"The Taming of Ossë" by Nerdanel by Sasha Honeypalm

Chapter 1

Tap, tap,goes the chisel.

      Uinen is nearly finished: no gentle water maiden, but fierce and sleek as a sea serpent. Nerdanel is especially pleased with the eyes, determined rather than desperate; this Uinen will draw her beloved up from the depths of his madness, though all Moringotto’s demons would stand in the way.

      Ossë’s half-shaped form looms away from Uinen; his chest and arm are outthrust, like a tidal wave poised to break upon the world. Though his body is surging forward, his head is turned back to look at his wife, his features troubled.

      Uinen is nearly finished; Nerdanel puts down the chisel and stand back to survey her work. The upswept hair, the outstretched arms. Those eyes, filled with stubborn love. Maybe it is a kind of desperation, she thinks, fear of loss transmuted to reckless courage. The resolve to follow him down, nigh to the edge of the abyss if need be. Never hesitating, never doubting. The faith, the prayer, that he will choose her over his own willfulness. That in the end he will have been worth it…

      Nerdanel’s gaze is drawn, almost unwillingly, back to Ossë; for a heartbeat those stony white eyes seem to burn a smoldering grey–

      But no. Fëanáro would not have looked back.

      Then I will not look back, either.

      Nerdanel picks up her chisel.

      Tap, tap.