Elemental Spirits by Beatrisu

Chapter 1

Nerdanel.

She was always as calm as the shifting masses of land his father talked about. He'd see her move around stone, lifting the chisel, then lowering it before taking a step back and squinting. Little particles of dust floated around her head, making it look like she wore wreaths of light in her hair, shining in on her and dancing around her from the large crystal windows overhead. His father had wanted to give her windows of stained glass, but she had furrowed her brow which she so often did around him, as if to tell him to think back a few steps before he did something rash and foolish. Never had Maedhros heard his mother raise her voice. Even when his father ranted and raved and spat profanities that he could hardly understand, his mother stayed calm. Somehow, she managed to calm his father, too. Like the fresh, brown earth they would toss onto the embers to quell them, she quelled his anger and calmed his face.

Maedhros used to think she was a mountain.