Chapter 27 - Discussions
"Funny. 'Cause I look around at this world you're so eager to be a part of... and all I see is six billion lunatics looking for the fastest ride out. Who's not crazy? Look around. Everyone's drinking, smoking, shooting up... shooting each other, or just plain screwing their brains out 'cause they don't want 'em anymore. I'm crazy? Honey, I'm the original one-eyed chicklet in the kingdom of the blind. 'Cause at least I admit the world makes me nuts."
Glory (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
"I knew it. I knew it. Well, not in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know."
- Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
The Timeless Halls of the Valar, Oiolosse, Aman
"What are you up to Manwe?" The words were spoken in a tone reminiscent of clear water crashing down a rock face which eddied away into a rock pool and emptied by means of a swift-moving silver stream.
Ulmo. Manwe heaved an inward sigh. He had rather hoped to resolve the problem of the three mortals and their Maia companion before involving the rest of the Valar. He pasted a brilliant welcoming smile on his face and turned to his greatest friend and ally.
"Ulmo!" He said brightly. Perhaps a little too brightly because the icy silver and pale blue hue of the Lord of the Water's corporeal form darkened slightly. He immediately toned the brightness down but a little too late, Ulmo's suspicions were even more aroused. Notwithstanding, he rose from the marble bench where he had been greeting the thousands of birds of all sizes who flocked daily to the Tower for his blessing and held out welcoming arms. "It has been too long since you last honoured us with a visit my old friend."
Ulmo would have gone red with embarrassment had his skin been capable of such a colour, as it was he accepted Manwe's embrace and harrumphed loudly. "Ah…yes…well, you know how much I hate taking physical form. I honestly do not know how you and the others do it, day in and day out."
"Well sit down anyway." Manwe indicated one of the marble benches and gestured to one of the silent ever-present Maia who came forward with a tray of light slightly sparkling wine and fruit. "What brings you here?"
Ulmo lifted the clear glass and after absently swirling the light golden wine around the bowl, took an appreciative sip. "Teleri? One of Olwe's special reserves from the coastal vineyards no doubt. A slightly peachy flavour. Very nice."
"Indeed it is." Manwe agreed. He fervently hoped that Ulmo's reason for travelling to Oiolosse was just social, but somehow he rather doubted it. He felt like he was paddling frantically backwards against a fast forward flowing current. "Eonwe brought it back with him as a gift for Varda and myself from Lord Olwe the last time he visited Aqualonde." In the next instant he mentally kicked himself for mentioning the absent Herald for he had no doubt at all that Eonwe was the reason for Ulmo's visit.
"Humph. Very nice and since you mention him, it is about Eonwe I have come."
Manwe only just managed to stifle a groan. His bright smile faltered until it was a mere twitch of his mouth.
"Ulmo, how lovely to see you." His wife's silvery tones interrupted a very uneasy moment and he heaved a sigh of relief, which was not lost on a friend and colleague who knew him almost as well as he knew himself.
Ulmo stood up and folded the Lady of Starlight in his arms. "A pleasure and delight to behold your loveliness, as always my dear." Varda laughed as he released her and lifted one of her slender hands to his cool lips.
She lightly tapped him on the cheek. "Oh pish-posh. You and your flattery Ulmo." Yet her husband gave a wry smile as she blushed a deep rose colour at the Lord of the Sea's attentions. "You would be beholding loveliness every day were you to find a loving mate to share your life with."
Ulmo gave her a sly grin. "I am still waiting with breaking heart full of unrequited love for you my Lady. In any case to whom would I pay my suit? One of those lovely ellyth who are desperately afraid of me, or perhaps one of those silent obedient Maiar females? No, I think not. I am doing very well alone, but while we are on the subject…" He looked over at Manwe who turned his eyes heavenward as if asking for some respite from Iluvator. "What is this I hear about Eonwe becoming involved romantically with a mortal woman? What in Eru's name is he thinking?"
"It is a long story." Manwe shifted uncomfortably on the bench and glanced over at Varda for assistance whereupon she immediately blithely took it upon herself to stroke the glossy feathers of a sparrow that had perched upon the bench back in the hopes of attracting some quality one to one attention from the Lord of the Breath of Arda. The little bird shivered with delight at the attention of Varda Elentari nevertheless.
