"The House of a Friend" & other drabbles by Himring

Shadow on the Wall

Prompt: Obsidian

‘I saw the Father of Dragons, Glaurung—twice’, says Celebrimbor. ‘I saw Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. They carried the dark flame of Morgoth inside their hearts. When it was strongest in them, it was as hot as a volcano, as hot as fabled Mount Orodruin in the Southlands!  Where they went, the rocks beneath them melted into a trail of black glass... They were terrible, Narvi.’
The hearth-fire flickers, throwing an abrupt shadow on the cave wall. Narvi shudders inwardly. Nightmares of the First Age!
‘There are no balrogs here,’ he murmurs, soothingly, ‘and no dragons. We have peace.’

Chapter End Notes

Alluding to the fact that obsidian consists of volcanic glass (with thanks to Huinare for a bit of geological background information)