Survivors by WendWriter

Chapter 1

Smoke filled the corridors of Menegroth, getting into people's eyes and making them cough. The bodies of the dead and wounded lay scattered around, and women were running hither and thither looking for their loved ones. From time to time screams of grief would sound forth as one discovered a husband, brother, father or lover.

In the midst of this, Oropher stood tall, directing the others as they laboured to bring some kind of order to their ruined realm. The Kinslayers had piled up furniture and other wooden items and used them to block the corridors leading towards the outer parts of the cave system, then set it all on fire, trapping the Sindar inside.

"An everlasting plague upon those Kinslayers!" Oropher roared as he beheld yet another body being carried away, wrapped in a hastily-contrived shroud. A feminine hand slipped out, dripping blood, increasing his anger. "To the Void with them all! Where is the king?"

"My lord," said an Elf running over to him, "I bring bad news. The king is dead, and the queen also. Where the children are, I do not know."

Oropher turned around, his fair face furious and smeared with soot and blood. He faced the Elf. "Then go and find them!" he commanded, pointing at the Elf. "They are probably hiding somewhere, terrified. Bring them to a room far from all of this, then come and tell me where they are."

The Elf fled.

'What can we do to mend all this?' thought Oropher, his eyes smarting from the smoke. 'When there was an heir, we had Dior to be our king, but the boys are too young and Elwing is but a girl. Celeborn may well put himself forward to lead us, but few of us would want his Noldor wife in a position of power over us, for she is kin to the Kinslayers. I would lead this folk, but would they follow me? Would they take me as their lord?'

A dishevelled Elf-lady came running up to him. "Oropher!" she said, tears streaming down her face. "Oropher, it is horrible! There are dead and wounded everywhere! What shall we do?"

Oropher reached out to her, to comfort her. "Baindess, my wife," he murmured, smoothing her auburn hair with the palm of his dirty hand as he held her close, "peace! Please, my love, I need you to be strong. I know full well how horrible it is, but we have much work to do to set this place in order. Help me, Baindess."

"What can I do?" she asked, sobbing her misery into his armoured chest.

"Gather the women together," he replied, "and put them to work. We need them to help with those whose wounds are less serious, so the healers are free to attend to those most in need. Someone will have to clean the bodies of the dead and wrap them in sheets. Put them all in the same place, then we will decide what to do. We cannot afford to have any of you holding back your hands from this work; for now there are no masters and servants, only Elves, and all of us must labour now."

"Aye, husband," replied Baindess, with a look of steely determination in her eye. She hugged him tightly for a moment, then left.

The gardens were peaceful and beautiful, mercifully unmarred by the horrors of the Kinslaying. Baindess stood on a chair, her long auburn hair, face and clothes still smirched. "Ladies," she declared, "our losses are many, and it will take many days ere our loved ones are all interred. I know some of you have spoken of leaving this place because you no longer feel safe here, and your memories are too melancholy to permit you to remain. This realm has been assailed before, and we survived. Can we not rebuild it and rise again?"

"No!" cried one of the women, whose clothes were also stained. "Melian has deserted us, for her love for Thingol our first king was greater by far than her love for us, and the only protection we have now is that of our warriors. But they have failed us! Will the monsters of Morgoth show us any more mercy than the Noldor did?"

The other women argued among themselves, debating the merits of that statement. Baindess knew she was losing control of the situation. "Ladies!" she called. "Ladies! I am aware of your fears, and I feel them myself, but my husband is brave and wise, and he knows what to do. He has asked me to arrange the burial of the dead and to set this place in order. Will you not help me?"

"We will help you, Baindess," shouted the woman, "if your husband can keep this from happening to us again. Can he do that?"

"Yes I can," said a deep, commanding voice.

The women all turned around and saw Oropher standing there at the entrance to the garden.

"This place is not safe for us, since the Kinslayers have defiled it with their vile cruelties, and many of our warriors have died to defend it. Worse than that, we fear that the enemy now knows where to find us, which increases the danger of living here. I have called a council of the captains and lords of the realm. We have decided that the best course is to leave this place and find a safer, more peaceful place to live."

Everyone went quiet.

"But husband, what of the dangers on the road?" asked Baindess.

"They are no greater than the ones we faced ere we arrived at this place, and will be fewer when we leave it," Oropher replied. "Who would gainsay me?"

No one answered.

"Wrap the bodies of the dead in shrouds and arrange them with reverence inside the caves," said Oropher, "and let Menegroth be their barrow."

"Aye!" said the woman who had spoken earlier. "That is the best course."

Oropher turned and left. As he made his way back towards the main chamber, he thought about the best way to get the move made quickly. He knew that the longer it took the people to leave this place, the more reluctant they would be to go at all. It would certainly be dangerous on the road, but being trapped in a cave filled with smoke was just as bad, if not worse. At least an Elf could breathe free air outside. He coughed, bringing up black phlegm. He was sick like a Man with the plague now! He had to get out of there, away from Menegroth - anywhere his people could be trapped like rats and slaughtered just as easily. Oropher found he now hated the place he had loved. The carven walls and jewel-studded ceilings held no more delight for him. The sooner his people were far away from this accursed place, the better.

He went back to his quarters to clean himself up. The funerary rites would be held soon, and it would not do to be present in his current state.

When he had bathed and and braided his silvery hair again, Oropher made his way back to the main chamber in his dress uniform. Baindess walked beside him in her finery, and together they went into the throne room to see how the preparations for the obsequies for their king and queen were proceeding.

Some people were conspicuous by their absence.

"Where is Celeborn?" Oropher asked one of the captains, Corutirn.

"I do not know, my lord," said Corutirn, who was also spruced up. "If he was among the dead, we would have found him by now, but he is gone, and Galadriel also. There is no sign of the children. I heard that one of the women saw Eluréd and Elurín being carried away by the Kinslayers. They may be holding the others captive."

"After the funeral, go and see what you can discover," said Oropher grimly. "Then we can decide upon a plan to rescue them. We need to write a roll of those who have yet to be accounted for. Then we can consider what to do - whether we should try to bring them back here or not, for some of them may well have fled, and have no wish to be found by anyone."