Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Tolken or Brooks. This is not following any specific time line. Purely for fun.
Summary: Three young elves find themselves pulled to another world to answer a promise made millennia before their births. Can the three of them use the special powers they were born with to save those who called upon them for help? Will they survive to return home? If they do, will their own kind still accept them?
Chapter One
Terrin sighed heavily as he hauled the last of the wood over to the bin. The master blacksmith would need more of it for the arrowheads he planned on making for the guardians of Greenwood the great. When he was particularly lucky the young ellon was allowed to use the kiln and furnace himself. However those times were rare and far between for the elf.
Despite his age of over 2500 years of life the master smith still saw fit to treat him like a child. The elf snorted at the thought. He had not been a child even when he was a child. Sometimes he truly understood why his father had left this realm to seek adventure in the East. He would have stayed there himself had the blasted wizards not thrown him and his friends out declaring the Eastlands off limits for the three elves. Only fifteen hundred years old and the old coots decided they needed a new home with their kin.
Again Terrin snorted. True he was a full elf, and shared the corn silk blond hair, greenish blue eyes and tall lithe stature of most elves in Greenwood, yet he did not truly consider them kin. After all where were those same kin when he needed them most? No the only ones he considered kin were also sequestered in the realms of their fathers'. Why any of them let those two wizards bully them into leaving their homes in the east he would never understand. Still they had, and for the most part he attempted to make the best of it.
Granted it did not help that the elves of Greenwood were notoriously suspicious of any outsiders. Thank Elbereth he had come prior to Sauron's return to the world, otherwise he would likely have been thought a spy. The evil one had oh so conveniently taken up residence in Dol Guldur, just south of the great woods of their realm. Slowly the darkness began to seep through, little by little affecting the magnificent forest. He had seen such things occur before.
Not that any would listen to him. He had only lived there a little over one thousand years. Proved himself to be trustworthy time and time again. Yet still they looked down on him, a peasant with no real title besides Blacksmith's apprentice. Wouldn't it throw their collective panties in a bunch if they knew the titles he had earned in the East?
A land far from civilized yet more so than most would expect, the East found itself constantly in the grips of war. Terrin knew war like he knew the back of his hand, afterall he had fought in seven official wars, and countless other battles. As had his friends. Many of the warriors here boasted how great they were, surviving the Last Alliance or other battles. Those fools rankled his nerves. True warriors did not boast about war, for they understood the horror of fighting in one.
Many of those same warriors liked to pick on him and other elves who were not, in their opinion, fighters. Though he kept his temper, an amazing feat, as his friends would attest, he could not wait for the day one of them tried to strike him. Then he would show them a true fighter.
Not to say he didn't sympathize with the elves of Greenwood, or feel a bond of some kind, small though it was. They had lost much in the Last Alliance, and Terrin understood better than most the hardships of such loss. It certainly didn't help that evil had come knocking on their doorstep. Which is why he generally held his tongue. That and he had finally reached the point in his life where he wanted someone else to deal with all the problems.
Too often he and his friends had been called on to take responsibility for others, to make decisions they never should have had to make. Now though he rather enjoyed his anonymity of being a simple apprentice. Let King Thranduil and his sons worry over the realm. Better them than he.
"Boy, what are you doing," the stern voice of Gondien broke through his thoughts.
"Finishing up stacking the wood as you requested, master," Terrin replied lazily, no longer bothered by calling the other master. At first it had brought back several bad memories, but after a while he forced himself to simply accept that it meant something different here then where he grew up.
And Gondien was a master of his trade. He made some of the finest weapons ever forged by elves. Terrin would easily admit that the other elf had him beat, though no one could stoke a fire like Terrin. Of course no one had Terrin's 'talent' either.
"You should have been done with that by now," the other elf huffed as he came out the back room. He was tall like all elves, thin and lean, with broader shoulders and heavily muscled arms, a silent testament to his trade. His hair was also golden blond, pulled back in the style of braids seen on trade masters in Greenwood. Terrin had some of his own, though not nearly as many as the elder elf. "Likely you were day dreaming again. This is exactly why I don't like leaving you by the fire on your own," the other continued. "You start staring off into space, then next thing you know the fire is higher than the blasted furnace."
The younger ellon couldn't refute his statement, as it was correct, though not for the reason the other thought. Terrin had the gift to control fire. He could bend it to his will; use it as a living weapon. Now he mostly used it to keep the furnace at the right temperature, however, after years of not fully using his skills his power would sometimes break away causing minor…incidents with the flames.
"Sorry master, I lost myself in thought."
"Lost is right," Gondien frowned. "You should be a master in your own right by now. But it's like you don't have your heart in it. Do you truly wish to be a blacksmith or not?"
