Whispering Winds

******
He trudged through the bloody cave, taking detached
note of the empty armours, the bodies of the deceased elves having already vanished.
He would have to arrange for the armaments to be buried, Sindar and Noldor. 
It would not be right to leave them here to be plundered, the memory of their
bearers desecrated.
 “Have you seen the Ambarussa?”
came the voice of Maedhros from behind him.
 Maglor slowly turned to face his brother.
“No, why?” A flutter of panic, the only sign he could still
feel something, anything.
 “I have a task for them,”
was all Maedhros said. “Come.”
 They found the twins on the
surface, pricking their arms with inked needles as they came upon the armour
of dead Sindar warriors. “What are you doing?” demanded Maedhros as Maglor attempted
to take the needles away from them.
 “Keeping count,” they said
in a voice that sounded like and unlike those of the Ambarussa.
 “What of?” cried Maglor.
 “The Sindar dead,” was the
cold response.
 “Why?” wondered Maedhros.
 “To see if enough of them
have fallen to make up for the lives of three sons of Fëanor.”
Maglor staggered back as the realisation hit him
that he had not lost three younger brothers. He had lost all five; for these
were not the Ambarussa he knew and loved. The Ambarussa were keener to wrestle
with their brothers and tease them about maidens they fancied than worry about
the oath, war and all such heavy matters. These were twin Avatars of vengeance
made flesh with eyes perpetually burning with hate, fury and bloodlust.
 Maedhros turned back.  “Where are you going?”
wondered Maglor.
 “It seems the Ambarussa are no longer suitable
for the task I had in mind for them,” came Maedhros’s cryptic reply.
***
She sat by the river bank, shedding silent tears
of grief and loss, remembering the brief years they had had together, walking
the wild woods of the east. She wondered if he was in the Halls of Mandos or
in floating in the void; whichever way, she desperately wished she was with
him. A gentle breeze blew through her hair, caressing her skin, and surrounding
her with the scent that tricked her senses to make her think he was near.
 “Caranthir,” she whispered
into the wind, eyes closed in a vain effort to make herself
believe that he was truly here.
 A touch in her mind and she
heard his voice, “I am here my love.”
 Shocked, surprised, afraid and all at once
happy, she cried out, “Caranthir, my love, you are with me?”
 “Always.”
 “I am sorry.”
 “Hush, none of that now; it doesn’t matter
anymore… not that, not the oath, not the Silmarils, nothing. The only thing
that matters is you and me,” whispered the wind into her mind.
 Tears trickled through her tightly shut eyelids.
“But for how long?” she wondered.
 “Till the end of days if
you let me,” came the whisper and suddenly she understood.
 “Yes, of course. Yes!”
 She could feel him smile and then she felt
herself enclosed by his powerful fëa, burning bright and strong, intertwining
her own, pouring into her body. She laughed, happy and whole. Slowly she opened
her eyes; one of them held the light of the Two Trees.
******
Translations:
Fëa = soul
Author’s notes: Big thanks
to Andreth for beta reading. Just a bit of clarification, elves obviously heal
fast so Ambarussa had to tattoo the kill count on their hands. Tattooing has
been around for thousands upon thousands of years and it does not need modern
needles. Lastly, yes Maedhros is off to try and find Elured and Elurin. Ambarussa
going insane is my explanation as to why it was Maedhros looking for the boys
when Ambarussa were obviously more suitable for the task and Maedhros didn’t
even take them with him.
It would be really, really nice if you would tell me what
you thought of the story. Did you find it believable? Did you think the characters
where in character? What did you think of the story overall? Thanks for reading!
Have fun. Bye.
The end