eriador. Helluin thanked her foresight for having made an arrangement with Anárion.
Melanya¹, I have asked a boon on thy behalf of King Anárion and he hath granted it in sincere respect for thy abilities. If thou woulds't seek a place in the battles, then accept from him the office of Commander of the Ithilien Rangers. The Men of Lebennin would gratefully serve thee as of old. ¹(melanya, my love, = mela-(love) + -nya(1st pers, poss, pro, suff, my)Quenya)
Helluin's words had the effect of causing the Green Elf to pause. Much as she hated to admit it, all of her partner's points had merit. She had neither armor of mithril, nor the Light of Aman. Were she to insist on accompanying her beloved, Helluin would be e'er concerned for her safety and constrained in her effectiveness against the Úlairi. Yet her guts clenched at the thought of her lover going into such danger alone. She stamped her foot in frustration and brooded upon this twist of fate. Yet try as she might, no better solution came to her. Finally she gave up in resignation.
Thy points all art sound and I despise each and every one, she chaffed, yet neither can I allow myself to burden thee whilst facing danger, nor pit my arguments against the necessity thou hast rightly foreseen. I hate this! I absolutely hate it. Yet I shalt contain myself and accept the offer of Anárion…for the Greater Good. She shook her head and couldn't stop the tears that ran down her cheeks.
Helluin gathered her lover in her arms and hugged her tightly, stroking her back and whispering soothing words in her ear.
Let us take a respite from this conflict for a season, meldanya. 'Naught shalt advance 'til spring. Winter is the season of rest and we too shalt partake somewhat of that respite whilst we may. I shalt send word of thy acceptance to Anárion, and then we shalt seek a refuge.
The Green Elf could but nod in acceptance.
The next day the two followed a stream that ran down from the Ephel Dúath towards Cair Andros, the long isle that lay amidstream in Anduin. Shortly they passed a small pool from which the stream continued its downhill course west. Gradually the freshet gained in volume and in speed, and it scoured its banks, digging itself into the earth. After another few miles the water was a surging rapid, deep in its course, hidden now 'twixt steep walls of stone o'er grown with boxwood. Some twelve miles from the feet of the mountains there lay a pool amidst deep cloven rock walls where the stream fell some ten fathoms o'er a precipice. The gathered waters roiled upon jagged rocks shorn from the cliff face in a natural cauldron ere they tumbled out again and resumed their course. From above, the roaring of the waters was hushed by the deep rock so that all below seemed apart from the world at the surface where a thinning forest ran downhill to Anduin. The land hid its turmoil 'neath a mirage of peace.
Helluin led Beinvír back from the brink amongst the cliff faces upstream, finding there a narrow pathway that led downward ere it disappeared into a fissure barely wide enough for them to pass, and leading thence to a way underground. In the cave they could hear the hushed rush of water, and all about them was cool stone. Yet the subterranean passage was not the pitch black to be expected. Indeed a flickering light grew as they advanced, 'til at last they came to a room, roughly circular and naturally hewn from the rock, which measured some five fathoms in diameter. Surely the most impressive feature of the space was its western wall, for there the rock was pierced fully through. The two gazed at a moving curtain of water, rushing downward in an endless cascade of silver and gold, and lit from without by the westering sun.
"I think that perhaps hither for a time we shalt find solitude and solace from the war," Helluin said, "both that which we have already fought, and that which is to come."
"Indeed so," Beinvír said, "and pray tell, how dost thou know of this place, for no clue is readable from the land above?"
"The knowledge of it is known to some amongst the Men of Gondor. 'Tis a refuge used at times by the rangers, but with winter oncoming and the cessation of the enemy's sorties, none should come hither 'til spring."
The Green Elf nodded.
"Then hither we shalt stay, and at our leisure wander the lands 'round about, for Ithilien is a fair country, green, with many streams, and the sunsets 'cross Anduin o'er the Ered Nimrais art beautiful too. Were it not so close by the land of the enemy, even more fondly would I regard it. Indeed I should have expected many Elves to abide hither."
"Perhaps such was so once," Helluin mused, "when 'neath the stars many Nandor roamed these lands ere the founding of Belfalas long ago. I know not, for in that time I dwelt still in Aman, and after, in Beleriand. Yet I can imagine many of Lenwë's folk tarrying hither, maybe even in this very place, whilst delighting in Anduin and Ithilien's many streams ere they made their way down to the sea."
"Well then for a season shalt this place again host Elven folk, even if 'tis but two," Beinvír said. She set her travel bag on the rock floor 'nigh the window and sat to watch it, patting a spot beside her in invitation.
Helluin doffed her bag and weapons and took a seat beside her. There they settled, their sides in contact, Helluin wrapping an arm about the Green Elf's shoulders, and shortly Beinvír laid her head against Helluin's chest. There they sat and watched the window pass from silver to gold, and thence through the evening as 'twas kindled to orange flame and ruddy fire, e'er flickering and changing whilst Anor sank lower in the sky beyond. And later, as the bonfire of the West fell to dark embers, they saw it shimmering, and like an enchanted window offering a view into the Elder Days, turning to a curtain of silver glass, transmuted thus and brightening as Ithil topped the Ephel Dúath and shone down upon its namesake land.
Beinvír turned to Helluin, the moon glow lighting her eyes, and they shone from her fair countenance framed by its cascading fall of night-darkened hair. Helluin felt her passion rise at the sight and she met her beloved's lips tenderly in a kiss.
The Green Elf wrapped both arms 'round her lover and urged her to deepen the kiss, revealing the depths of her own feelings and projecting them to her partner. For a moment she wondered if her spirit had already known the treasure she would claim when she fled the house of Iarwain and sought the dark Noldo just o'er two thousand years aforetime. She had told herself that she sought adventure, but had her fëa seen with clearer vision and led her to love? She knew not, only that it had quickly o'er taken her and deepened with the years, and that she was blessed. Though love 'twixt the Eldar is deep and abiding, wrought with passion and eternal commitment, theirs was special even by the standards of the Quendi.
