Maedhros
Chapter 6
Year 422 of the First Age
Confusion and Assumptions
Maedhros Feanorian was known for many things some of them being a great warrior, a general, a war maniac, a brother, a friend, a kinslayer, heck even a giant, but one thing he was most definitely not known for was being surprised. He also was not known for having a profound tendency to faint when startled, but in all honesty could you blame him? The past 6 days had been the most confusing if not most relieving days of his entire life! And he was several millennia old!! He'd already lost count of the number of times he'd fainted the first 3 days following his little altercation with that spiked wine and that beyond strange letter an apparent falcon had brought. If it wasn't obvious already he was not planning to touch another sip of wine again after this stunt! As soon as he was done venting in his head he took a moment to look down from where he was resting in his personal quarters in Himring.
He had a hand, more specifically his right hand had apparently grown back.
And as if that wasn't strange enough all the scars on his face and body had disappeared as well. And if that wasn't more insult to injury it would seem all the trauma and mental anguish caused by his time in Angband had also subsequently flown the coop. Okay, that may not be entirely accurate, his memories weren't gone per say but it was more like he had moved on from them, the lessons remaining, but the pain and nightmares caused by them diminished to a peaceful silence. Oof he really didn't know how Fingon was going to react to all this. He didn't know how to react all this! His best friend and heart brother had spent several years with him following his rescue serving as a source of support and comfort. What had taken years to partially heal had apparently taken some jokester healer with a sick sense of humor a single night to heal! Oh Eru, don't even get him started on how his brother's reacted to the whole thing. His poor brother Maglor had happened to be visiting him when he started screaming from the feeling of someone squeezing the s*** out of every bone in his body. His poor office door did not survive his brother's attempts to kick it open and had subsequently been blown off it's hinges. Sigh he liked that door but whatever, his brother already appeared sheepish whenever he brought it up as a way to ease the tension from this whole fiasco. At one point Celegorm had suggested cutting it off again if he was that worried. It didn't take a genius to realize he eventually got punched in the face for that comment curtesy of Carnistir and was given a horde of deadpan looks from the Amabarussa and Curufin.
Putting aside the broken door and the gas brained ideas, apparently this healer wasn't done messing with just him. The former thralls mentioned in the letter had indeed turned up in his and all his brother's territories seeking shelter after having been rescued from Angband. They were hesitant at first but would have been absolute bigots if they turned them away, plus some part of him decided that he should trust this healer with the sick sense of humor. Because as it turned out the thralls that had turned up in his territory had been healed of missing limbs and scars the same way as him! When he inquired as to who their savior was all they could tell them was that they didn't see anybody rather they heard a young voice telling them to hang onto some small item they couldn't see because it was too dark. This small item had apparently taken different groups to different parts of his brother's territories all at once! This sounded absolutely ludicrous if not flat out crazy, and he would have never believed it had he not been looking at something impossible on his right hand right now. Oh geez his healers are never going to shut up about this. In fact they were the most enthusiastic about hunting.....cough...cough... finding this mysterious healer and learning how the hell they did this. One piece of additional information some of the former thralls were able to give him was that before their rescue they had heard a very loud crash coming from the hall where they believed Morgoth resided. That piece of information deeply unsettled him but at the same time would make sense given that this healer had done something impossible.
He had brought them the Silmarills.
It was with that thought in mind that Maedhros sat up from his bed and opened his bedside drawer to open the pouch this mysterious healer had left behind. The pouch that inside contained the three Silmarills his father had crafted himself. The very jewels that had been stolen by Morgoth and were supposedly resting on his crown. This healer had stolen back their family treasure and brought it to them. They had quite possibly put themselves in the greatest danger imaginable, came out victorious, and still had room to heal him. And above all that, the greatest boon from this endeavor had been the dissolution of the greatest bane to the sons of Feanor.
The oath of Feanor was fulfilled.
It had been Maglor that held all the Silmarills given that he was incapacitated at the time. The moment his brother had taken all the jewels in hand the dissolution of the oath was immediately felt by all his other brothers. It had been a moment of pure joy for Maglor and himself as they both wept tears of pure relief. They were no longer bound and no longer forced to kill for his father's cursed jewels. They were no longer cursed or need fear the everlasting darkness. They were free and whoever had done this, he was going to find them. The few days following the oath's fulfillment his brother's had raced to Himring faster than thought possible and immediately stormed Maedhros's office only to find him in the healing halls with an apparently fully healed body.
"Well they didn't do anything halfway did they" his 3rd youngest brother Celegorm said.
"No they most certainly did not" he replied.