You are on your own my beloved. She sent a silent and very amused message to him. You might have known Ulmo would hear of it before even the others. Osse wanders the shores of Middle-earth and often has communion with Cirdan. His mate Uinen is present in the rivers and streams. She sees much and reports back to Ulmo. It was only a matter of time before he became aware of the situation.
Ulmo settled further into the bench, drained his wineglass and then held it out for a refill. His steely pale blue gaze transfixed the uncomfortable Manwe.
"I have plenty of time." He said softly.
The northern reaches of the Forest of Brethil
"Ulmo knows."
The brief statement elicited a sigh similar to Manwe's from his Herald. "Oh dear Eru."
Tulcas grinned and examined the blade of his huge shining sword. They had encountered a particularly persistent large band of Orcs who had broken through the outer units of the main army chiefly because of the presence of two Balrogs. It had taken only a short time for Eonwe and Tulcas to dispose of the much-feared Maiar spirits of shadow and flame, but as usual Eonwe had grieved much for his brothers taken in corruption by Morgoth and twisted beyond anything that they were meant to be. The army had struck camp while the scouting parties were sent out once again to gather intelligence. The closer they got to Thangorodrim, the harder the resistance from Morgoth's armies.
The Vala whistled a merry tune under his breath and attacked the already perfect blade with a whetstone while Eonwe sat with his back against a tree stump and watched.
"You will rub that blade clean away if you are not careful." Eonwe remarked. " I suppose it was only a matter of time really."
"Before I rubbed my blade clean away?" Tulcas decided to take the route of the deliberately obtuse.
Eonwe shook his head and chuckled. "No. I meant it was only a matter of time before the other Valar realised that something was amiss."
"I am surprised that Ulmo can hear anything at all with all that water in his ears."
Eonwe gave a snort of laughter. "He doesn't need to personally hear anything with Osse and Uinen constantly reporting on the doings here. It is quite peaceful down there deep in the ocean, even when a storm is raging above." He sighed with reminiscence. "I had to visit him once under the waters with a message from Lord Manwe."
"Do you not wish to know what it is Ulmo knows and is concerned about?" Tulcas asked curiously.
Eonwe shook his head. "Nay, for I already know. It is to do with this wretched romance between my future self and a mortal woman. Lord Ulmo questions the wisdom of allowing me to cleave myself unto a mortal who will eventually grow old and pass beyond the circles of the world whilst I languish grieving and heart-broken." He gave Tulcas a swift beautiful smile and a wink.
"Surrounded by your half-Maiar brood of younglings and no doubt hordes of mewling grandbabies by that time." Tulcas added sagely.
Eonwe nodded absently and his gaze was distant. "Probably, and they will support me in my great grief whilst expecting me to baby-sit when they go off on holiday to the Bahamas." A deep frown creased his brow as he came back to the here and now. "Wait a moment, where did that come from? I do not even know what the Bahamas is. And what exactly is a holiday?"
Tulcas had stopped whetting his blade. "I am more interested in why anyone would want you to sit on the babies. It sounds like a remarkably cruel thing to do. Is it a common practice amongst modern mortal man?"
"That was not I." Eonwe laughed softly. "My other self is making his presence felt again. According to him baby-sitting is a word to describe the task of a carer or a nurse, a holiday is a period of time during which someone is allowed to rest from their usual labours and the Bahamas are exotic islands with beautifully scantily dressed women, bars, wine and a drink called a cocktail."
"It sounds like my kind of place." Tulcas said cheerfully. "You will have to invite me over to Middle-earth once you get there in the future, we can have some fun. Although I would hesitate to taste a drink made out of a cock's tail."
Eonwe sniffed. "A cocktail is drink made out of a combination of other drinks, not from the tail of a cock. And as you have so often pointed out, I will be too busy getting many babies on my mortal wife to have fun."
"That could be fun too." Tulcas pointed out with a sly smile.
"Well if it sounds such a pleasant prospect to you perhaps we can persuade Lord Manwe to ask Iluvator if you can go in my stead. Personally, I think the modern Middle-earth sounds disturbing and terrifying."
"Where is your sense of adventure Eonwe?" Tulcas demanded, although there was a twinkle in his bright blue eyes.
