The Elwing-bird comparison is prophetic, and I liked the foreshadowing on Elrond and Elros:
"Without my sons, many things shall never be set right. Without them, a shadow shall rise in the East in future ages, and never be defeated."
That bit also goes a long way torward explaining why they were spared afterwards. The Amrod & Amras/Elured & Elurin/Elrond & Elros paralell was very striking. I love your take on Elwing - it makes so much *sense* somehow. I don't think I have seen her portrayed as such a strong and wise character. You've drawn a wonderfully vivid original character, who fits well into canon. The description is also beautiful, especially the weather details - the mood of these events really comes across.

Really lovely. The Kinslayers are always portrayed in such an unpleasant light (at least Maedhros is) and it's refreshing to see an interpretation like this. Great job!

As I said definatly the wrong word but I still can't come up with the right one...

'do you want to be nicknamed Nightfearer?”'

I am... *looks scared, at whether any monsters will jump out*

Reading about what Elrond and Elros saw of Sirion during fighting is actually quite frightening

"Now there was a red glow, of fire and flames, and dark smoke lit crimson in a contrast against the dark night." *begins to cry*

I liked the fact that the messenger once again attempts to get Elwing to leave to safety, it just reinforces a sort of despair that they thought, (that didn't make sense did it?) of at that time, that they could never atone for what they had done. (Nope, still doesn't make sense).

When the peredhil are found, I thought that that was really quite tear raising, the way they ask where Elwing is, but all Maedhros, Maglor and our nameless messenger can say is they don't know.

Finally,

"And after all, everything happens for a reason, Maglor remembered the words of the loremasters of Tirion. Maybe the events today lead to a better fate, to a doom we can not even imagine."

Definately, because of what came from the peredhil in later days!

This chapter and story as a whole I really thought was ever so gut-wrenching.

Now finally!

You asked what Toodles means, its just a colloquial phrase that I picked up from some people at school, it just means Goodbye, but in a kind of less formal way.

So as I said last time...

Toodles!

_

Wow! you have managed to capture the fear and uncertainty that Elros and Elrond must certainly have felt fleeing alone like that. The description of the storm-torn sky was a great mood enhancer!

Elrond is handling this very well, and with a wonderful maturity that masks his own fears. I like that he is heading for the trees...very elvish of him. :) Then when he tries to lighten the mood with his joking...:) But then what tore at my heart was his innocence. Only Morgoth and his people would ever hurt anyone! :( So very sad as his childhood is about to be shattered.

Wow. The image that Elrond sees when he is looking back at his home is horrifying. It reminds me sharply of what the survivors of Gondolin's fall must have seen: their beloved home lit with flames of destruction. The poor children! So used to seeing the homes lit with lamps to welcome them, now to see just flames. Very sad!

You nearly made me cry when Elros said that if they ran the monsters wouldn't get them... :( Little does he know who the monsters are, or that they are about to be taken by them. :(

“Burning swanships. History repeats,” she whispered. :(

Oh wow. I just adore this line: And then, she would fly. That is so sad, and yet it holds a hope with it. Then...:( Elrond's vision of his mother and the bird with white fire on its breast. You really know how to wring my heart!

Oh gosh! She names the messenger kinslayer, and realizes that it doesn't matter if it is her people or the Feanorians...they are all kinslayers. :( What a tragedy!

“You may be a kinslayer, but if you find my sons, do not abandon them to the same fate as my brothers. Without my sons, many things shall never be set right. Without them, a shadow shall rise in the East in future ages, and never be defeated. Trust my words. Do not harm them.” Wow! I know I keep saying that, but you continue to amaze me with the beauty and wonder you have written.

Elwing's leap was exquisite! Truly wondrous!

Elrond's simple faith that they can sneak home for food and clothing is so touching, showing that he is still such an innocent! Then when he realizes that they can't go home...But then...a voice on the air. Maglor's I am guessing. He is the only one of Feanor's sons that I could come to like, I believe.

