To See Our Enemy Coming by Himring

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Fanwork Notes

I discovered that I had not cross-posted this double drabble, although my most recent challenge fic is meant to continue it (and then I discovered that I had not cross-posted a drabble about Edhellos's escape from Dorthonion either so that is now the second chapter.)

Warnings for reference to the outcome of the Battle of Sudden Flame, including canonical character death.

Edhellos is the Sindarin name of Eldalote.

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Edhellos has escaped, with a handful of others, from the battle in which her husband Angrod died. She has a request to make.

Major Characters: Círdan, Eldalótë

Major Relationships:

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges:

Rating: General

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings

Chapters: 2 Word Count: 305
Posted on 29 December 2022 Updated on 29 December 2022

This fanwork is complete.

To See Our Enemy Coming

Read To See Our Enemy Coming

Cirdan had been expecting messengers from Nargothrond, but not these.

‘Edhellos! Lady, what a surprise and a pleasure! I have not seen you in far too long.’

Indeed, he had not seen her since before the loss of Dorthonion and Angrod’s death, although messages had passed between them.

Edhellos shrugged, smiling a little too brightly.

‘I heard a messenger was needed and we took a chance to escape the halls of stone! I wished to see you!’

Most of her small following also were from Dorthonion, Cirdan realized.

Edhellos continued soberly: ‘I also have a request. But it can wait.’

Edhellos did not make her request, until she had delivered Finrod’s messages to Cirdan, and they were alone.

‘Cirdan, give me leave to dwell in Barad Nimras. Your people would surely be happily employed elsewhere?’

She saw his uneasy look.

‘No, I will not be staring west, fruitlessly spying for a far-off shore! It is a guard tower! And we would be your watchers.

But we hail from the mountains and moorlands of Dorthonion. We would feel easier looking down from on high than under hills, in Nargothrond—because when the Enemy next comes, we want to see them coming!’
 


Chapter End Notes

Originally posted to the tolkien100 community on LiveJournal, 2020-06-20.

Written for the following tolkien100 prompts: halls of stone, looking down from on high, spying a far off shore, take a chance, the watchers.

 

Survivor

This drabble precedes the first chapter both in-universe and in order of writing:

Summary:

Angrod's wife Edhellos will survive the fall of Dorthonion, even though Angrod and Aegnor are about to die in the Battle of Sudden Flame.
Angrod intended her to.

Read Survivor

Edhellos was not foresighted, unlike her husband. It was not until she reached the top of the ridge and felt the tremendous blast of heat mixed with smoke and black malice strike her from the right that she understood that he had not sent her riding pell-mell westwards to get help.

‘I’ll get you for this, Angrod,’ she hissed, remembering, too late, the expression on his face.

Which might be a difficult promise to keep. Would she see him again before the End of Days?

She did not turn or slow the horse. She would save whoever she still could.


Chapter End Notes

Written in 2019 for Day Three (Angrod and Aegnor) of Arafinwean Week on Tumblr, using the following prompts from Tolkien100 and Tolkien Weekly:
The End of Days; When the Black Wind Blows; Travelling on Horseback.

This is set in the same continuity as Neighbourly Relations, where Angrod's decision to send Edhellos for help, even though no help can come in time to save him, is described  from Aegnor's point of view.


Comments

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Oh! Heartbreaking... "remembering, too late, the expression on his face." 

She is a strong woman! (And those are usually the ones who suffer most, quietly, inside.)

That part is what I am hoping to return to. That Edhellos won't even get a chance to sit quietly with her pain, for quite a while, because the attack continued and she is too strong to allow herself a breakdown while things are still going on!

Sometimes it's a good thing to have some distraction that allows some distance in time from emotional pain before dealing with it — it can be too much, too intense to cope with... although the longer it sits the more embed it becomes and thus can be harder to work out when you do get to it...

If not this, then that...