Part 137 – Corollaries
There was a quiet feel to the air around Annuminas. Though the bright sun of day filled the city with its warmth, a solemnness fell upon the city as the four groups, the Rangers, the men from Trestlebridge, Bree, the Lone Lands, and Dunland located their fallen brothers and sisters and carried them to their respective places of mourning in the city.
The men and women of Trestlebridge and Bree joined in on the mourning near the great green statues that stood watch over the waterfalls of Clorhir. Both towns, as brothers and sisters, held their heads down as they stood upon the thirty fallen friends, family and spouses. Twenty-one were among the casualties of Bree, including Millie Cartwright of Combe, who had come and fought with Theomin’s Army but died falling from the cliff of Tyl Annun.
Nine casualties came with Eleswith’s army from Trestlebridge. A rather considerable number based on the populations size of the town. Two of the fallen were of the men Eleswith helped save from Fornost. Three others guards and three farmers who volunteered because of Eleswith’s commitment to aiding their friends. The last of the fallen was a friend of Aggie Digweed. She stood at the foot of her friend, Marlin Shelton who had been slain by one of the many Angmarim in the last fight before Azagod’s end. She held close Eleswith who stayed there with the fallen as she looked upon thte thirty dead souls who sacrificed their lives to save the lands of Middle Earth.
Both weeped as their 
tears landed on the grounds near the fallen. Aggy kneeled next to her friend and ran her hand through his hair and wept more. Eleswith knelt with her and lied her hand on Aggy’s shoulder.
“I was hoping to wed him when all of this was over,” she said in half a whisper. She said it in what ever strength she had left. “But alas, I shall not have him close to hold. Rather I will only spend these last moments close to him in his death.”
Eleswith only felt closer to Aggy as she knew the sacrifice she gave was all too personal. Helesdir was still near to her heart and she only felt his death closer at hand with the mourning of Marlin. “His life will never fade from your memory so long as you hold him close to your heart.”
“How do you get over losing someone who meant so much to you?” Aggy asked still lost as she looked at Marlin.
Eleswith just shook her head and said, “I don’t know.” She stayed still for a while as she looked at Marlin. “I can never get over his death but I just learn how to live with his death. I mourn every day for him but at the same time I learn every day how to live again. All things remind me still of Helesdir but every day I find new things, create new memories that are apart from him. But he will always remain a part of me and I never wish to forget him.” Aggy clutched Eleswith’s hand and rested her weary head on Eleswith’s shoulder as the two mourned together in silence along with the remaining men and women from Bree and Trestlebrige who too remained silently mourning.
The elves and dwarves stayed near the entrance of the city as the elves tended to the wounds of the men of Ost Forod as the dwarves wheeled out the dead orcs and Angmarim to a safe distance to burn them. Three of the men lost their lives at the start of the battle as they sacrificed themselves to destroy what groups of orcs there were on the first level. Among the wounded was Basil. Though wounded, he aided the elves and dwarves in tending to the wounds of the more than ten men of Ost Forod who were badly hurt in the blasts.
“A brave man you are,” Glambaen of Lin Giliath said to Basil as they walked from one wounded man to another. “A brave and wise man I should say. Your bravery shall go with us all to the lands of Valinor.”
“I felt no bravery, though,” Basil said as he wrapped up the wound of one of his men from Ost Forod. “I felt only a sense of duty but more over, I felt a terrible sense of fear as I approached the city.”
Glambaen looked at Basil with a confused delight. “You mistake the two. You went forth to do your duty in the face of fear. That unto itself is the meaning of bravery. Though you were faced with such a terrible fate, you faced that fear and began the battle that would return the lands of Middle Earth back to the light.”
“Thank you,” Basil said, “but I wish we could return to Ost Forod with our three good men. Tim, Stan, Orren. Good men were they. I shall hope to never lose another in the same way as I lost them.”
“Something tells me you shall never again lose them the same way,” Glambaen said as they continued to aid those of Ost Forod who had been injured.
While looking for his lost friend, Aches, Theomin walked up to the men of Dunland. They were far from all the others in the city. Alone and isolated they seemed to be. He looked upon the more than fifty fallen Dunlandings as they lay there in the upper level courtyard. Among four of the mourners on the second level of the courtyard, just past the first flight of stairs, there was Eva who stood staring at three of the men who had fallen.
“Why do you choose to mourn so far from everyone?” Theomin asked.
“We are from Dunland,” Eva said. “This place and these people are strange to us. We feel not welcome in this place.”
“You have just as much of a right to mourn among all the rest,” Theomin said. “Your sacrifice is the same as all the others who faught for this city. Before this day, we were divided into our own clans and cities. This day, we are united as both brothers and sisters of Middle Earth. Please do no remain separated from us all.”
