Languages:
'Valari words/ or Erika's mother tongue'
"Quenya/Sindarin"
"Westron/Common tongue"
"Others"
Disclaimer: LOTR and Silmarillion are properties of J.R.R. Tolkien and Tolkien Estates. None of the songs used in the story are mine too and only borrowed for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 16
Valarindi
The group that Glorfindel leads is just a league away from the river of Little Lhun. It was an easy ride with the sentries riding ahead of them who had not detected any danger lurking around the area. Both the eldar and the edain enjoy having light conversations throughout their short journey and some elves humoured the Second Borns with songs and ballads about Glorfindel and his deeds about the battle of Gondolin. Obviously, his fight to the death with the balrog of Morgoth was sung and told with the elves switching the songs from Sindarin and Quenya to the language of men so that they could understand the tale.
Glorfindel is already used to it, his subordinates, thought of his story as their inspiration to become stronger. And it is not a bad thing, in fact, he is happy that for once, the young ones' will to fight does not come from trying to survive an endless battle of greed and kinslaying. Granted they have felt the cruelty of this world's evil from the War of the Last Alliance but that at least has tested their strength as warriors who were fighting for peace. They fought with their hearts set in the right place.
They fought enemies who were not of their kin and they fought to protect, not conquer. The battle of the last alliance was a battle that taught both men and the elves to co-exist.
It was something his kin in the past did not learn. They were very proud. And thought because they were the Firstborns who the Valar cherishes, they could devour everything.
The woman in his arms listens to the ballad closely bearing a face painted with curiosity. Her eyes spark as she listens to the scenario the ellyn was trying to tell.
And when it reached the part where his hair was caught by the balrog and he was pulled down to his death, her face was painted with sorrow that even her lips trembled. She turned her head behind and looked at him, she laid her hands atop his forearm as if trying to comfort him. A heartbeat only passed before she took back her gaze and looked down.
When Glorfindel heard a sniff, his fëa became restless and his heart was in pain. "Has the story brought you grief, melwen?" He wrapped his left hand around her small ones while the other held Rhosfein's bridle.
"I can't exactly picture you in that situation… but I feel as if I saw it with my own eyes already." She said as she shuffled her face with the back of her hand.
"Now, that has already passed, Erika. It is merely a story being told in a song."
"I am so sorry for what happened and having experienced that. I wish I was there to help you." In her words, Glorfindel cannot help but to smile. Though he could not exactly see her expression, he knew her face was stained with emotions he never wanted her to feel in the first place.
"Thank you, but if ever that moment has to repeat, Eru forbid, I still would not wish you are with me."
"Ha?! Why, you think I can't kick a butt or two?" She said as if indignant and the ellon could not help but to chuckle.
"That is not it at all, melmenya. I will not have you face that danger if I have a choice."
"You are underestimating me."
"It was a demon of the dark abyss."
"We exorcise it. With garlic. And salt."
Once again Glorfindel laughed at her tone of voice, trying to conceal his slip of tongue with ignorance when he called her melmenya. It was a good thing that Erika and the young Sindar with them do not fully understand old Quenya. Only he can feel the eyes of his companions staring holes at his back with that word.
Melmenya. My beloved.
He does admit it to himself now, the feeling that was growing into his foolish heart. The feeling he has never felt to anyone for the thousands of years he has lived and died, both in Aman or in Arda.
It's funny to say that their kind really does have a tendency to fall as fast as the stars once they find the person their fëa truly desires. Though in his case, he did not realise it as fast as Elú Thingol did to Melian since he thought of her as his responsibility. He thought his heart only aches at the sight of such young life in that terrible situation.
Maybe he could blame it on his lack of awareness as well but there is no denying it now. His heart finally has found its other half.
So when she told him that her wish is to go back to where she is from, he felt a pang of grief and pain, it was a small portion of the suffering he knew he would have to face one day even if she chose to stay. For a moment he was afraid of his own feelings and his desire to monopolize all that she has.
Terrible is it not? To appear to her looking like he has pure intentions, but deep inside he harbors feelings that she may not wanted at all. Even up to this point, Erika treats him with affections equivalent to how she treat the other people around her. Hell she is even more open to skinship with the son of Feredir and the two does not even have that kind of attachment to each other.
