The Lords that Fell by Taylor17387

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The Lord on the White Plain

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The Lord on the White Plain

And now beyond the world I sit,
and know not where you lie!
O Master, will you hear my voice
and answer ere we die?

-Sauron Defeated (The Tower of Kirith Ungol)

There was no light in the Void, and the spirit of the Maia traversed infinite and bare vastness in which all references to space and time had disappeared. He couldn't say that he felt cold, but rather the absence of warmth. The absence of all things was what surrounded him.
And yet there was a point in the midst of that immensity of nothing, a point that radiated a magnetic and familiar power, that drew him irresistibly. Sauron was directed towards that single point, perhaps very slowly or perhaps very quickly, though it could be the other way, and the point was actually approaching him.
The intensity of the power became increasingly strong and unavoidable, while his own essence kept dissipating, and all thought, all conscience left him, at the edge of no return.
Until the Maia hit something, the only something that seemed to exist there.

-Sauron, you look terrible. -he heard a voice saying, a mocking but very loved voice.

And then a crystalline laughter vibrated through him.
The presence surrounded Sauron, melted with his own broken spirit, and slowly began to heal him, filling each of the cracks with incandescent energy, sealing his wounds with a new power, almost too intense for the Maia. And Sauron felt himself growing, felt how the pitiful shadow to which he had been reduced became stronger, strengthened by the other presence, whose energy reserves seemed inexhaustible. Flesh and bone regenerated around him, with a speed that he would have never dreamed in the long years he spent in Dol Guldur without a body.
The other presence no longer caressed his naked spirit, but his skin, a real skin.

Sauron opened his eyes and looked at him.
White, bright and blinding, standing on a white plain, with the impenetrable darkness of the Void behind, Melkor was smiling at him.
Terrible and beautiful in all his glory.
Sauron did not say a word; he simply threw himself into his arms, pressed his head against the chest of the Vala, and wept. The tears he had held for all the ages of the world flowed then to his eyes and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

-But what's this, the lieutenant of Angband crying!? The day we said farewell you weren't able to give me a single tear. And now that we have met again you shed them in thousands. How should I interpret that, Sauron? –whispered the Vala, stroking his hair.- Something really traumatic must have happened to leave you in this state. Oh, if you had seen yourself just a moment ago! I had never encountered a spirit so shattered. Aren't you going to tell me anything, or hear my story?

The Maia shook his head, and suddenly pressed his lips against the mouth of his Lord and kissed him desperately.

-No, I don't want to know anything! Not now... I cannot think. I just want to feel thee again. Take me, fill me with thy body as thou hast done before with thy power! Once thou promisedst me, but then thou didst not keep thy promise...

Sauron dragged his Lord to the ground and entwined with him, with lust and grief and fury. Melkor was downright confused.

-This is not the way, Sauron. All of a sudden, without even a greeting. Besides, I'll hurt you if we don't...

-I don't care, do me harm, it will be the best! Thus at least I will feel something and know whether I'm really alive or it's just an illusion. I've spent so much time dead, my Lord. Thou canst not even imagine it! I just want to feel thee, to know that thou art real. -replied the Maia, kissing him.

Tears still streamed down his cheek, and Melkor noticed a salty taste in his mouth. A bit inexpertly, without having a very clear idea of what he was doing or why he did it, Melkor placed himself between the legs of the Maia, clasped around his waist, and penetrated him.
Sauron cried out in exquisite pain, and was finally able to prove that yes, he was alive again and had returned with his Lord, fused with him into a perfect whole. Now he could see his face more clearly, with eyes closed and mouth slightly open in a beautiful expression of pleasure.
If he felt pleasure himself, he wasn't sure, because the pain and joy mingled confusedly in his head.
He simply knew that when his Lord pressed against him, panting, with a moan of ecstasy, as a warm fluid ran inside him, he was much calmer and had regained his sanity.

-Oh, just to think about what I've been missing all this time! I think I could stay inside here for a few millennia. –muttered the Vala, nibbling his ear, and moved his hips a bit to enjoy a last caress, among small spasms, before the Maia asked him to leave.

-Please, my Lord, I have just recovered my body. Let me use it at least for a while before destroying it again.

Melkor laughed and let him free, watching his servant recomposing and dressing himself again, with a mixture of desire and curiosity in his eyes. Sauron had the same appearance that he remembered from the days of Angband, but looked tired and overwhelmed by the melancholy of Middle-earth.
When he finished putting on his clothes, both stood up and then the Maia could focus more intently on his surroundings.
They were in the middle of a white plain, of a delicate and translucent material such as crystal, beneath which flowed fine rivers of lava. In a way, it reminded him of Melkor's skin. The skies were black and radiated loneliness, though here and there were punctuated by strange stars of irregular and disconcerting glow.
But even more disconcerting was the appearance of his Lord. His body had recovered the beauty of the early days, free of wounds and mutilations, except for a single scar that snaked on the white skin and was lost in a black spot.

-I left it for you. I know you liked it. –explained the Vala, running a finger along the line of his pubis, upon noticing the point where the Maia's eyes were fixed.

The latter looked up, blushing a little, and found that over the head of Melkor shone again a crown, very similar to the one that he had worn in the First Age, with three jewels that mimicked the Silmarils. Though of course, the new gems had no light comparable to that of the originals, but were made of the same translucent crystal of the earth, and within them also flowed a drop of fire as the blood in a body.

-It's a replacement until the day I get my Silmarils back, nothing more. –said Melkor, shrugging.

Sauron nodded.

-I like these jewels more than the others, because they don't scorch the eyes and are thy work, not that of someone else's hand.

-Flatterer... Now follow me, I have a lot to show you and a lot to explain you. -and the Vala started walking before him, still naked.

Sauron coughed, somewhat uncomfortable.

-Ahem! My Lord, art thou not going to dress thyself?

-Dress myself!? What for? In case you hadn't noticed, this is the Void, the vast uninhabited spaces of Eä, extending beyond Arda up to the Timeless Halls. There's not a single soul here, Sauron! Why should I dress myself!?

-Pardon, my Lord, but I find a bit difficult to pay thee attention and look at thy eyes if I have thee all the time naked in front of me. Not to mention how tiring is to live in a constant state of arousal. I have spent many centuries in Middle-earth, and I'm too used to its customs.

