A/N:
~Many Thanks to JolyTheHypocondriach, for being my lore master and my beta reader, and for reading through the entirety of To A Mouse by Robert Burns in a terrible heavy scottish accent. She should also be thanked for providing adequate amounts of chips and salsa, and a place to sleep for a week; Including an adorable tuxedo kitten named Loki for entertainment and reluctant cuddles.
~Many thanks also to: autocorrect. The blasted thing seems to believe that clop and rejoined are not actually words in the english language. *dramatic slow clap*
"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy!" (Lines 39-42)
-Robert Burns, To A Mouse
Chapter 1 ~ Best Laid Plans
The twins rose early that morning, excited to spend the day with their master. The evening before, Glorfindel had requested that they present themselves for training. Eager to begin the day's instruction, they rushed to the Balrog slayer's chambers, hoping to find him awake.
As they drew nearer to their master's quarters, they knocked on the door rapidly, not caring if they woke the older elf up. After a minute of sustained knocking and a small period of listening for any sign of movement, the twins barged into the Noldorian's chambers.
They were surprised at the sight of a half-dressed Glorfindel, who rolled his eyes and sighed, "Will either of you ever grow out of your childish antics?", before he finished dressing and armoring. "I suppose that the both of you are prepared to begin today's training?"
Although both twins nodded eagerly, Elladan was the one to speak, "We already ate breakfast and packed our weapons. We even braided each other's hair like you told us." Elrohir grabbed his hair, showing off the simple plaits.
Glorfindel smiled his approval, and patted them both on the back, "I suppose that I will make do with just a bite of Lembas bread this morning. Come now, I have business with your father." Glorfindel kept a brisk pace as the party of three advanced towards Lord Elrond's study. He wasted no time walking through the open door, gently shutting it as he entered, and simply stated,
"The twins will be accompanying me on my patrol today. I hope you do not mind the brevity of this notice." Elrond turned to face his old friend with a look of confusion on his brow.
"Mellon nín, why so sudden a request? Do you not wish any other guard to accompany you?"
"I am scheduled to patrol the western border today, and all that lies that direction is peaceful freefolk. You and I both know it to be the safest area to patrol. It would be a great opportunity for Elladan and Elrohir to gain some much needed experience. We will not require any other guards to accompany us." Elrond seemed to debate the idea of sending his inexperienced children out on patrol with just the golden-haired warrior to lead them.
"You are one of my oldest friends, Glorfindel, and one of the greatest warriors of our kind. I trust that you will ensure Elladan and Elrohir return home safely. Are you absolutely certain that I cannot convince you to allow other guards at your side?"
Glorfindel crossed the spacious study to lay a hand on Elrond's shoulder, and he looked his friend in the eye before stating, "I promise to you, that I will not allow any harm to befall your twins, no matter the price."
Elrond bowed his head, "Then I shall permit you leave to do as you wish. I wish you the best of luck and to my twins, I wish them luck with their studies." Glorfindel nodded in gratitude and swept out of the room, with Elladan and Elrohir following in his wake as he entered the hallway.
As the twins caught up to their master, Elladan asked, "Now that you have finished your business with our father, what have you planned for today?" Glorfindel smirked, but did not respond until they had reached the stables,
"Saddle your horses, today we go on patrol." Elrohir spoke next, clearly excited,
"Is this a jest? Ada would not truly allow us on patrol yet, he claims we are yet too young." Glorfindel chuckled and ruffled Elrohir's hair,
"Not this time, tithen pen. Now quickly, ready your horses, before I change my mind." Elladan and Elrohir jumped to saddle their horses, while Glorfindel whistled for Asfaloth, who rounded the the corner of the stablehouse already groomed and tacked.
The beautiful white stallion nuzzled his master lovingly, and whinnied playfully as they waited for the twins to return with their mounts. When the twins rejoined Glorfindel and Asfaloth, they walked their horses to the gates before mounting. Once mounted, they crossed one of Rivendell's many stone bridges, and pointed their horses towards the western passes.
Their journey to the passes did not take long, and soon they met up with the patrol they were sent to relieve. Upon seeing the other guardsmen, Glorfindel called out, "What have you to report?"
The patrol's captain answered, "All was calm in the night, no disturbances, and nothing out of the ordinary." The golden-haired warrior nodded his thanks,
"That is good news, indeed." He continued over his shoulder to speak to the twins, "This will be good experience for you, no doubt. Come along, we have fallen a little behind our schedule."
As they continued onto the mountain pass, Elladan and Elrohir urged their horses on ahead of Asfaloth, happy that their father had allowed them to go on their first patrol with their mentor. Glorfindel called out to the twins,
"Although this path is typically very safe, make sure that you do not get too swept up in your fun. The both of you must remember that we are still on patrol." Elrohir called over his shoulder,
"Yes, Yes, Glorfindel, we will be careful!" As he said this, he and Elladan raced their horses off along the trail, forcing Asfaloth into a faster pace, just to not lose sight of them. As the twins raced to the big boulder ahead of them, Elrohir's horse pulled up, and blocked Elladan's path. Asfaloth's brisk trot caught up to the spooked horses easily. With a look of confusion, Glorfindel asked,
"Are you having trouble controlling your horse, Elrohir?" Elrohir shook his head decidedly, as he reined in his restless horse,
"I can control her, but when we approached this boulder, she balked and does not want to go any further." Glorfindel reached down to stroke the mare's neck,
"Hush now, young girl, this pass is safe, there is nothing to fear here." As he straightened himself in Asfaloth's saddle, he smirked and remarked, "I have seen mares skitter at the sight of a leaf on the wind, perhaps it was just that."