Terrin paused thinking over the answer, his eyes taking a far away look. "It was the safest choice…"
Gondien pulled back after hearing that statement, murmured so low even his keen Elven hearing almost missed it. Before he could even attempt to ask what the other meant by that statement the door to the front of the shop opened admitting two elves, one was Prince Legolas himself. However it was the first elf to walk in that worried the blacksmith. Shooting a quick glance to his apprentice he moved forward to help the young Captain of the Guards, Kien. Gondien knew it would be best to keep this elf and his apprentice far away from each other.
Many thought he kept the two apart for fear the captain would harm his apprentice, whom he truly was fond of. In truth, Gondien knew there was more to Terrin than the boy let on. A quite strength that he likened to a sleeping dragon. One who foolishly woke it would find themselves in a lot of trouble.
Kien however seemed to enjoy baiting the other elf, as if he wanted to pull out whatever secrets Terrin kept hidden. It didn't help that Terrin seemed to fancy the other elf's sister, Caladwen.
"How can I help you my lords," Gondien asked calmly.
"I need to requisition new knives," Kien grinned, bringing forth a set of ruined knives. "Mine sadly met their end facing a group of spiders."
"I see," the blacksmith took the blades and examined them carefully to see if there was anyway to save the blades at all. "Truly it looks like these have seen the end of their days. I can have a similar pair made for you by the end of the week. And you my Prince?"
"Oh nothing for me Gondien," Prince Legolas smiled cheerfully, truly the most loved of the royal family. "I still have several sets of the arrows you last made."
"I hope they serve you well my Prince," Gondien smiled back.
"And where is you 'apprentice'," Kien interrupted making the title sound derisive. "Perhaps he is doing something worthy of his station, such as cleaning out the waste baskets."
"Kien," Legolas started, trying to keep his friend in line.
"Oh come Legolas," Kien chuckled. "Surely 'he' knows his place by now."
"Captain," this time Gondien started to speak however another beat him to it.
"And what is my place, exactly," Terrin asked calmly as he stepped into the room causing the others to tense slightly.
"On the ground bowing to your betters," Kien sneered.
"Show me my betters and I shall do so," the other retorted, voice still even. "As of yet I have not seen any that warrant such actions."
"How dare you," the captain growled. "Legolas is a prince of the realm and..."
"And he is not the one asking I bow before him, as he has shown the true metal of a warrior and put titles aside," the quick easy reply only enraged Kien further.
"What would you know of the 'True metal of a warrior'," Kien demanded. "You're nothing but a blacksmith's assistant! You aren't even good enough to become a master in your own right!"
"Perhaps," Terrin shrugged.
"You're not worthy to associate with us! And you certainly are not worthy to even look at my sister!"
"Ah the true reason comes out," Terrin shrugged. "Who I associate is none of your business. And your sister has the right to choose who she allows to look at her, let alone speak with her."
With an angry cry Kien finally jumped at the other elf, planning to land the punch he had been wishing to land for some time now. Legolas and Gondien cried out trying to stop him but they were too slow. However all three gapped in shock as Terrin stalled the fist with one hand.
Blue green eyes that once held some semblance of life stared dully at the one who attacked him. Kien may not admit it to anyone but himself, but he felt a real shiver of fear go down his spine.
"I suggest you stop this, or I'll show you how much of a warrior I am," Terrin advised. With a slight movement of his wrist he pushed the other away from him. "I've said it before Kien and I'll say it again. You know nothing about me. And you have nothing to worry about. Caladwen has made her choice clear, I will not object her decision."
"What," Kien hissed in confusion. "What choice?"
"Caladwen chose Finidir," the apprentice advised the older brother as he turned from him to complete his duties. "I respect her decision and as such I will not pursue her as more than a friend."
"F…Finidir," Kien balked in disbelief. "So all this time I've been harassing the wrong ellon…"
"Pretty much," Terrin smirked, genuine humor in his eyes. "But I admit your dedication to your duty as an older brother is admirable."
Rolling his eyes in irritation Gondien finally put his foot down. "Enough! I will not have you ruining my workshop! You," he pointed at Kien. "Stop acting like an elfling. One of these days it will get you killed! And you," he turned to Terrin. "Get back to work!"
Both ellons made to respond, though Legolas held Kien back, trying hard to keep a snicker in, when a strange feeling froze them all.
/Warrior of Fire, you are called to fulfill your destiny/ a disembodied voice echoed throughout the small workshop.
"Who's there," Kien called out, all of them looking around.
Legolas pulled out his own knives and Gondien grabbed one of his hammers.
/Warrior of Fire, your time has come/
Terrin felt his stomach drop at those words.
"Get out of here Legolas," Kien directed. "Obviously whatever it is wants one of us."
"No," Terrin sighed in resignation. The other three turned to him in surprise. "You are not the one they seek."
"What…"
Fire burst forth in a circle surrounding Terrin's feet the flames dancing higher and higher until he was completely surrounded. Gondien, Legolas and Kien all threw up their arms to block the heat and flame from them. Within minutes the flame died taking Terrin with it. All three elves stared in disbelief at the spot the elf once stood.
"We need to speak to my father immediately," Legolas whispered receiving nods in agreement.