Melkor sighed, rolling his eyes.

-Damn, you have just arrived and already you're annoying me! –he grumbled, but agreed to his wish and conjured a black robe around his body.

Once the problem was solved, Sauron started walking besides the Vala, as he showed him all that was in that strange new world.

-I suppose you'll want to know what happened to me and how I got here. Well, after those treacherous and dishonest Valar dragged me in chains to their realm, I was brought to trial. They gave me two options, either to waive my right over Arda, apologize and serve Manwë, or to be thrown into the Void. Of course I have my pride and I wasn't going to apologize for a fault I hadn't commited, so I chose the second option. -Sauron glanced sideways at Melkor. Of course that wasn't what had happened, and he knew it well since he had been among the audience. He still kept the painful memory of his Lord humiliating himself and begging his enemies, willing even to prostitute himself for a little mercy. But it didn't bother him that Melkor tried to lie; he had suffered much, he had the right to forget. About what came next, however, the Maia knew nothing, because he hadn't the courage to stay until the end of the execution.- They took me to the walls of night and I saw those doors opening before me, and the dark abyss that would swallow my being, to separate me forever from Arda and all that I loved in it. And yet I didn't beg them, I didn't give them that satisfaction. Furious, in a final gesture of sadism and spite, the Valar ripped my body and threw me naked and trembling to the Void. And they closed the door. I will say nothing about the millenia I spent thus, destroyed and without body, because you know what it is like and that there are no words to describe it. But then one day, suddenly, I realized that I had regained my physical form, and that the Void wasn't as void as I thought. There are many beautiful and mysterious things in the vastness of Eä, which no one cares about and no one remembers. Such was my interest in Arda during the days before days that I had never noticed it, and it was then when I discovered this with great pleasure. I have crossed all its spaces and have uncovered all its secrets, I have gained control over the cold, dead matter to mould it to my liking and give it a new life. This is now my kingdom.

Melkor waved his arms pointing to the heavens without light and the white plain that stretched to the end of the horizon.
Sauron realized then that this crystalline land was not as smooth and uniform as it had seemed at first sight. Here and there, fantastic protuberances, violently cut projections, sharp cliffs and bottomless cracks, broke its surface. And the veins of fire flowed in perpetual motion. There was no life, but nevertheless, the power of his Lord permeated everything with a curious organic quality.
In the sky, the stars moved in circles facing each other, or tore the impenetrable blackness before disappearing, some were blue, or red, or greenish, or were dead and black, waxed and waned without following a pattern, or simply imploded in the middle of a flash, and then went out forever.
Those were not the fixed, serene stars of Varda. Those stars had been touched by the furious hand of his master, the same hand that opened wounds and left scars on the earth to show his mood. It was a world that swayed dangerously over the edge of balanced chaos. And like all the works of Melkor, it possesed a rarefied beauty, almost morbid, but fascinating.

-If this is thy kingdom now, does that mean that Eru has forgiven thee, returned thy original power, and allows thee to rule the Void?

Melkor frowned, offended.

-Eru!? Don't talk about Eru, he has nothing to do with this and I don't need him at all! Of course, I have regained my power with my own means and gradually. While I stayed in Arda, the best part of me infiltrated its flesh and bones, and I was left almost empty. But after being separated from it, the power came back to me, to its rightful owner. Don't take me wrong, Sauron, Arda is still my main objective, and someday I will return to claim it. But in the meanwhile I can wait here, until I'm ready for the great final stroke. Look, we've almost reached my fortress: Helband, the ice prison.

Sauron observed a mass of sharp crystals rising in the distance, twisted like a claw that seemed to imprison a large stone of pale light. Nearby the fortress, and in memory of Thangorodrim, emerged a cylindrical volcano of surprising phallic shape. The veins of fire climbed inside it in spirals, and finally burst through the upper end in violent intermittent eruptions. Thereafter the lava slid indolent across the outer surface and got lost in the pits and ditches at the foot of the volcano.
Sauron smiled to himself wickedly.

-Wert thou thinking about something specific when thou didst the design for that volcano, my Lord?

Melkor blinked without understanding.

-Thinking? I don't need to think about anything to raise volcanoes, Sauron! They simply emerge from the earth, nothing more.

Once in front of the fortress, the Maia noticed that something strange happened with the geometry of the place. It had too many angles, too many dimensions. Or rather, angles and dimensions unknown and incoherent.
When he came inside he felt dizzy. Tortuous stairs interwined with ledges without any support, and disappeared inside closed ceilings. Asymmetric arches opened onto long corridors in darkness, which then turned out to be just cavities of a misleading optic. The floor was uneven where it seemed most smooth, and completely flat where it seemed to have steps.
The only light came from the lava currents that went up the walls and joined in a thousand capillaries in the vaults. The crystal gave off ghostly twinkles, as will-o'-the-wisps. And once again Sauron perceived that organic pulse through the structure; he had the impression of being inside the guts of a monster.

-This place needs the arrangements of a Maia of Aulë, I'm afraid.

-Yes, perhaps, but it's fine for me. –replied Melkor, with some indifference.- Come over here.

And the Vala led him up a stair to a platform that opened to the outer spaces. On the platform there was only one bed, precariously placed at the edge of the precipice. And two stars huge like two suns, one of fire and the other of pale glass, glowed in the dark skies in front of it, tinting the sheets with gold and silver.

-This is my bedroom. –explained Melkor, pointing out the obvious.

-It's a bit dangerous to sleep on the edge of the abyss, dost thou think not? –laughed the Maia, and then added with affection.- Those stars that light up thy bed, didst thou make them in memory of my eyes?

Melkor looked away and said nothing.
Sauron understood how lonely he must have felt, there in the Void, for so many millennia. He too had been alone, but in a very different way. He had been forced to look forward, to a future full of plans and projects that required his urgent attention. Melkor, however, had only the past to dwell in his thoughts, because the future had ceased to exist for him, or was very uncertain. Everything that he had raised there was a monument to his memories, a gesture of love for Arda and what he had lost in it.
The Maia leaned over his Lord and kissed him on the cheek. Melkor seemed disturbed, he glanced at the bed, and bit his lip. Sauron was about to lie down with him, and make him love properly to compensate for the hasty and embarrassing experience of before. But the Vala made him a sign to follow him, and jumped from the edge of the platform into the abyss.
Sauron shook his head, and chose to descend in a more civilized way by the same stair that had brought him there. But upon reaching the last step, he found with perplexity that he was standing again on the platform of the bed.