"Do we still have no idea who did this? his brother Curufin said with a frown on his face. "I mean we have the pouch and there was that strange falcon"
Ah yes the falcon, the bird that had promptly made itself scarce after Maedhros started screaming. He could have sworn he saw it look sheepish or like a child that had got caught doing something bad after his soldiers and Maglor had rushed in the room. Unfortunately, they couldn't catch up with it following it's escape because it was simply too fast, even for Valinorian horses. He had never heard of a bird being that fast. Even the eagles of Manwe weren't that fast, it was almost as if that bird was a person in disguise but that couldn't be right could it? Either way they lost the bird and now one of their only leads was the sigil on the pouch. It looked like a strange cat like creature but the bag was in Feanorian colors. So whoever this stranger was, clearly was marking themselves as an ally. However, the one part about all this that left Maedhros deeply unsettled was the fact that in the letter this stranger had called themselves their family. Actually when he thought about it, the witnesses had said their savior was someone with a young voice.
.....Oh goodness he didn't like this.
He had a very bad feeling he was about to get a lot of headaches. Ugh.
"So what do you all think about the letter? They said they were related to us but how?" said Maglor.
"I don't know but I don't like this, if this really is a young relative we've never met than they just walked into Angband! Even if it meant my death I would take that over letting Tyelpe ever do something that insane!" said Curufin with the worried tone of a seasoned parent.
"We can't rule it out and if it is true than who are they related to? Wouldn't we have heard if any of the house of Fingolfin or Finarfin had new additions to the family? Sheesh if it was Fingon he would have never stopped bragging about it!" said Caranthir in a deadpan tone.
"If only we hadn't lost the damn bird! I tried tracking it but it's like it just vanished! We're sure this isn't a maia or something right?" said Celegorm in a frustrated tone.
"Do you know any Maia with a sense of humor or could apparently take down Morgoth, because I don't" said Maedhros as though it wasn't even a question.
"They told us to keep this secret, that we couldn't let anyone know we had the jewels back. I think they have a point about this." said Caranthir with a thoughtful tone.
"What do you mean by that? Is this about your visions with Doriath again?" asked Maglor
"Yes and No, those visions have completely disappeared now since the oath was fulfilled but the point is Doriath was going to be a source of conflict with the oath. So I think it's best we keep this hidden and wait to see what happens. Who knows in the meantime this mysterious family member might just pop up to aid us again." said Caranthir with a serious look.
"If this really is a new family member than they may very well be the youngest member of this family and you want to rely on them to put themselves in more danger?!! Have you lost your mind!" said Maglor in a furious tone.
"I agree with Carnistir that we need to keep this secret but in the meantime instead of arguing we need to figure out who's done this, how the hell they figured out my schedule without any noticing, and keep them from doing anything that really might get them killed! I'm already in disbelief that they just waltzed into Angband and got out as if nothing happened" said Maedhros in his I'm the eldest so shut up and listen tone.
"Agreed but still we have to let Fingolfin and Fingon know at least so they don't do anything reckless due to lack of information. Artanis and Finrod don't need to know, it's not like we see them much anyway plus I doubt this family member can from any of them" said the Ambarussa.
"Hmmm yes you're right, let's send out riders to call them here. I'd rather not tell them in a letter in case something happens" said Maedhros.
"What about Turgon? Is there any news on where that coward went? This might be related to him or Irisse somehow" said Celegorm in a thoughtful tone.
"I suppose we can't rule it out but there's no way to learn anything about him. Plus he's already been disowned by our uncle and removed from the succession after his little disappearing stunt" said Maedhros.
"Ugh I never liked him honestly, he's such a gaudy prude" said Maglor with a twitch in his eye.
"Regardless I'll have a rider sent out to Fingolfin and Fingon asking them to come to Himring immediately" said Maedhros.
"How exactly are we supposed to keep this all quiet considering your now sporting a new limb" said Celegorm with a smug quirk of his brow.
"No one else needs to know it's in relation to the stones, for all everyone knows we're just on the hunt...err search for a new talented healer. Also, for the love of Arda Tyelko if you see the bird DO NOT SHOOT IT!! I seriously doubt our patron would appreciate it." said Maedhros in a I dare you to defy me tone.
"What??? I would never!!" said Celegorm in an offended tone.
"Righhhhht, alright let's get this done before whoever this is does something more crazy" said Maedhros as he leaned back in his bed about to take a breather when.
One of his soldiers crashed into the healing halls with a panicked look that had his eyes so wide they were nearly popping out of his skull.
"MY LORD, IT'S...IT'S YOU'RE NEVER GONNA BELIEVE THIS!!!!"
"Oh for goodness sake what now, go on OUT WITH IT" said Maedhros in a frustrated tone.
"A PILLAR OF LIGHT ERUPTED ABOVE THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE GAP AND NOW... NOW
THE DOOM OF THE NOLDOR!!!!! IT'S GONE!!!!!!!!!"
...................
.......Oh Fuck
Yup he was right, here comes that headache.
He then proceeded to faint, AGAIN.