The Great Wave by elennalore  

The Great Wave

The sea is a grey wall looming over him. Time slows down in a very absurd way, and Mairon’s gasp of surprise seems to echo off the roof of the temple. At some point, he must have stopped laughing. He thinks he should retreat from the balcony, as if the gilded dome could shelter him from that horrible grey nothingness rising before him, about to sweep him away. He tastes the salt in the air, and the wind on his face carries a delicate fragrance from the Western Lands, but Mairon is not fooled by its gentleness. This is the wave of annihilation, and he has fallen prey to it.

This should be a moment of triumph, for Númenor will fall with him, but Mairon’s stupid heart can’t feel it. He dislikes all endings, and this is no exception. His hands clutch the balcony rail so hard that it bends out of shape, but the sea is stronger than him today. When the walls of the temple break and fall down, Mairon is not there anymore to witness it. Against the sea, he is tiny and fragile like a ragdoll and he hates it, it reminds him too much of –