-It doesn't work that way, Sauron, it's something I have to fix. Jump here, don't be such a coward!

The Maia shrugged; Melkor could be many things, but he certainly wasn't an architect (not a rational architect, at least).
He jumped into the plain that lay at his feet, and his Lord picked him in the midst of fall, transformed into a disembodied beam of light.

-I want to show you more: the depths of time, the unknown lights that are born and die without being ever seen. I want to share it with you.

Sauron disembodied as well, merged with the Vala in an embrace of love, and they tore the heavens together as a single flashing ray.
After a long journey through the stellar voids, Melkor stopped and both recovered their bodies.
In front of them space disappeared into a hole darker than absolute black. One could say that it was made of a material darkness, something physical, a something that was nothing. Not even light could escape that vortex that devoured everything with insatiable hunger and regurgitated it in the form of shadow webs.

-I come here every day. -explained the Vala.- And I wait for her.

-For whom?

-For whom do you think? For Ungoliant, that nasty treacherous spider! It was from this hole from where she crawled eons ago, in the mists of time. And from this hole she will crawl again someday, when her cycle in Arda comes to an end. Then I'll be waiting here, to give her what she deserves.

Sauron stared at the abominable and solid darkness of the hole, as if hypnotized, and inadvertently began to approach it, drawn by an invincible force. Melkor grabbed his arm in time and pulled him away from the gravitational field.

-Fool, beware! If you get too close, there will be no power that can stop you, and you will be absorbed. It happened to me once, and believe me, it wasn't pleasant.

After having shown him the black hole, Melkor led him to another remote place in Eä. There, a giant star swirled at such vertiginous speed, that its light had become a vertical beam and disappeared into infinity, both above and below their heads. The star emitted flashes every few seconds, as if it throbbed, and bathed them both in a pure white light.
The Vala took his hand and placed it on his own chest; Sauron discovered then that the star's glints were in synchrony with the heartbeats of his Lord.
Melkor looked at him smiling, and thus lit up, Sauron knew that he was again before the radiant and undefiled Ainu that had emerged from the mind of Eru. That whom everyone had loved at first as the most beautiful and wonderful being of creation.

-I would like to kiss thee now, my Lord, but I don't know if I dare anymore. Thou hast raised too high over me. -murmured the Maia humbly, and Melkor laughed.

-Why don't you tell me then what you have been doing all this time in Arda, now that you know what I've been doing? Then I'll can judge if you're still worthy of me or not.

Sauron told him all the events of the Second and Third Age: his promising beginnings, his rise to power, his precipitous fall. And for the first time, Melkor listened to him carefully. Not because he could get some personal benefit from that information, but simply because he was interested in what had happened to another, someone other than himself.
Only at one point he was incredulous and dismissive:

-That's all very nice, Sauron, and certainly shows your commitment to me. But confess me what really happened in Númenor. You don't expect me to believe that story about Eru intervening and changing the shape of the world, right? If Eru didn't move from the Timeless Halls when I ruled Middle-earth, how would he shake off his laziness to punish you, that were just a minor threat?

The Maia frowned, hurt.

-What I tell thee is the only truth, my Lord. I have hidden nothing, nor have I added anything of my invention. Not even the most shameful details I have omitted, why would I make up that story for no reason? And if thou dost not believe me, let's go together to Arda and contemplate the earth from space. Thou wilt then see how it's round!

Melkor's mouth twisted with malice, but he accepted the challenge. And both ploughed through the Void, until the luminous region of Arda opened before them like a flower in the desert.
The two Ainur stood behind the Valacirca and looked down, at the blue earth globe, with the belt of the Sun and Moon around.

-Dost thou see? The earth is round now. Thou mayst not have noticed till now, with so much work as thou hadst in the inhospitable places of Eä. But thou wilt not deny the evidence of thy eyes, isn't it?

Melkor shook his head, stifling a chuckle.

-Oh, Sauron, the destruction of that ring of yours must have upset your head! The earth is still flat, as it always was.

-But how canst thou say that!? It's round, clearly round!

-I see it flat.

-Thou only seest it flat because thou wantest it to be flat!

-I see it as it is: flat. –and the Vala turned his back to him, settling the matter.

Sauron groaned in frustration.
It was useless; if Melkor wanted the earth, spherical as a globe, to be flat as a scroll, then flat would it be, and there was no further discussion.
Also, he was starting to feel very weak. Although he had recovered his body through the transfer of power from his Lord, he couldn't therefore ignore the traumatic blow of the Ring. Moreover now, being so close to Arda and to the memory of his failure, he was filled with unbearable melancholy. Occasionally he saw again, in a flash before his eyes, the burst of fire and the melting metal, the circumference that faded into a shapeless mass. And he relived again all the pain of the breakup of his skin, his flesh, his spirit.
The Maia whimpered and swayed, as if about to faint. Melkor, noticing this, hastened to hold him in his arms.

-But what's wrong with you, Sauron? You were never so weak, keep your composure!

-I'm sorry, my liege, I think I haven't yet recovered completely. That accursed hobbit...

-Hobbit?

-Yes, the creature that destroyed my Ring and with it my empire. Hadn't I mentioned him? The hobbits are...

-I know very well what is a hobbit ! –the Vala interrupted him, gritting his teeth angrily.- There is no creature of Arda that is unknown to me. I am Arda, do you remember?!

-Yes, of course, my Lord. But as I said, I still need a lot more rest before being again the Maia I used to be. I don't understand... I still don't understand where was my fault. I had a plan, a pristine and perfect vision.

-That was your fault, Sauron: to have a plan, a vision. -said Melkor affectionately, and withdrew from his forehead a strand of hair that had left its usual place behind the ear.- Idealists always fail in the end because reality can only be that, reality. It never lives up to ideals. Look at me instead; I never had any plan.

-And didst thou fare better than me? -one of the Maia's fangs shone behind his lips, teasing, and Melkor returned the gesture.

-I haven't fared bad. Watch this. –then the Vala covered with his hand the image of Arda that glimmered before them, and clenched his fist as if imprisoning it.- I told you that one day I would have Arda in the palm of my hand, do you see how I wasn't wrong?

