The Wars of the Valar by Fiondil

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Chapter 40: Loss of Innocence

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40: Loss of Innocence

The mystery of Aulendil’s disappearance was answered not long afterward. Manwë was still issuing orders for Manveru and his troops to secure the Lamps when all of a sudden the light about them wavered.

"What was that?" Ilmarë asked, looking skyward, fear and surprise mingled on her fair face. Others looked up as well and for a split second the stars shone down upon them, then the light returned.

"Quickly!" Manwë ordered, but even as Manveru, Erunáro and the other warrior Máyar faded from sight, the light shifted again and then....

"Quake!" Námo shouted as the ground buckled and heaved. Huge fissures opened up about them, sending giant geysers of hot gases and steam into the now darkened skies. Everyone instinctively went incorporeal. Námo called to Vairë and the two of them gathered their People about them, assuring themselves that all were safe and accounted for. Even Ancalequirindë and Olórin were there with a couple of the still recuperating Máyar between them. They were still weak enough that they needed aid in divesting themselves of their hröar so quickly.

"Everyone safe?" Vairë asked, mentally taking a head count.

There were acknowledgments all around. Námo turned to Maranwë. "Take any of those still recuperating to the oasis on Nasarphelun. Irmo and Estë will most likely use that as their base for treating any wounded. Choose a dozen Máyar to stand guard over them."

Maranwë bowed. "I will lead the guards myself, lord. None shall threaten the wounded."

"Good. Thank you, Maranwë. Now be off with you. Ancalequirindë, Olórin, go with him. I am trusting you to see these worthy Máyar to safety." He indicated the two recuperating Máyar.

Both had expressions of mingled shame and rebellion at the thought of being herded about. "I can fight, lord," one of them said almost pleadingly.

Námo embraced him. "Indeed thou canst. Thou canst fight best by helping my brother and Lady Estë with whatever task they require of thee. Thou knowest better than most what will be needful to ensure that the wounded are made comfortable. Ye both do," he added, including the other injured Máya in his appraisal. "Go now, all of you."

With that they left. Námo and Vairë then gave orders for the other Máyar in their service to join their brethren in the fight. All this time the earth had suffered terribly. Almaren was in flames and the lake in which it sat was boiling with acid. Volcanoes had erupted to the north where the mountains were and pyroclastic clouds rained down everywhere. Quakes continued to increase in severity and now thunder and lightning storms burst suddenly around them as hurricane winds swept across the Sea, causing tidal waves to swamp the low-lying coasts.

And the Lights of the Two Lamps were forever extinguished.

Námo and Vairë joined the other Ayanumuz who were gathered around Manwë. "Where is Oromë?" Námo asked, not seeing the future Lord of the Hunt.

"He’s at the front, directing the troops," Manwë answered. "He was already far to the north when the attack came but he and his party were too few to save Illuin, though they were able to hold off Melkor’s minions until we could get reinforcements to them."

"Melkor must be very sure of himself to attack as he has," Aulë said. "Are we going to just wait for him to destroy everything we’ve worked so hard to accomplish?"

"No," Manwë answered, "but our primary concern is to save what we can of this world. We will have to take a defensive stand rather than an offensive one."

Námo’s aura darkened towards the ultra-violet, indicating dismay. "Melkor needs to be stopped now. What good will it do always to remain on the defensive? Sooner or later it will no longer be sufficient, and then what?"

Manwë’s steady blue aura flickered with tongues of green and indigo, indicating frustration and sorrow. "I know, Námo, but...."

"My lords, look!"

They all turned to see Eönwë, who had remained beside Námo waiting for instructions, pointing towards the north. They could see a darker blot against the darkened sky moving fast towards them and with a sinking feeling Námo knew it was Melkor’s own troops. Ulmo motioned to the south where a similar, though smaller cloud of Úmáyar could be seen heading their way. Both groups of the enemy were shooting energy bolts into the earth, inciting further quakes, causing great rents in the crust that were nearly tearing the world apart. Aulë’s aura went incandescent with shock when he saw Aulendil leading the northern enemy troops.

"I don’t think we have any choice now," he said heavily, sorrow too deep to measure in his voice. "We must save what we can and leave Melkor for another day."

And so the second war of Arda began.

It did not last as long as the first war. For one thing the battlefield was localized. None of them went off-planet. Manwë’s fury was boundless and Tulkas was relentless in his pursuit of Melkor, but they failed to find him, for he hid from their sight in the fastness of his stronghold far to the north. The Úmáyar proved less threatening than anticipated and Oromë opined that their only task was to distract the Ayanumuz while their master fled. Námo was of the same opinion.

