[Mithadan]

Nardol looked up sharply at Andreth. "I am here, am I not?" he replied hotly. "I have joined this venture and will do what I can to aid you and Mithrandir. Do not imply that I would do less than I can!"

Andreth stood her ground and met his gaze evenly. He took a deep breath as he pondered what other insult he might fling at the woman to make her leave him be. At that moment, the sun peeked over the horizon filling the campsite with a golden but uncertain light. Whether it was some trick of the light or some vestige of his dream, Andreth's face was veiled briefly in shadow while her hair shimmered in the morning's early glow. And she reminded him of another; one whom he and Gilwen had befriended many centuries before.

He exhaled slowly and his shoulders sagged with the weariness of the ages. Why will this one not leave me be? Then, to his own surprise, he spoke quietly. "I do not know why I chose to stay here in Middle Earth either at the close of the First Age or when Gilwen took to the Havens with my son," he said. "After the War of Wrath, Gilwen would have passed into the West, but I wished to remain and she would not be parted from me, so recently returned to her from the pits of Angband."

Andreth started at this and he read the shock on her face. "Aye," he continued. "I was with Maedhros in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears and when the accursed Men of the East proved craven and unfaithful and went over to the side of the Dark One, I protected the flank with my friends and was wounded and taken captive and brought to Angband. I will not willingly speak of that dark place now, nor do I think that you would wish to hear the tale.

"We dwelt together for an Age revelling in the beauty of Middle Earth and fearing the new darkness which drew across the land. But after the Last Alliance won the field in Mordor, we believed that perhaps the peace and beauty which we had known would return. This was not to be.

"A few hundred of your years after the War, a small town of Men sprang up not far to the west of Imladris. Gilwen and I often journeyed there and we befriended the lord and lady of that place, Dalmir and his wife Ithwen. And there, for the first time, we witnessed the grief that is the brevity of the life of Men firsthand. Yet, we remained friends and when they had grown old, Gilwen wished to visit them and journeyed to the town."

His eyes were lost in the shadows of the morning and it seemed that the birds stilled their songs to hear the tale. "A band of outlaws and theives fell upon the town and the people fled before them; all but Dalmir and Ithwen who would not leave their home or abandon Gilwen to the chances of the wild. They hid her and met the bandits in the open, unarmed. Dalmir they slew in cold blood with little thought. But they held Ithwen, demanding that she reveal the location of any valuables. Then, dissatisfied with their takings, they tormented her and drew foul markings on her body with knives.

"The people of Imladris heard of the impending attack and I led many warriors and riders to the rescue of our friends -- too late. We drove the bandits off, but found Ithwen suffering and near death in the town square. I held her as she died even as Gilwen came forth from her hiding place. She had seen what had taken place but could do nothing and she wept as Ithwen closed her eyes and her spirit fled."

Nardol's eyes grew cold and distant. "Gilwen could bear Middle Earth no more. She passed over the sea and my son with her. I was not ready to leave yet. But I swore to never again befriend one of the Atani who had so often proven unfatithful and evil." And with that he turned away from Andreth and sat silently as the sun rose higher.

[ January 07, 2003: Message edited by: Mithadan ]