"It is apparently buried underneath my heavy burden of responsibility and inherent good sense, but I have it on good authority that it will emerge once I arrive in the future Middle-earth." Eonwe replied dryly. He got to his feet and stretched. "Time to do our rounds old man."
"Old man? Old man?" Tulcas spluttered indignantly. "I will have you know that I can keep up with the best of them, you young whippersnapper. In any case, I am not that much older than you."
"That is not what one of the young elleth healers said when she referred to you in conversation the other day." Eonwe said mischievously. "She called you the 'elderly Valar with the silver hair', although she did look a little worried afterwards. I told her that the Valar were indeed very ancient and much revered for their wisdom which was as a result of their great age."
A number of startled Elven warriors subsequently found themselves witness to the 'elderly Valar' roaring with mock indignation and chasing the long-legged and swift Herald of Manwe full pelt across the camp. Ripples of laughter followed the progress of the unlikely pair.
Curunir looked up from a conference with Finarfin and shook his head disapprovingly. "There they go again. You would think that a Vala and a Maiar of their importance would at least comport themselves with some dignity in front of the warriors."
Finarfin followed his gaze and smiled. "I think it is rather nice that they can joke with each other and make others laugh in the process. The warriors respect them for that ability. They can laugh when it is needed and their expertise, leadership and valour on the field of battle is unequalled anywhere. I and all of the host would willingly follow them into the jaws of the Enemy's lair itself."
"Eonwe does not behave in such an inappropriate fashion on Valinor." Curunir said testily. "At least there he behaves with the dignity and good sense befitting the Herald of Manwe."
"He is not at war there and is aware that here, in the middle of a war, the good humour and morale of his troops needs to be constantly boosted and upheld." Finarfin reproved mildly. "I find nothing to complain of in his demeanour and a little teasing and joking never harmed anyone."
Curunir paid no attention to him, his dark enmity-filled gaze still rested on Tulcas and Eonwe who were now doing their usual rounds, speaking with the warriors, joking with them and reassuring them. In a flash of sudden foresight Finarfin found himself wondering about the loyalty of this brooding Maia. He could stand some watching. Finarfin decided. There is something about him that is more foul than fair and it bodes ill for the future.
Finarfin resolved to keep a weather eye on Aule's Maia.
The march of Ereinion Gil-galad and his small army, approaching the western reaches of the Forest of Brethil.
Kim watched Gary ride ahead of her and luxuriated in every beautiful square inch of him, but part of her wanted to hate him for doing everything so well. He rode straight-backed, yet easily, on the horse's back and she envied him his expert control of the beast. She, on the other hand, sat gingerly on her horse, sweat-slicked hands gripping the horse's mane with a death grip in spite of the fact that this was an Elven steed and, once persuaded to carry a mortal, would never have let her fall. The insides of her thighs ached with the effort of clenching them against the flank of the horse to stop herself from sliding off and her jaw ached from clenching her teeth with the effort. Sweat ran in rivulets down her face and left an uncomfortable itchy trickle down the middle of her back, yet she grimly and silently struggled on.
All in all, she was not a natural horsewoman. The closest she had ever come to horses was on holiday once with her parents and that had been a patent disaster since, whilst showing his young daughter just how little she had to fear from horses by patting one of the horses in a nearby field on the nose, said horse decided that he didn't like being patronised. An eight year old Kim watched in horror and terror as the beast bared a monstrous set of yellow teeth and took a lump out of her father's shoulder. After that she was too terrified to go near the animals, so the fact that Melannen, Jim and Gary managed to persuade her to mount her own horse was a huge achievement for her.
"Try to relax Kim." Jim, another one she had put at the top of her hit list for doing things well, rode up and smoothly swung his horse alongside her.
"I am relaxed." She ground out between clenched teeth. "This is as relaxed as I get, okay?" Then she realised that Jim was only trying to help and tried to make reparation for snapping. "I'm sorry Jim. It's not that I don't like horses. I'm just frightened of them. I can feel all that suppressed power underneath me and I just know that if this horse decided to take off, it wouldn't matter what I did, I wouldn't be able to stop it."
The horse's ears twitched and she felt the silken tail swish behind her as it warded off a fly. She was utterly convinced that the horse could hear and understand everything she said, and if it understood that then it knew she was scared shitless and was only waiting for the right moment to get rid of its terrified, unwelcome burden.