"Melkor is a coward," he said even as he casually took out one of the Úmáyar who had been attempting to sneak past their defensive line. "Even chained as I was he never met with me alone. Always one of his lackeys was with him as he tormented me."

Short as the war was, it was nevertheless ferocious and by the end they were all exhausted and the earth was in torment. The Ayanumuz fought valiantly to save what they could of Almaren but it was mostly ash and rubble by the end and none could look upon their first home without weeping and cursing. Námo noticed Eönwë growing steadily more quiet as the war continued. He had released the Máya from his service temporarily so he could join his fellow warriors at the front where he distinguished himself in the fighting, very often leading sortie after sortie against the enemy. As time went on, however, the Máya became less active and at one point during a brief lull in the fighting he requested to be reassigned.

Námo gave him a searching but sympathetic look. "The oaths of all of us are wearing you down, aren’t they?"

"Yes, lord," Eönwë answered quietly. "Sometimes it is not so bad, but lately... the... the voices won’t stop. I don’t know if I can... continue."

"Yes you can," Námo said forcibly, embracing him. "Atar would not have given you this mandate if He did not believe you could rise above whatever discomfort it may cause you." He thought for a moment. "Go to Nasarphelun and remain with the wounded. I will tell Irmo that you are to be left alone unless you purposely seek out companionship. When you are ready to rejoin us we’ll be here."

Eönwë gave him a grateful look and with a bow did as Námo bade.

Finally, the last of the Úmáyar fled into the depths of space, hiding inside clouds of dark matter until such time as their master called for them once again. The Ayanumuz looked around to see all that they had worked for gone.

"Do we hunt down Melkor?" Tulkas asked, his eyes flashing with barely concealed anger and frustration at failing to catch their fallen brother. "He is hiding somewhere in the north I deem. Leastwise, there were no reports among the Máyar of seeing him fleeing off-planet like his spineless troops."

"Even if he is somewhere on the planet," Manwë countered, "I will not risk rending this world any more than it already is to find him. We must concentrate on saving from ruin all that can be saved for the Children’s sake. We know not the hour or the place of their dwelling."

The others reluctantly agreed and so they turned their attention to preserving what they could. Almaren was completely lost but Aulë determined that its rubble could be used to construct another home for them. Other lands were brought forth from the ruins with two or three large landmasses brought close together in the eastern hemisphere while in the western hemisphere they raised a single continent which they called Amanaphelun. Manwë and Varda called upon Atar to bless the new land and hallow it.

Decisions were also made concerning defenses, knowing that Melkor lurked somewhere on the planet.

"We can raise mountains along the eastern seaboard," Aulë suggested. "If Melkor is going to attack it is likely from that direction. It may not stop him but it could slow him down."

Manwë nodded. "That might work. Let us do so. I think I will also construct a mansion for us on the highest peak. From there we can keep watch over the outer lands."

Thus the Pelóri range was raised and the mountain that the Children afterwards called Oiolossë was the tallest of all, its great peak named after the mountain on Nasarphelun where the Ayanumuz had often held their councils during the previous war. Later, the Children would render its name as Taniquetil, the High White Horn of Valinor. Amidst its eternal snows the Máyar constructed Manwë and Varda’s mansion. Their chief throne room was built so that they could look out across the wide expanse of the world and see all that was happening around them. The mansion also served as temporary accommodations for the other Ayanumuz until their own residences were built on the plains to the southwest of Taniquetil.

The place where the Ayanumuz built their halls would one day be called Valmar, but for now it remained nameless, for it was the only city in the land. It was oriented along a northeast-southwest axis where Manwë and Varda’s mansion stood at the northeast point. Námo and Vairë built their mansion opposite, for even though they were not officially espoused, neither saw any reason to construct separate halls. The others followed suit. Irmo and Estë constructed their mansion to the left of Námo’s while Nienna built hers on Námo’s right. Aulë and Yavanna built a manse to Manwë’s right while Ulmo’s was to his left, sitting in the midst of an artificial lake, reminiscent of Almaren. Tulkas and Nessa decided to build theirs between Ulmo’s and Nienna’s while Oromë and Vána’s residence stood opposite them. An avenue of multicolored flagstones ran between the mansions and in the center a fountain was built in which a tall bell tower stood; the Mindon Nyellion it was afterwards called.

Surrounding the city were gardens and meadows, vast forests and orchards and what light that could be saved from the ruins of the Lamps was brought there, though it was pale and held little warmth in comparison to the Lamps themselves. However weak the light of Amanaphelun was, it was more than the rest of the planet received, for the Ayanumuz spent all their energies in beautifying their own continent and paid little heed to anything else for a time.

