Lúthien and Huan. How could it have happened? He couldn't bring himself to understand. He had everything to win, but did not. It was shameful to have to yield to someone who, to him, was nothing more than a prize he wished to acquire for his master, but he was forced to flee by a being that had recoiled at his very sight and another rendered near unconscious by his power. For a time after the incident, he had stayed in the form of a vampire at Taur-nu-Fuin, filling the forest with terror. Yet, he found no pleasure nor purpose there and began to wander, taking many forms until retaking his own form at the river of fire: an underground flow of magma as ancient as Arda itself.

Now, here he was, in a place related more to his beginnings than what he had chosen to become. What was the Maia looking for in such a place? Himself. Pure and simple. He'd be useless to his master Melkor if he continued to fail him so miserably, so he had to find a new sense of purpose and with that regain his old might, which had left him as of late, it seemed. His hands were his guide during the time he spent in that location and he crafted many things by his lonesome as the days went by. He wasn't aware how long had passed since his arrival nor he seemed to care about it at this point in time. He had sensed a void in the world not long ago, but could no longer worry why it happened or what was the cause.

He was lost within himself while standing by the flow and feeling its heat on his skin. That was the best sensation of all for a Maia of Aulë's people such as he was... no... used to be. Now he was Melkor's lieutenant, his most trusted servant. But was that what he really wanted to be? He had doubts and maybe those doubts were making him weaker against his opponents. That was the conclusion he had finally reached after many weeks of self-isolation. What did he really want then? Order, perfection, to create things of great wonder and above all banish all wastefulness from Arda. He never wanted anything to be destroyed, only perfected. He believed he could gently sway Melkor and guide his great might into the betterment of the world. It wasn't what had happened in the end. One just needed two eyes capable of seeing to know that.

He then took a seat upon a rock he had turned into a sort of throne by sculpting it during his first day there. It had been made for practicality and was indeed simply a place to sit down and rest or think. The flow of magma forever running like a river of the purest fire from left to right while he observed it. He brought up his left hand and bubbles of magma floated in the air, taking the forms currently in his mind as he decided from which material he'd make that piece. Suddenly, he sensed another presence. Surely another Maia. He broke his concentration and the bubbles of magma fell back into the flow and with a wave of his left hand, the river of fire expanded upon its right shore, taking away all of his previous crafts, undoing them with the fire from which they had come, before receding back to normal flow.

When no more clues as to his current state of mind or its evolution could be found around him, a familiar voice reached his ears. It was Curumo. Why was he here? Had the other Valar decided to intervene in the war by sending other Maiar into Middle-earth? The other called him by his original name and called him a brother, but he knew better than to believe such friendliness. He was now no one's brother. There was just one of his kind. Both Maiar took steps towards one another and suddenly Curumo's words failed him. That was the perfect moment to reply. "What happened, brother? Do I look so hideous to your eyes that you've lost speech?... I wonder if you've become Aulë's pet apprentice in my absence..." His voice was cadenced and surely sarcastic. A smug smile adorned his darkened lips in its wake.

The sight that reached Curumo's eyes was as messy as the mind of its bearer. Most of his hair was dark as the night, corrupted by the dark arts he had used so much since learning them from Melkor. Yet, there were strands and even whole stripes of copper-colored hair mixed in, his original hair color. His right eye was of a pale shade of yellow like the full moon in the sky above that cavern. His left one was red, cat-like and seemed to burn like a flame. His skin was fair, but dark veins could be seen adorning his face, arms and hands which were exposed.