Sauron laughed slightly, but he could perceive the sadness in the eyes of Melkor upon saying those words.
Obviously, this wasn't what he had in mind when he had sworn he would have Arda in his hands, that distant day in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears.
And yet... somehow, this fate in the Void was the greatest clemency that could have been reserved for the Vala. Because thus he would always have Arda in his thoughts as an objective, even if it was an unattainable objective. Melkor lived from desires, from stratagems and struggle, but once he got what he wanted he grew bored to death. And Sauron was sure that if Melkor had actually become the undisputed master of all Arda and had destroyed every last one of his enemies, that would have been his end. Then he wouldn't have had any option but destroy Arda and even himself, once his life had been emptied of meaning and purpose.
Yes, after all, Eru and the Valar had been merciful with him, although Melkor would never admit it.
The Maia leaned his head on his shoulder, very tired.

-I would like to return to the fortress, my Lord, and rest a little.

-All right, since you've decided to act like a sobbing maiden, I have no choice but to grant you some rest. But first, let me do one last thing...

Then Melkor breathed on the stars of Valacirca, on which they were perched, and these suddenly turned off.
With an evil laugh, he fled from there with his Maia. And just in time, for at that moment a particularly beautiful and familiar light surmounted the walls of night and approached them.
The Vala stood at a safe distance, and a mixture of rage and desire flashed in his eyes.

-There comes again that damned Eärendil with my Silmaril! He thinks it belongs to him now, but soon I will have it once more on my forehead, when I discover how to come close to his ship without burning myself. I'll show him and everyone else!

Sauron felt confused and a little dizzy.

-And what is Eärendil doing here in the Void? Does that mean that he also passed through the Door of Night?

-Yes, you see how is the justice of the Valar: they reward the saviour of Elves and Men in the same way that they punish the worst of their enemies. Very ironic. It was probably the idea of Mandos; that Vala has a weird sense of humour, to say the least.

The mention of Mandos brought disturbing thoughts to the mind of the Maia, but not even then he dared to confront his Lord with the question that had tormented him so long.
However, he didn't need to say it aloud, because while they returned to the fortress in spirit form, Melkor could sense his doubts clearly.
And he chose to answer them with only his thought, for he had sworn never to talk again about the subject.

"Yes, Sauron, all that really happened."

"But didst thou desire it?"

"In part I did and in part I didn't. I don't even know anymore. I can only say that I was ravished. Do you feel disappointed with me?"

Sauron simply caressed the spirit of his Lord, moved by his unusual sincerity, and the Vala enveloped him even more closely, until small fragments from both entered the other and mingled into a whole.

Before returning to Helband, Melkor insisted in showing the Maia one last thing that, he assured, would revive his mood and strength.
In a cave near the fortress, the Vala discovered to him a huge translucent vessel, with shape vaguely similar to that of an uterus, within which floated a large number of trapped souls. The two Ainur ascended to the edge to look more closely at the spirits, that glowed as fluorescent fish in the depths of the ocean.

-This is where end up sooner or later all the Maiar that ever served me, after dying in Arda. They feel my presence and slowly travel to the Door of Night, cross to the other side and come to me, like you've done. Then I keep them in this vessel, till the day comes for them to be born again. That one over there, for example, arrived shortly before you. -and Melkor pointed at a reddish and inflamed spirit, definitely a Balrog.

Sauron opened his eyes astonished and a little indignant.

-And why dost thou not give them back their bodies as well, my Lord? Doesn't it seem cruel to thee to have them here locked!?

-Meh, don't worry about them! They're sunk in a deep slumber and feel no pain. You wouldn't seriously expect that I alone take care of leading an army of Maiar. That's the work of the lieutenant, that is, YOUR work. I've been waiting for your return to restore their bodies, though I suspected that you'd be the last to arrive. The last of the pawns to fall. The queen of my board. –the Vala cast a knowing glance at him.- Now that you're here, however, there is no reason to keep them asleep any longer. Very soon you'll be extremely busy, Sauron. You know, organizing the troops and planning the assault on Arda and the capture of Eärendil.

-Art thou not even going to give me a few days off to recover?

-Don't be lazy! Besides, look who is there: I'm sure you have missed fighting with him. -Melkor referred to one of the spirits, bigger and more flaming than the rest, which gave off a kind of angry aura around. Sauron recognized him at once as his old rival Gothmog.- Would you like that I bring him back?

-Dost thou ask me if I want to have again by my side that boastful, insufferable, envious, stinking, quarrelsome and unintelligent Balrog? –the Maia smiled, comforted, and said with a sigh:- Yes, definitely yes.

-I'm glad to hear that. And you'll see how very soon the glory of the old days resurfaces and my servants extend their shadow over each region of the Void, as a threat on the borders of Arda. And the old oppression will be reborn in the hearts of those miserable Elves and Men, that oppression inherited from their ancestors, but that now they only remember in their nightmares. And they will know that I, Melkor, the Mighty Arising, don't sleep, but watch them day and night. And they'll despair again.

But Sauron lowered his head and closed his eyes, grief-stricken at these words.

-Yes, my Lord, we can become powerful again. But still, I can't ignore the fact that many other things won't be anymore. There won't be more dragons, nor Orcs, nor werewolves... I won't see my lieutenant again.

-Your lieutenant? What do you mean with "your lieutenant"? You're the lieutenant! –snapped Melkor, scratching his head in confusion.- Or do you mean that pathetic creature, that man that I...?

However, upon seeing the expression of deep pain in the Maia, he chose not to continue, and he also lowered his head in silence. There was a sadness in that heart that he couldn't understand, and in which it was better not to penetrate.
Then he gently touched his arm, and whispered:

-Let's go to bed, Sauron.

The Maia let his master lead him to the bedroom almost as a sleepwalker, but when he found himself in front of the large and comfortable bed, his sorrow was mitigated by the promise of a well-deserved rest.
Nonetheless, before he had time to undress and crawl under the covers, he discovered that his Lord had beaten him to it. And now he lay completely naked on the mattress, after throwing the crown of the fake Silmarils to the floor without much care, and his eyes pierced him with lust. Meanwhile, other parts of his body also began to betray a visible arousal.
Sauron licked his lips, glanced at that bare and throbbing body, and forgot his exhaustion for the moment.

