The sun was setting as they came to the hill overlooking Mithlond. Gilith twisted on her horse to look at her father, who rode a little behind her. His face was drawn with weariness, but there was a new light in his eyes, and a smile on his lips. Gilith slowed her horse, letting her father draw abreast of her.
"There is Mithlond." he said. "In a little while we will be within the walls of my family home, and there will be a fire, and food, and drink."
Gilindir looked at his daughter, as her gaze was fixed on the sea in the distance. The night ahead was going to be the last one they would spend together in Middle-earth. All around them a multitude of Elves, some on horses, some on foot, holding lanterns.
An hour later they halted their horses in the courtyard of a modest house by the seafront. Gilith looked up, climbing pink and white roses covered most of the white facade and the windows were all wide open to let in the fresh evening sea breeze on this warm summer night.
In a corner of the yard a great oven was lit, and the air was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread and roast fish. For the first time in her life Gilith understood why her father had missed this place so much. In all its simplicity, this house looking out onto the sea was beautiful.
"I have left all my possessions to you...including this house." Gilindir said after dinner as they were sitting together by the fire.
"I wish you could come with me across the sea, but I know your loyalty to the Lord and Lady comes first, nevertheless, I shall miss you immensly."
There were no tears or strong emotions, such things were not needed between the two of them, and yet that night Gilith was unable to rest as her heart was filled with sadness.
Morning came under a dark grey sky. As Gilith stared into the fog and mists, she wondered how she would live without Gilindir by her side. A storm was brewing in the distance, and the great white ship in the harbor was swaying up and down in the waves. Ulmo was not happy, and nor was she.
On the dock battered by the wind and the spray of the sea, Gilith stood, one last time in the presence of her father Gilindir.
"Tîn Gilith, my child...I stayed this long because I was bound by cords of love, this world I have walked along many ages of men. One by one my friends have left these shores, they have crossed the Sundering Seas and entered the Undying Lands. Though I know joy awaits me across the seas, my heart will remain in Middle-earth, with you. We are the dying people, lost in Time, and one day you also will hear The Call of the Sea. The Valley of the Singing Gold is now only a flowering dream. Beauty wanders dim under the light of the weaning stars. Remember me, my child, remember me, and as the day dawns, with it comes the cries of the birds, whispering on a ship to come, your ship one day. Awake, o wind! Bear me far away from these shore and my from my heart, for I know one day, o wind, you will carry it to me across the sea. Farewell Gilith, remember me."
The wind filled the sails of the great ship. Gilindir stood on the deck and let the salty sea breeze blow back his dark hair. It started to rain. The ship began to move and that was it.
In the rain stood but one figure upon the shore, clad in Elven grey. As she watched the ship in the distance she heard once more the call of the gulls, and for a moment she thought she heard in the cry the music of longing. But in her heart she knew it was not so, not yet. Gilith turned and slipped back into her life of duty. The shores of Mithlond stood empty in the mist, then the wind blew of silent sadness, of bitter change, and the waves leaped gently upon the quiet shores.