Those were the thoughts that were running around his mind until they reached the wide river bank of Little Lhun. They were welcomed by the remaining sentries that patrol and observe the places surrounding the area of the previous battle.
Everyone was quick to move, some helped the others to set up a camp and others pulled the barrels out of the cart.
Glorfindel jumped down with ease from Rhosfein's back and held out his hands to help Erika, whose eyes are glued on the beauty of the nature surrounding them.
She gasped in wonder. "Holy smokes, this place is amazing. Look at this, are you seeing this?" She said while her hands were searching for his. She squeaked when he lifted her up without a warning and for a while her face was painted with surprised panic. "Eek!" She really is tiny when standing next to the elves.
"You should focus on going down first or else you will fall." Glorfindel said.
"Oh, give me a break." She said while rolling her eyes. "Alright, what should we do?" Erika asked as she went to the cart and took her bag from one of the elves who were bringing the barrels down. One of the owls, little Luna is perching on the ellon's shoulder. She uttered her gratitude before heading back to his side.
"The others will start fishing now, although the river is not abundant with fish, it won't hurt to try and bring some back to the city."
"Oh…" she muttered as her eyes watched the three elves pushing a small boat onto the river. They carry fish nets that will soon be thrown down to the water. Glorfindel took her on a tent that was set up for him and placed her things on a makeshift seat on the ground. "What are you planning to do now?"
"Well, I'd like to help with the fishing and later with hunting. As for you, when things settle down later in the evening, I will guide with you in a close area I know so you can dip and have time for yourself on the river."
"Oh, you wanna swim together?" Erika said with curiosity written on her face.
"Goodness, no." Glorfindel did not know if he should laugh or be flustered or feel indignant. "I will not taint your virtue, Erika. That should be only done with your other half. I will be staying respectfully to watch over you from the others or if you prefer, I will go."
The woman's face was painted with slight confusion and amusement. "Wait, what? You guys don't even enjoy swimming with others? Where's the fun in that?"
"You mean you have shared swimming with other… people… before?"
"Well, we have open beaches back at home and everyone is allowed to go in and have fun. We also have public pools and sauna baths."
"That's unthinkable. We elves care and treat our elleth with great respects and shall never share a bath with someone who is not of our bond."
Erika laughed. "It's not exactly the type of bath that you have in your mind, Glorfindel. It's just like people enjoying the water. It's not something that was done with intimacy, it's just simply swimming and fooling around to have fun."
"I see… if it's like that then everyone must have been fully clothed."
The woman scratched the back of her neck with a complicated expression, it's as if she wanted to shake her head and laugh at the same time. "Well…"
"Erika…"
"Well, we are clothed but… not fully, I mean we wear swimsuits."
"And those are?"
"You know, things to cover the bazonggas and the place downwards."
"Ai, Elbereth Gilthoniel. You are just speaking of undergarments." She must have found his dumbfounded expression funny as she chuckled while scratching her forehead.
"Okay, I'm sorry but that's really a thing where I'm from. It's very different here, I already noticed how conservative everyone is here starting from the day the ladies made me wear a long dress." Erika said as she sat down on the ground.
She tapped the space next to her and Glorfindel understood what she meant. He took off the sword in his belt before sitting down next to her.
"Do you not wear such dresses back in your home?"
She shrugged. "We do, but not on an everyday basis. The dresses I received from the ellyth were so lovely, I admit. They are the prettiest dresses I've ever owned in my whole life to be honest. But we only get to wear those clothings on occasions. On regular days, we wear casual stuff. It's a regular thing for women to wear pants, shirts and blouses. Oh, we have short summer dresses as well but that's equivalent to the sleepwear here. We have a free fashion sense there." She sighed with nostalgia written on her face. "Wearing those short revealing clothes, going to places we want to go, swimming in beautiful waters, we do all of that because we were living in a free world."
Glorfindel listened to every word she was saying, Erika was quite careful when it came to talking about her home so times like these were rare. The more he listens, the more his curiosity peaks. And the more he discovers, the harder he is falling. She was like a book full of mystery that he wanted to unravel slowly.
