The Greatest of All by wind rider

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The Greatest of All

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The Greatest of All

 

I.

 

“I bumped against Lord Olórin just now, when I was searching for Amil. But he gave me treats from the sweets stall instead of berating me!”

 

“Nah. Lord Curumo is the best. I saw him creating a strange devise for Lord Aulë when Amil and I were visiting Atar in Lord Aulë’s forges. Atar is apprenticed to Lord Aulë himself, you know.”

 

“Hah! I saw Lord Manwë and Lady Varda myself when we visited Taniquetil last fortnight. Atar and Amil were actually going to see Lord Ingwë for counsil, and they brought me because I was a good girl, but it turned out that Lord Manwë and Lady Varda were there with the Lord. Imagine my surprise and awe! They were so magnificent…”

 

“Whom did you see, Lótwen?”

 

“Huh?” I am jarred from my bored rumination watching the fluffy clouds above the square. “Sorry. What did you say?”

 

Artanis throws me an exasperated look, and I feel slightly guilty. She is the most bearable of the lot, trying to include me in their discussions whenever we see each other in the Kindred Square. But I cannot help it: I despise this noisy place, with big noisy people who would gossip with or against each other just as easily as they trade items. The children are only slightly more bearable. Sadly, my parents and older sisters always find reason to drag me here every time they visit the square.

 

Irissë, Artanis’ cousin, rolls her eyes at me. “Whom of the Ainur have you met?” she asks in a slow tone. I glare at her.

 

“Lord Ulmo is always nearby,” I say testily, looking pointedly at the bubbling water of the fountain before us. Nobody says anything after that. I smirk, satisfied. They do not have to know that I have never met any Ainur physically.

 

II.

 

The man looks almost translucent, with vague edges as if unreal. But his hand is warm when he helps me to my feet. I would not have tripped against the root and tumbled downhill if I had paid attention to my surroundings instead of dwelling on what those girls said in the square…

 

“Thank you,” I say to him, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “Who are you though? I never saw you around here.”

 

But he only says with a small complicit smile, “Watch the clouds. I am there.”

 

III.

 

I am crouching under the burning roof, trapped and terrified. People are still fighting and dying outside, and I do not know where my family are, and I am trapped here alone in our burning house. I am praying, praying for somebody – anybody – to save me.

 

And suddenly, I am enveloped in damp, cool air alien to the burning house around me.

 

I look up. The odd man I met a long time ago is standing beside me, reaching out a hand to help me up just like he did that day.

 

“Who are you?” I whisper.

 

He smiles and says, “You watched the clouds.”