AxelsFire

Chapter summary: "

Manwë had made this mistake before, and Yavanna would not allow him to make it again. Aulë was afraid of what the King may do, to them, to Sauron, to their Maiar. Aulë was afraid but Yavanna...

Have a weekend snippet! We're getting close...

" When Lúthien finished recounting her tale, Varda sighed. "You do not know what you have done, child. The Fëanorians are dangerous. They could use what is inside those jewels for great evil."

"Maedhros is a good person. They could also do much good with them."

"The stars say that they will not."

"They could just do average things then. I care not. You told me yourself that fate can change. It is wrong to punish someone for something they have not yet done, and perhaps never will do."

This seemed like common sense to Lúthien. Varda frowned, seemingly to disagree.

"Well, it is done now. We shall see what they will make of it. If you have not come to apologise, then what have you come for?"

" Sauron expected someone to come with chains any minute now, before his lord would come to speak with him. Honestly, he had expected someone to come during the night, but no one had. He had been entirely undisturbed, left to sleep and recover. In an actual bed, no less. There were books, but he did not dare touch them. Perhaps there was a cell being prepared for him at this moment, and they had not yet got around- 

A knock on the door. Sauron blinked at it. 

Nothing happened. Then it came again, tentative. 

"Come in?" It sounded like a question. 

The person who entered was short and willowy, obviously a Maia. Sauron rose expectantly, clasping his hands behind his back; surely, they would have chains with which to- 

Chapter summary:

"

This was it. Sauron would finally have to confront Aulë, in his broken and damaged state, and attempt to appease the Vala who had rescued him. Despite everything he had done, despite his betrayal of his old friend, Aulë had still sent Lúthien to rescue him. He was not worthy of it. How could he be? But he was determined to prove that he could be useful still, that he would earn his place and attempt to make amends where he may. If only he could focus through the dread and fear long enough to come up with a useful strategy.

Aulë was pacing. He had no idea what he was going to say or do once Mairon arrived. What if it all went wrong the same way it had done before? What if Mairon resented him still? What if this was a mistake? Despite his worries, he felt anticipation thrum through him at the prospect of finally getting to see his old friend again, someone he thought lost to him forever.

Lúthien wanted Sauron to stop panicking quite so hard; she had things to do.

"

She sucked in a breath. "I killed Morgoth."

Aulë choked on the bite of scone he had just taken. He decorporealated briefly to dislodge it, then immediately reformed his throat again to say, "What."

Lúthien frowned. “I killed him. I had to, the situation was untenable as it was.”

“What,” He repeated uselessly. Desperately.

Would he not have felt the death of a fellow Vala? Surely there would have been some sign of the fabric of the Song changing that much, some-

Now Luthien looked concerned. “My lord, are you alright? You are turning into stone again.”

“Ah.”

"

It's Wednesday, we're halfway there folks. Have a celebratory snippet! "

"Lord Ulmo was adamant that it was the best way of learning how to sail. I am still not sure I agree, but I did learn how to swim better," Lúthien admitted. 

Sauron gripped the edge of the boat tighter, though she seemed to have everything well in hand now. "How long were you apprenticed?" 

"A week." 

Sauron blinked at her, waiting for her to laugh. She did not. "You spent one week being tutored in seafaring by the Lord of Waters himself and what, remembered every piece of information by rote?" 

"Yes," She frowned at him. "Why are you saying it like that?" 

Good grief. Half-elves were terrifying; he never stood a chance. 

"

Chapter summary:

"

Sauron was aware that he was not the easiest to get along with, even if he had not done the things he had done to his companion. He was doing his best to be subservient, to be good and obedient but admittedly, it did not come naturally to him. So far Lúthien had been patient with him, but he felt as though he was walking a tight rope strung across a yawning chasm which could snap at any moment. He was not sure he would survive it, when it did.

Lúthien just wished Sauron would stop cringing like a kicked dog every time she looked in his direction.