Unpleasant memories, Maglor thought, remembering how long his brother had sought for the sons of Dior in the woods of Doriath – in vain. :(

This is so sad, heartbreaking really, but it is good to see kindness extended to Elrond and Elros by the last surviving sons of Feanor. It really makes one think of how very terrible the Oath was, that these two elves' true natures are glimpsed fleetingly in this moment. The pain and regret that haunts them must be nigh unbearable.

Well, Lady Elwing, this was absolutely wonderful! Beautifully woven and perfect! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Elenath sila am le!

Wow, excellent second chapter! One of the nicest 'how Elrond and Elros came to be in Maglor's care' stories I have read, and I really liked Maglor's singing for his lost brothers, and then BAM, the boys are found, like Maglor almost sung them to where they could be found.

That was a very emotional fic, I liked the fact that the messenger attempted to escape the fate of the kinslayers but by fighting on the opposing side,(which would have also have commited kinslaying) So a lovely(not really the right word)fic, well done!

Toodles!

_

In the messenger's glance toward her carcanet, his sorrow, trapped between his lords and this lady, the tragedy of all those caught up in the War of the Jewels. The sons of Feanor cannot discard their oath, though like this messenger, they do not want to deal violence. Elwing's motives are equally unfathomable to the messenger - yet you give us a sense that, like her father, she believes that this jewel is worth her life. Certainly, for all that she has suffered for it, it must be worth her life.

I, of course, love how you compare her with a lovely, fragile bird...not so very fragile in reality, but very strong and able to withstand more than most could.

What dread you manage to convey in these words: It had been seven of them, then. Now there were only four left. But they would come. The messenger would report their coming, she knew it.

What a life that would have been, knowing that Feanor's sons would never stop coming after them.

O.O Oh my! So this messenger has a history of fear and blood with Elwing. Oh my, that adds such depth to this tale!

Oh wow! She lets him go- a life for a life. What a burden she has now laid upon him. Will they meet again I wonder? When the attack comes perhaps? Chilling!

Oh wow! He was going to stay to fight for her! Yet she refuses and calls him Kinslayer. :(

O.O Oh no! They are being attacked now! By the Valar how terrible she must feel...and she realizes to late what was intended, just as she leaves her young sons! Horrible!

The imagery you paint in this tale is beautiful! The curtain billowing around her, making her look like a bird as she bids her sons flee. That part is so very heartbreaking!

And so she sits and waits with that cursed jewel about her throat! Chilling indeed!

Wonderful as always! Beautiful!

Elenath sila am le!

Lovely portrayl of Elwing the concerned mother who fears for her sons but won't give the Silmaril for anything. I wonder if the Feanorians did find the boys, or if they came back by themselves disobeying their mother. Actually this is bugging me so much that I'm going to have ask for you to write a second chapter!

Wow - yet again one of your wonderful, tense little vignettes.

You portrayed Elwing very well - and in a way that made her actions understandable.

The descriptions used were gorgeous - especially the way the "meaning" (and source) of the thunder changes in the course of the story...

I have only got one question (perhaps I should be able to answer it for myself, but I'm a bit slow at times): Who is that messenger whom Elwing remembered from the Fall of Doriath? Is he just a random elf who was there - or is he someone I should remember from the story?

Dear Eru, this is absolutely amazing. The characterization of Elwing is, to my mind, flawless, and you've brought out so much about the unnamed Elf with just a few paragraphs.

And there is just the tremendous sense of impending doom, without any melodrama at all. Just this feeling of some terrible weight within. Truly terrific!

That was a beautiful look at Elwing. You've really done a great job portraying the sacrifices she had to make and how much it must have hurt her to give up her sons. Very nice.

Beautiful!

You have a wonderful way with words... I love the picture you paint of Elwing. Too often she's portrayed as a madwoman who refuses to give up the Silmaril for no good reason. Here, although she still doesn't give the Silmaril back, she truly seems like Lúthien's granddaughter. I also like her refusing to fight, even to defend herself...

I wonder, what happens to Elrond and Elros afterwards? They obviously don't manage to hide from the Fëanorions. In other words, write a sequel!