-You wouldn't believe that I would allow you to sleep just like that, do you, my lieutenant? -muttered the Vala with narrowed eyes, while playing with one of his nipples.- I've got my needs, and for too many centuries I haven't been able to satisfy them, other than with myself and inanimate objects.

-Uh, inanimate objects, my Lord?

-You owe me a favour, Sauron. –continued Melkor, completely ignoring the question.- And this is a very great favour, since it's your body and your life what I have given you. Now come here. And love me.

The Vala stretched voluptuously over the sheets, white skin on a black background, and that was all it took for Sauron to finish tearing his clothes, jump over him and kiss him with animal fury.

-My Lord, to love thee is the easiest order I have ever received. -sighed the Maia among kisses.- But ironically, I've been obeying it my whole life and never consider it fulfilled. Why should it be so?

Melkor chuckled, while a pair of fangs dug slightly into the skin of his throat, and both Ainur rolled intertwined.
Then Sauron understood that this was no longer the fragile and full of wounds Vala, that one should treat with care, but an uncontrollable force with which one should be careful himself. It wasn't difficult for his Lord to immobilize him on his back, and when his lips closed around the member of the Maia, he was surprised by the vulnerable moan that escaped his mouth.
Though he had no opportunity to moan much more, since Melkor turned around until his crotch was placed before Sauron's face, with obvious intentions, while he kept pleasuring him for his part.
Sauron was more than willing to play along, and licked the purple and shiny end, went down a swollen vein along the stem, gently stroked the delicate sack, and finally thrust his tongue into the cavity of his Lord.
But when he felt that wet muscle entering the depths of his being, the Vala let out an "Oh!" of pleasure and forgot completely about the needs of his servant.
Instead of that he closed his eyes, bit his lower lip, and began to move his hips against him, trying that the intrusion reached as deeply as possible.
Sauron felt uncomfortable with his own swollen and throbbing member abandoned in that cruel way. Slightly irritated, he stopped licking the inside of his Lord.

-Mmm... why do you stop? Are you going to put your fingers into me? -sighed the Vala hopefully.

-No, I'm not going to put my fingers into thee! Since thou art a lustful and selfish being, who only cares for his own pleasure, I see no choice but to put something into thee that makes me enjoy myself as well. -complained the lieutenant.

-That will be if I allow you!

-Ah, but thou art going to allow me, I assure thee! -and with an expert movement, which he had often used in hand to hand combat, Sauron turned the Vala over, leaving him on his back, and lay on him.

Melkor struggled, using only a small part of his real power, while the Maia fought in vain to open his legs.
They squirmed violently, among stifled laughs, groans and affectionate bites. Until at some point, the Vala grew too excited and ended up throwing his lieutenant out of the bed, and almost off the cliff that opened near this bed.
Sauron rubbed his head outraged, among the teasings of his Lord, who apparently found all that very entertaining.

-You should see yourself, Sauron! I almost regret not having brought back Gothmog yet, so he might watch this. I think it's the first thing I'll tell him when he wakes up.

-Oh, really? We'll see if thou canst tell him anything, because when I'm finished with thee, thou art going to be disembodied for a good while, the way I'll leave thy backside.- threatened the Maia.

And this time, when he pounced again on his Lord, he sensed how he relaxed, how he let him win with half a lewd smile. Sauron then grabbed his legs, brought his knees up to his head, and so, in that exposed position of complete defenselessness, Melkor surrendered himself and let him penetrate his flesh.
Both let out a sigh at the same time.
The Maia felt the warmth of his Lord's body radiating around him and entering through his own veins to his heart. And the Vala moaned with closed eyes, completed and satisfied in his abandonment, free of himself and of the control he had always to assume.

-I 've missed thee so much...

-And I have missed you, Sauron...

But then Melkor was disturbed, and felt afraid of revealing too much of his own soul. Reveal something that frightened even him. Quickly, he changed his expression of bliss for one of calculated malice, before he betrayed himself.

-Do you know what is the best part of having regained my shape-shifting ability?

-What, my Lord?

-That now I can finally do this! -and the next second, Sauron found himself copulating with a repulsive tentacle monster that oozed obscene fluids through countless orifices.

The horrible vision only lasted a moment, but when Melkor recovered his usual body in the midst of malevolent laughter, the lieutenant had turned more livid than the fortress' crystal.

-Very funny, my liege. –he spluttered, thrusting him with more force than what was necessary and eliciting a high-pitched cry.- But if thou dost again such a joke, I promise thee that the next thing thou wilt see will be Tulkas burying his huge member within thee. And laughing.

The smile faded from the face of the Vala at once, and immediately, as a gesture of concord, he intertwined his arms and legs around the body of his servant and kissed him gently.

-Don't get so angry, it was just a joke. Also, I swear by my Silmarils that if you ever happen to take the form of Tulkas while you make love to me, I'll turn you into the harlot of all the Balrogs and force you to dance naked for them.

-Understood. -replied the lieutenant, licking his Adam's apple.

And thus, as their pleasure grew, reflecting mutually as in a mirror, the flesh of both became more tenuous, the skin that separated them was dissolved, and they began to sink into each other. Until finally, at the moment of climax, they were reduced to a single naked and trembling spirit, and their moan of joy echoed through the Void in unison, while the currents of lava stirred in their icy prison, as if they celebrated the union of the two Ainur.

Once they recovered their bodies, they lay next to each other, still weaved together and unwilling to separate. A heat wave vibrated around them.
Sauron nodded off, about to sink into the abyss of slumber, though Melkor was still stroking his side and kissing his neck.
Indeed, after a short while, and when the Maia was almost asleep, he felt his Lord pressing against his back, and a member, hard again, brushing his thighs.

-Mmm... Sauron, I want to do it as we did it before, when we reunited again. That was new to me, and gave me much pleasure. Now open yourself and let me come inside. –whispered the Vala, pushing with his hips lasciviously.

The lieutenant had no strength even to answer anything coherent, so he merely raised one leg a bit to provide better access, and grunted in acceptance.

