All the characters seen, except Erestor, are mine. He, the world, and the greater situations in this story were first written down by J. R. R. Tolkien.

This story is not meant to make any money, so please simply read and enjoy. :)

Mellolaes settled back onto the stool beside her patient's bed. Once there, she took a moment to spread her skirt and calm her nerves. Erestor watched intently.

"So … am I to be doused in lukewarm tea?"

Mellolaes raised her head and stared at him with hard eyes, a raised eyebrow, and a twitching corner of her mouth. "Not if you behave yourself."

"You will then continue your tale?"

"Until you fall asleep."

"I have no plan to sleep today. How can I be tired when I am doing nothing?"

Mellolaes gave him a smug smile and went on with her story.

. . .

The ellon continued to stack bodies until they had finished that part of their task. Then they began stacking stones up around the corpses. At this point, the elf from Valinor took interest in their project.

He spoke up soon after they started to build their cairn. "Use not only the biggest, but the rocks with the flattest sides as you start, even if they be not as large, especially when forming the bottom layer."

Ranthalion straightened from where he stooped over a stone and glared at the patient of his kin. "And what makes you such an expert on stone-stacking you stranger to these shores?"

Lathwinn straightened where she sat and blinked at her brother. "Ranthalion! He is a Noldo!"

Her brother's nostrils flared. He glanced first at his sister and then back to the stranger. Then his aunt's voice entered his ears like a light, summer breeze. "I believe Celuant is right, dear nephew. Neither you nor the others shall be harmed following his advice will you? Just try it and see how things work out."

Lastannan nodded behind his closest brother having already paused in his work to stand, turn, and listen. "We shall indeed take the advice of our aunt. Even if the advice of a stranger might prove false, we have long trusted her without learning to do otherwise."

Lastannan's stare then riveted upon the back of his eldest brother's skull. His voice deepened and hardened slightly, though it kept a jovial rhythm. "Is this not true, brother?"

Ranthalion turned his glare back upon his only older brother and sniffed. Then he turned his gaze downward to search for stones with flat bottoms. He and the others were soon using them to form the foundation of their structure. The growing wall did seem more stable than they'd expected.

Manpalan commented on this. The remark earned him a glare from his second-eldest brother, but his very eldest grinned at him.

Sarnin watched all this with a soft smile of her own. This fell away as she turned a concerned stare upon her patient. Celuant also watching her nephews, his gaze remained hard if also intrigued. His posture continued to be as stiff as when he'd first awakened.

Sarnin reached out and laid a hand upon his knee, giving it a squeeze. Her whisper was soft as seed-down. "Why don't you get some sleep, Celuant? We will be starting our journey home soon after dawn arrives to keep any more orcs from interfering in it."

Celuant turned his hard, but intrigued gaze to her and raised an eyebrow. "Home?"

Sarnin gave a sad smile and placed her free palm over her heart. "'Our home.' She then raised and placed that same hand on his shoulder giving it a squeeze and him a warmer smile. "And, hopefully, yours too, soon."

The stranger grunted, but continued their conversation on a different track. "Do you think I will be tired after the run rises if I engage in no sleep before? I have been unconscious much of the past day and at least a little of this night."

Lathwinn had been standing and watching her brothers as they worked, sometimes looking out beyond them into the darkness surrounding them. Now, she turned a scowl upon their guest. "'I' believe you need sleep also, my aunt's patient. There is a vast difference between avoiding the world by burying one's conscious away from it and resting both your mind and body. You have obviously been through much to rest from."

The stranger looked away from Lathwinn's gaze. His jaw clenched and tightened. Sarnin merely widened her soft smile behind him. "At least lie down and try to show us you cannot possible rest as we believe. I will sing a song to relax us all and keep away the dark servants of Morgoth who wish us harm while you do so."

With a deep sigh, the Noldo laid down and turned over keeping his back to the elleth. He thought to himself, he might as well not put their group in greater danger or undue stress by arguing over laying down if that is what they wanted, or over their singing a song.

Sarnin looked up at the stars shining down upon them. Her eyes grew wet. Yet, the widest grin she had worn that night played over her lips as she began.

"Through foulness and darkness, I have come

From the grips of strong foes and embraces of fellows

Fears and joys, hopes and horrors I have known

Yet here I stand at last, I have found my way home

Through mountains, storms, and depths The Song led without fail.

Now watch me dance and hear me sing let joy throughout our whole woods ring.

Come now my kin to my arms, see me, greet me, and hear all my tales

I have found my way back at last; yes, the darkness has failed"

Celuant smiled grimly his face still turned away from hers. If only the words were true. However, he'd learned even if you escaped it, the darkness still had a way of winning especially when it came to your kin.

Lathwinn laughed. Then she picked up the song herself adding her own voice to the melody. Sarnin turned a smile upon her niece as they sang together, though Lathwinn now truly took the lead.

"I've wandered through halls encrusted with gems

And over mountain's silver tops exposed to the sky

I've seen the smiles of kings and glares of grim guardians

Wondered valleys deep with shadow and almost lost myself in them

Lathwinn's brothers stopped their work and turned toward her. They watched their sister sing in silence and stillness. Their eyes grew grave. She seemed to hardly notice. For, she now spun on tip-toe a moment before continuing her song. Their aunt did notice the brothers' changed behavior. Tears poured from her eyes as she continued the song with their sister.

I've inhaled the breath of bears and listened long to their rippling growls

Eagles' screams echoed above as their shadows engulfed me in deep vales

Trees whispered to one other as I wandered long beneath their boughs

And after all this journeying, I have found my way home now."

Lathwinn's four brothers stepped away from their work. The youngest grinned wide. His bright voice joined those of the elleth. Two tears gleamed upon Melarbeth's cheeks as his softer voice blended into the melody. His second eldest brother's face was softer than the stranger among them had ever seen it before. As Ranthalion raised his voice, it came forth a bit broken. Tears also rushed from his eyes, but his chin was raised defiantly toward the east. The eldest brother's gaze looked the same direction but his eyes held only gratitude as he sang the next lines of the song with his ancient voice.

"Come everyone and see this face we thought long lost to us, gaze upon it again

She has returned to us dear friends and she is still one of us even though changed

Taller is Lathwinn now, though not tall, older is she now, yet though wiser, still she grins

Know her once more, dear friends, love this stranger who is also and forever our kin

The family fell silent. They looked at each other in love a long moment. Then they turned their stares upon their guest. They smiled to see him breathing deeply with closed eyes.

. . .

Mellolaes smiled dreamily at the ceiling and sighed. Then she looked down. Her face crinkled in places as she grinned. Her patient also stared at the ceiling in silence, but his deep breathing without a wince or crease of his face and lack of reaction to the pause in her words told her something.

The nurse bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Then she rose, pressed a light kiss to her patient's forehead, and stepped silently out the door before closing it only slightly less silently behind her.

Estel's nurse smirked to herself in the hall still crouched over the doorknob. Then she straightened, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and turned. She strode, head high, in the direction of her charge to tell him of their victory. Behind her, Lindir stepped silently out through an open doorway further down the hall wearing an amused grin of his own.

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God Bless

ScribeofHeroes