Title: The tale of Mîm – as it could have been
Author: Dís Thráinsdotter
Rating: M overall, this chapter M
Summary: The children of Melian and the Kings hear a promised tale.
A/N: Sequel to "A tale about friendship"
Disclaimer: I don't own either Middle Earth or it's inhabitants, Melian and her family are mine though.
Chapter 5, Retaking the area
When the mountain passes opened the hoards of Angband followed soon enough. At first only small groups came, "scouts" father snorted as we watched them from the look out, and later they came in greater numbers. It was clear that they didn´t expect to be opposed but that was exactly what they would become. Lord Turin took his men and met Aratar´s men at the agreed meeting place before taking the fight to the foes which they did successfully. They had been taken by unawares and suffered heavy losses as a result. Afterwards they became more wary but our forces were still able to attack them with few casualties, which was a relief to all of us and particularly to Healer Melian. She knew that losses were to be expected but it was still good to see as few of them as possible.
I am quite sure that the Lord of Angband found himself surpriced to hear that his servants could not go through Beleriand unhindered any more, and he was probably also angry. That summer more and more foes came and we were hard pressed to keep them at bay but we were able to do so. In the end their numbers grew smaller, finally they stopped coming altogether which we greeted with relief. Apparently the Dark Lord had decided it wasn´t worth the losses to send his servants our way but went around our area instead. We were able to enlarge the area we controlled until the area between Doriath, Nargothrond and the passes were in our hands.
Beleg kept in contact with Doriath and heard that the Lord there was very happy to see his northers borders safe. Aratar was also happy, for once his people had been able to grow their crops and tend their heards without fear of ambush from the north. He had in fact been able to send word to farmers who had fled south, away from the danger, telling them that the paths were clear and as safe as they could be. He was certain at least some of them would come back the following spring and replant the old fields that had been abandoned because they were attacked so often. Father liked that, they would need tools as well as weapons in order to make the area safe.
The area where we lived became known as Dor Cuathol, the land of Bow and Helm. Lord Aratar built a house where the council which now included father, Turin and Beleg could gather and named it Axehead in order to remind all about our part in keeping the area safe. Father found it odd to be regarded with friendly eyes by the Men of the area but he was also relieved to be able to meet them openly. The fact that Melian lived with us was well known among them as well as the fact that Emeldir visited from time to time. A good number of them now found us to be good neighbours and we were always invited to weddings and birthday parties. We held our parties in the council house, mainly because we found the house most apt for such and Lord Aratar made sure the house was well stocked.
One thing that puzzled our Melian was that Beleg spoke so dismissingly about Elves who had been able to escape from Angband and the mines there. He suspected that their escapes had been orkestrated and that they were in fact spies, a danger Melian agnowledged while also being sure that not all of them were spies. As it was some of them had indeed escaped in truth but they were shunned by their own kin and had to turn elsewhere in order to find a home. We found out that some of them had found homes among Aratar´s people and that Aratar had made them members of his council. They were able to stay in contact with their kin which was good for them and also have good lives in the villages they now called home.
As the area became safer to travel we saw more and more Dwarfgroups passing through, now that they didn´t need to fear attacks. We introduced them to our Resident Healer, who had in fact met a few of them two years ago when an attack had left some of them injured. They wondered how on earth she had ended up with us and she told the tale about what had happened and what the result had become. When she had finished they looked at us in amase and said that we had indeed been fortunate and that the result could have been far worse, something we both agreed with. Father told them about the fear he had felt when I had met him alone and the relief he had felt when he came to my brothers room to see him sitting in bed and eating a soup Melian had made for him. They continued on both to Nargothrond and Doriath and were able to relax as they went, they didn´t need to remain on the alert all the time and expect to be attacked at any moment.
As the number of Men grew in the area all of us became more busy and were able to receive apprentices willing to learn from us. They stayed in the halls which we enlarged to make sure all had bedrooms and that there were large enough smithies to allow all to work well. Melian had some rooms to her own use, where she prepared medicines for all of us. She could now go alone when she gathered herbs but she refused to go unarmed, she admitted that it was partly out of habit and partly because she suspected the Lord of Angband to plan something terrible. In her opinion the calm in the area was not the calm of peace, but of plans being prepared though she couldn´t say how she came to that opinion. Father agreed with her, he had the feeling that something was brewing but like Melian he couldn´t quite put his hands on it. Both of them prepared themselves as much as they could and waited to see what would happen next.
The fact that both our father and Healer Melian were worried wasn´t missed by either Lord Túrin or Beleg. Both of them agreed that the Lord of Angband had left us off the hook for a long time, something he was not in the habit of doing to anyone. They were certain that something was being planned and also that it wouldn´t be pleasant. "He might be waiting for us to let our guard down" Beleg said and both father and Turin nodded in agreement. The only thing we could do was to wait and see what happened next.
This watchfull peace had lasted for two years and winter had turned into spring when a message came from the advance scouts: groups were coming from the mountainpasses. "Looks like they return" Lord Turin said and brought a company with him to see what was going on. All of us worried about them and worked mostly to keep busy but soon enough we received a message asking us to come to the Axehead. When we came there we met not only with the company but also with a group of men, women and children who had come from Dor Lomin. They told us that the Easterlings no longer had large groups near the passes that led to our area. The passes were unguarded so the people who didn´t want to stay were able to leave. Lord Turin asked them if they knew anything about the Lady Morwen and they told him she was well but had her work cut out for her in order to keep those under her care safe. He looked relieved when he heard that and the Men who had come to us were offered land to farm and to live on. They accepted that offer and when they had found good places for villages and fields they started working on them.
TBC