Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Love’s Healing Flame	By : Argleena Category: -Fourth Age to Modern times and beyond > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 947 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The following work is based on the fantasy world and characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien and I do not own them or profit from this piece of work.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Erestor had heard of Glorfindel and the heroic tales surrounding his name long before he ever met him. Even as a child being raised in the nomadic camps of the two remaining ions of Fëanor, he had caught wind of a bright and shining noble Lord of the House of the Golden Flower. This elf of legend had crossed the brutal ice of the Helcaraxë with his people to come into Middle Earth fromValinor, unwilling to follow the lead of the Fëanorions, many of whom killed and looted the innocent Teleri elves to gain access to their boats and gain passage over the seas to Middle Earth. He heard rumors of a hidden city ruled by a king and 11 lords, one later turned traitor. Then later he heard all about Glorfindel’s epic battle with a Balrog of Morgoth and how be became a hero of the people, first by leading many citizens out of the city when the attacks began and then giving fight to the foul creatures sent by Morgoth before eventually falling to his death in his plight to take down a Balrog of Morgoth that was coming after the escaping elves. After his death, Erestor read several accounts on the fall of the hidden city of Gondolin and about Glorfindel, one of its heroic and historic figures. He even transcribed a few of his own tomes and scrolls on the matter, based upon other elves first hand descriptions. It was a shock to all when the Valar returned Glorfindel to Middle Earth after some time spent resting and healing in the Halls of Mandos.
     Erestor had to admit, he was a bit star struck at first to meet the legend of old. Unfortunately, so were many of the elves in Gil-Galad’s court, which was Glorfindel’s first home base after his resurrection. Later he would choose to follow Elrond to Imladris, which Erestor was grateful for everyday. He soon came to realize that Glorfindel was not just a mythic being and the hero of old, he was a living, breathing elf, with feelings and memories and new goals of his own that he wanted to accomplish. He also despised being pandered to and worshipped for what he considers a painful “failure” of his. He did take out the balrog, but lost his life in the process, not the ideal outcome for any great warrior in a battle situation. Erestor and Glorfindel quickly became friends. That was an easy friendship to come about as they both were ranked high up positions, both in Erenion and Elrond’s courts. Glorfindel was so beautiful and bright and wise, every elf flocked to him and vied for his attention. Despite this, he still was interested in befriending Erestor, even with all of this other attention focused on him. Erestor learned quite quickly from the get go to treat Glorfindel as a regular elf, not some venerated war hero, or noble Lord of old. Many average elves have a difficult time in seeing Glorfindel as just “one of them,” but Erestor made the effort to treat Glorfindel normally, and Glorfindel greatly appreciated that.
     The pair would often spend large portions of their time working together during the work day as in many areas their duties and responsibilities overlapped. They saw each other frequently at council meetings, in consultation with Elrond regarding the realm and security, and other important matters around the realm. If anything were to, Eru forbid, happen to Elrond, Erestor would likely keep his position while Glorfindel would step up to be the, “face” and leader of the realm. For now though, he was perfectly content in his role of Chief General and Master of The Guard. The two got along rather easily and rarely argued or disagreed on major matters. They had an amiable working relationship and cooperated and worked with one another to make Imladris as efficient and prosperous as it could be.
     Outside of work, the two were close friends and companions as well. When Glorfindel had first arrived from the Halls of Mandos, he had a number of recurring nightmares and traumatic memories that he struggled with. While he was gregarious and upbeat around others on the outside, inside he was crying out for help. He struggled to sleep at night, oftentimes reliving memories of the fall of Gondolin and his death at the hands of the Balrog. Erestor discovered Glorfindel’s struggles early on in his return, when he found the Elf-Lord pacing the hallways of Gill-Galad’s palace at night. No one else was awake or around but Erestor in his office, working overtime again. Glorfindel, unwilling to go back to sleep and allow the nightmares to consume him once again, joined Erestor in his office and struck up a conversation that evening, which soon led to him seeking out Erestor on other nights he could not rest. Glorfindel hadn’t been in the best of mindsets after returning from death and while he kept a good mask on in front of others he could not fool Erestor (nor Elrond) when things were going poorly. Elrond and Erestor worked tirelessly to help and support Glorfindel during this time. Elrond mixed potions to help calm Glorfindel’s anxiety and ease the night terrors, allowing him to sleep. He also offered counseling, which Glorfindel readily participated in. Erestor offered him a listening ear and easy companionship when the memories were too much for him to handle alone. Sometimes they would sit and talk about what was troubling each other, sometimes they would just ramble on about nothing at all, a distraction to draw their minds away from his loud, invasive and stressful thoughts that crept in. Sometimes, Glorfindel would just sit in silence as Erestor worked late into the night, content just with his presence beside him. They began getting closer and closer and soon, besides Elrond, Glorfindel was Erestor’s closest friend. He was one of the select few individuals Erestor was able to grow close with, and Erestor would even share some of his secrets and memories of his past with Glorfindel, Elrond being the only other individual who knew. He trusted Glorfindel enough to know he would not hold Erestor’s past circumstances against him and trusted him to guard his secrets as well.
