A BITTER ENDING - Chapter Five

FA 455

An immeasurable onrush of flames spilled forth from the mouth of Thangorodrim.  Aegnor gasped at the magnitude of the destructive forces sweeping across the plains, obliterating in a few heartbeats the lives of elves and horses along with all vegetation, and drying myriad small pools and slaying their inhabitants. Close behind thundered wave upon wave of fell creatures completing the destruction. Thick clouds of acrid smoke further hindered those yet protected by the gentle hills rising up to the tableland of Dorthonian.

Taken unaware by the devastating suddenness of the attack, elves and men had mere moments to prepare for the onslaught, the horror of the slaughter stunning them into inaction. A battle hard-pitched they fought, but in the confusion of swirling smoke, accentuating the deep night, many brave warriors fell.

Aegnor confronted the enemy fiercely, exhorting his fellow elves not to give ground, as the hill fort they defended was in a direct line with the Edain fortress of Ladros which for many years had been the residence of the mortal woman, Andreth. In fury he spent his strength and skill, bringing down many a savage opponent; in each he sought revenge against the Morgoth.

Overrun at last, the remaining elves and men fled to the forest, attempting to escape, while inflicting the greatest possible hurt to their enemy.

Aegnor found himself ringed by brutal orcs, and though he had become easy prey, they held back from the kill, choosing now to torment him. Lightening swift though he was in his own defense, yet by sheer numbers and carelessness of their own safety, they closed in about him. Still he fought, struggling to keep his footing on the gore-sodden ground.

Unable to break free, he was at the mercy of his assailants, and they made sport of him in their pitiless manner. Suddenly some of their number were flung violently aside, allowing the mortally wounded elf to sag to the ground. The orcs drew back as a great menacing presence stepped into the ring of death and, grabbing a fist-full of blood soaked golden hair, yanked Aegnor upright.

“Thrice vermin! Yellow-head elves belong to me!” it bellowed. “Hold him”, the fearsome voice ordered, and Aegnor’s arms were grasped in the vise-like grip of two huge orcs.

With a cold rage Sauron growled at his enemy, “Half-bred Vanyarin spawn! Feel my hatred in your immortal flesh.”

With that the Maia drew a mighty black sword besmeared with poison and smote his enemy. Searing agony from blade and vile toxin brought forth an anguished groan from Aegnor. A second time Sauron struck, laughing aloud at the futile attempts of the elf to free his arms as he cried out in torment.

The sounds of conflict faded as other orcs pursued their prey farther into the woods, but Aegnor neither heard nor cared. His body convulsed as the excessive amount of poison within him overcame his ability to withstand its influence.

As sight, sound and feeling diminished, he beheld before his mind’s eye a blessed lake and a slender maiden with stars entwined in her dark hair and reflected in her grey eyes.

“Andreth, I shall await thee at the end of Arda. Thee alone to love, I pledge troth,” Aegnor cried brokenly to the vision.

With a last ragged breath his unseen, radiant fëa sprang forth from the ruined hróa in which he housed, drawn to the comfort beckoning from afar, where his waiting would not cease till all was remade. But he refrained from headlong flight, struggling mightily against the insistent drawing, to seek at the last the presence of his beloved.

*****

An ancient crone lay abed tended by a young girl who wept by her side.

“The night is filled with horrible sounds, my lady,” sobbed the girl.

“Hush child. Courage is what you need and not vain tears,” the old one declared.

“But I am so afraid. What will become of us if the creatures overrun us?” The girl would not be stilled.

“We live or we die,” the aged woman said simply. After a long pause she added, “Though for some living is empty of life.”

“What do you mean, Lady?” queried the girl.

“Life apart from love has little joy. Purpose, may be for some a restorative, but an empty womb, unfilled arms and a solitary heart cannot be satisfied with aught else.” As Andreth spoke, tears trailed down cheeks engraved by age and sorrow.

Then in a whispered breath she continued, “Not once did he return.”

“Who did not return, my Lady Andreth?” This was a tale she had not heard.

“My beloved,” Andreth stated.

“Did he die in the battles, Lady?

“When last I heard, he was well, but that was long ago. My hope is that he fares well,” Andreth added.

Hesitantly the maiden asked, “Would you tell your tale?”

Andreth blinked back more tears and gazed at the lovely young girl at her side. “Give not your heart to one of the beautiful ones. Their fates are not ours. Duty, honor, kin-oath among them is of greater worth than love.”

“You loved an elf, Lady Andreth? Is such a pairing possible? I was told they are altogether too different for the wedding, and have no fancy even for the bedding of Mortals.”