"But so, even as swimming with others is a thing back in my home, I don't think I can allow you to 'dip' with me." She said in a teasing manner with a quirk in her two eyebrows.
Glorfindel burst out laughing. "Ai, nin melwen. We shall not, I am only going there to guard you from unrespectful eyes."
"No peeking." She said with a mock glare.
"If I do, I will take responsibility."
"Well, I have nothing to hide anymore, I mean… you know."
Glorfindel groaned in embarrassment as he immediately understood what she was implying. "Argh, Erika. You know that's–"
"Hahaha! I'm kidding, I'm kidding."
How could this creature years younger than him manage to make him flustered? She is too straightforward.
"Well, then… now we have plans we shall go and help the others." Still chuckling, Erika reached for her boots and took them off. She wiggled her tiny toes before stepping into the dirt. She then folded her trousers until her knees. "Alright, let's go! Move your butt, big guy."
The golden haired ellon sighed before pushing himself up from the covered ground. He took off his leather armor and did the exact same thing the woman did, leaving only his tunic and trousers on. Now both barefooted, the two of them went out of the tent.
Glorfindel tied his hair up in a bun while Erika ran up to the ellyn who were in the middle of pulling the net out of the river. She then took a position before grabbing a part of the net and pulled along with the other.
"Your help is much appreciated, milady." One of his companions, Lathron, said in a jolly tone.
"No shit, I can feel myself not doing anything at all." Erika said with a laugh no woman nor elleth in Arda will ever do.
"No argument in that, penneth." Aeglos who was behind her said.
"Hey, you're not supposed to agree with that!"
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The peaceful afternoon has passed. The sun has set and the moon shone its bright silver light. It was a beautiful sight to see unlike the bright nights I have seen back at home. I can clearly see the outline of things thanks to the light provided by this weird looking moon, not that I'm complaining. We just finished our dinner and now everyone is busy settling for the night except to those who will stand as watchers.
"There is a spot here that is safe to go. From there, I will sit from a distance so that no one will bother you while you are bathing." Glorfindel said as the two of us were walking at the riverbanks with the tall ellon matching my slow, short legged pace. In his hand clutched an oil lamp and my bag in the other.
"You know you don't have to do that. You can leave me and do your own thing, I know you have a lot of things to do."
The blond shook his head before looking back at me. "I can not do that, melwen. Your safety would be at risk."
"Look, with everyone knowing you're my friend, no one would dare to peep ok to me, besides it's night time. Also you guys said, it's relatively safe in this area since there are guards posted in the other places too. Nothing bad is gonna happen."
"It won't hurt to be on the safe side." He said gently. "The river's water current is concerning as well. In case of an accident–"
"I will survive. I know how to swim, Glorfindel, don't worry about me. Besides, I plan to stay for a while and enjoy the water."
The blond then stopped in his tracks and sighed in resignation. "You are such a stubborn woman, do you know that?"
I chuckled. "Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment." We resumed our steps and soon we reached a place covered with big stones and two flowering dogwood trees with branches gracefully arching down the water surface. It was a perfect spot to take a bath since it could provide cover. "Oh, wow, this view is amazing"
I took the bag and the lamp from Glorfindel who still has reluctance written on his face. "Are you certain about this, melwen?"
"Yes, I am. Go and don't mind me, I won't drown or die, I swear."
At the end the guy gave a single nod. "Alright then. If things happen however, just shout loudly. I will hear you." His handsome face became gentler as he looked me in the eye and with a small smile in his lips. He lifted his right hand and it soon found its way to my left cheek. He felt warm and the feeling of his hand in my face gave me some sort of comfort making me lean subconsciously. Only then that the connection of our eyes are severed. Is this elf healing power? As if basking in his presence right now makes me relaxed.
Then his thumb moved featherly, caressing my cheek lightly until it passed on my lower lip. That gentle brush gave me a slight jolt. Like a little spark that ran into my system. It felt sweet and comforting. Before I could even have a chance to savor that moment, his hand let go.
