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The Last Song of the Ainur	By : TICS Category: -Multi-Age > Het - Male/Female Views: 2084 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter One

"We have our orders."

"Is there nothing that can be done for them? So many
have passed already�so many more will die without our intervention�"

"We have our orders," the Elf reiterated, his
voice stern. He turned to the
younger Elf, placing his arm around his shoulders, speaking this time with
compassion. "This is
difficult for you, I know, but it has been predicted since the Ainur first sang
the world into being. The Time of Man has come to its end. I do not presume to
know the mind of Il�vatar, or speculate on why He has set us upon this path. I
know not why these in particular were chosen to be shown His mercy, but I will
not question His judgement. Would
you question the will of Eru, R�mil?"

"Nay, Haldir, nay. Still, my heart weeps for those we have passed by. 'Tis not by their own hand that this
misfortune has fallen, but by the hand of Morg�"

"Speak not of the Dark Lord in my presence, R�mil!" Haldir warned, silencing his brother. "Come," he said, steering
R�mil toward the bow of the ship, "we approach the shoreline."

The two silver-haired Elves walked
to stand at the gracefully curving bow of the ship, exchanging a meaningful
look with each other at the sight of the billowing, greasy black smoke that
rose from a smoldering pile on the shore.
Even from this far ashore they could smell the stench of burning flesh,
an offensive odor that brought back a flood of memories of many such pyres
witnessed during their years in Middle Earth, and resultant mutual shudders of
disgust in both Elves. Further down the beach they could make out the
silhouette of a structure built high on the dunes, back lit by the setting sun.

Turning to his crew, Haldir barked
an order. "Weigh anchor. We
have reached our destination."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ship was first spotted by Elise, a tall, slender, former
grade school teacher, who wasted no time in dashing back into the house to
inform the others of what she had seen.

Together, the three women flew to the front door, staring in
awe at the incongruous sight of the old-fashioned ship floating off shore, its
pristine white sails billowing in the wind, a pale cork bobbing upon the gentle
swells of the black water of the ocean.

Anna, the eldest of the three and owner of the house,
retreated for a moment into the cool interior, returning shortly with a solid,
wooden baseball bat clutched in her hands. Well worn, and at one time a treasure well loved, the bat's
wooden grip was blackened with the oil of decades of young hands that had
gripped it in sport. Now it would
serve as a weapon, one of the few besides a handful of small eating knives and
a fireplace poker that could be found in the seaside house.

Berating herself for not realizing that she should have made
sure to take something more appropriate, and threatening, while at the
supermarket, Anna held the bat upright over her shoulder, as if to volley back
anything that might hurl itself at them from the deck of the mysterious
ship.

The sun was sinking quickly behind the windswept dunes,
casting long shadows onto the beach.
The women watched as the ship's sails were lowered. Soon, until the moon rose, it would be
too dark to watch the ship for activity. Anna motioned for Elise and Rebecca, a
short, shy young woman who had been last to join Anna on her trek to the shore,
to retreat back into the house.
Closing and locking the door, the three women pulled and pushed at the
heavy oak bookcase attempting to manipulate it from its place in the living
room, tipping it to lie against the door.
Locking the windows and drawing the blinds, barring the rear door as
well, Anna sat with the two women she had come to consider her charges in the
living room, a small Coleman lantern flickering on the coffee table, the bat
balanced on her knees, waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Orophin leaned his lithe form against the railings of the
ship, staring at the landscape of the shore as it became indistinct in the
growing darkness, the wind lifting tendrils of his silvery hair, blowing it
about his face. Lost in memory,
his vision was turned inward recalling the long ages in Valinor with his
brothers. How content they had
been to bask in the joyous song and love of the Valar, yet how eager to don
once again warrior braids and weapons, sailing off into uncharted waters on a mission
decreed by Il�vatar, Himself. The
purpose of their quest puzzled him even more, for he had not been privy to the
intent, only to the details.

Sighing, he felt his eldest brother approach, Haldir's soft
footfalls coming to rest just behind him.

"Your thoughts are far from here, brother," Haldir
said softly, seeing the confusion that etched Orophin's face.

