My Strange Persephone

Part eight: the witch king of Angband

Despite his father's warnings to stay away from Adar and Galadriel as they both tended to bring trouble with them wherever they went, Theo headed to the library, looking for Adar. He'd had a chance to talk to Adar a few months ago, and he'd been really surprised by what he'd heard. Adar was also half elf, half not elf, something that Theo thought he was the only one of. Arondir clearly knew Adar for a period before Theo and Adar met. So why hadn't Arondir told Theo that he wasn't alone in being who he was? Theo would have appreciated to hear that.

Sure enough, Theo found Adar in the library. He was sitting in a chair and holding a sleeping orc baby, while reading a massive book that looked too large for his arms to be able to lift. "Oh, hey, Theo." Adar said, and waved. Theo had kind of been part of a plot to gain information from Adar when they'd first met. He hadn't been sure how Adar would react to him, but he was happy that Adar didn't seem to hold a grudge since that incident.

"Hi." Theo said awkwardly. "What are you reading?" He asked. Adar smiled. "It's a compilation of all the old elvish fairy tales." Adar said. "Morgoth used to read these to me, but he'd change a lot of the details. It's nice knowing what the text actually said before Morgoth made some alterations." Theo just nodded, unsure of what to say to something like that. "Do you like it?" Theo asked. Adar nodded. "Yeah, it's been pretty interesting so far." He said. "I've got a lot of material now for bedtime stories for baby Grendel here."

Theo looked down. He didn't know how Adar saw the orca as his children. They'd killed Theo's mother, after all, with their poisoned arrows. They were monsters, but even Theo had to admit, they were useful as an army, and had a lot of potential if they were on your side. Yes, Theo could understand why Adar had an army of orcs. But for the life of him, he couldn't understand why Adar loved them so much.

"That's nice." Was all that Theo could manage. "So, are you and Galadriel going to stay?" Theo asked. Adar nodded. "For a few days more." He said. "After that, Galadriel and I are going to start gathering allies for the army that will need to defeat Sauron when the time comes." Adar sighed. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's different this time. It's like Sauron tied all his power, and most of his life force, to that one ring of his he was so determined to forge. If we're going to kill Sauron once and for all, we're going to need to destroy that ring. And in order to do that, we're going to need a very big army."

Again, Theo looked down. He'd never had the courage to tell anyone, but he didn't hate Sauron. Sauron had struck down the orc that killed his mother. Sauron had not sent a group of humans disguised as orcs to fight their own kind. And Sauron didn't view the orcs as children. Theo liked Adar, he really did, but that made him angry. The orcs were monsters. End of story. Sauron seemed to be the only one who understood that these days. But Sauron was also evil. He wanted to take over the lands, and he'd hurt Adar somehow in the past. Theo didn't have all the details, but he knew it was something bad. Theo didn't know what to do with all his anger at the orcs, his lack of hatred for Sauron, and the fear that if anyone found out, they'd turn their backs on him. Theo had already lost his mother. He didn't want to lose anyone else. So, like always these days, he remained silent.

"Oh, that's cool." Theo said. "Where are you two going first?" Again, Adar smiled. "We're going to see the woodland elves first." Adar said. "I've never been there before, and I'm really excited. Also, their leader apparently just had a baby. I've never seen an elven baby before. Who knows, maybe he and Grendel could even be friends." Theo swallowed hard. An elven prince, friends with an orc? Was Adar actually serious?

"Yeah, who knows?" Theo said. "You know what, I think I'm supposed to help my day with something, so I'd better go." He said awkwardly, and headed for the door. "Okay, bye." Adar said, not bothered by Theo's sudden departure. "It was nice getting to talk to you again."

Theo clenched his fists as he walked away. Nice. Adar thought it was nice to see Theo again. Maybe he also liked the idea of being friends with someone who was also not fully an elf. But Theo had had about enough of Adar right now. The orcs were his children. The orcs had names. And maybe the orc Adar held in his arms could be friends with the prince of the woodland elves. What reality was Adar living in?

Theo went to his room and closed the door, making sure to lock it behind him. He didn't want his father, or even worse, Galadriel, to walk in on what he was trying to do. Theo had found an old book in one of the tunnels the creatures made beneath his old house, and without anyone knowing, he'd rescued it before the tunnels flooded. And Adar made a literal volcano in his village. Another reason why Adar wasn't really his friend.

Theo had realized that the book was about magic, and how a normal human could learn the art of it. Theo liked the idea of that. He liked the idea of having some more power in this world, and maybe using it to make sure no one died like his mother.

He liked the idea of being a witch.

As Theo flipped through the pages, he could feel the power humming beneath his fingers. Every day, for at least an hour at a time, Theo would study the book, and learn its secrets. So far, he'd been able to move small objects without touching them, and fire a blast of energy that had knocked a vase off a shelf. Luckily, Theo had been able to clean up the evidence of that before anyone had caught him. Magic was forbidden among the elves, because it was believed that sorcery could lead a person to evil. But, like anything, magic was just a tool. Theo could use it however he wanted.

Theo heard a knock on his door, and immediately hid the book beneath his bed. He opened the door to find his father standing there. Great. Just what Theo needed that day. Arondir wasn't Theo's favorite person ever. He'd never been a real father to Theo, and then he'd been unable to save Theo's mother while she lay dying. All Arondir's elvish medicine was useless against a single orc arrow. If Theo had learned magic back then, maybe he'd have been able to do something. But even that would have been forbidden by Arondir. Arondir, the elvish warrior. Arondir, who thought he knew better than everyone else. Arondir, who had the nerve to show up here and act like whatever he was to Theo hadn't burned on his mother's pyre.

Theo closed the door in his father's face without a word, and went back to the book. He had more magic to learn.