The Legend of Saironelloistya [COMPLETED]

Chapter 22: Speak Softly...

I entered the tent, to see Nimloth weeping, and my heart went out to her, despite all that she had done. I sat down across from her, Saironellotoron on my right, and Laureaferedir to my left, and said, calmly, "Mi Mellonaira, cartyë metta sina ohta ar quámë ya pantatyë?" meaning "My old friend, do you end this war and sickness you spread?" She didn't lift her head, and for a moment, I thought that her sobbing had grown harder. Then I heard her mutter something, and though I did not perceive that which she uttered, Laureaferedir clearly did, as he stood up suddenly, and within the time it took to blink, he had trained an arrow on Nimloth. As all of her guards, drew their swords, and Saironellotoron stood up, gripping his staff tightly, I held up an open hand. "What did she say?" I asked Laureaferedir, watching immediately watching his eyes widen, and he pushed my chair over, seconds before I watched his head being thrown from his body, by a sword from behind me. Blood covered me, as his body fell on top of me, and I saw that horror had now unfolded behind me when I had wiped the blood out of my face.

I rolled out from under the body, just as Saironellotoron drove his sword through the headless body of the Former Minor General of Ranged Attacks in The Army of Meneltarma. As I knelt, her four soldiers pinned me down onto my knees. I realized too late, that Nimloth was not crying, but that she now had a pleased look on her face. Reaching out, she took Saironellotoron's sword, and asked, "Do you surrender, My old friend?"

The mockery in her voice did nothing to lessen the rage consuming my thoughts, as I spat out: "I will never surrender to a rebellious young witch, like yourself. I am older than you by nearly 6,000 years, and with that age has come wisdom. If you kill me, then victory is assured, because Meneltarma will rally, and it will strike down your rebellion. If you let me live, then you have no choice, but to surrender, or be struck down by the forces of Meneltarma. This is a fight which you cannot win, Nimloth, so please, put down the sword and surrender." I said this angrily, but as I went on, my voice grew quieter and became more soothing.

She looked infuriated and was to the point of shaking with fury. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smiled. She said words that I would replay in my mind, until the end of my days. "I don't want you dead. I want you defeated, and I want to break you." Then, in what was, at the time, the worst moment in my life, despite, all that I had been through, I watched helplessly as she spun around and cleaved Saironellotoron's head off his shoulders.

Let me explain something to you about spell casting. The actual words of the spell don't matter, as long as you know what you want to cast. The actual purpose of the words is to direct, shape, and concentrate the spell. The usage of Elvish, the natural language of spells, actually aims them more effectively than any other tongue, but it lowers their power, when cast, making it a trade off of power to accuracy, which I usually opted for. However, when Saironellotoron's bloodied head rolled to a stop at my feet, I was strangely silent. My eyes rested on Saironellotoron's head, and my heart filled with rage, and fear, because for the first time in my life, I couldn't control my rage. Then I realized I didn't want to.

What came next contained no words, or even coherent thoughts. I shrieked, and all that was in my heart was destroying Nimloth. The shriek continued to increase in volume, and then my memory blacked out.

                                                                                        . . .

The next thing I remember was waking up in the medical tent, with Aranellevanima by my side, and the only word on my lips was the name of a beloved friend, who I had lived with for over 7,000 years. We had grown up together, fought together, worked together, and hoped together, but now I would never see him again. Immortality is a curse because while my friends around me died, I would still live, and never join them in the Halls of Mandos. If I took my own life, I wouldn't join them, due to the laws of Illuvitar, and if I continued to wait, I would never die. Aranellevanima still lived, and I was grateful for that, but one-third of me was now gone, never to be returned, and I would live with that for all of eternity, being an immortal elf.