NB. I'm not writing elvish out although I think that amongst themselves the characters would speak it. Elvish is denoted by italic writing.
A gloriously warm sun shone dappled light through the golden leaves on the outskirts of Mirkwood. Three dark-haired riders trotted leisurely, weaving their path through the trees.
"I don't understand why you two can't just teach me!" the would-be-ranger protested.
Elladan smiled, young Estel had not stopped complaining about the journey since they left Imladris. Elrohir gave a long glance at the young man and repeated his answer yet again.
"You want to learn from the best, we have taught you all we can of swordsmanship and tracking. You insist on learning to use a bow, Legolas is the best archer known to us."
"Honestly Estel!" Elladan gasped with weariness, "You've done nothing but harass us that it's been months since we visited the prince and now you're entirely petulant about going! I would have thought you'd be looking forward to seeing him again!"
Estel sulked, of course he wanted to see Legolas again, but the idea of being tutored by him was embarrassing. The elf-prince wouldn't let him live it down if he made errors, which as a man and not an elf he was sure to make. No, he wasn't looking forward to seeing the elf-prince on this trip.
The twin elves could sense their human brother's hesitation, though they could not understand it themselves. Elrohir cantered his horse on challenging,
"Tell you what, if you beat me to the gate, Elladan and I will teach you instead!" and galloped off ahead.
Estel didn't need to think twice, he spurred his horse on. Elladan shook his head with a smile, his little human brother was supposed to be growing into a man, but he would always be a child to their family. He was glad of the distraction concocted by his twin, he knew he had no intention of letting Estel win.
The training ranger encouraged his horse to go faster and faster, he was quite determined not to be taught archery by the prince. He dared to cut lines through the trees which bought him close to being smacked straight off by lower branches in an effort to gain on his elven brother. It was no good though, as he rounded the bend in the path Elrohir was at a stand-still in the gateway. The young man sighed.
"That wasn't fair, you had a head start!" he criticised breathlessly.
But the elf's attention was elsewhere, he made no acknowledgement of the man's presence as Estel's horse trotted up next to his. The young man frowned as he looked to Elrohir.
"Something is ill." Elrohir stated solemnly.
Estel detected the hint of worry in his tone and followed the elf's gaze in scanning their surroundings. It was too quiet for a forest, but that had always been Estel's experience of Mirkwood. He knew already there was a darkness growing in the south, but he had a feeling that wasn't what his elven brother was referring to. The two listened carefully to the echoing silence, Estel saw as Elrohir's fingers wrapped instinctively around his sword pommel. The young man drew his sword from its sheath, ready and waiting.
A noise stirred in the woods behind them, a branch cracked. The two circled their horses around. Estel could feel his heart beating in his ears in the anticipation, he swallowed hard as another noise shifted in the forest undergrowth. They could hear now, something was drawing close to them, plodding slowly through the brush.
Estel's horse suddenly reared up as the approaching adversary broke through the tree cover. The horse's neighed wildly, the young man felt a thud as the ground rose up and hit him. In a panic he quickly grappled to his feet, picked up his sword and swung it towards the dark foe he could barely see through the locks of his wild hair. It was met with a clang of steel. The man flicked his head to get his hair out of his eyes and was stunned for a moment at the sight of Elladan, sword drawn defending his strike. He sighed with relief and sheathed his blade.
"What's the matter with you two!?" Elladan almost rebuked as he replaced his weapon.
"You startled him." Elrohir replied, sheathing his own sword, but the elf was still scanning the forest, something was still unsettling him. It seemed that his twin suddenly picked up on it too as the older elf frowned at the clearing where the gate stood.
"I would've thought someone would have greeted us by now," he scrutinised aloud, and looking down at the grounded man, "especially with all the noise you were making."
Estel squinted his eyes at the remark and re-mounted his horse. The three riders exchanged glances and slowly made their way along the path towards the Elf-King's Halls, the two elves keeping ever vigilant as they progressed.
They drew close to Thranduil's domain, they followed the familiar pathway to the stone bridge over the Forest River. Just as they had crossed, Elladan dismounted followed closely by his twin. They rushed over to the four elves lying on the ground before the great gateway under the hillside. Estel jumped down from his horse and walked slowly to where they lingered. Elladan placed his hand on the first stricken elf's forehead and looked down curiously at the prone woodelf.
He glanced up at Estel as the man approached, "He's alive" the elf reassured and looked around to Elrohir who was looking over the next fallen guard.
"So is this one," he replied to his brother's questioning look. "I think they all are."
Estel gazed dumbfounded at the elf Elladan was inspecting, he lay unconscious, eyes closed, his face marred slightly from the dirt where he had fallen. It was a strange sight to the man, so used to seeing the elves as strong defenders. Elrohir gathered himself up.
"Come on!" he beckoned as he strode towards the great gate. They followed.
As they walked through the corridors of the underground palace they came across many more elves, stricken as those at the gates. It looked as though they had been doing everyday tasks, and had inextricably fallen where they stood. Baskets, trays, sacks, all littered the floors around the fallen elves.
Estel nearly walked into the back of his elven brother as Elladan froze his footsteps. Estel looked around at the confounded elf's gaze, Elrohir was already hovering over another of the elves. He could tell from the elf's dejected stance that something was very wrong. He saw the back of the elf's head shake. As Elrohir stood, the man saw the smear of blood on his hands. Before Elladan could restrain him, the man had bounded over to the bloodied elf. He lay like the others, eyes veiled in unconsciousness but deep gashes cut across the elf's throat. As Estel gazed at the elf in horrified confusion he noticed the elf was bleeding from many gashes to his arms, legs and body. It was as though the elf had been mauled by some clawed creature. The twins couldn't understand why a beast would walk passed so many others and attack only this one, leaving others unscathed.
Estel's thoughts raged elsewhere, his heart jumped into his throat as he contemplated the slain elf and the bodies of unconscious elves littering the hallways. He bolted down the corridor faster than he would ever have believed, his mind focused on one thing. Legolas.