Falling Stars by Tyelca

Maedhros

Maedhros burns in the fire. This is were the Suicide warning comes into play; it is canonical, but still.

The prompts for Maedhros were Childhood, Kingship, Torture,  Adjusting/Coping, Unity, Beauty.

When he finally dies in an inferno that equals the racing thoughts in his mind, it is quiet. Dark, silent. Calm. It is something he hasn’t been in a long time, not since he foolishly agreed to false negotiations in an attempt to win a war before it truly began, against an enemy he’d only known by his friendly disguise. There are no voices whispering in his mind now.

He does not move, he does not think. He just is, and for now, perhaps for an Age, that is enough.

Phantom flames still lick phantom limbs and he allows it, for it is pure and not tainted with the Dark Lord’s presence.

He is glad, somewhere, somehow, that this is how it ends. On his own terms, his own choice. No one to take it from him or twist it into something else. It is a lonely death, but at least he doesn’t drag anyone else down with him. It is a responsibility he had happily given away.

He does not feel terror now, but there is something vaguely like relief. He had fought his battles, for good or for worse, and this is the end. No more war.

He poses that that unnamable feeling is peace, and when he thinks about it, he discovers that it just might be true.

A smile ghosts over his lips that exist no more, and a light shines in his eyes that see no more.

He is done. But he looks forward to seeing his family again.