Work Text:
After all those long centuries, Adar, the last of the Moriondor, is ready to embrace his final rest, and whatever judgment that is to be placed upon him.
For his body is ruined, his heart broken, his soul diminished, his mind slowly going away. And in the closing of his eyes, all that surrounds him is nothingness — and it is dark.
As dark as the first dreamless sleep.
As dark as the future Morgoth promised.
As dark as the nameless peak he was chained in.
As dark as the madness that consumed his entire being.
As dark as the thirst and hunger that was satisfied only by Him.
As dark as the blood that helped beat the little that was left of his heart.
As dark as the countless children he brought upon this world.
As dark as the gauntlet he wore to cover his ruined hand.
As dark as the evil Sauron inflicted upon the Uruks.
As dark as the betrayal of his own children.
As dark as the moonless sky above him.
The night is cold, and the trees swing back and forth in the rhythm of a slow, dim music.
Adar can feel the earth, the grass and the roots underneath his body... dirt around his hand. He can smell burning wood and the coming of a rainstorm. He can see all the colors of the world around him... colors he never knew existed. The dull gray is gone, without a Ring of Power on his finger.
A tear runs down his face as he begins to realize the rhythm in his ears is not a distant song, but the sound of his own heart beating — and it beats.
For there is life inside of him again.
A new birth — only this time, not dark at all.