AelKennyr Rhiano
Deaf to the tender, gentle reassurances of Elenwe, blind to the moolight filtering into his cabin through a port window, Olwe dreamed.
He was back in the cave, the walls damp and slimy, the ground beneath smooth and cold. Cold, also, was the air, and with each breathe he took; it felt like he was breathing in shards of ice, the very air cutting as he took it in. There, as before, in the center of the room was the fiery pit, casting splashes of orange and red/gold across the cavernous space. Olwe sucked in another breath of air, shivering at the chill.
Then he heard the scurrying, the clicks across the stone floor and forced himself to look down. Spiders by the thousands were spilling out of the dark recesses of the cavern, where the light did not touch. They were hurrying, clicking, scurrying to surround him, and crawling over his boots. He took a step back, but the spiders behind him were fast, hastening to flee where his step landed and then rushing back to surround him. Olwe clenched his jaw and took another step back, with the same results: like one group mind, the spiders retreated before his foot landed and then scurried back.
Then the presence, which always preceded the Voice, entered the cavern, invisible, unstoppable, raising the hair at the nape of his neck. A pressure, like a hand touching his shoulder and tracing down to his side and over his forearm, caused Olwe to whirl his head in that direction, even though he knew that, as always, there was nothing to see. The voice spoke, and a warm puff of air, like an exhale, blew across his face, smelling of fire and ash. “Poor, poor, sad, mad king,” it said, the words caressing his face. Olwe clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. There was a light touch under chin, as though a finger touched him there, and Olwe turned his head. “Why do you fight me, Olwe?” The voice slid, like satin, across his mind, but the echoes bouncing from the walls told the elven lord the words were spoken. “What is there to gain by thy stubborn resistance? You are mine, live or die.”
Olwe turned his face to the direction of the voice. “I am never…yours,” he enunciated clearly, slowly, anger flooding his cheeks, tinting his words.
Inside his mind, invisible claws raked and slashed. He sucked in a breath, a hand involuntarily going up to his head grabbing it. “Can you say so, when I have mastery here?” asked the voice, inside his head. The air stirred and something unseen, like sharp claws slashed though his tunic and scored his chest and stomach. Olwe grunted and wrapped his other arm around his waist in reaction. “I am in your head, in your dreams, in your waking moments. I hear every thought, every word that pours out of you. And I control it all,” hissed the voice. “There is no part of you that is not mine.”
He clenched his teeth to keep from moaning at the pain and spoke. “You are in my head, but my mind is my own. My heart is my own. My soul is my own. I am not one of your creatures. I am a child of Blessed Eru.”
The voice roared, and the very walls of the cavern shook, the fire in the pit bubbled and erupted, falling back unto itself. “NEVER CALL THAT NAME, “ it roared.
“Eru, “ responded Olwe and felt the slash of unseen claws cut across the arm wrapped protectively around his chest and stomach. Blood flooded freely from his wounds, and at his feet, the spider clamored to the splatters on the floor. “Eru,” he whispered again, and braced himself for another attack.
But all was silent for a moment. Then the voice spoke at his ear, purring, composure regained. “Where is he, then, if you are his child? Where is he? Call out to him, invoke him. Tell him to save this most favored child.” Unseen hands gripped Olwe’s shoulders. The air was again cold upon the Teleri’s lord’s face, and his breath left his body in clouds. “I do not see him.” The voice grew closer, a puff of warm air on his ear. “There is only me,” continued the voice in a flat tone. Then the presence released his shoulders, and the voice drifted across the room.
“You see, Olwe of Alqualonde, that He cares nothing for you. The Valar care nothing for you. Your own precious Tilion cares nothing for you. “ The voice seemed to stop in the center, near the pit. “Poor, poor, Sweet Olwe. Faithful steward of the Valar, beloved King of the Teleri, he who remained constant, even though it cost some of his people their very lives.” A pause. Then the voice resumed, a silky false sweetness. “How did it feel, I wonder, to see the pristine docks of Alqualonde drenched in your own people’s blood? What a pity.”
Olwe took a step forward and was rewarded with a crunch under his foot. Looking down, he saw that the spiders were not so quick to escape. “LIAR!” he screamed. He took another step and was rewarded by another crunch. “Liar!” Another step and another crunch. “Why should I believe anything you have to say, Foul One?”
“Because if they cared, why are you still here?” purred the voice.
“I am but one elf, one. If I fall, another will rise. You cannot defeat us. You can never defeat us.” His hands clenched and unclenched in rage. “You are doomed before you begin.”
A whirl of air, and the voice was in front of him, inches from his face. “I’ve won already. Living or dying, you will serve my cause, Olwe…dear, beloved king. “ Then the voice continued, but on the move around the cavern. “You cannot change what is happening. While you live, all around you are obsessed with saving the poor, mad king. Nothing else matters to them. Dead, your cousin will be consumed with grief, the Valar will have lost their champion…such as he is, and the elves their heart.”
Olwe’s eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped him. “I am not of such import.” He shook his head.