“Ask not of me, child, I could not say. But hear this. Had he been willing I would not have said him nay, but would have turned from hearth and kin and dwelt unheeding at his side.”

For a time silence reigned in the small room, save only the fire crackling in the hearth, though in the distance the cries of battle drew ever closer. The withered face of the woman seemed almost at peace, her eyes closed, her gnarled hands relaxed atop the thick coverlet.

Startling her companion she gasped as if in grievous pain, then uttered a name, “Aegnor!”

Andreth’s eyes flew open wide, her hands outstretched as if grasping at a thing unseen. Keening in grief she struggled to arise.

“My lady, what disturbs you! I see nothing!” her helper cried.

“Slain! My beloved is slain!” she moaned, “Beautiful, golden Aegnor, ever-young, undying, has flown from this world!”

 The young woman leapt up in fear. “How know you this, Lady Andreth? No messengers have come and no tidings have I heard. Perhaps it is an evil voice in your mind.”

Andreth stilled then and appeared to be listening intently.

*******

On a silent wind the fervent fëa of Aegnor drew near, and cried out to his beloved.

Andreth, I shall await thee at the end of Arda. Thee alone to love, I pledge troth.’

‘Aegnor?’

‘To the Halls of Waiting I am drawn. There I shall abide. It is rumored that your people pass through the Halls ere they leave the Circles of Arda. Seek for me when your time comes, my love.’

‘To what end, Aegnor? Will I feel your kiss or your arms about me, our bodies joined, our child growing in my womb? Will we share a life together woven of ordinary days as we could have had but for your stubborn sense of duty?’

‘Beloved Andreth, rail not against what cannot now be altered. Know that I kept thee as if thou wert my betrothed, openly, not in secret among my people, enduring much scorn and derision for my choice. For a brief moment our love was perfect and whole, and in that time is all my joy.

‘And what memory had I to recall? A lover’s caress to cheek and hair, a quick in-draw of breath, a tender smile, unspoken love in your bright eyes, a single sweet kiss, and then naught but bitter, lonely years.’

‘And yet you wedded not a male of your people, my beloved. Believing yourself spurned, you did yet cling to a love unavowed.’

‘None other was Aegnor.’

‘Nor yet for me was another Andreth.’

‘And now all is lost! Your life in futile battle, mine nearly spent in the ravages of age. You to the Halls to dwell as no more than mist, and I…I know not whither. What good thing did ever we share?’

‘Though your heart may be cruelly shut to my words, hear these at the last. Andreth, daughter of Boromir, of the race of Men; thee I wed fëa to fëa, even  if not hróa to hróa; this bonding to endure beyond the Circles of Arda, within the Halls of Waiting, and on to the far side of the remaking of Arda. Ilúvatar hear my oath of bonding.’

‘Have I no say?’

‘Without your consent, the bond will fail. Take now all that is mine to offer you.’

‘If I nay-say, would you one day leave the Halls to rejoin your people?’

‘For me there is no turning aside. For love of thee, Andreth, I forsake all else. You alone hold this heart you think is stone.’

‘Wearied I truly am from a life apart from your love. Yet before death takes me I would grasp this moment to love and be loved. To this bonding I will enter with hope that it shall be fulfilled, for love of Aegnor, son of Finarfin, of the race of Elves; by Ilúvatar, I so pledge.’

‘My beloved wife, Andreth, I must go now, for the darkness surrounds me. Look for me. Remember me.’

‘My beloved husband, Aegnor, I will follow soon. Wait for me.’

*******

“My Lady, are you hearing voices again?” gently the young woman touched her hand.

“My beloved husband, Aegnor, I will follow soon. Wait for me,” Andreth murmured.

“Lady Andreth, do you dream?” The young woman was near distraught with uncertainty.

Slowly opening her eyes Andreth focused on the walls, then glanced to her companion. “Ah, child, in the end love is all that endures. Love well and love true.”

“A fortnight from now I am to wed, lady,” she blushed, “He is a worthy man and a valiant warrior.”

“May your union be blessed with healthy children, and your wedded years filled with joy,” said Andreth, then with calm resolve she continued, “It is now, however, my time to journey on alone. Would you sing me the Elvish song I taught you to ease my path?”

“With great pleasure, my Lady, though I grieve at your departing.”

“Though you may lament, I go to a new beginning. Fare thee well, child.”

A song of Valinor sung in the fluid Sindarin tongue with the voice of a Mortal woman wove a soothing presence within the room as Andreth drew her last breath. Lifting lightly from the outworn body, her fëa freed itself to be borne away like a wisp of smoke on a tide flowing into the West.

TBC