Helevorn: Consider Water by Himring

Chapter 1

In this story arc, the reason for Caranthir's volatile temper is that he is a stronger telepath and empath than is necessarily good for him. This is originally a Felak-verse concept, of course. My version of Caranthir tends to cope less well than Dawn's does, though.

The surface of the lake is smooth as black glass, its depths opaque. Almost, you could believe you might be able to walk straight across, dry-shod.

Consider water.

Maedhros sits on a boulder by the shore of the lake. He watches the way the light of the sun, gleaming from above the easternmost slopes of Mount Rerir, seems to bounce off the water’s surface like a white shadow.  Maedhros remembers how the rain stung and the wind howled on the slopes above Angband. He remembers a fleet of charred hulks drifting in the shallows and the creaking moan of wood as a leaning mast gave way completely and tipped the wreck over.  He remembers enormous waves crashing onto the decks of stolen ships, deafening and half drowning him and sweeping friends into Uinen’s vengeful embrace. He remembers a trickle of blood that went on dripping from the side of the quay into the harbour basin at Alqualonde when the killing was done.

Consider water.

The surface of the lake is still and smooth. Where the bushes overhang the water, each leaf and twig is mirrored in exquisite detail, hawthorn, willow and sloe. On the opposite shore, where the newly-founded Noldorin settlement is, all seems quiet and peaceful, too. Life surely goes on there as usual with its accompanying sounds: dogs barking, geese hissing, children shouting, the clatter of crockery. But here on this side there is nobody but Maedhros and all is silent.  He remembers tears rolling down his father’s cheeks when he learned the news of his grandfather’s death, and how, even as he wept, his face hardened into hate.

Consider water.

A shadow interposes itself between Maedhros and the lake’s surface. He realizes that hours have passed; it is afternoon. He tilts back his head. Caranthir stands before him. His face is flushed. He is frowning and chewing his lower lip.

‘I have reflected on the matter’, Caranthir says after a moment, with unaccustomed politeness. ‘And I have decided I would prefer it if, the next time you come to visit me, you did not stop first and try to calm your thoughts.’

Maedhros regards him rather ruefully. He gets up, dusts himself off and shakes out his cloak. Then he casts a final look across the lake. The white shadow cast by the sunlight on its surface has turned golden.

He clears his throat. ‘It is’, he remarks, ‘very beautiful.’

Chapter End Notes

Helevorn is the name of the lake and translates as "black glass". It lay at the foot of Mount Rerir near the end of the Ered Lindon and Caranthir founded his main settlement on its shores when he took up the rule of Thargelion.