"I will be at the camp, melmenya." Glorfindel said even before I could open my eyes. Next thing I saw was his back walking away from where I was standing.
I shrugged as I watched how fast he was walking. The guy must be having a hard time trying to match my pace with those long legs of his. I turned and placed the oil lamp at the top of one sturdy stone and placed my bag at the bottom of it. I heard wings flapping in the air and soon two owls landed on the dogwood tree's branches. It was Hedwig and Artemis.
"Hey, there, my friends. How was hunting? Did you have a good dinner?" I reached out to pet Hedwig and the bird of prey ruffled his feathers as if pleased. I would have done the same for Artemis but she was too high for my puny reach so I just waved at her like an idiot.
I removed my boots first before taking off the rest of my clothes behind one of the trees. I folded them first before placing it next to the bag. I can feel my whole being yearn for the touch of water but just to be sure, I scanned my surroundings and made sure nobody could see me.
"You guys watch over, okay? If somebody comes, chase them away!" I told the owls with a laugh but the birds hooted as if they understood what I said.
And so, I walked over the river and silently submerged myself in the water. My body recognized the cold sensation as it enveloped me. At first it was too shallow to even wet my hair so I dived deeper and soon the familiar white smoke appeared gently clinging on to my body as if I was absorbing them.
The haze being turned into another creature kicked in and moments later, I felt my tail sway into the underwater currents. My senses are sharper and my sight became clearer than normal.
I am home.
That was the feeling I felt. With a giggle, I roll my body around as if I was a kid rolling on a grassy playground.
I told Glorfindel to go not only because I knew I won't be able to control my own excitement but also because he is an unpredictable person who possesses a power I don't know and understand. He might sense me and my changing or even feel something weird on the water. With my stay here, I saw the difference between a man and an elf. Though I don't know everything, what I know for the fact is that they are built differently. They have magic and gifts a normal person like me would not believe at first glance.
And it's not about the matter of my trust for him. The thing is, I trust the guy so much that I would leave my debit card to him with the PIN. But I don't know what kind of prejudice or folk tale they have for someone like me. I'm scared of what their reaction will be if they ever see my scary mermaid form.
I swim deeper into the center of the river. Earlier we caught a decent amount of fish for everyone in the camp but it won't be enough to feed even half of the city's people, now that I am underwater, I think I kinda know why this river has a small population of fishes. The stones and the levels of ground were uneven and it creates strong current underneath. Given the surface of the river, all those surfacing waves have nowhere to go and it creates rip currents that small fishes can't survive on. And might be, most of the remaining big fishes here have already been caught by the people. Breeding is also nearly impossible and the eggs won't be able to survive this type of current.
Should I help and bring fishes? That might be a good idea.
Carefully surfacing from the water, I looked around again, searching for a stick that I can use to catch some fish. I could see large branches but not only was it too big for me to use but they were too far for me to reach. I continued my search for branches in vain until I submerged back to the deep and saw a broken arrow resting between two sharp rocks underwater. I took it and examined if it's useful. It looks a little crude as it was made with rough wood and the tip was jagged but still usable. I went back to the surface and reached for my bag. Using the clothes I used to wear, I scratched the arrow surface to rid off the funky stuff hanging onto it. As soon as I'm satisfied with its cleanliness, I smirked proudly and dived down.
If I want to find a decent size of fish, the ocean is the best place to go but I'd risk exposing myself to everyone if I go there as I'd have to pass by the city on the way there. The river is simple and straight so I don't have to go zigzagging to places and lose my way. Swimming opposite from the place where the elves are, I searched for places with low current.
Minutes later, I found a couple of big fishes that looked like carps. With excitement, I rushed in and swung my weapon. Fish - 1, Me - 0.
The skittish fellas managed to get away from my noob attempt. I laughed as I imagine how stupid must I look like. It's okay, this is my first time. I gotta give myself a little credit. And no, this is not copium.
This time, I tried to time my assault and power up my speed by pushing power using my tail. Surging forward, my eyes focused on just one single target who would soon meet the sharpness of my arrow.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Mahanaxar
Ulmo smiled to himself. It was a small expression but his friend, Manwë has seen the changes it does to his face. The king of the seas rarely don his fàna, he barely surface out of his world anyway and right at this time, he has no choice.
