36 The Council of Elrond

Elrond Half-elven took his silver circlet off his weary head and placed a hand over his tired gray eyes. The passing of the ages instilled a deep melancholy and only his unsurpassed strength of character prevented the harshness of his experiences to color his daily interactions.

Yet now that his house sheltered the gods themselves and their angelic attendants that unsurpassed strength of character wore thin. Very thin. One woulk thing that the gods showing up at his house with news that the two great evils of Middle Earth were defeated utterly and for all time would signal a time of great celebration. We win, they lose. Everything is sunshine and rainbows from now on.

Nope.

On edge described the moods of the most cheerful of the deific host, and the wails of the downers felt like just enough to drive a guy to fade.

Surely the Halls of Mandos held greater cheer than the Hall of Elrond when both Nienna and Nessa raced to flood his home with their tears. The very foundations shook with their wails for the fallen Tulkas, who died to prove to the world that a new Dark Lord rose up in Mordor.

And that the Third Overlord of Darkness made Morgoth and Sauron look like journeymen in the field of domination.

Behind Elrond's heavy eyelids he saw his king, Gilgalad, facing Sauron with Elendil to their very deaths. The brightest lights of an age snuffed out by a being defeated and devoured by the Ukuk King of Mordor.

What hope remained when Morgoth stood tall against all the Valar combined save Tulkas. Tulkas who put all his power into his physical might and that made the original Dark Lord unable to face him at all. Tulkas who died in a fist fight to the Uruk King of Mordor.

At least Elrond could quite easily go see Celebrian again now that the Uruk King of Mordor pulled Valinor down from the heavens and planted it once more across the sea, which settled greatly since he reshaped the world to his very whims.

The Lord of Rivendell sighed long and deep. He played host to all the leaders of the West, Dwarves, Elves, Men, and even Halflings. When the Thain of the Shire comes to discuss international affairs all hope is truly lost.

Elrond laid in bed all night awake, and rose the next day to personally seat the Valar at a convention table before the many chairs claimed by the Lords of the West. His first relief came when he sat next to his mother by marriage, Galadriel, in the first row of chairs. Let someone else be at the councilor in dark times for once.

Manwe, the Elder King, a being like an elf made of pure white marble crowned and robed in the same rose up and passed his silver eyes over the assemble mortals as a ring of light glowed behind his head and a second larger ring floated around the first bearing four pairs of glowing golden eagle wings.

Varda stood with him, the Queen of the Valar and of the Stars. As pale as her husband and also dressed in white with a shawl of starry night around her shoulders and a shining white star over her head bearing six sharp points.

"Here ends the Third Age." the King of the Valar spoke softly and every ear heard his voice as if he stood right beside, "It has passed from the triumph of love and hope over darkness to the ruination of all that came before. The New Shadow rises higher than all before it, and the brightest light fails to banish it."

Elrond sighed deeply once more, and his mind dwelt on the time when Manwe let Morgoth back into the world because he promised to be a good boy. Manwe who always sat away on his throne and allowed the rest of creation to deal with the great evils.

There was a real chance that allowing the King of the Valar to speak would damn any chance they had of rallying to the darkest pit.

"He speaks the truth!" cried Denethor, Steward of Gondor after the sudden passing of his father, "The light dies. The enemy in Mordor cannot be beaten."

"Silence, you craven!" shouted Theoden, Prince of Rohan.

"You saw it for yourself!" Denethor spat back as he stood up, "The Dark Lord cleaving a dozen armored men with every swing of his sword. That was before he took the One Ring! Before he took the power of Morgoth! He was beyond us then and is beyond us now!"

The Prince of Dol Amroth pulled him back down and wrestled his mouth shut, but the damage was done to what little morale they had left.

"We stand at a crossroad." the Queen of the Stars spoke, "The fate Eru Iluvatar laid out for us is gone. Not a single action or inaction, success or failure is predestined. Anyone of us can rise up and cast the darkness down, but only if we rise up now - together - Ainur and Elf, Man and Dwarf, even the smallest Halfling… will any of us have the chance to live in a world free of the leash and lash of the Lord of Mordor."

"And if this Dark Lord isn't predestined to lose like all the ones before him, then who is going to beat him, eh? Eonwe to the rescue again." King Dain Ironfoot snorted, "Fat chance. Maybe you've seen what Thranduil and I have seen. Maybe that's why you Ainur aren't rushing in to do battle with the forces of Mordor. Do you even think you all could even get to him? I've scene the armies of Mordor as they protect trade convoys to and from Caras Sant. I've seen the mounted companies riding Wargs the size of draft horses. I've seen the Princes and Princesses of Mordor on the backs of fire breathing Dragons! I won't march my army to be put to the torch in the field. I won't!"

Aule the Smith, a long bearded man mixed with many metals grumbled his disappointment and Dain turned his ire on him.

"Shat up, ya arse!" Dain roared, "Don't even think about saying anything about us owing you for making us! You made us because you wanted to, and if you wanted some damn gratitude then you should have been down here fighting with us against Morgoth, against Sauron. But no! You only ever left your homes when they came for you! You all left us to suffer as a part of some twisted story! Some grand narrative we should be happy to be a part of no matter how small and mean. NO! I won't do it! I haven't lost a single dwarf fighting King Thrag, and I'm not gonna! He killed the Nazghul! He killed the Balrogs! He killed Sauron! He killed Morgoth! Sounds like a lot of my enemies he gone and killed! He sounds like a right problem. For all of you!"

Dain finished his rant pointing at the Valar and heaving his chest.

"He is about to be all of our problems." stated Orome the Huntsman as he pointed out a white ship in the distance with golden sails spread out like the wings of a dragon holding it aloft just under the clouds.