"I do not understand our purpose, Haldir. I know that we are to gather the human
survivors as one would gather the few remaining hale fruits after a blight, and
transport them to the New Havens�but I do not know the why of it. They are Secondborn. The Age of Man is
done - contrary to R�mil's beliefs the manner of its downfall is meaningless.
Its remnants are ready to dry up and scatter like so much dust on the
wind. Why save these few?"

"Question not the mind of Il�vatar, Orophin. Your doubts frustrate you, I know, but
you must remember that we are ever the wardens, Orophin. Be it that we serve on the fences of
Lorien as in days of old, or now, as shepherds of the last of Man, still we
serve. We have sworn an oath, and with that oath comes the obligation to
unquestioningly fulfill our duty. Do not allow these concerns to hinder you or
us. If you cannot trust in the
path you cannot see, then I ask you to trust in me."

Orophin nodded, embracing Haldir, giving his trust
wholeheartedly into his brother's keeping as he had done all his long life.

"When Anor rises, we shall go ashore," Haldir
said, pulling away and placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Rest, for the morrow brings us to
the doorstep of the unknown."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn found Anna nodding on the sofa, still holding the
baseball bat across her lap. Elise
and Rebecca lay curled on the floor near her, neither having the inclination to
leave the others during the night to seek her own bed.

Rising, she stretched, rubbing her face with her hands to
dispel the last vestiges of the sleep that had claimed her regardless of her
determination to stay awake throughout the night. Memory of the previous days came flooding back, including
the sighting of the white ship moored just offshore. Dashing to the window, she peeked through the drawn blinds
to see a small boat being lowered from the large white ship. Three figures were aboard, rowing
toward shore.

Calling for the others, she watched the small boat drift
ever closer to shore. In the
distance, the rowers looked female, but as they jumped from the boat, beaching
it on the sand, Anna realized that they were male. Long, silver hair flowed about their broad shoulders,
whipped by the wind on the open beach, muscles straining at the fabric of their
oddly fashioned shirts as they hauled the skiff up onto the sand.

"Who are they?" Rebecca asked, her little girl
voice belying her curvaceous figure.
Petite, almost pixie-like in appearance, Rebecca had been an aerobics
instructor Before, as they had begun to refer to the time prior to the
plague. In each of their minds the
word was capitalized, a name, a personification of life the way it used to be. Before.
"You aren't going to let them in, are you Anna?"

"We don't know that they're hostile, Becca. Maybe they're just survivors, like
us."

"Don't let them in! They'll want our supplies�or worse!" Rebecca cried, her
voice becoming shrill in her fear.
"Don't let them�"

"Rebecca!" Elise said firmly, as she would have to
a hysterical child suffering from separation anxiety on its first day of
school. "It will be all
right. Go sit down�better yet, go
get the lantern oil� it's dark in here with the blinds drawn, and we'll need
the light."

The authority in Elise's voice broke through Rebecca's
fright, calming her, giving her direction. She hurried off to find the oil, leaving the two women to
continue watching the men on the beach.

Anna noticed two things immediately as the three men made
their way up the dunes toward the house.
First, they looked enough alike to be related, each one handsome in his
own way, each possessing the same, odd, silvery hair. Secondly, they were all armed. Curiously, she couldn't see a gun or rifle among them,
rather they had armed themselves with bows and quivers, and each had a sword in
a sheath affixed to their belt. Regardless of their choice of weapons, they
were armed, and she reminded herself that caution was the better side of valor.
She would not welcome them with open arms until they had proved to her that
they meant no harm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haldir led Orophin and R�mil over
the white sand up toward the weathered house that sat upon the dunes. Holding up his hand, he called a halt,
his keen eyes sweeping the dunes for any possible threat. Turning his attention
to the house, he did not miss its occupant peeking at them through the
horizontal slats that covered the window openings.

Standing before the house, his
legs spread apart in a firm stance, his hand hovering over the hilt of his
sword, Haldir, his Westron a bit stilted after centuries of disuse, called out
in a loud voice, "Hear me those within! We are sent by Il�vatar,
Himself, come far from the Undying Lands beyond the Circles of the World to
bear you hence to safety! Come out, let us meet and be strangers no
longer!"

His words were carried away down the beach by the wind, as
the three Elves waited for an answer from those within the house. None came. Again, Haldir tried to communicate with the Secondborn he
knew to be within the weathered gray clapboard house. Again, his only answer was silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is he yelling?" Anna asked Elise, looking at
the tall woman beside her.
"Do you recognize the language?"

