The Family Line Part 115 – Forthcoming Doom

Part 115 – Forthcoming Doom

Just outside the Bree Prison, Theomin had gathered Eleswith, Sergee, Eotheron, Estonethiel and Magla. They all stood there as they waited for Theomin to tell them what he had gathered them there for. Theomin looked around at the men and women practicing their strokes on the combat dummies and their bow and arrow skills. He tried to think of how best to tell them without sounding crazy.

“I gathered you here,” he began but whispered a little quieter for the sake of the guards who were practicing around them, “to prevent the end of the world.” He knew, as soon as he said that, though, it sounded as if he was a crazy person on the side of the street spouting end-of-times nonsense. But he knew Morgoth would spell the end of their time if he was spawned from the void.

“Are you crazy?” Eleswith mocked. “I have not time for your nonsense, Theomin.”

“Serious,” Sergee agreed with Eleswith, “I expected something like this from Teryndir but not from you.”

“Listen,” he said, almost on the verge of tears, I would not have brought you here if I was not sure about it.”

His companions, disappointed, began to leave one by one starting with Magla. He said nothing but just left followed by Eleswith and Sergee. Only Estonethiel and Eotheron remained as Eotheron looked at Theomin with saddened eyes, as if he was afraid Theomin was beginning to be irrational. Eotheron, already looking as though he was struggling with his own afflictions as his skin was pale and looked sick, then left as Theomin tried one more time.

“Does Melkor mean anything to you?” Theomin said in a last desperate throw to get his companions attention.

Of all his companions, only Estonethiel paused and turned. “What do you know of Melkor?”

It was then, after the response of Estonethiel, that Magla also turned and waited, causing Eleswith, Sergee and Eotheron to do the same. They had only paused in their tracks to wait for Theomin to continue. “It is he that they are trying to recover.”

“How do you know this?” Estonethiel asked as she came closer to Theomin.

“To explain it further, that is why we are at the prison,” Theomin said. “I spoke with our prisoner and she knows much of this subject.”

“Our prisoner?” Sergee said. “You mean that girl in red? I cannot trust her worth a copper coin.”

“She has no reason to lie,” Theomin said. “And I need Estonethiel’s guidance. If she is lying, can you sense it?”

“I can,” she said, “but she was with the enemy for too long. I heard the conversation you had with her. I heard the things she did to kill the free peoples. My people. She has no respect from me.”

“And that would prove to be a boon for our quest to see if she is telling the truth,” Thoemin said. “You have no respect from her which means you have no predisposition to agree with what she says. But if she is telling the truth, you can sense it.” He turned to his companions, “Please, trust me as you have in the past. I have not lead you astray and I will not do it now. Too much is at stake.”

“Fine,” Sergee said at last, “We will follow you into the prison. What we get out of it we will need to discuss afterword, away from the prison. We cannot include that witch in the conversation.”

So, the company filtered one by one into the prison. They followed Theomin to the cell of the girl in red, Lily. She stood up and looked at the faces of each, anxiously anticipating what they were there for. She looked at Theomin as the all gathered just before her cell door. “What is this?” she asked with fear in her voice.

“We are only here to gather information from you,” Sergee said with a snarl. “After that we will discuss what to do with you.”

Eotheron slunk to the back of his companions. The sight of her remained a scar after his first meeting with her and what she did to him. His shoulder was still in pain and his arm was still barely working after she shocked him with her bolt of lightning. He was feeling sicker inside the prison, the air stifling his breathing and the darkness of the prison taking away all feeling of positivity.

“What is it you need to know?” Lily asked.

“I need to convince my friends of the impending doom upon our land.” He looked at his friends. “In my dream, a voice told me that the Father of Evil would be revived. At first I believed that to be Sauron, but Sauron was the lieutenant to a much more terrible being.”

“Maybe it was speaking of Sauron,” Eleswith said.

“Sauron,” Theomin said, “has already been destroyed.” The rest of the group gasped.

“How do you know this?” Sergee said.

“The voice told me,” Theomin said.

“A voice said it to you?” Eleswith mocked Theomin.

“The same voice that told me to stay in the north just before I wanted to depart for Rohan. This was the voice that convinced father that I was here for a reason. It was the voice of Galadriel of the Golden Wood. The great and mysterious elf that lives in the woods of Lothlorien. I cannot ignore her words. As I stood at the precipice of the top of a great city in Gondor, the voice said the city was the site of a great battle and that Sauron had soon been vanquished. But it also said evil was moving here in the north and that eyes are not focused here as they should be. So, that means it is up to us to do something about it. She said that the Father of Evil will be summoned. Sauron, as evil as he was, was not the father of evil. It had to be Melkor, or as many more now know him as Morgoth.”

“Such a claim is too great to fathom,” Sergee said. “What guarantee do we have that what you are saying is not just a tale spun by a desperate she-elf who would like nothing else but to spin us into her web?”