     Over the next age, Gorfindel and Erestor maintained a close knit friendship, growing closer throughout the years. The two would often take their meals together (what one’s Erestor didn’t skip) and Glorfindel could be found bringing a tray to the harried councilor when he became too preoccupied with work. They often went for rides together in the woodlands surrounding Imladris when it was nice outside. For Erestor’s 4,000th birthday, Glorfindel had even gifted Erestor with his own horse to ride, rather than having to borrow from the stable. It was a black mare sired by Glorfindel’s noble steed Asfaloth. It was a truly magnificent creature; sleek with fur as black as coal, like it’s mother. Her speed and agility, however, very obviously came from her sire. That was one of his favorite gifts that Erestor had ever received, he truly treasured the animal.
Erestor and Glorfindel also often visited the Hall of Fire together in their free evenings, excited to see what new performance or composition Lindir had arranged this time for the crowd's entertainment. Erestor preferred to sit in the back or off to the side, sip on a glass of wine and people watch. He and Glorfindel would sometimes make up background stories for the travelers or unfamiliar faces they spotted in the crowd. Glorfindel, the personable elf that he was, liked to visit with everyone. He always cheerfully greeted his trainees and fellow warriors when he came across them. He also enjoyed dancing, drinking games and some light gambling. He would often spend a portion of the night ambling through the halls integrating himself among various groups of elves, men, hobbits or dwarves, etc. It didn’t really matter who or what a person was, he made friends with easily with almost everybody. Amongst all this excitement however, he never forgot about Erestor. He made sure to always set aside significant chunks of time to spend with Erestor throughout the evening, who preferred to sit on the sidelines or occasionally socializing with Elrond or one of his coworkers in small groups. They would drink, converse and sometimes just quietly watch the entertainment when together. If Erestor has had an extra glass or two of wine, Glorfindel could sometimes coax him into a hand of cards or round of dice. Every single time they visited the halls, Glorfinfel tried to convince Erestor to dance with him without fail, but Erestor despised dancing amongst the crowds of inhabitants clambering about the hall. It just was not his thing. Glorfindel always accepted his rejections graciously, with a bright smile and assurances that one day, mark his words, he would get Erestor to dance with him.
     On rainy days, Erestor had been known to talk Glorfindel into a game of chess. He was the only elf in the realm, other than Elrond, who could provide competition for Erestor and his mastery of the game. Occasionally, Glorfindel was able to convince Erestor to join him at the training field where they would practice their archery or long knife skills. He insisted that Erestor continue to hone his skills that he learned in a past life as a warrior and having fought in several skirmishes. Despite Erestor being glued to his work and Glorfindel being dedicated to the trainees and security of the realm, they always managed to carve out some kind of time for the other.
At one point, a few hundred years after they had first met in Gil-Galad's Court, Erestor realized that he could probably fall in love with Glorfindel. He already possessed a foundation of love, trust and other foreign mushy type feelings for him. There weren’t many elves that appealed to Erestor romantically and far fewer that Erestor could see himself spending ages with, but Glorfindel was one of them. The problem with this was that Glorfindel was so bright and loved by all and deserved better than what Erestor had to offer him. Plus, he valued their friendship and never wanted to jeopardize that connection by making an unwanted advance or making Glorfindel uncomfortable around him. Also, what Glorfindel needed at this point in his life were genuine friends, people that cared about him for the person he is in the present. Erestor was determined to not be another admirer of a long list of many who were starstruck by his beauty, noble lineage and heroic/historic reputation. So as soon as notions of love and romance started teasing around in his thoughts and sometimes even dreams, Erestor learned to push them down. He was just happy that he was such close friends with Glorfindel and appreciative of the time they have together, he doesn’t want to ruin things or scare Glorfindel way. He didn’t even know if Glorfindel was attracted to ellons. Glorfindel never showed an interest in courting in the time that Erestor knew him. Sure, he danced and flirted and laughed with the elleths in the Hall of Fire, but Erestor was fairly certain he was just entertaining and having fun in a platonic manner. Maybe Glorfindel felt the same way that he did about love and relationships in general, that he didn’t necessarily feel the need to be a part of a pair and didn’t actively seek out or even have time for relationships. Regardless, Erestor was determined to remain friends with Glorfindel and pretend like those feelings of attraction never existed, for both their sakes. If Erestor just happened to blush when watching Glorfindel and his glimpsing magnificent physique on the training field, he would collect himself quickly, fairly certain Glorfindel never noticed. Erestor just couldn’t help himself sometimes. Glofindel would remove his tunic and put his tall, strong body with its hardened muscles on display. Covered in a glowing layer of perspiration, that he would probably find repulsive on anyone else, with his long golden locks escaping from being tied back and framing his beautiful face. No one could fault Erestor from peeking, especially when more than half of the population would outright stare in these situations. And if on the quiet evenings spent inside together, Erestor threw a few more than necessary side-eye glances at his friend, it really didn’t mean that much did it? Yes, Glorfindel appealed to him, but his friendship was far more appealing and important to Erestor, and Erestor wouldn’t risk that for all the gold in Smaug’s stolen dwarven hoard.
Translation:
Ion- Son
Ellon- Male Elf
Elleths- Female elves
- 6
- 7
- 8
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Love’s Healing Flame