"I only speak English and French, and I remember a
smattering of Italian from college�but that doesn't sound even vaguely
familiar," Elise replied, peeking out the blinds again at the men on the
beach.

"I know it's not Spanish, and that's the extent of my
linguistic skills," Anna added.
"Rebecca, do you speak any languages besides English?"

The pert athletic instructor shook her head, her eyes still
wide with worry.

"How are we supposed to know what they want if we can't
understand them?" Elise asked Anna, biting her lip.

"Maybe they'll think no one's here if we keep
quiet," Rebecca offered hopefully, her hands nervously fondling the bottle
of lantern oil they held.

"Rebecca, these are the only other living, breathing
people we've seen since Before�we have to try to communicate with them!"
Anna countered, frowning at the petite brunette.

"Why? We're doing okay by ourselves�we don't need
anyone else!"

"They do have bows and arrows, Anna�" Elise
commented, sounding as though she agreed with Rebecca.

"And we have a baseball bat and a fire poker,"
Anna retorted, nodding toward the black, wrought iron stick Elise held in her
hand. "If we were to go out
to try to find other survivors, I'd wager that we'd arm ourselves, too. I think that if they were going to
attack, they would have done so by now.
They wouldn't be standing on the beach in the open like that trying to
make contact�how do they know we don't have guns in here?"

Her logic seemed reasonable to Elise, if not to
Rebecca. Nodding her assent, Elise
slowly raised the blinds on the window.
Raising the pane, she motioned for Anna to say something to the men on
the beach.

"Who are you?" Anna called loudly. "What do you want?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What language does she speak, Haldir? I do not
recognize it," R�mil asked, looking
questioningly at his older brother.

"'Tis not familiar to me,
R�mil. 'Tis not Westron - of that I am certain. Nor any of the few other tongues of Man I am acquainted
with," Haldir replied, frowning.

"They live at the sea's
end�perhaps it is the language of the Corsairs," Orophin suggested,
peering at the two women who looked out at them from the window.

"Nay, I have heard those
blackguards speak�their language was guttural and foul to the ears,"
Haldir answered, stroking his chin thoughtfully at their predicament. "I
have never heard speech such as this before."

"How then are we to
communicate with them? Better we should leave them and find others in their
stead," Orophin stated. "Others who would speak a civilized
tongue."

"Nay, brother�we are intended
to take these - 'tis the will of Il�vatar. It must be these and no others," Haldir said adamantly,
frowning at Orophin.

"There is something that speaks the same meaning in
every language I have ever known, Haldir," R�mil
said, looking at both his brothers.
Warily, he took a few steps toward the house then removed his bow and
quiver, setting them on the sand.
Next he removed his sheath, setting it and the sword it held next to the
bow and quiver. A broad smile on
his face, he held up his empty hands toward the females who watched him
carefully from the house.

"You have more intelligence
than I often give you credit for, R�mil," Haldir said, a smile turning up
the corners of his lips. He nodded
at Orophin to do the same as he worked to imitate R�mil's actions. Disarming themselves, they stood on the
beach, palms upraised, smiling, and hoping that those within would realize that
they bore no ill intent.

Standing on the beach, they could
hear dragging and thumping sounds from within the house, realizing that the
women had barred the door from within.
A moment later, the door creaked open, two women coming to stand just
within the doorframe. The Elves
could make out the form of a third standing behind them, although that one
looked more skittish and ready to bolt than the others did.

The first woman to step outside
the door held a wooden club in her hands, the other a black, sharp, iron
stick. Neither looked too certain
to be standing outside the protective walls of the house, and neither gave any
indication of coming any closer to the Elves.

Rumil and Orophin looked to Haldir
for guidance, not sure what to make of the three women who stood in the
doorway. Their fear was palpable
to the Elves, even at that distance.
It would be an easy enough task to overpower them, but the Elves knew
that strength of arms was not always the wisest course of action.

"Stay behind me, make no
sudden movements. Do not take your
weapons," Haldir whispered, as he stepped forward toward the porch of the
house where the women stood. His
palms still upraised, showing them to be empty of weaponry, a smile still on
his face, he stopped at the bottom step, easily within swinging range of the
woman holding the club.

TBC�
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The Last Song of the Ainur

Chapter One