“You have none,” Lily said. “I have not to show you but what I know. Kronog is a terrible foe and he would do not but evil from that white city in the north. I know that he will do anything to further his cause, to expand the orcs power in the north. He cares not for men, elves and dwarves. He cares not for peace here in Eriador. He allies himself with powerful men in Angmar and from the orcs in the North Downs. He knows that to further his cause he needs to find a being more terrible than one can imagine. He can only advance his cause through Morgoth. But he knows not what he is summoning. Morgoth is…” she trailed off as she could not find words to describe him. “Morgoth is a terrible being.”

“What is so terrible about Morgoth?” Eotheron asked. “Such a horrible being he was, how was he vanquished?”

Estonethiel put her head in her hands as if disappointed by Eotheron’s lack of knowledge. Theomin looked at Eotheron and said, “You never read, did you?”

“Morgoth,” Lily said, “is not just evil, he was the founder of evil. In the first age, he was the destroyer of the sun and the moon. He destroyed the two trees of which the light of the Silmarills were born from. He rallies to him terrible foes, not the least of which was only a lieutenant you might have heard of: Sauron. His other lieutenants were Balrogs, terrible creatures of fire and shadow, dragons he created, he gathered to him the terrible great spider, Ungoliant, who eats away all light. He was the reason the earth was split into three with Middle Earth being the central point and Valanor in the west. It took army after army to finally vanquish him and it was not until he was finally caught in the War of Wrath that he was taken, beheaded, and his spirit was cast down into the void. But his spirit is what can return from the void and if Kronog has found a way to summon him from the void, Middle Earth will soon fall. Only the lieutenants of Morgoth would know how to summon him.”

“And that is where we came in,” Theomin said. “In the dark of that cave beneath Aman Sul, when we went on the quest to find this staff, we found the long hidden army of Morgoth. Those creatures that came out of the muck of that dungeon, those were the soldiers of the army of Morgoth and Azagod was the lieutenant of vile creatures. We found and awoke her and her army.”

“But we destroyed them,” Sergee said, “that army that we encountered there we destroyed.”

“No,” Theomin said with fear in his eyes, “that army was not destroyed. Saeredan confirmed it. His scouts have reported that a strange new army has come to Annuminus. Creatures that resemble Morroval in Angmar. The creature I encountered in the cave, the leader Azagod, was a lieutenant of Morgoth in the first age, when Morgoth ruled over the lands of Middle Earth.”

“How will they do it?” Eleswith asked. “How will they open the door to that void Morgoth is in?”

No one knew. All remained silent. But Lily continued, “Does it matter now? The door needs to be opened and I doubt Kronog will not allow such a chance to pass him by. He will take that chance and open the gateway to the void. He will release Morgoth.”

“Isn’t he only a spirit?” Magla asked. “How can only a spirit harm us?”

“A spirit he is,” Lily said, “but even the spirit of Sauron was deadly. He summoned to him the nine kings of men that were taken by greed to be his servants, the nine Ring Wraiths. I was unfortunate to be in the midst of one of these terrible creatures and they brought with them such fear and malice that I could hardly stand being in their presence. I care not to be in league with anyone who professes to be one with an even more ancient and more potent enemy.”

“Does that mean you renounce your ties with Kronog?” Sergee asked. “Even so, I doubt we can trust you.”

“I understand,” Lily said. “I would not trust me either. After all I did in the past. But I think Theomin is right. I thought I enjoyed doing what I did, but after all those years, I did not enjoy it, I only became blind to it.” She looked at Eleswith, almost peering as if she was looking through her. “It is okay, you can come before me.”

“What do you mean?” Eleswith awkwardly said. “I know not what you speak of.”

“Not you,” Lily said, “The one cowering behind you. You can come before me.”

From behind, a hint of a whisper came, “I care not to.” It was Eotheron’s voice, but his mannerism was different. He sounded fearful and defeated.

“Please, come before me and I will right the wrong I did to you,” she said.

“Come forward,” Theomin said as he helped his friend come to Lily. He was shaking and fearful. Ashen white was his skin, and sweaty he was. His eyes were sunken. He looked not like the proud warrior Theomin knew him as but a weak, defeated man.

“Come to me so that I may lay my hand on you,” Lily said. “Please, trust me.”

“What are you going to do, witch?” Sergee said.

She removed her gloves slowly and moved her scarred hands between the bars. “Only watch,” she said as she placed her right hand on Eotheron’s wounded shoulder. Green light began emanating from her hand and Eotheron began to breath deeper as his body stood up straighter and with less effort. His skin color became pink and warm again and his eyes were not nearly as sunken in. Lily only had her eyes closed and also breathed in deeply as both of their breathes came and went in unison and both began to slightly hum the same chant as the other. Lily then opened her eyes and slowly removed her hands from Eotheron. The green glow seemed to subside and he looked as though he was the same Eotheron as they knew.