“No?” asked the voice, a pleased tone, a soft breathe of self satisfaction. “The only Eldar King in the mortal world, and not important? Perhaps not to Manwe, or the other Valar. But to me, to your people…oh, yes, Olwe. As far below me as you are, you are of great import.”
The air swirled and a breath brushed Olwe’s cheek. “Be mine willingly, Olwe, and your life shall be spared. Be mine willingly, and no more pain, no more torment. You shall be a king greater than any before you. Ingwe himself would bow before thee.”
“I do not want Ingwe to bend knee to me. I do not wish to serve you, and I shall never be yours. My mind belongs to me, my heart to….” His voice trailed off, unwilling to say more.
“Tilion?” asked the voice, puffs of breath warm on Olwe’s cheek. “Dear, simple Olwe. Do you dare to think an Ainu would care for you beyond the moment? Think. Where is your brother Elwe? If Ainur cared for their elven lovers, why did Melian let him die? Why is he in the Halls of Mandos and not at her side? Be not so foolish to think Tilion will act any different. For he will have done with you once you are of no amusement to him. Just as your brother was tossed aside when Melian found no further interest in him.”
Unbidden, the image of Elwe, when he was allowed to leave the halls of Mandos and speak to Olwe, came to the Teleri king’s mind. For a moment, he lowered his gaze, looking down at the spiders clustered around him again. The voice grew lower, more intimate. “Where has your beloved Tilion been all this time, while you suffered? Surely you see that even your Sylvan kin value you more than he?”
Olwe kept his eyes fixed on the floor. “You know not of what you speak, “ he answers harshly. “And I do not believe you.” It felt like lips were a breath away from his own, and he pulled back sharply. The voice laughed. “He is the helmsman of the moon and ever obedient to the will of the Valar and the mind of Eru.” He looked up into the empty space. “I doubt not you lie. I doubt not you deceive, and I doubt not that he loves me.”
“We shall see, elf lord,” answered the voice. “Arise from your bed, and leave your cabin. Look up at the sky and see if you spy the Vingilot. See if the morning star is traversing the sky, for I tell you I have blotted it out with my hand. See my power and then ask yourself if I lie, if I deceive.
“Or if you have been deceived all your pathetical life. Rise, Olwe, for the mornings you shall live to see are numbered, if you will not serve me.”
“I shall never serve you,” answered Olwe, tightlipped, and heavy of heart, for in this, he feared, the voice did not lie.
“You will die, then,” the voice answered, cold, merciless. “First you, then your people. Arise, and look. When you see not the morning star, know it is my promise. You will serve me or you, and all you love, will die.”
> Next > Next Morning Star
He was back in the cave, the walls damp and slimy, the ground beneath smooth and cold. Cold, also, was the air, and with each breathe he took; it felt like he was breathing in shards of ice, the very air cutting as he took it in. There, as before, in the center of the room was the fiery pit, casting splashes of orange and red/gold across the cavernous space. Olwe sucked in another breath of air, shivering at the chill.
Then he heard the scurrying, the clicks across the stone floor and forced himself to look down. Spiders by the thousands were spilling out of the dark recesses of the cavern, where the light did not touch. They were hurrying, clicking, scurrying to surround him, and crawling over his boots. He took a step back, but the spiders behind him were fast, hastening to flee where his step landed and then rushing back to surround him. Olwe clenched his jaw and took another step back, with the same results: like one group mind, the spiders retreated before his foot landed and then scurried back.
Then the presence, which always preceded the Voice, entered the cavern, invisible, unstoppable, raising the hair at the nape of his neck. A pressure, like a hand touching his shoulder and tracing down to his side and over his forearm, caused Olwe to whirl his head in that direction, even though he knew that, as always, there was nothing to see. The voice spoke, and a warm puff of air, like an exhale, blew across his face, smelling of fire and ash. “Poor, poor, sad, mad king,” it said, the words caressing his face. Olwe clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. There was a light touch under chin, as though a finger touched him there, and Olwe turned his head. “Why do you fight me, Olwe?” The voice slid, like satin, across his mind, but the echoes bouncing from the walls told the elven lord the words were spoken. “What is there to gain by thy stubborn resistance? You are mine, live or die.”
Olwe turned his face to the direction of the voice. “I am never…yours,” he enunciated clearly, slowly, anger flooding his cheeks, tinting his words.
Inside his mind, invisible claws raked and slashed. He sucked in a breath, a hand involuntarily going up to his head grabbing it. “Can you say so, when I have mastery here?” asked the voice, inside his head. The air stirred and something unseen, like sharp claws slashed though his tunic and scored his chest and stomach. Olwe grunted and wrapped his other arm around his waist in reaction. “I am in your head, in your dreams, in your waking moments. I hear every thought, every word that pours out of you. And I control it all,” hissed the voice. “There is no part of you that is not mine.”
He clenched his teeth to keep from moaning at the pain and spoke. “You are in my head, but my mind is my own. My heart is my own. My soul is my own. I am not one of your creatures. I am a child of Blessed Eru.”
