In Dreams Revealed by daughterofshadows

Elrond dreams.

He dreams of cool hands and bright lights, of lullabies sung in the tongues of men and the sound of waves rolling in.

In his dreams, his father holds them tight, white wings wrapped around them, and his mother is happiest when all of her family is home.

She was a daughter of the forest once, but in his dreams, she is the queen of the ocean, dancing along the shore.

This dream is taken by fire.

Red flames turn cool hands to ash and bright lights to darkness. Singers choke on the smoke and the sound of the waves is drowned out by screams.

His father is lost at sea, and his mother joins him, the white specks on her dark wings looking like the stars in the sky as she crashes into the surf.

Elrond dreams.

He dreams of scarred hands and the glint of steel, of a harpist’s mournful song and the wind rustling in the leaves.

They are captives, but princes, hostages turning into sons when no one comes to claim them.

Ruby wings provide shelter from the cold, even when they are terrified of the one they belong to, and the raven-winged brother teaches them their letters and numbers, and all the skills they need to survive in a world determined to kill.

This dream is taken by kings.

They claim it’s a rescue, but sometimes it feels like they were just stolen away again.

Little changes, and yet their whole world is changed.

Steel still glints in the firelight, but now death accompanies it, not guidance.

Now hundreds of voices sing in chorus, but still they sing songs of mourning.

No longer does anyone shelter them, but as they grow into men on the battlefield, they learn to shelter themselves, and it is enough, because it has to be.

Elrond dreams.

He dreams of rebuilding and healing, of wounds slowly scabbing over and pain fading into the background.

He dreams of peace, fragile and oh so precious.

It is a dream that he shares, first with Ereinion, whose ruby wings remind him of long-lost dreams, then Celebrían, who slips in quietly, but leaves a mark that not even millennia of separation can erase, and their children.

Many will try to take this dream, but none will succeed. This dream stays with Elrond for his entire life.

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