-Oh, yes, that is, how wonderful...! You're so warm inside, and so tight! -sighed the Vala, going in and out slowly.- One can tell that you're almost a virgin in this way, though soon you'll want me to penetrate you all the time. You like it, right? You can feel your Lord filling you completely, brushing you in that secret spot, driving you mad with pleasure, isn't it, Sauron?

The only response he got was a snore; his lieutenant had fallen asleep.
Melkor stopped short, and bewilderment came over him, and then embarrasment, and finally an intense fury.
He shook the Maia and rebuked him with terrible curses, but all in vain. The utter exhaustion of his servant, after the misfortunes in Middle-earth and the long travels through the Void, was taking its toll.

"Well, I suppose I could keep making love to him even if he doesn't notice it. After all, I don't need him to move in the slightest." –the Vala tried to comfort himself.

But after a few minutes, he realized how weird and wrong seemed all that, and with a groan of frustration was forced to leave the other body.
He couldn't believe that this injustice was happening to him, precisely now that his desire was most inflamed. Right then, he would have satisfied himself with almost any thing: with an Orc, with a troll, with any of the creations of Yavanna, and even with Tulkas if he hadn't other choice.
For the umpteenth time in the many ages that he had spent there alone, he had to settle with his hand. And he began to touch himself desperately, trying to fantasize about the tortures that he would inflict upon his servant when he woke up. At least this time, neither Manwë nor Mandos slipped into his fantasies, which was a relief.
After finishing, he cleaned himself with his lieutenant's clothes, in revenge, and he pulled the sheets off the other's body.

-You can sleep if you want, traitor, but you won't do it comfortable and warm under my covers! –he threatened, and a shiver ran through the naked body of the Maia.

Without knowing why, Melkor felt overcome by a strange impulse upon seeing him so helpless and innocent. And before he could stop to think what he was doing, he found himself leaning over Sauron, kissing his cheek with sweetness, and tucking him in again.
Then he felt terribly ridiculous and angry, and dressing himself, left the fortress like a lightning bolt of fire.
A sheer mountain range stood before him as the sharp teeth of a monster. To Melkor they seemed very irritating, and he went through them with a sudden blow that broke the peaks one after another. The masses of stone collapsed in his wake, raising a cloud of crystal dust that refracted the starlight.
The Vala calmed down a bit. But he needed still someone to vent his rage, and he knew exactly where to find the appropriate person.

The surface of the liquid crystal lake lay with supernatural perfection. Not a single wave, not the slightest movement, disturbed that mirror. And the stars reflected in it as if on the other side was a parallel and identical universe, though inverted.

-Eru! -called the Vala.- Do not hide, I know you're there!

As there was no answer in the following seconds, Melkor grew impatient and threw a rock into the lake. The next moment, the circular waves spread out from the center of the pool, breaking its harmony. And then they took the form of a different vibration, such as that of the vocal cords of a living being.

-Do you always throw stones at the head of the people so they listen to you, Melkor? -said the Voice from the lake.

-When they don't pay attention to me, yes.

-And has someone ever not paid attention to you? Curious, because your whole existence has consisted of being the center of attention for all the world. –there was a tinge of irony in the Voice, but it was kind.- Did you come to ask me the same thing as always?

-The same.

-Then you already know that my answer will be the same as always.

-I know. But I hoped that this time would be different.

-Of course, Melkor. Hope rarely coincides with what one knows rationally. That's why it is called hope. Anyway, it's good that you have come here, because I also wanted to talk with you.

The lake waves stirred with violence, but suddenly ceased, and the mirror recovered its impossible uniformity. Next to the Vala appeared a child of about ten years of age, dressed in white and silver-haired, oddly brilliant. An eerie aura seemed to envelop him.
Melkor blinked astonished upon seeing the apparition.

-Are you... Are you Eru?

-I am. Yes.

-Bu... But how can you be Eru!? I mean, this appearance is not what I... -the Vala scratched his head, trying to put into words his surprise.- Shouldn't you be a venerable old man with a long white beard, or something like that?

Eru shrugged.

-I can be whatever I want, Melkor. Why would I choose the frail, withered and wrinkled body of an old man?

-Because... Because...You are Eru, you're the oldest being that exists!

-I live in the Timeless Halls, so time does not pass through me. The way I see it, Melkor, I'm the youngest being of all creation. -Eru let out a tinkling laugh, and then motioned with his hand for the Vala to follow him.- Come, let's take a stroll.

They started walking across the white plain: Melkor, a tall, dark figure, and beside him the little and glowing boy.

-I see you've finally decided to get dressed. –said Eru, casually.

-What else could I do, if the censor is back!

-And I also think that you've done something in the Valacirca, what did I tell you about that?

-That could have been done by anybody!

-It's true, there are SO MANY people around here... By the way, Mandos asked me about you. He wanted to know how are you faring in the Void.

The Vala clenched his teeth with rage at the mention of the name.

-Really? Well, tell him on my behalf that I sincerely wish that all the tortured souls of his halls rebel against him and tear down the walls to crush him under a mountain of rubble and tapestries, while Fëanor rips his two eyes and two balls to make with them not three, but four new Silmarils.

-I'll tell him you send greetings. -Melkor was tempted to burst into a pillar of fire. But Eru ignored this reaction and continued with his conversation.- There's also another person who thinks about you often. Your brother Manwë. Since the Valar thrust you into the Void he has been very sad, and often goes to the Door of Night and watches it in silence. There's a deep pain in his heart.

Melkor snorted with contempt.

-Yes, the hypocrite pain of someone who does something terrible to his brother and then is shocked by his own actions, but that neither repents of them, nor tries to amend them.

-You understand your brother as little as he understands you. –said Eru, shaking his head dejected. The combination of that child's voice with the gravity of his words produced a disturbing effect.- Manwë wants to see you again, he needs to check with his own eyes that you're well, to bury once and for all that sadness that is killing him. And he asked me for permission to cross the Door of Night and pay you a visit in the Void. But first I wanted to know your opinion. There's no sense in journeying here if you won't receive him.

Melkor stopped short and turned his back to Eru, with his arms crossed in anger.

-Of course I'm not going to receive him! I hate him!

-But he loves you. He loves you in a way that you can't even imagine, Melkor. If you only knew... If you only knew what I know, if you could read his heart as I read it...

The Vala bit his lip, still turned around, and made an effort to stop the treacherous tears surfacing his eyes. But when he tried to speak, the lump in his throat was more than evident.