The voice roared, and the very walls of the cavern shook, the fire in the pit bubbled and erupted, falling back unto itself. “NEVER CALL THAT NAME, “ it roared.
“Eru, “ responded Olwe and felt the slash of unseen claws cut across the arm wrapped protectively around his chest and stomach. Blood flooded freely from his wounds, and at his feet, the spider clamored to the splatters on the floor. “Eru,” he whispered again, and braced himself for another attack.
But all was silent for a moment. Then the voice spoke at his ear, purring, composure regained. “Where is he, then, if you are his child? Where is he? Call out to him, invoke him. Tell him to save this most favored child.” Unseen hands gripped Olwe’s shoulders. The air was again cold upon the Teleri’s lord’s face, and his breath left his body in clouds. “I do not see him.” The voice grew closer, a puff of warm air on his ear. “There is only me,” continued the voice in a flat tone. Then the presence released his shoulders, and the voice drifted across the room.
“You see, Olwe of Alqualonde, that He cares nothing for you. The Valar care nothing for you. Your own precious Tilion cares nothing for you. “ The voice seemed to stop in the center, near the pit. “Poor, poor, Sweet Olwe. Faithful steward of the Valar, beloved King of the Teleri, he who remained constant, even though it cost some of his people their very lives.” A pause. Then the voice resumed, a silky false sweetness. “How did it feel, I wonder, to see the pristine docks of Alqualonde drenched in your own people’s blood? What a pity.”
Olwe took a step forward and was rewarded with a crunch under his foot. Looking down, he saw that the spiders were not so quick to escape. “LIAR!” he screamed. He took another step and was rewarded by another crunch. “Liar!” Another step and another crunch. “Why should I believe anything you have to say, Foul One?”
“Because if they cared, why are you still here?” purred the voice.
“I am but one elf, one. If I fall, another will rise. You cannot defeat us. You can never defeat us.” His hands clenched and unclenched in rage. “You are doomed before you begin.”
A whirl of air, and the voice was in front of him, inches from his face. “I’ve won already. Living or dying, you will serve my cause, Olwe…dear, beloved king. “ Then the voice continued, but on the move around the cavern. “You cannot change what is happening. While you live, all around you are obsessed with saving the poor, mad king. Nothing else matters to them. Dead, your cousin will be consumed with grief, the Valar will have lost their champion…such as he is, and the elves their heart.”
Olwe’s eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped him. “I am not of such import.” He shook his head.
“No?” asked the voice, a pleased tone, a soft breathe of self satisfaction. “The only Eldar King in the mortal world, and not important? Perhaps not to Manwe, or the other Valar. But to me, to your people…oh, yes, Olwe. As far below me as you are, you are of great import.”
The air swirled and a breath brushed Olwe’s cheek. “Be mine willingly, Olwe, and your life shall be spared. Be mine willingly, and no more pain, no more torment. You shall be a king greater than any before you. Ingwe himself would bow before thee.”
“I do not want Ingwe to bend knee to me. I do not wish to serve you, and I shall never be yours. My mind belongs to me, my heart to….” His voice trailed off, unwilling to say more.
“Tilion?” asked the voice, puffs of breath warm on Olwe’s cheek. “Dear, simple Olwe. Do you dare to think an Ainu would care for you beyond the moment? Think. Where is your brother Elwe? If Ainur cared for their elven lovers, why did Melian let him die? Why is he in the Halls of Mandos and not at her side? Be not so foolish to think Tilion will act any different. For he will have done with you once you are of no amusement to him. Just as your brother was tossed aside when Melian found no further interest in him.”
Unbidden, the image of Elwe, when he was allowed to leave the halls of Mandos and speak to Olwe, came to the Teleri king’s mind. For a moment, he lowered his gaze, looking down at the spiders clustered around him again. The voice grew lower, more intimate. “Where has your beloved Tilion been all this time, while you suffered? Surely you see that even your Sylvan kin value you more than he?”
Olwe kept his eyes fixed on the floor. “You know not of what you speak, “ he answers harshly. “And I do not believe you.” It felt like lips were a breath away from his own, and he pulled back sharply. The voice laughed. “He is the helmsman of the moon and ever obedient to the will of the Valar and the mind of Eru.” He looked up into the empty space. “I doubt not you lie. I doubt not you deceive, and I doubt not that he loves me.”
“We shall see, elf lord,” answered the voice. “Arise from your bed, and leave your cabin. Look up at the sky and see if you spy the Vingilot. See if the morning star is traversing the sky, for I tell you I have blotted it out with my hand. See my power and then ask yourself if I lie, if I deceive.
“Or if you have been deceived all your pathetical life. Rise, Olwe, for the mornings you shall live to see are numbered, if you will not serve me.”
“I shall never serve you,” answered Olwe, tightlipped, and heavy of heart, for in this, he feared, the voice did not lie.
“You will die, then,” the voice answered, cold, merciless. “First you, then your people. Arise, and look. When you see not the morning star, know it is my promise. You will serve me or you, and all you love, will die.”
> Next > Next Morning Star