The vala could feel a connection between him and Ulumiel as she went back to the water. And though he is puzzled as to what she is doing in Little Lhun river, he was glad he could sense her again. At first he was wondering what the little one is up to but she started attacking carps. She failed at first attempt and laughed to herself as she rolled and stumbled. Despite the failures, she did not give up and was whooping around after she managed to hunt one.
Carrying the fish in her arms, Ulumiel swims away until she reaches a place where elves are camping nearby. She then lifted the fish up and placed it on the ground. Ulmo noticed she was being subtle and stealthy. Then she swims back into the water and returns to the place where she hunted the carp.
Why is she giving her price to the elves?
'Care to share your thoughts, brethren? Are you having a vision of something you do not want us to see?' the voice of Oromë rang into the hall and brought Ulmo's attention back. He already knew the purpose of this rare event and to be honest he was not surprised to see frustration and wonder in their expressions.
Manwë, their chief, was patiently waiting for him to speak while Varda had a fond, knowing smile painted on her beautiful face.
When Ulmo retained his silence, it was Lorien who spoke.
'A vision came to me, milord. I saw a child that you have sung into existence. A child with a fëa you had acquired.'
Silence filled the hall as all eyes were directed on him. Aulë gaze is full of ironic compassion considering his friend has done the same taboo he once did. But at that time, it was his impatience that pushed him to create a life. This time, Ulmo's motives were unknown to everyone.
'The fëa, my friend.' it was Mandos who spoke next. 'How did you acquire a soul who did not pass into my halls.'
Ulmo could describe himself at that moment to be highly frustrated. He heaved a sigh before speaking for the first time.
'Eru, our father, has granted me a gift.' At his answer, confusion wrapped everyone. With water he created a small figure of a young one, who looked exactly like Ulmo in his spirit form. Though unlike the vala, the image looks less harsh. 'I call her Ulumiel. And with the blessing of Eru Illúvatar, I created her with a part of my Eälar and with this very fàna that I don.'
At his words, everyone fell in silence, still trying to comprehend all that he said. He remembered that time when Ossë came to him after sensing a lost soul wandering at the deep waters of Ekkaia. She was a small soul barely hanging on to its existence. It was a fëa infested with dark shadow, an evil curse if he would base it on what he felt. Such a little thing came to his hand as if seeking refuge and safety.
When Eru connected to his thoughts, Ulmo felt joy. To him a child was entrusted and though he is already comfortable with his solitude, he did not expect to feel such love for someone. It surpasses all the love he had to everyone, even to the children of Eru.
'This Valarindi is a child of mine.' he announces.
To that, chaos erupted. Unsurprisingly, it was Manwë who spoke first in agitation.
'What?! Do you mean you left our young in the middle of Arda's chaos?!'
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
My head popped out of the water surface carefully with eyes scanning around the area checking if there was anyone around. Though Glorfindel assured me that no one will come in this area while I am here, I can't help it. An hour must have passed since I dipped into the waters and I managed to catch quite a good amount of fish in such a short time thanks to some weird occurrence after I caught my first carp. The fishes suddenly came to me as if asking to be killed. Does the 'step on me mommy' simp culture also works for them?
I can't deny though that it helped me gather a decent amount of fish, moreover, not only was the fish bigger than the previous ones that I caught, I also caught different varieties other than the carps. A big salmon and a trout were some of the kinds that I can recognize, the rest were unknown to me yet they look like the kind of fish that's edible. Where did all they come from? Earlier I didn't see that much life in the river. What's more is that I saw some shellfish that I found in the ocean that carries a lot of pearls. I even found crabs. That was weird. Seafood with teleportation powers.
But as much as I was weirded out, I tried to catch as much as I could with my bare hands and placed them all next to the first carp that I caught. The crabs were of course running around but none of them returned to the water. That was really weird but I'll just ignore it. Afterall, ignorance is bliss.
Now all I have to do is soap my whole body because I smell like a fish. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a half fish but I don't smell like a fish market.