-And if he loves me, why did he do what he did to me? Why did he allow them to mutilate me, to humiliate me, to banish me in this way? They even tore my body, not even that they left me!

-Manwë doesn't have the power to change the fate of the world himself, nothing that happened to you depended solely on him. As for your body... well, Melkor, considering the state in which you were at the end of the First Age, I think the Valar did you a favour ridding you of it. Besides, you're not banished, but exiled.

-And what's the difference!?

-"Exiled" sounds better.

Melkor laughed bitterly, choked with the tears that he could not longer hold, and sat on the floor with his head in his arms.

-You always speak nice of Manwë, always excuse him and blame me. I can't believe anything you say about him, because you were never objective. He was always your favourite, you always loved him more than me! -he complained, feeling the most miserable being of Eä.

-My favourite? Yes, of course. Manwë is good and obedient, how couldn't he be my favourite? But I don't love him more than you.

Melkor felt a small hand resting on his shoulder and stroking his hair. As much as he loathed to admit it, the gesture was comforting.

-Well, what do you say? Will you allow your brother to come to see you someday?

The Vala wiped his eyes and said nothing, but Eru perceived consent in his spirit. Grabbing his arm, he helped him to his feet again, and they continued their walk. In those moments they were passing under a bone-coloured archway, that mimicked the ribcage of a huge creature.

-I like how you left this place. It's sinister, but beautiful in its own way. -commented Eru, with sparkling eyes.- Let's talk about more mundane things, shall we? I know your lieutenant has come back to your side; you must be very happy to have company again, aren't you?

-I guess so. But something is wrong with him: he looks tired, hopelessly tired. He's not the same as before. A while ago I was making love to him and he fell asleep! And don't think that I wasn't rough. I fear that my power is not enough to sustain him. I fear that he will disappear again.

-Do not worry, he will recover. The Maiar are less resistant to physical destruction than the Valar, and he has suffered more destructions than any other Ainu. But time and rest will close all his wounds and he will be the same as before.

-And how do you know that, uh, how do you know!? What if it's not so, what if I lose him!? –snapped Melkor.

Eru rolled his eyes.

-Melkor, please. I know all the things that were, that are, and that will be, and even those which could have been but were not. So when I say that your Maia will be fine, I would appreciate that at least you gave me the benefit of the doubt. You know, for being Eru and all that.

Melkor frowned. He had to admit that he had a point, but he wasn't calm yet.

-Apart from that weariness there's something else... A deep sorrow that I can't understand completely, as a permanent loss. I think it's because of that cursed human who followed him everywhere, his "shadow", as he called him. I suspect he's been cheating on me with that sack of bones and now misses him because he will never see him again. I almost wish I could give him back his plaything, so as not to endure his sighs of melancholy.

Hearing this, however, the sweet and innocent face of Eru became somber. And in his blue eyes manifested the true depth of his wisdom.
Suddenly, Melkor had the unnerving impression that that figure so young had become something unfathomably old, and a shiver ran down his spine.

-What you wish is impossible, Melkor, and you know it. The fate of the Second-born concerns only me and nothing nor nobody must ever change that. Unless I make an exception, and I only did it once. No mortal returns from their alloted place after death. And I think that mortal, more than any other, needed the eternal rest. Don't you think that ye tormented him enough while he lived? Don't you think that what ye did to him was horrible enough already? –the Vala looked away, a little ashamed, but Eru relaxed his expression and seemed young again.- Nevertheless, death and dreams are brothers and follow similar paths. Sometimes the paths cross, and in the crossroads those who sleep and those who are dead may meet again, if they both desire so. Tell that to your lieutenant.

Melkor raised an eyebrow slyly, and a wicked plan began to take shape in his mind. He had discovered a secret which perhaps could be used for his own purposes.

-Does that mean that I can also find the Men in my dreams? -he asked, with poorly-veiled malice.

Eru laughed.

-Of course not! Is there any mortal who wants to see you again?

-No... I suppose not... -admitted the Vala through clenched teeth.

Without realizing it they had descended to a gorge, and the steep walls of glass on both sides broke the light into a thousand trembling particles. Overhead, two stars, one red and one blue, swirled facing each other in a perpetual dance. They reminded Melkor of how he and Manwë had joined in the beginning, before any discordance.
It would be better not to think about it.

-Eru, can I ask you a question? –he blurted, as if distracted.

-Even if I said no, you would ask it the same. So go ahead.

-What's a "hobbit"?

-Oh, the hobbits!... They are mysterious creatures that few in Middle-earth have seen, due to their uncanny ability to seem invisible. No one has ever succeeded in invading their lands and drive them away, and the last one who tried it, a powerful Maia, was completely annihilated and forced to return to Valinor. They are incredibly voracious and eat six times a day. Sometimes they can also be seen ejecting rings of smoke from their mouths.

Melkor nodded thoughtfully. No doubt those hobbits were fierce and dangerous, like dragons. He couldn't blame his lieutenant for having succumbed to one.

-And about what Sauron said to me... It's not true that you changed the shape of the world because of him, right?

-Of course it's true! I had to transform the world into a sphere and move away the Undying Lands to prevent a cosmic catastrophe. I had never been forced to intervene in a similar way before. Surely the wickedness of your Maia caused much more damage to the world that all your evil deeds together, Melkor.

-Enough, you only say that to torture me! And I don't believe anything! -yelled the Vala. In the child's face hinted half a smirk.- Better not talk about this nonsense of the shape of the world. Now tell me, how are faring my creatures? How are my dragons, my werewolves, my trolls and my Orcs?

-There are no more dragons in Middle-earth, I'm afraid. And the last one was devoured by your lieutenant. -Melkor raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.- Nor there are werewolves left, and only a few trolls. Your Orcs, however, are coping more or less fine. Some have even learned to coexist with Elves and Men. They don't like each other and are not friends, but they tolerate them.

-Come on, Eru, destroy me once and for all and put an end to this misery! My Orcs coexisting with Elves!? If I had eaten anything in the last millennia, I would vomit right now.

-What happens, Melkor, aren't you glad that your Orcs live happy?

-No! And why would you be glad!?

