Maglor told us to stay close to the hunting party and we assured him we would. Maedhros didn't want us to come on the hunt. His sourer than usual expression said as much, but he didn't argue with Maglor on the point. Elros and I had never been allowed to go very far outside the compound. Maedhros said it was too dangerous. He never let us have any fun! Why did he have to be so serious all the time? At least, Maglor still laughed and sang and danced sometimes. Despite myself, I grew fond of Maglor, but Maedhros... He didn't care about us. Why should we care about him?
"Get your bow, brother!" said Elros, practically glowing with excitement. "They're beginning to leave!"
I snatched up my bow and ran off after Elros. His joy was contagious! The thrill of the hunt began to course through my veins as well. Horses were in short supply so we hunted on foot. I felt as though we were a pride of lions, stalking the jungles of my childhood storybooks. The forest smelled green and alive with the fist stirrings of springtime. If we were successful today, there would be fresh meat for dinner!
"Be wary, little ones," one of our companions reminded. Elros and I nodded and I tried to concentrate. I wanted so much to prove myself to Maglor. I wanted to spot the best game, then I would be honored at tonight's feast and Maglor would let me go on all the hunting trips. Suddenly, the group stopped.
Someone had spotted something! I exchanged a look with my twin and we scooted up closer to the front so we could see what was going on. There was a group of wild boar off to the southeast. Wordlessly, Maedhros signaled the plan of attack. His, admittedly, brilliant tactical skills now went to use primarily for the procuring of food rather than winning battles.
It would seem we were splitting into three groups. Elros seemed to have chosen the group circling around to flank the beasts on the east side. I followed him. We stalked quickly and quietly all the way around behind the group of boars. My blood pounded in my ears and I fought to keep my breath even. When we settled into position, Elros poked me. We shared manic grins of excitement. Just then, our leader signaled the charge.
It was every bit as exhilarating as I had hoped. We ran, whooping and hollering. I managed to bring down a boar right away, but it seemed like most of them were going to get away. Then, the other two groups closed in. The boars were running straight for their swords and spears. Most of them never even saw the blows coming.
"Nice work," Maedhros praised the company. "We will eat well."
Half of the hunting party brought the boars back to the compound. The rest of us continued the hunt. Elros scampered to Maglor's side and related every detail of how I, his skilled and heroic twin, brought down a boar with a single shot. I know I must have been blushing. It really hadn't been all that impressive. Still, Maglor patted me on the back. "You made your first kill on the hunt! Congratulations!"
"I was just lucky," I protested.
"You practice with that bow every day." The soft voice behind me made me jump. I turned to see it was Maedhros. "That isn't luck. It's the payoff of hard work and discipline."
Without waiting for a response, he stalked back to the front of the hunting party and we set out. I couldn't help but feel a giddy warmth at Maedhros's attention and approval. What should it matter what he thought of me? He was nothing but a bitter, crotchety has-been. The only reason he noticed that I practiced every day was probably because he was looking for the opportunity to punish me or chastise me for something.
The second half of the hunt did not mirror our initial success. "I'm tired," I whispered to my twin.
"Me too," he answered. "And bored."
"Me too. Let's go sit down for a while. We can catch up in a bit."
Elros agreed to this. Little by little we had straggled to the back of the group so slipping away was an easy matter. We found a clearing and sat down. It felt blessedly wonderful to be off our feet. We laid down in the soft leaves left over from the previous Autumn. The forest was so quiet and peaceful. Here we could see the blue sky above and we watched the clouds travel across our patch of the heavens.
I opened my eyes. Immediately, fear gripped my throat like chill hand. How long had I been asleep!? In a panic, I shook Elros awake. As awareness dawned upon him, my own anxiety was in his eyes.
"We are going to be in so much trouble," whispered Elros to himself. I grabbed both of his shoulders.
"We are in so much trouble!"