I reached for my bag and took the bar of soap that I smuggled out of Lord Círdan's house. I scrubbed it all to my body until I was satisfied and smelling like roses again. But because I have no bottles of shampoo with me so I also used it on my long, painfully thick hair. I know this is not a good idea but it's better than nothing. I'll just tie it later or maybe cut it short.
After washing all the suds away, I pulled myself up to the stones and moved completely out of the water. Luckily, the wind was blowing away from the direction of the camp so nobody noticed it when all the smokies started to come out again. In less than ten minutes I return back to my human form. I put on my undergarments and my clothes quickly after making sure I don't smell like a fish anymore.
That time, Hedwig landed on the stone next to me and because he was so cute, I scratched his feathery chest with my fingers. "Hey there, adorableness." I think he likes it because the bird ruffled and poofed his feathers.
He hooted loudly as if he's speaking, it was followed by a couple of more hoots echoing from somewhere I can't pinpoint. It must be other owls and I assume they are talking to each other.
But then to my horror, I saw a figure emerging from the shadows of the forest. The first thing that I saw was a gleaming, silver eyes shining through the faint light of the moon. I felt like my very breath escaped my lungs from shock. I was frozen from where I was seated as the creature completely revealed its huge form.
It was the same white wolf I saw in the forest.
No voice left my mouth as I remember that time when this particular wolf was standing next to me before I lost consciousness. The fear came back to me and thoughts rushed into my mind, did the wolf marked me as its prey? Is it that hell bent on killing me that's why it followed me all the way here?
With haste, I scrambled to lift myself up from my seat and grabbed the oil lamp. I pushed the lamp in front of me as if it was a weapon that I can use to fight this wolf, thinking, if this thing attacks me, I will throw the lamp to it and make an escape through the river.
The wolf stares at me with its sharp gaze, its two shining eyes are unnerving especially since it was looking at me straight in the eyes. As if it knew what it was doing.
The white wolf moved its right front leg forward and I knew it would start its attack.
'Stay back!' I took a step off and shouted loudly. I wanted to grab a stone or something from the ground to throw at it but I didn't want to move my sight away. Hedwig hooted one more time but I didn't pay attention to it.
The wolf did not stop from stepping towards me after my warning and I took that as a cue to throw the oil lamp in its way. Unluckily, as if fate was making fun of me, the glass of the lamp did not break and it continued shining but faintly. With the lamp on the ground, my surroundings became a little darker and I tripped to the dogwood tree's root as I was running towards the river. I fell to the ground. Damn it, how many times should this happen to me? Why are you such a wimp, self!
The wolf must have been surprised by my fall and I saw it flinched before strutting towards me. Again, I scrambled backwards in an attempt to get away from it but to my surprise, the wolf lowered its head and body on the ground.
Like a subdued animal trying to look as harmless as possible. That paused my actions. My panic turned into confusion but no words came out of my mouth.
The white wolf then gently huffed before it whined.
"What?" I whispered. When I looked into its eyes, I saw longing in it as if it was trying to tell me that it's harmless.
The white wolf then moved its hind legs and started crawling towards me while whining. If I'm going to be really honest, the wolf looked really cute if not only for its massive size. Maybe because I've never seen a wolf in my entire life and have been growing next to cats and small, local doggies that I think this creature is huge.
The fear in my heart started to dissipate especially when Hedwig landed to a root near where the wolf is.
"Are you… not going to hurt or attack me?" I asked like a fool to a creature who can't speak like I do. But to my surprise, the wolf understood it and barked. Can wolves even bark? I nodded. "Okay… uhm… well. What should I do to you then?"
The wolf then crawled forward until its nose reached my hand. He sniffed it first and eventually, licked it. The wolf, who is now close to where I was slumped, looked at me with eyes filled with joy. I lifted my hand slowly until I reached the top of its head. I was hesitant to touch him but the wolf rose up from his crouching possition and doing the head patting himself. His fur was like a warm and soft, fluffy cotton.
