Antarctica by elennalore

Antarctica

Thou shalt lead and I will follow. Saying those words, Nolofinwë had not guessed that his brother would lead him all the way to Antarctica. But Fëanáro needed someone he could trust to maintain the research base while he concentrated on his greatest invention, the Silmarils. Those otherworldly objects captured light energy and converted it to electricity with unimaginable efficiency. So far, Fëanáro had managed to make only three working prototypes, but he was confident that his goal of producing more of them was achievable.

At first, Nolofinwë had joked about his brother’s growing paranoia that his rival wanted to destroy his work. Moving the whole lab to Antarctica in secret had not been an easy task, especially as he had to do it all by himself while Fëanáro concentrated on his calculations. But the midnight Sun and the extreme cold became the key features in accelerating Fëanáro’s field tests, and for a while, things worked out well.

Until one day they returned to their base after a scouting trip and found their pet penguin dead. Their long-time companion, playfully named Finwë after their father, lay in the snow before the main entrance of the base and stared them with accusing glassy eyes. The blood had stained snow red around their deceased bird friend.

That had been horrible enough, but then Fëanáro went inside and screamed. Someone – it had to be his rival – had broken in and stolen the Silmarils.

There was only one seat in Fëanáro’s ultralight helicopter. He wanted to go pursuing the thief without slightest delay. Seeing the pain in his eyes, Nolofinwë could not but agree that it was the best plan. Fëanáro left in an hour with a promise that he would send a ship to pick up Nolofinwë as soon as possible.

That had been days ago. Without the power of the Silmarils, the base was now without electricity. Nolofinwë had put on all his outdoor clothing against the extreme cold that had crept inside the base. His cell phone had died without power, too. He had not managed to reach his brother anymore. The promised ship had not come to take him away.

He knew he had to do something, or he would die there too, alone and forgotten. With grim determination, he unfolded the map of the local area. Their base had been intentionally built as far from others as possible. However, the map showed another inhabited research station beyond a notorious glacier called Helcaraxë. It would be a long walk, and perilous, too, but it was his only chance to save himself. The ship would not come, he knew by now.