Blessed too felt Helluin, that from no foreseeable fate or effort had come her soul's companion, unexpected and yet more welcome than any skill she'd sought through centuries to master. Her heart, alone for millennia, had found in her unlikely friend, more than a traditional mate, for what they shared was indeed an omentie hondar¹, and they were that which was known as véru fëar²; what later lore would call soulmates. ¹(omentie hondar, meeting of two hearts, = omentie(meeting of two) + honda(heart, of the) + -r (pl) Quenya) ²(véru fëar, lit. trans. married spirits, ver. trans. soulmates = véru (married couple) + fëa(spirit) + -r(pl) Quenya)
Neither of them could have pointed to a single moment in which the realization of their union had come upon them, yet each had known the undeniable truth of it. Perhaps it had been in the moment when Helluin, ruminating through the night in Eriador, had realized that she wished more for Beinvír to join her on her journey to Lindórinand than she did to travel alone. 'Twas a shocking change for her, she who had always heeded first her wanderlust whether accompanied or alone. Perhaps for Beinvír it had been in the moment she realized the depth of her fear for her friend, as she'd watched her leaving to confront Celebrimbor at the guildhouse where she might well come face to face with Sauron himself. But each knew without a doubt that by the time they had lit the high talan upon the main mast of Valacirca with the light of their lovemaking 'neath the stars, that their connection was forged and their fates together entwined. Through all their trials and the resulting pain since, this they had ne'er doubted; that they would be together 'til the end of days. Surely some strain of notes had traced the journey of their fëar through each movement of the First Song.
Late in the night Helluin held Beinvír's eyes, and whilst the Green Elf was thus engaged did she reach for the velvet pouch that she had carried from Khazad-dûm. From it she drew forth the craft of Ishkabibúl, in its own way every bit as much a masterwork as that which Gneiss had wrought so long ago.
Melethril nín, aníron cin garad hé taith melon, garad trí anrandath sui garoch elu nín¹, Helluin said silently mind to mind. ¹(Melethril nín,aníron le garad hé taith melon, garad trí anrandath sui garoch elu nín, My lover, I wish thee to have this symbol(sign) (of) my love, to hold through all the Ages as you hold my heart = melethril(f.)lover(f.) + nín(my), + aníro-(wish) + -n(1st pers. sub. pro, I) + le(arch. dir. obj. pro, thee) garo- (have, hold) + -ad(inf. suff, to) + hé(this) + taith(sign) + melo-(love) + -n(1st pers. poss. suff, my) + garo-(have, hold) + -ad(inf. suff, to) + trí (through) + anrand(Age, 14400 years) + -ath(coll pl) + sui(as) + garo-(have, hold) +-ch(2nd pers. sing. pro. suff, you) + elu (heart) + nín(my) Sindarin)
Upon the ring finger of the Green Elf's left hand, Helluin slipped a doubled band, wrought of mithril and gold in the form of two trees with branches entwined, whose joined canopy was formed of the faceted diamond first won from the basalt dome upon Bundushathur.
Beinvír felt the ring slide onto her finger and she saw Helluin's face, so near to her own, waver and blur as her eyes welled with tears of joy. Her heart leapt higher than the sky above, floated upon clouds, and basked in the warm summer sun. Ne'er mind that a late autumn night lay without and rock stood o'er their heads, nor that the ring symbolized a love and promise long ago declared. 'Twas the gesture, true and heartfelt, that brought such joy to Beinvír's heart; knowing that after o'er two millennia together, ne'er did Helluin take her for granted. She chanced a look down at her hand and was o'ercome by the sight. 'Twas a Noldorin emblem sure, Laurelin and Telperiën wrought in fine metals with crown aglow as in the Elder Days of Aman…she recognized the Two Trees instantly from the vision Helluin had shown her in the Palantír of Elostirion. Worn upon the finger where Helluin had placed it, 'twas no less than a symbol of marriage 'twixt two souls, and her words had been no less than a vow.
Love fairly radiated from the Green Elf's heart, and Helluin, who had for so long wandered alone, felt it beat upon her with the same welcome awe that she had once felt whilst standing 'neath the radiant dews of the Two Trees. She well 'nigh glowed with happiness.
So upon that first night, and upon many nights thereafter, Helluin spread the bedrolls and ground cloths and laid her beloved down upon them, and Beinvír opened her arms in welcome and received her. In their refuge they lay together, reveling in their love and bringing each other to heights of bliss that would fill the tales of many bards and inspire the lyrics of many minstrels. Yet sweeter than any notes plucked from harps of gold in the Elder Days, and more true than any notes sung by any voice, yea, even that of Daeron of Doriath or mighty Maglor himself, the strains of Helluin and Beinvír's love o'erflowed to brighten that portion of Arda as had not been since the fall of the Great Lamps so many Ages aforetime. 'Nigh the Black Land a beacon of Light was kindled.
Through the nights of winter, upon the very verge of the greatest war of the Second Age, the Window upon the West shone out o'er the dark deeps above the pool of Henneth Annûn, illuminated with the Light of the Spirit, the Light of Love. None upon two legs came 'nigh, and those upon four marked it but understood not. Only from far, far away did any spirits see and understand, and in their understanding did they rejoice, that the love of the two ellith ensconced in a room of stone, laid upon that country a lingering charm and faint enchantment, and though in latter days would many foes and evil creatures walk that land, still ne'er would it fall wholly into evil. Ithilien would await its liberation and the coming of its king and prince, e'er withholding a part of its virtue 'til better days.
To Be Continued