Light from Shadows

Chapter 26

Thuringwethil's POV

I wandered about Lord Námo's halls shyly. Having been killed by Lúthien I had gone to Mandos in hopes of seeing my baby again. Lord Námo had received me warily, but not rejected me outright. His wife was very kind to me, allowing me to watch my baby grow up through her tapestries. Sometimes I'd see Queen Mirë, looking at the same tapestry since our babies had met and were friends.

Today, I had wandered to the tapestry the told the beginning of her story. The beginning of my pregnancy. I smiled as I saw the ellon next to me and happily lost myself in the memories.

*flashback*

"How am I going to make it?" I whimpered as Camaen, my chosen thrall, attempted to comfort me. "I can't drink more blood than I already do. Mairon will notice. He will think me weak for loving you. He'll kill you!"

Camaen's embrace tightened around me before he said. "Take what you need from me, my love." "What?" I gasped in incomprehension. "Feed off me, my love." My beloved Camaen repeated.

"But it will kill you!" I gasped as I held him tightly. "I'm not truly living now, Thuri," Camaen. "Living at another's beck and call, whipped for the slightest offenses, and starved. That's no life, my darling."

"I know!" I sobbed as I clutched him tighter. "I shall be reborn in freedom, my love," Camaen said in a loving voice. "And I shall wait for you and our baby in Valinor. We shall have a good life there, I promise you."

I nodded as I held him for the last time. "Grant me one last request," my husband begged as I prepared to end him. "Act delighted that I am gone." "Why, love?" I asked as I paused.

"Sauron will not call you weak. He will only think you were playing with your food." "I shall do it... My love." Camaen nodded and I bit deep into his throat. Swiftly draining my husband's life blood, he smiled at me before his Fëa forsook his body.

I cried for a few moments before kissing his pale face one last time. I put a fierce grin on my face and scurried away to find Mairon. I finally found him in his office, he smiled in greeting. "Do you need something, my herald?" He asked.

"A new slave." I cooed as I showed my bloody fangs. "I just... lost my last one." "I take it you enjoyed him." Mairon laughed. "Take your pick... try not to use them all so soon." "Yes master!" I laughed back as I hurried out of the room.

*End*

I was shaken out of the memories by Queen Mírë. She was looking at me sadly. "Yes, my Queen?" I asked with a bow, she smiled wistfully. "I am leaving the halls." She said as she looked up at the tapestry.

"I want you to watch over my children while I am unable to." "I will do so happily, my Queen." I said with a smile. "Thank you." Mírë said before vanishing in a flash of light, leaving me again to my memories.

*Flashback*

"So," Mairon said coldly as I wrapped my newborn in a soft blanket. "You loved that thrall of yours." "And you love the Queen." I snapped back thoughtlessly. Mairon growled and I shrank back in terror.

"You forget your place bat." He snarled as I clutched my baby close. "I shall permit you to keep the wretched thing... so long as it doesn't interfere with your normal duties." His eyes softened ever so slightly as he saw my baby's wings. "I do not mean to be cruel to you, Thuringwethil. But we are in a war. This is not the time to be having progeny."

I nodded as Mairon turned and left the room. I began to weep as I wrapped my wings around my baby to shield her from the world. Her hand grabbed a strand of my hair as my tears fell upon her sweet little face. "I name you Nyríl." I told her as I cradled her close and kissed her tiny head. She cooed her approval.

Over three years, my baby became an energetic toddler. She wandered about the fortress at will and was so happy. One day, Mairon decided it was time she was weaned and had her first taste of blood. And since those new elves weren't telling him anything, he decided one of them would be her first meal. We waited until she was hungry before placing her in their cell. The elves, having known what was happening, shrank away from her as if she was death itself.

Fortunately for them, my baby didn't understand what to do. She crawled from one prisoner to another before crawling into the Blond one's lap and crying for food. "Poor thing," the elf said as he petted her tiny head. "You're just a hungry baby who doesn't know how to eat by themselves." He took a small piece of dried fruit out of his pocket and gently placed it in her mouth.

She ate it eagerly and fluttered her wings to beg for more. "I have no more, small one, I'm sorry." The elf chuckled as she snuggled into him. Soon Mairon came into the cell, and seeing Nyríl hadn't fed on anyone, he grabbed her by her scruff and carried her out in disgust. "Take your brat!" He snarled as he shoved her into my arms so she could nurse. "I'm getting my wolves."

But my baby had grown fond of the Blond elf and continued to go visit him, once killing one of Mairon's favorite wolves. After that, he kicked her out permanently. In a short amount of time, Lúthien, Mairon's niece, came to our fortress. Mairon sent me and several others to capture her, but alas! We were all defeated, including Mairon.

I was still alive after Mairon's defeat and was trying to reach my baby when Lúthien came upon me again. "Foul creature," she snarled. "You shall have some use for the elves in death, though I shall not make it easy for you." Then a knife cut into my skin and I screamed in pain.

Lúthien literally skinned me alive, and used my skin to sneak into Angband. And I would never see my baby in Middle-Earth again.

*end*

I sobbed before that tapestry, suddenly a hand fell gently onto my shoulder. "Weep not, my daughter." Lord Námo said comforting. "Your baby shall do many great things and be happy for a long time to come. Know this, and be comforted." I dried my eyes... feeling much better, and turned back to the tapestries. I still had to watch my baby, and do what I could from where I was.