"It won't do that Kim." Jim spoke soothingly. "And even if it did, do you think we would all stand by and watch it careering off into the wild blue yonder with you hanging on for dear life by one foot?"
"There's nothing for one foot to hang on to." She said miserably and wiped her sweaty face on her sleeve. "No stirrups, no reins, abso-bloody-lutely nothing."
Jim made an all encompassing gesture with his arm. "I don't think they need them Kim, so they wouldn't have had riding tack with them."
"Well fucking bully for them. I am not a bloody Elf. I need something to hold onto, like handles or something. I don't even know why he's interested in me. I've been nothing but a problem since we got here. I look dreadful, my skin is blotchy, my hair's a stringy mess and I feel like I stink to high heaven. I've even thrown my guts up over him." A breath shuddered out of her as she looked around at the pristine shining Elves, male and female. "Those women are beautiful Jim. Compared to them it looks like I fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down."
Jim choked back his laughter. "I take it by 'he' you mean our fearless leader?"
She grimaced. "Who else? Look at him. Mr Bloody Perfection. He looks gorgeous and quite a few of the females here simper and bat their eyelashes when he looks their way."
"Which he neither notices nor cares about." Jim gently interrupted the flow.
The face she turned to the young policemen shocked him with its agonised expression. "But that's the kind of woman he needs, not some monumental fuck-up like me. I'm no good with men, never have been. They talk and I lose the power of speech. I was the one who sat on the chairs at dances and watched all the prettier, more popular girls get the boys." She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Why does he want me? I've asked myself that a million times since the kiss two days ago."
"And what answer are you getting?"
She gnawed at her bottom lip for a moment and then looked up at him with tear drenched eyes. "That he's only interested because we're all stuck together. He won't flirt with the Elven women because he knows we'll have to go home eventually. If we get back to our own time, then he'll have the pick of the young pretty girls and forget about me."
Jim's heart contracted with sympathy. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. "Kim, you are pretty and you're not old. I think I know my own sex and the look in Gary's eyes when he looks at you tells me the exact opposite of what you're saying. Okay so you're not an expert horsewoman and maybe you're not the most able soldier out in the field, but everyone has to learn and by your own admission you've always been someone who sat in an office. Neither Gary nor the Chief expect you to be Action Woman. You've done pretty damn well considering and they both know it. I know it too. Gary should think himself bloody lucky that he's got you. I hope I find someone as nice as you."
"But the elves…" She persisted.
Jim wouldn't have any of it. "The Elves are beautiful, remote, other-worldly and very alien Kim. I'm sure they don't seem that way to each other, but to us lowly mortals they are. I'm sure that they have wonderful marriages and relationships with each other, but I could no more imagine being in bed with one of them and making passionate love than I could doing it with Bertie here." He patted his horse's neck and was rewarded by a shiver of pleasure and an approving snort. "In fact I think I could probably imagine that more." He chuckled. "I can't believe I just said that."
"Bertie?" Kim raised her eyebrow and gave a giggle.
Jim had the grace to look ashamed. "Well they did say what he was called, but I can't pronounce it so I decided to call him Bertie. Anyway, he likes the name, don't you boy?"
He patted the horse and gently scratched one of its long silken ears. Bertie gave a soft whinny which made Gary, who was conversing with the tall silver Elf called Keleborn, turn around and look at them. He winked at Kim who blushed fiery red but managed to smile back at him.
"See?" Jim said softly. "The only woman Gorgeous Gary can see is you."
She blushed and looked down at her hands. To her surprise she wasn't clutching the mane so hard that she was pulling it out by the roots any more. In fact she had relaxed considerably since her conversation with Jim had started. "I hope you're right. I just feel a bit out on a limb, especially since Chief left. Why did he have to go with those others?"
"I think that the tall intense looking elf with the dark hair and very deep grey eyes is a smith. In fact if I remember correctly from the bits of the Silmarillion that I read, he's the grandson of a very famous and notorious Elven smith called Feanor. If he is, then it's more than probable that Gary has asked him to try and craft some bullets for the weapons."
Kim looked a bit taken aback. "Is that possible? I mean bullets are modern things aren't they?"
