The end of the first age
Delight—unweighted by the sorrow of long memory, unabashed and undiminished steps that lightly dance along the beach—such should be the providence of Elvish children.
And she had seen them, arms thrown out wide to embrace the wind, overflowing with merriment that bubbled up in laughter. So had she been, when she danced through the halls of Nargothrond, and first learned the joy of shaping metal into shapes fair, if at that time more simple than the work of the masters.
If only this Elvish maid, still a child barely at her full height, could have been spared this. Her eyes were dull that should gleam with laughter, and Gelilthor knew that she barely saw the gulls that played and soared among the tall masts that reached for the heavens to join the sailing stars. No, the child saw, with the perfect memory of the Eldar, the pools of spreading blood that defiled the streets of Sirion. She saw the madness in the faces of the fell Elves who advanced, sparing not their own kin. For Caraniel’s heart, the crashing of the waves that echoed still with the thrum of music could not drown out the lament.
Nestadrenon clasped his daughter’s hand, his healer’s eyes never ceasing to search for some way to ease the her hurt. He pointed to the West across the vast sea, and for a moment, even at the very thought of leaving these shores it seemed sorrow’s invisible mark on the girl lightened. She ran off, joining Inwiste as she sorted the remnants of the life they’d lived in Middle Earth, although Gelilthor knew there was very little her mother would take with her. Most items would be Nestadrenon's .
Nestadrenon approached, “Thou wilt not come?”
She looked at her family and her heart was torn. “Thou knowest that I love thee, and mother, and Caraniel. But Bauglir is gone, can we not, should we not build and do more to forge the new age into a thing of beauty?” They were fair sounding words, and to this her brother had no answer, though still his eyes held a hint of skepticism, for he saw how her fingers itched to test their skill and prove the quality of her work. Stronger still was her ambition than the pull of the West upon her fëa, but he held his peace.