Eotheron then gave a deep sigh as he too opened his eyes. “I…” he began but could not believe what he was saying, “I feel renewed. I feel refreshed.” He looked at Lily, “How did you do this?”

She looked at Eotheron and then gave a smile. She then looked at Theomin and his staff, “It is because of that.” She pointed to Theomin’s staff. “I knew the moment I saw it that that was the same staff I came across on the sands of Brandlith. When I was a child, I touched that staff but not much of that day could I remember after that. I later saw I had terribly scarred hands but in addition to that I had strange abilities. The abilities to heal and create, but also powers to destroy. I told this to Theomin who was happy to listen.” It was then that Theomin noticed Lily’s skin becoming much warmer too. The air around her smelled of flowers as Lily’s mood seemed to change. “I feel different now. I don’t feel the same oppressive feeling I had even just hours ago. My heart is no longer locked in a cage of my own making. I feel not the torment of the souls I struck down with my powers. I am free,” she said with glee. Her mood then turned from gleefulness to regret, “Though, no matter how free I feel, I am afraid I will never have a boat to the west. I feel I will never travel to Valanor like all my brothers and sisters have before me. I will continue on, living here in Middle Earth until a blade takes me down or the world around me ends.”

“What makes you say that?” Estonethiel asked.

“All of the people I have killed,” Lily said. “All of the dwarves and elves and men that I slaughtered for the sake of the Iron Crown…” she paused for a bit, “I cannot be awarded the chance to take the ships into the west.”

“Somehow, I think you will,” Estonethiel said.

Lily gave a smile to Estonethiel before Sergee interrupted, “Yes, very well. We have much to discuss.” He began to leave as the rest followed suit with Theomin, Estonethiel and Eotheron following behind. They reached the outside of the prison and stopped before the rest of the group. Before any of them could have asked why he ended the meeting so soon, Sergee continued “I understand that you three now have warm feelings toward that monster,” he said regarding Theomin, Estonethiel and Eotheron. “But believe me when I say she is a dangerous foe. We cannot trust her.”

“Can we discuss this in the Town Hall?” Magla said, “Before guards overhear our debate.”

The group filed out of the bars of the front of the prison and headed toward the Town Hall. They all walked through the doors and up to the mayor’s room where they sat in a circle.

“Dangerous she was,” Theomin said continuing the conversation they had before, “but I can see her change. She is different than she was before. All of the air around her is different.”

“I agree,” Estonethiel said, “I felt not but fear and intimidation or oppression when I first felt her. Her aura has changed and I believe she can change to something beautiful. I feel we should give her a chance.”

“I can’t believe what I am hearing,” Sergee said. “Such a dangerous person she has been for all of Eriador and you want to dismiss that out of hand. I cannot stand here and take that from you. Her whole life she has been a danger to all around her.”

“Not her whole life,” Theomin interrupted Sergee. “For many years, even as a child, she was just an elven girl who was locked away and was not able to show her gifts. She was then taken by the Iron Crown and was forcefully bent toward their will. She has no more cause for harming us than we have of harming her.”

“I feel we must keep her in her prison cell until which time she can earn our full trust,” Sergee said.

“And how could she earn our trust?” Theomin asked. “Is not the healing of Eotheron proof enough that she is not the evil creature we thought her to be?”

“That has not convinced me,” Sergee said.

“Nor me either,” Eleswith said. “I cannot trust a person who murdered for so long.”

“Was that not your life before?” Theomin asked.

Eleswith cocked her head to the side with anger as she gazed at Theomin with piercing eyes. “How dare you bring up my past. I am ashamed of what I was but I have changed!”

“So has Lily,” Theomin rebutted. “You are the proof that not all flowers are poison. She has changed, giver her another chance.”

“We still need to discuss the issue of Annuminus,” Estonethiel said. “For now, despite how I feel for Lily, we must leave her in her cell where she can do no harm to anyone.” She breathed in a deep breath and then out again, “The possibility of another age of Morgoth is too heavy to ignore. He is still a spirit and he is still stuck in the void. As far as we know the armies of Angmar and the orcs and the new ancient army still has not pulled him from the void.”

“How do we know that?” Theomin asked.

“Because if that had happened we would know it by now,” said Estonethiel. “Skies would darken and quakes we would feel from Evendim. We would know because his beasts would return and seek to destroy all. But that has not yet happened.”

“This just means we must stop them before they can summon him from the void,” Theomin said.

“And what army can do so?” Sergee asked.

“I know not of what army but something must be done,” Theomin said desperately. “We must find an army or gather an army. Recruit as many as we can. For without one we cannot possibly hope to retake Annuminus. We cannot possibly save Teryndir from his uncertain fate. And we cannot possibly stop the return of the evil being, Morgoth.” He stood and asked for a rise to arms, “I know I have asked much of you as of late, but I must ask you one more time, ‘Who is with me?”