"

It's Saturday, have a snippet!

"

Ah. So, he had misstepped after all.

Yet he could not help but add, “That does not seem accurate. How would you punish those who have done wrong? How could you be sure that they would not commit such acts again? Surely you can agree that I have done the most wrong of anyone except perhaps Morgoth. Who could ever be more deserving of punishment than myself?”

Lúthien turned away, taking a deep breath. Sauron waited. He had not had much chance for lively debate lately, and it was oddly exhilarating, if terrifying.

“Ugh,” Lúthien sighed as she rubbed a hand over her face. He seemed to make her do that a lot. “I am the wrong person for this.”

"

I'll post a snippet later today!

Not religious, but my favorite part in this episode, is Father Cavanagh talking to President Bartlett and he tells this story:

Chapter 3 of Aulë's Servant is now up here.

Summary:

Sauron is sure that he deserves all he suffers at Melkor's hands. He may wish for an end, but he knew intimately that you must first prove deserving of one, and he had not. His mind had been dulled and slowed, his fëa fractured irreparably, and his body broken.

And then, oddly, Lúthien was there.

Almost finished the third chapter of Aulë's Servant, hopefully one more week! 🥳 Here's another snippet to celebrate:

"

There was a void where Melkor had been. Morgoth. His absence was a split down the middle of Sauron’s fëa from which he could not escape from nor fill. It was a different ache than the feeling of all the wounds of his fëa which cried out in agony still. The void was simply…there. Empty and cavernous, yawning across his soul. He could not help but reach for it occasionally, as though poking at a missing tooth, something he had always instinctively felt was there but had not paid much attention to until it was suddenly gone. The tether in his fëa which should lead to a Vala was floating adrift, unattached and frayed.  

He was free-falling. The sensation was terrifying in its perceived harmlessness, the slow awareness of his entire fëa being unattached to the Third Song. Sauron was intimately aware of the fact that falling meant an eventual impact, and this time, there was no one who would catch him at the other end.  

I aimed to write it within ten mins, using the prompt of "birthmark".

"I have a birthmark. Mostly, it is hidden by my clothes. It is on my forearm, on the back, where I must twist to see it if I wished to. Mostly, I forget I have it.

Until the weather gets warmer and I wear shorter sleeves. Children will approach me and say, "what happened to your arm?".

I always laugh. Sometimes I say I was bitten by a crocodile, or that I spilled radioactive ink when I was a child. Sometimes I say a dragon did it, but that he was politely apologetic about it. Sometimes I just tell them it's a birthmark, that I was born with it. But I'm always amused.

Adults see it, and look away immediately to not be caught looking. They'll lose the train of their thoughts, stutter off into silence, then awkwardly laugh and call themselves scatter brained. I always laugh with them. I don't mind it.

I never think of the fact that I have one, unless it comes up in conversation. I would not list it in the top ten traits that I have, nor even the top hundred. I just don't think of it.

But other people do. I wonder, if they were asked to identify me to someone who has never met me, would it be first thing they'd note? It is almost definitely in the top ten things they'd say. "Taller then average, brown hair, and with a large birthmark on their left arm." I imagine they would say something like that.

As I never have to identify myself, I don't think of it. If I was asked, "who are you to yourself?" I still would not think of it. I would think that I am obsessed with candles and the color phthalo green, that I am kind most of the time, away with the fairies all of the time, and that I like to think I'm funny.

Was working on the Sauron chapter of Aulë's Servant just now, it's coming along! Will almost definitely be two chapters though. Here's a snippet if you're interested:

"

Sauron gave up attempting to parse what she wanted; Lúthien's face was unreadable to him as he was now. 

"My lady can do as she wishes," He said carefully, taking his hands from his hair. 

Lúthien frowned. He had displeased her again somehow, and was too stupid to figure out- 

Before he could apologise, she approached.

"