A smile broke into my face when the wolf's bushy tail started wagging like a puppy. He made a low pitched moan when I lifted my other hand and scratched its body without any hesitation.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were trying to be friendly." I told the wolf assuming it can still understand me and he responded by licking my face with a softly growl. I felt bad for even thinking about how to hurt the poor fella but in my defense, I know wolves are dangerous creatures and I thought it was trying to attack me. If I'm right, back in the forest, it was crying when I heard it whimpered after I fell from the slope.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." I touched my forehead to the wolves and I was happy to hear a whimper as if saying it's okay. The wolf then moved away from me and gave a howl that echoed through the forest and before I knew it, one small wolf cub emerged from the forest. The cub was running towards us so fast that it stumbled on a rock and fell to its face. The little white cub then pushed itself up, shook its body before running towards me again. I laughed as the cub jumped to my lap with excitement. That was the only time I noticed that the big wolf is a male and this cub must be its child.
The wolf brought his child to me as proof he didn't mean any harm.
Then soon, another white wolf, much daintier than the male came forwards and nuzzled the male before crouching down next to me. One by one, bright eyes of gold, green and amber glimmered in the forest and I was amazed to see a whole pack of them looking at us, watching silently from afar.
"You brought your whole family to meet me? Why would you do that?"
Before the wolf could even make a sound, I heard a voice coming from the opposite side of the forest. Carrying torches, swords, bow and arrows, the elves came in haste. They stood defensively and ready to release the deadly weapons they were carrying.
"Do not move, Erika!" Glorfindel shouted loudly as soon as his eyes fell to my form, who was sitting down next to two dangerous creatures. His face was hard with terror and anger. She can feel him radiate with power.
"No! No, wait! Don't attack!"
But my cry was drowned by the growls of the female wolf who stepped forward and hid us behind her body. The male then howled much louder than he did last time as if announcing to his pack that they are going to fight back.
The forest, once peaceful, was filled with hollow sounds of wolves' cry, letting everyone who will fight them know as to why they are held as one of the strongest apex predators in the world.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
'If the child is of our kind, then she must be taken here to Valinor. She is a being who cannot interfere with the history of the world. She belongs in Valinor.' Manwë speaks with authority, speaking one of the rules of Ëa .
'I took her to the land of the Arda because it is a place that her soul will recognise. Right now, she is neither a mortal nor an immortal. She does not know the truth of her being yet and I do not know the extent of her curse. The darkness clinging into her soul will feed upon her grief.' Ulmo said gravely, if there is one thing he wanted to do, it was to save her soul from being succumbed to the darkness but Illúvatar did not tell him all that is needed to know. He assumed it was a part to test him and his brethren.
'We must find a way to rip the evil curse out of her soul first before she becomes complete, hence she will die.' Varda said grimly, her wisdom made her understand the actions Ulmo had taken. That does not mean she liked his methods. If it was her, she would have dealt with the problem first without any disregard to Ulumiel's feelings. But Ulmo was too compassionate, afraid to tell his child the truth of her existence.
That she is not of this world, and that her previous life has ended through a cruel death.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Translation:
Eälar - spirits who do not require a body (hröa) to exist. They are not the same with fëa. The ones who have them are the Valar and the Maiar. But even as they do not need a body to exist, they can still don a body (fàna) and mingle with other people.
Valarindi - a vala's child
Author's notes:
The concept of Valarindi - At the earliest concept of Ëa's mythology, the Valarindi were the children of the Valar according to The Books of Lost Tales. The Quenya name 'Valarindi' was written in the Annals of Amman. In the story's later version, the concept was abandoned. Eönwë who was then named as Fionwë was supposed to be the son of Manwë and Varda along with Ilmarë, who was then named as Erinti. They were then changed to be Maiar that are deeply loyal to their Vala.
Sir JRR Tolkien dropped the concept and it wasn't stated if they are just simply living in celibacy or they can't bear children at all. Rather he just decided that they, the greatest of the Ainur who entered Ea, did not have children.
One example of the Ainur having children was Melian, a Maia who bore the child of Thingol.
➡️ Also! I want to thank all the readers for your comments and kudos, I really appreciate everything. Apologies for late updates, I was just so really busy, especially as I will be transferred again to another country for work in a month or two. Thanks for sticking around.