During all this, two events occurred, both of them in the newly hallowed throne room of the Ayanumuz. The first was the formal releasing of Eönwë, Fionwë and Olórin from Námo’s service and returning them to Manwë. Námo and Oromë had been pleased by Fionwë’s performance during the war and judged that all three had learned their lesson in obedience to the Ayanumuz. Manwë accepted them back with great joy and their brethren welcomed them with much rejoicing.

The second event was less happy but its end was no less satisfying. Oshosai was brought before Ulmo and Manwë. Aulë had kept him out of the war for fear that he might be seduced by Melkor if not guarded. That had not pleased the Máya, though Uinen had expressed her gratitude.

"My husband is a fool," she told Aulë, "but I love him too much to see him destroy himself, as surely he would should he ever take oath to Melkor."

Aulë had spent some time during the clean up after the war speaking to Oshosai, imploring him not to take the same path as his own Máya had. "No good can come of it, child," the Ayanuz said, his voice laced with deep sorrow. "I do not know if I could have prevented Aulendil from taking such a drastic and fatal step. Perhaps not. He never gave me cause to doubt his loyalty and yet...." He sighed, then gave Oshosai a hard stare. "My heart is nigh broken in two at the betrayal of one whom I loved as a son. Do not do to thine own lord what has been done to me. Enough sorrow has entered our land without increasing it."

Oshosai’s demeanor became less resentful and more thoughtful at these words and when he appeared before Ulmo he pled forgiveness and it was granted, though Ulmo later admonished Uinen in private.

"Keep an eye on thy husband, my daughter," he told her. "I sense a wildness in his heart that might never be quenched but can be controlled."

Uinen nodded, well aware of her spouse’s failings.

****

Not everyone was sanguine about the raising of the Pelóri mountains or their reason for doing so. Námo especially objected to it, though he expressed his displeasure to Oromë only. The Hunter of Evil was sympathetic but resigned.

"Even with the mountains raised, I doubt Melkor’s taint will be kept out of Amanaphelun," he opined. "I saw him briefly during the war, though he was too far away for me to capture him. He has changed, Námo. I hardly recognized him yet I could tell that in hröa he was weaker than he once was."

"What do you think it means?" Námo asked, intrigued in spite of himself.

Oromë shrugged. "I am not sure but it seemed as if...as if he had allowed some of his native power to leave him."

Námo gave his fellow Ayanuz a surprised look. "Why would he do that?"

Again Oromë shrugged. "Did you not notice how the earth answered to his commands during the fighting? We were hard put to keep the worst of the damage under control. I think perhaps he has imbued some of his power into the very earth itself."

Námo’s expression was one of shock at that revelation and he spent much time contemplating its import while the construction of Amanaphelun continued.

****

Tulkas, not surprisingly, was also dismayed at the decision to ward their continent and, as he put it rather bluntly to Manwë during a council meeting, ‘hide behind our little hills’. Manwë was not pleased by the implication of Tulkas’ words and there was much heated discussion between them while the other Ayanumuz stood by, unwilling to take sides. Finally, Manwë raised his hand in an imperious gesture.

"The decision has been made, Tulkas," he said. "However, there is nothing that prevents you from leaving Amanaphelun if remaining here displeases you. Go if you wish or stay. It matters not to me, but the mountains will be built." He turned his sapphirine eyes upon the rest of them. "That applies equally to you all. I will not prevent any from leaving. You are not prisoners and I am not your gaoler."

That seemed to be the end of the discussion. Later, Tulkas went to Manwë in private and apologized, assuring the Eldest that he had meant no disrespect of his authority. "I guess I am just frustrated at Melkor constantly eluding me," he admitted. "Sometimes I just want to tear this planet apart stone by stone until I finally find that miserable piece of slime."

Manwë gave him a sympathetic smile. "Sometimes I do, too," he confessed.

Tulkas gave him a startled glance and then as they stared into each other’s eyes, he came to realize in what a terrible position Manwë had been placed as the Elder Brother of them all, striving to protect what could be protected from the ravagement of Melkor’s consuming hatred. It was at that moment that the two of them came to an understanding and Tulkas never again disputed any decision ratified by Manwë but became his staunchest supporter.

"I am not as wise as the rest of you," he told Manwë, feeling suddenly inadequate.

Manwë embraced him and gave him a loving kiss as between brothers. "You are wise in your own way, Tulkas. After all, you espoused Nessa, didn’t you?" He gave Tulkas a wink and they both started laughing, their feud forgotten, their friendship restored.

****

Amanaphelun: (Valarin) Blessed Dwelling, what would one day be called Valinor. That part of the continent in which the Valar and Maiar dwell is properly called Aman. The name is constructed based on examples of other attested Valarin words; cf. Atháraphelun.

Historical Note: Fifty Valian years (479 solar years) passed between the destruction of the Two Lamps and the founding of Amanaphelun (Valinor).