[InklingElf]

The Lost Road and other writings:an excerpt, and one of my favorite scenes so far:

In a wide shadowy place he heard a voice.
'Elendil!' it said, 'Alboin, whither are you wandering?'
'Who are you?' he answered. 'And where are you?'
A tall figure appeard, as if descending an unseen stair towards him. For a moment it flashed through his thought that the face, dimly seen, reminded him of his father.
'I am with you. I was of Numenor, the father of many fathers before you. I am Elendil, that is in Eressean "Elf-friend," and many have been called so since. You may have your desire.'
'What desire?'
'The long-hidden and the half-spoken: to go back.'
'But that cannot be, even if I wish it. It is against the law.'
'It is against the rule. Laws are commands upon the will and are binding. Rules are conditions; they may have expectations.'