“We will try not to,” Eva said as she smiled a half friendly but half mournful smile. “We in Dunland will never forget the man called Fornost who came to us and, through this dire mission, united all the clans of Dunland together for one cause. You were not one to divide us against Rohan like the lies of Saruman. You were one to unite us against a true evil. For that, we all thank you, Fornost of Eriador. The man whom only I know of as Theomin of the Wold.”
The two embraced tightly and though they were amongst the many fallen around them, there was a great warmth that came from the unity of the embrace. Those who were mourning for their brothers looked at the two who held each other. In the terrible loss of their fallen brothers, the Dunlandings felt joy in the unity of the two who embraced each other. A sudden light came from above as the sun had begun to show in the courtyard and the warmth of it also embraced the Dunlandings in comforting warmness.
“Thank you for joining in the fight,” Magla said to Frideric the Elder who stood looking upon the city of Annuminas from Tyl Annun. “I know your efforts helped sway the battle in our favor.”
“It is a strange feeling I have of this place,” Frideric said as he looked upon the city. “Such a cold feel I have of this city.”
“I have felt colder,” Magla said. “The warmth of the sun is shining down on this city yet it is not the warmth we are used to in the Lone Lands. I only wish Helesdir was here to enjoy this day with us.”
“As do I,” Frederic said. “That is where the loss comes from. A great man was he. A great man and friend to us all. Yet, he is still here with us.”
“What do you mean?” Magla was confused. “Do you feel him here?”
“I always feel him,” Frederic said in a matter-of-fact way. “But is life was not here merely to give us companionship. He was here to teach us and to guide us. He lives on in the things we do. The daily way we choose to live our lives. Do you believe that without his friendship and guidance that you would come to this place and fight?”
“I don’t know,” Magla said.
“When you were a child, Helesdir was always the leader of your group,” Frideric said. “Though you two were inseparable, I always knew he was for better or worse, the instigator of the group. Over time, he fell into that roll quite well. I see some of him in your decision to come here. You did a good thing coming here. I know you never want to fight again and I respect that. But your strength united us all. That strength was from you and though I see some of him inside of you, you are, and I guess we all are, better men because we knew him. He will be missed, but he will always be here with us.”
Magla looked down with a tear in his eye. “Thank you,” he said as he swiped away the tear that began to fall. “I tried so hard to forget him. But I guess I was only trying to save myself from feeling the pain of his death. But I can see that I need not do that. I took on the mantle of mayor of Bree because I could see him doing that. All the decisions I made were based off what I thought Helesdir would do. I suppose I gave them Helesdir. And I gave myself a piece of him too.”
“That’s good to hear, Magla,” Frideric said as he held Magla closer. “That is good to hear.”
“I still know not what to do with Teryndir,” Sergee said as Theomin came up from the courtyard where the Dunlandings had gathered, still searching for Aches. He looked perturbed but needed to speak with Sergee. “I want to cast his body away for betraying us, but I feel I cannot as he was my brother.”
“He is our brother,” Theomin said. “And he did betray us. But in the end, I feel his soul will remain with us. I know of his treachery. I have seen it. I have lived it. And yet I cannot, in good faith, cast away our brother like that.”
“Then what shall we do with him?” Sergee asked. “Where do we bury him?”
Theomin looked at Sergee and then at Teryndir with forgiving eyes. “We will bury him along with father on the cliffs of Tyl Annun.”
Sergee was speechless and almost raised an issue with that. But with only a few seconds of disagreement, he realized the wisdom in Theomin’s thinking. “Then it shall be,” Sergee said. “And I do agree. He will remain next to father.” He looked at the surrounding city of Annuminas. “Both wanted Annuminas and now both shall remain here.”
“And along with his burial here, we will remove his Amar Calad,” Theomin said. “I shall too remove mine. My time here is now done.”
“What?” Sergee said. “What do you mean by that?”
“I have done my task here in Eriador,” Theomin said. “I will soon depart from here and return home.”
“But this is your home,” Sergee protested. “You came from here.”
“But in my heart, this is not the home I have always known,” he said as he gave Sergee a smile. “I will return home to Rohan. To the only home that has ever remained in my heart.”
Sergee looked down as he felt another loss. But he knew Theomin was right and he could not keep him from his decision. “Then what is to become of the Amar Calads?”
“While searching for the surpent tunnels in the library in Lin Giliath, I came upon a passage from the history of the Amar Calad. They were given to each of the races of Middle Earth. Yours was given to the men; men who were to inharit the earth. The red, Teryndir’s, was given to the dwarves who were to build the great halls of Middle Earth. And mine was given to the elves whose wisdom was to be the heart of Middle Earth.”
“Then who are they to go to?” Sergee asked.
“I know who I choose to give the red Amar Calad to. The dwarf Krovrin who aided us in our endevour to take back this city. I believe his help was vital to our victory here,” Theomin said. “But I have yet to figure out who mine should go to as they are all to sail west to the undying lands.”
Sergee gave a slight smile. He looked upon Lily and Estonethiel who were engaged in conversation not far from them. “I know the just person to give it to.”
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