Elladan laughed at Glorfindel's comment, "It seems my brother has a pathetic mount, she can be scared by a simple leaf." Glorfindel frowned at Elladan,
"Do not mock such frightful horses, often their intuition has saved entire hosts of warriors. Remain on your guard until we are certain that any inkling of danger has passed." Elladan and Elrohir nodded to their master, and reined their horses to fall a step behind Asfaloth.
As they rounded the boulder that had frightened the mare, Glorfindel witnessed a flash of movement disappear behind a rock. With an equally fast flash, his gleaming sword was removed from its sheath and laid across his lap, right hand grasping the jewelled hilt. He hissed to the twins, "Weapons ready." Elladan and Elrohir immediately complied, mimicking Glorfindel's position.
As they advanced further along the spacious pathway, a black-shafted arrow flew from the rocks, striking Asfaloth's haunches; caught unaware, the famed stallion bucked forward, knocking Glorfindel from his saddle.
A second volley of black arrows launched from the rocks, a second arrow striking Asfaloth in the rear, and a single shot piercing the neck of Elladan's stallion, killing him almost instantly. Startled by Asfaloth's panicked cries, Elrohir's mare reared and tossed him to the ground, before she and Asfaloth bolted back down the path they had come.
Rolling to his feet, Glorfindel swore under his breath as the ambushing orcs streamed out from behind the rocks they had hidden behind. He called to Elrohir,
"Free Elladan from beneath his horse! We will need his blade before this is through." The mighty Balrog slayer raised his sword, and moved into a position to defend the twins from the snarling orcs. An orc, moving to perch itself on the boulder, cried out with foul voice,
"Filthy elflings come to kill us! The yellow one in front has pretty hair, maybe we should rip it from his head!" The ugly orc cackled and screeched,
"BREAK THEIR ARMOR! RIP THEIR THROATS! WE FEAST ON ELF BLOOD TONIGHT!" The rest of the band of orcs roared triumphantly, closing in on Glorfindel and the twins.
Glorfindel stepped forward to meet the orcs, shouting, "Come closer, orc filth! I have killed many of your kind before, and I will kill many more still! Come and test the skill of the Balrog slayer!"
Some orcs seemed to hesitate at Glorfindel's words, before being shoved forward by their kin. The only sounds that followed were the sounds of metal meeting metal and the outraged cries of orcs as Glorfindel denied them one by one in defense of the twins.
As Elrohir struggled to free Elladan, both the twins were startled by a cry of pain from their master. When they turned to watch, they were surprised to see that an orc had managed to rip out a chunk of Glorfindel's hair, freeing all of it from the braid he had placed it in, and breaking many of the strands to much shorter lengths.
The successful orc lifted the mess of golden hair like a trophy, and the sight of it freed from the elf's head urged the rest of them into a bloodthirsty frenzy, and greatly bolstered their courage.
Struggling to lift the horse, Elrohir and Elladan witnessed the orcs swarm around the golden Noldorian, and the watched as Glorfindel deftly deflected the poisoned blades.
While Glorfindel was engaged in battle, slicing through orcs left and right, without a single stroke wasted, some of the orcs noticed the floundering twins. Attempting to take advantage of their temporary weakness, a handful of orcs disengaged from battle with the skilled warrior and advanced on the twins' vulnerable situation.
Elrohir and Elladan doubled their efforts to lift the dead horse, hoping to be able to defend themselves before the orcs fell upon them. Just as the the twins' combined strength was enough to finally free Elladan, the twins saw a flash of brilliant silver as Glorfindel's razor sharp blade separated the orcs' head their bodies.
As they saw this, their expressions morphed to horror as they watched an orcish blade punch a hole in their mentor's chest.
Completely enraged, the twins snatched up their fallen swords and rushed to defend the wounded elf-lord.
After nearly most of the remaining orcs lay dead at their feet, one of the orcs got in a lucky strike that ran along the bone in Elrohir's right calf. The filthy blade sliced open the flesh of his leg down to the bone, and the scream of pain he emitted was bone chilling.
Elrohir's scream temporarily stunned Elladan, and he mistimed his block, belatedly allowing the attacking orc's blade to bite into the flesh of his sinewy shoulder. The rush of adrenaline that the pain ignited allowed Elladan to move to defend Elrohir, who had collapsed, unable to bear his weight on his ruined leg.
As the last orc moved to attack Elladan, he weakly raised his right arm in an attempt to block the crushing blow. Again, the orc's blade sliced into his shoulder, but Elrohir cut its legs out from underneath it, and Elladan finished the orc with a brutal strike to the head, ending the agonizing battle.
Despite their injured conditions, both of the twins crawled to their master, praying to all the Valar that the Balrog slayer would survive his second dance with death.
A/N:
To those who have read my stories in the past, you may doubt my ability to complete a story in a timely manner, or at all, to be honest. To you, I promise that I plan for this story to be short, and I implore you to rest assured that most of this story is already written. Please bear with me.
As always, please remember to review. Love is very much appreciated, and suggestions will always help me to improve as a writer. Flames, however, will not be tolerated, although I hear they help to make lovely s'mores.
Thanks for reading!
-Bones McCoy