AelKennyr Rhiano
The Lord of Alqualonde and king of the Teleri stood at his wash stand and peered into the water he had pour into the basin, the surface still settling, his reflection distorted by the little ripples. The face that looked back showed not the events which forever marked the spirit of the Teleri King. The eyes, though, the eyes looked older, a little haunted, and there were fine lines around the mouth. Yes, Olwe nodded, and the reflection echoed faithfully. The changes were slight, but there.
He pulls his shirt up and over his head, letting it drop to the floor. He dips both hands into the water, wetting them up to the elbow, before reaching for the fragrant soap. Sudsing his hands and arms, he replaces the bar on its pedestal, remembering how the palace would fill with the fragrance as the boiling concoctions that made up the soap, were poured into molds and allowed to cool. So many smells he misses now, smells he took for granted then. The smells of a daily life that continue, with peace and contentment, for ages. Gone, now, gone.
He bends over the basin and scrubs his face with his soapy hands and then scoops up handfuls of water to his face, rinsing off the soap. His mind strayed to thoughts of Alqualonde's newest resident. Reaching out, he picks up the folded towel and shakes it open, bringing up to his face and dabbing it dry.
The dragon had succumbed to his fatigue and was sleeping, unaware of anything in the world around him at the moment. A dragon here in Alqualonde, for the second time. He cast back for the memory of the first visit. She was ancient, that dragon, black as a night without stars, and fierce to behold, but also....beautiful and regal in her bearing. "I am Ithilia, of Arador," she had rumbled, her voice giving sibilance to the words she spoke, her Quenya flawless. "Indeed I have heard of you, when I was but a youngling still enslaved to Morgoth. But that was a long, long time ago, before the Great Rebellion, when those who believed in right defied him and escaped into exile. Still, I remember you were spoken of well."
Was this dragon one of those who knew not the yoke of servitude to the Dark Lord? Born of fire and dark magicks were the dragons made but Morgoth, before even Arien took to her chariot and lit the work. Glaurung emerged in those days. Later, when Gondolin fell, the host of the Dark Lord included dragons of terrible aspect, who wrecked great destruction and laid blackened the lands of those who opposed the Dread Lord.
The Urulóki (dragons) had not only survived their creator's imprisonment time and again, but some had developed the love of freedom and the self determination to break free of his dark influence and not only live free of his will, but, as the dragon sleeping away his exhaustion is mute testimony to, they can procreate.
Like Glaurung, who was slain by Túrin Turambar, the sleeping dragon, Dometis, has four legs. Unlike the father of dragons, though Dometis, like Ancalagon the Black, has wings. Was Dometis a fire drake, as he appeared to Olwe, or a cold drake? How came he to be so exhausted that he fell from the sky?
Olwe wipes his hands and replaces the towel on the wash stand. Bending over, he retrieves his shirt and crosses the room to his clothes chest. For now the questions that plague him must needs go unanswered until the dragon awakens.
He pulls his shirt up and over his head, letting it drop to the floor. He dips both hands into the water, wetting them up to the elbow, before reaching for the fragrant soap. Sudsing his hands and arms, he replaces the bar on its pedestal, remembering how the palace would fill with the fragrance as the boiling concoctions that made up the soap, were poured into molds and allowed to cool. So many smells he misses now, smells he took for granted then. The smells of a daily life that continue, with peace and contentment, for ages. Gone, now, gone.
He bends over the basin and scrubs his face with his soapy hands and then scoops up handfuls of water to his face, rinsing off the soap. His mind strayed to thoughts of Alqualonde's newest resident. Reaching out, he picks up the folded towel and shakes it open, bringing up to his face and dabbing it dry.
The dragon had succumbed to his fatigue and was sleeping, unaware of anything in the world around him at the moment. A dragon here in Alqualonde, for the second time. He cast back for the memory of the first visit. She was ancient, that dragon, black as a night without stars, and fierce to behold, but also....beautiful and regal in her bearing. "I am Ithilia, of Arador," she had rumbled, her voice giving sibilance to the words she spoke, her Quenya flawless. "Indeed I have heard of you, when I was but a youngling still enslaved to Morgoth. But that was a long, long time ago, before the Great Rebellion, when those who believed in right defied him and escaped into exile. Still, I remember you were spoken of well."
Was this dragon one of those who knew not the yoke of servitude to the Dark Lord? Born of fire and dark magicks were the dragons made but Morgoth, before even Arien took to her chariot and lit the work. Glaurung emerged in those days. Later, when Gondolin fell, the host of the Dark Lord included dragons of terrible aspect, who wrecked great destruction and laid blackened the lands of those who opposed the Dread Lord.
The Urulóki (dragons) had not only survived their creator's imprisonment time and again, but some had developed the love of freedom and the self determination to break free of his dark influence and not only live free of his will, but, as the dragon sleeping away his exhaustion is mute testimony to, they can procreate.
Like Glaurung, who was slain by Túrin Turambar, the sleeping dragon, Dometis, has four legs. Unlike the father of dragons, though Dometis, like Ancalagon the Black, has wings. Was Dometis a fire drake, as he appeared to Olwe, or a cold drake? How came he to be so exhausted that he fell from the sky?
Olwe wipes his hands and replaces the towel on the wash stand. Bending over, he retrieves his shirt and crosses the room to his clothes chest. For now the questions that plague him must needs go unanswered until the dragon awakens.