"Bullets are just small round balls in brass casings and a small charge to ensure that they are projected out of the gun barrel. As long as he has something to copy, a good smith would be able to produce something that would work fairly effectively." Jim replied. He brushed a low hanging branch away from them both and in doing so caused a light spray of rain droplets to shower over them.
Kim sighed in pleasure. "That was nice. It must have rained here during the night or something." She ran the finger of one hand around her collar line. "It's unnaturally hot and there's no sign of birds or animals which is really weird, just plenty of bloody insects that bite."
"It's funny." Jim said thoughtfully. "When the tsunami happened in Asia, one of the guys at the station was there on holiday. He said that the day before it happened there was a funny atmosphere. At least he thought it was funny. He said he hadn't seen any seabirds and there was always something, also when he went out on the boat the guy who owned the boat said it was strange that there weren't as many shoals of fish as there normally were."
"Well they do say that animals have an instinct about natural disasters." Kim said quietly. "We've probably lost our own natural instincts about things because we live in a safe civilised society. I remember reading an article about it somewhere, how the survival instinct of fight, freeze or flee has been dulled because we don't need to do it every day."
Jim shifted his seat on the back of the horse slightly. "Yeah, I believe that's true, although as a policeman, we tend to still have some sort of survival instinct, probably because we face the unexpected and potential violence every day. Still I think there's going to be some sort of natural disaster here."
Kim looked around her uneasily. "What kind of disaster?"
"Well I'm not exactly sure what Age we're in here, but if I'm right and this is the First Age, then we might be slap bang in the middle of what Tolkien called the War of Wrath which was when the Valar sent an army to finally defeat Morgoth. It lasted for about fifty years and Morgoth was finally defeated and taken back to Valinor in chains."
"What happened to him after that?" She asked. "And why does this mean a disaster of some sort is on its way?"
"Well they opened a door in the wall of the world and thrust him through into something called the Void and there he will stay until the Dagor Dagorath, the war to end all wars. A bit like what we would call Armageddon. In the aftermath Iluvator bent the world so that the Blessed Realm was unreachable. Only the Elves would be able to sail there if they wanted to. Beleriand, where I believe we are now was deluged under the sea that poured in. Unfortunately Morgoth's lieutenant, a Maia called Sauron gets away after Morgoth is chained and starts all the crap leading up to the War of the Ring. "
"Like the Peter Jackson movies you mean? Lord of the Rings?" Like everyone else Kim had been to see the movies even though she had never read the books. "I could never get into the books. I tried to read the Hobbit when I was younger, but got bored by the third page."
Jim chuckled. "Everyone says that. The movies were okay, but Peter Jackson didn't get everything right. The constraints of movie making I suppose. You should try and read the books, once you understand Tolkien's way of writing the story is very absorbing."
Kim frowned deeply. "Does all of this mean that everything Tolkien wrote was true? Incouding Beleriand going under water?"
"It certainly looks that way, doesn't it?"
A small ruined stone farmhouse in the middle of the Forest of Brethil
The Orc at the top of the Most Wanted list for Middle-earth had stopped at a burnt out stone house deep in the Forest of Brethil.Thadak sniffed the air and looked at the sign and decided that the house had been abandoned for some time, although he could see evidence that his kindred had been there and were responsible. Other signs were less clear. It was probable that Elves and men had passed this way, but only the scuffled footprints of the mortals were evident. Of the residents there was no sign at all, not even a chewed bone remained. Since Orcs did not clean up after themselves he assumed that the people in the house had left long before it was burnt.
Still three and a half of the walls were intact and the back had a partial roof. He had managed to avoid three small scouting parties during the day by the skin of his teeth but now this part of the forest was dark, still and very empty. He lifted out the brace of Coney that he had caught earlier and proceeded to tear one of them apart in order to reach the flesh beneath. Game was well nigh impossible to find. He had been lucky with these and he knew that he might well have to travel many days with naught but a drop of water to pass his lips. Unless of course he came across any stray people fleeing the area, then he might eat better.
Until then he would make the most of what he had. The closer he got to the north, the more insistent the voice inside his head became.
Bring them….
It was nothing more than a sibilant whisper really, but a compelling whisper nonetheless.
Bring them to me…Although it said nothing other than that, the visions that came with the voice promised much.
Oh he would bring them all right. Or die in the process.