"I consider the orcs substantially my responsibility," Loki nods, "and I would come to the defense of anyone they aggressed against."

"Thank you. Did you two already eat?"

"Lobster."

He nods. "Teyelcorm -o says they'll send food as soon as they can get it to grow, which he was very sure he could achieve."

"The sun should help."

"It's certainly doing us no other favors." He shakes his head in distaste. "How's Elu? How's Melian?"

"They're well, although Melian is not paying attention to things as of last time I was in Doriath."

"She personally fought to a standstill the giant spider monstrosity that came over the mountains with Morgoth," he says. "I'd say 'she earned a break' but I doubt she's taking one."

"Oh, I hadn't heard that. I have no idea where Ungoliant came from but it did not sound like she was doing this realm any favors by her visit. What happened after that?"

"She starved, we think. She eats light, and she was so utterly surrounded by the magical darkness of her own making she couldn't reach any - and it was dark anyway, this was before the Sun and Moon. Anyway, the whole earth shook and the darkness swelled up and then just wasn't. You could hear a sort of osanwë scream. This was shortly before the orcs came pouring out of Angband."

"How shortly?" Loki asks. (Notesnotesnotes.)

"I"m not sure, a week? They did not reach here until twenty days later."

"Do you happen to know if she has any relation to the large but not that large spiders I have heard are in the forest around Doriath?"

"That's where she died. The area did not previously have spiders. It seems likely."

"Checking them out is on my to-do list."

"It must be a long one, if you have taken all Beleriand's burdens on your own shoulders."

"I wouldn't say all of them, I haven't even met any Men yet, but yes, I'm very busy and part of the reason I'm trying to settle the orcs is that then they'll need less regular attention from me. ...Speaking of people who may be awkward to settle. I assume you have a policy about escaped prisoners from Angband."

He shakes his head. "I am sorry."

"I thought so. You've gone more than enough out of your way allowing the orcs," she assures him. "I really wasn't thinking through the long-term consequences when I extracted them."

"They are our kin, however distant. The impulse to change things and protect them and figure out the details later is a good one, not one to be ashamed of. I'd protect escaped prisoners, too, but it can't be done save by holding them again prisoner, and they find that - miserable. Most of them asked me to kill them within a week."

"...I don't think that would actually come up with the one I have in mind. I mean, he would think you were a hallucination generated by the Enemy, which can get tiring if you hold a long enough conversation, but I don't think he's currently suicidal."

"Well, you can tell him that we're always willing to keep him as a prisoner if he'll agree to that."

"He'd probably rather keep flying around, but I can mention it."

"Flying around?"

"I can turn people into birds. They don't know automatically how to fly but I taught him. He thinks it would be challenging for the Enemy to provide a hallucination of a whole continent so he's having a look around."