-Because in despite of all, they are my Children too. And though I will never forgive that you corrupted them and threw them to a life of misery, I have no choice but to love them as the rest of my Children. Do you understand now what's the difference between you and me? I can love every little detail of Creation, no matter how beautiful or ugly it is. You're not even able to love that which is your work. Is there anything you love, Melkor?

They had reached the end of the white plain, and before them only the empty immensity opened, with its bright and distant flickerings. The Vala leaned over the edge and looked at the pit of blackness under him. Then he sighed.

-Yes, there are things I love. –he whispered.- I loved Arda.

-Only in the sense that it was an extension of yourself. That doesn't count, Melkor. Is there nothing else, no one else that you love, not even a little?

-I... -but Melkor had not the courage to continue, and just lowered his eyes in grief.

Eru understood.
Peeking as well over the edge of the plain, he glanced at the bottom part of it. What he found there was the landscape of the other end of the plain before his eyes, with the fortress silhouetted in the background.

-You've warped the space in unorthodox ways, Melkor.

-Well, I'm unorthodox. –the Vala smiled sadly. And then confronted Eru with a serious expression, and asked him that question which he had always wanted to ask, the question that gnawed at him from the beginning of time:- Eru, why did you create me, if you have always opposed to my existence?

The child looked at him with affection, and glittering among the specks of light from the crystals, he began to dissolve in tiny luminous particles, until he disappeared altogether.
Eru's presence seemed to fill all space, and enveloped the Vala in an embrace and a caress, that he didn't know whether to reject outright or accept without hesitation, fully surrendered to its consolation.

-I have never opposed to your existence, Melkor. -said the Voice, whispering in his ear and at the same time reverberating throughout the universe.- I just oppose to your existence in Arda now. The world has become too small and belongs to Men. There's not enough space for you, you would stifle all other living beings. The other Valar have withdrawn as well. Such is your lot. And if you ever return to Arda it will be with a very specific mission. It will be sent by me. No, Melkor, I'm not opposed to your existence, for your part in the Music is fundamental, perhaps the most fundamental of all, even if none of you contemplated it to its final conclusion.

The embrace of Eru became fainter and he separated from him, leaving the Vala with a sense of emptiness and abandoment. He couldn't see him or feel him anymore.

-I don't know if my part in the Music is fundamental or not. All I know is that it was the most sorrowful of all. Tell me, Eru, what was my part but that of pain, confinement, fear and loneliness!? I have nothing to be thankful for!

-Great ambitions are often attached to great disappointments and great suffering. -replied the Voice, now from the void, and every time he said a word the stars turned on and off in various patterns.- Would you have preferred to be a humble and mediocre creature, but content?

-Well, no...

-And do you seriously think that you are the most sorrowful of all beings? Have you ever thought of Nienna, for example?

-She's one of those insignificant Valier, isn't she? I've heard of her, yes, I may have thought of her once.

-Once! And yet Nienna remembers you every day of her life, and cries for the pain that you brought to the world, and for your own pain. She suffers for every sorrow of the earth, for sorrows that you can't even remember though they're yours. But nobody cries for her. How about that?

-That is her nature, and no one denies it to her. But my nature was to create things of my own thought, and you denied that to me! –reproached him Melkor, without really knowing to whom he yelled.- Why, oh Eru, why did you never lend me the Flame Imperishable!? Everyone else could use it to give life to their creations: Aulë and his dwarves, Yavanna and her plants, Manwë and his eagles. Only I was left neglected, abandoned, childless, sterile! Why, Eru, why did you deny me the Flame Imperishable!?

-But Melkor, did you ever ask me for it?

The Vala suddenly fell silent, and gasped, struck by the obviousness of that simple fact.
It was true: he had never thought about asking for the Flame Imperishable, just like that. His first reaction was to believe that everyone hated him and that Eru would never lend it to him, so he had tried to steal it, and in that moment was born a frustration that would only grow with the ages of Arda.

Melkor took a breath, and for the first time in his life plucked up courage, real courage, without shields, without armour, without walls around him.
What he was about to do was by far the hardest thing he had ever done:

-You asked me before if there was no one I loved. Yes, there is one. And you asked me as well why I wasn't able to love my own creatures. The answer is that they are not my creatures: they are yours and always were. But if you gave me a chance, if you allowed me to create life for once, I would show you that I can love my children just as you love yours... Please, Eru.

Then fell silence throughout the cosmos. And for a second it seemed that time itself, which had run without a halt from the beginning, had stopped suddenly to listen surprised to that word, spoken by a mouth that had never spoken it before, and which might not do it again.

Eru reflected for a moment, which for Melkor was eternal. And finally, he gave him an answer:

-Allright, Melkor.

The Vala smiled at that response, incredibly simple but infinitely important.
The weight that had oppressed his spirit since always evaporated all of a sudden.
And then he said something much more unprecedented, a unique note in the cadences of the Music:

-Thank you.

---

Chapter End Notes

Now, some notes about the cosmology in this chapter that may have seemed strange for some readers:

-Stars and things in the Void (what the hell? isn't it the "void"!?):

I'm of the opinion that, even if at first Tolkien conceived the Void as empty, and the stars were set in Ilmen and were part of Arda, later he changed his mind on this. And he thought of the Void as outer space, where are the stars and other cosmic objects. Thus the line in Ainulindalë about Arda being placed "in the midst of the innumerable stars".

There's also this footnote in Morgoth's Ring (Myths Transformed, VII):
"Since the minds of Men (and even of the Elves) were inclined to confuse the 'Void', as a conception of the state of Not-being, outside Creation or Eä, with the conception of vast spaces within Eä, especially those conceived to lie all about the enisled 'Kingdom of Arda' (which we should probably call the Solar System)"

And this other passage in Myths Transformed, IV:
"In the 'demiurgic period', before the establishment of Arda 'the Realm', while the Valar in general (including an unnamed host of others who never came to Arda) were labouring in the general construction of Ea (the World or Universe), Varda was in Eldarin and Numenorean legend said to have designed and set in their places most of the principal stars;"

Well, in the end I chose this interpretation because it suited the story better, so different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

-Eärendil in the Void (how can he even breath!?):

I took this from the line at the end of the Silmarillion, where it's said that he "passed through the Door of Night", though he visits Valinor when he brings his ship to port. It was also a good opportunity to show what an asshole is Mandos. XD