Forgotten Refugee

“And that was how Erestor came to be in Eregion.” Elrond finished.

It was awhile before Glorfindel said anything, he was still trying to comprehend the enormity of what he had just been told. “Doubtless he was caught up in the carnage of Eregion’s destruction?” the blonde finally enquired of his friend.

“He was indeed.” Elrond replied his voice conveying his sadness. “I very much regret the pain and fear he experienced during its destruction. There was so much violence…so much death!”

“Erestor was only twenty when the city was destroyed. Everything he knew for certain in his world, friends, family, and home…gone…all gone, destroyed before his eyes.”

“I was the one who found him, alone…unscathed…physically! I found him after the damage was done and the orcs long departed. He was wandering along the ruined streets of Ost-in-Edhil, heedless of all around him, staring detachedly at the carnage. He was as one in a deep trance, his face lacking any expression or emotion at all.”

“I manoeuvred him to safety and was shocked and worried by the lack of resistance he showed to a stranger leading him away by the hand. I did not know who he was at that point as he refused to speak and remained trance-like. One of his fellow survivors, a smith, told me his name.”

“It was the destruction of Eregion that caused Imladris to be founded, as a haven for the now homeless refugees. For years Erestor refused to speak, the horror of the things he had seen had robbed him of his voice. He used to hide away in the libraries and gardens of the newly built Imladris, shirking the comfort and contact of fellow elves. In the end the servants and residents of Imladris accepted his withdrawal and left him to his own devices.”

“They just accepted that, was there nothing anyone could do?” Glorfindel frowned.

“You have to understand, my friend, that everything that could have aided him had already been done. I was of course very worried about him, and I spent a lot of time trying to elicit any kind of response from him, any sign that he was coming back to himself. I was worried that he would just slowly waste away as is known to happen with our kind, but there was nothing physically wrong with him, we just had to be patient, wait…hope.”

“So what brought about the change in him?” Glorfindel asked.

“A tragedy!”