As if in corroboration on my statement, there could be heard a rustling from the edge of the clearing. We scrambled for our weapons and look up a fighting stance. We were ready none too soon. A group pf orcs tromped into view. Immediately, I let loose arrows as fast as I could fire and Elros readied his spear. The orcs came at us. There were just so many, too many. Soon I had to drop my bow and draw my sword. Though we fought well and bravely, we were yet young and their numbers were too great for us.
Captured again. It was all too sickeningly familiar and we both knew it would not go so well for us this time. They tied us up and began to make camp. Elros fought so fiercely, they knocked him unconscious. I stopped fighting then. Obviously it would do no good. Now all there was to do was to sit and wonder what would become of us. Without even my brother to talk with, I had never felt so alone in all my life. Why did the orcs keep us? I decided I didn't want to find out and began to struggle desperately against the ropes. I remembered hearing tales of how Finrod Felegund burst bonds of steel when he was in his captivity, but, try as I might, I could not break the ropes. Who else in the history books was captured? Finrod, Hurin, Maedhros... Maedhros was captured. Once, he was just as I was then. He too must have felt so alone and scared. Would these orcs take us to Angband? Would we be brought before Morgoth? I had never devoted any thought to what must have happened to him, the pain and despair he must have felt. He was in Angband almost as long as I had been alive! I imagined decades of darkness and torture with no hope of rescue. Now, who would rescue us? Fingon the Valiant was long dead. Maglor did not rescue Maedhros, so it was unlikely he would rescue us.
"Who will save us now?" I sobbed aloud. Maedhros. Surely he could not leave us, knowing better than any what awaited us. "Maedhros. Maedhros! Help! Help, Maedhros! Please!" I was screaming now. I thought only of rescue, clung to it.
Two of the orc captains approached, probably to shut me up. I only screamed louder. He had to hear me. He just had to! The largest orc swatted my face with his huge hand and grunted something in the base orc language. I lay on the ground, stars dancing in my vision. The other orc was approaching Elros. He exchanged words briefly with his companion. They seemed to have agreed upon something.
What it was became clear when the orcs began to cut off our trousers.
"No," I choked out. "Elros! Wake up! Wake up!" I fought and squirmed away with every ounce of strength I had left, but Elros was still unconscious and helpless. At least we would die quickly. It is said that elves die when violated. But then, we were not fully elven. I shuddered and a cry of pure terror escaped my lips.
To my surprise, an answering scream tore through the orc camp, a shrill, unholy scream of rage. Our attackers forgot all about us, staring, frozen, at the opposite edge of the clearing. I could have sworn the forest was ablaze, the daylight blotted out by smoke. Once in a proper sitting position I beheld a dark figure wreathed in flame, it's eyes burned like white-hot embers. The figure began to move. The orcs swarmed toward it. The figure raised it's sword and, with inhuman speed, slashed through them three and four at a time. Nothing could stand in the way of this being of flame. It blazed brighter still and let out a battle cry. Even as the orcs paused, the fire-demon's attack became swifter and more intense. Now it was screaming at the orcs in their own language, it's voice screeching and scratching like iron grinding against iron. The orcs that didn't flee in terror fell under the being's sword or were smashed by it's right arm, or rather by the lead bracer Maedhros wore to preserve the strength of his handless right arm. This was Maedhros!?
I called out to him. The blazing eyes flicked from us to the two orcs kneeling before us, their crime all too evident. The sword slipped from Maedhros's grasp and the fire of his soul roared in it's intensity. He surged forward. The orc kneeling before me tried to stand up but Maedhros was too quick. He gripped the orc's skull, using the eye sockets as finger holes, and threw it across the clearing. In the same motion, he launched himself at the second orc, tearing it's throat out with his teeth. Then he turned to Elros and me. I was about to flee myself, but the flames in his eyes were gone as a candle blown out in a puff of wind.
Hastily, Maedhros wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve as he rushed to Elros's side. "No," he whispered, covering the prone figure with his cloak. "They... They..."
"They didn't get a chance. He's just knocked out." I assured him. There was a desperation in his voice that I'd never heard before.
"Thank Eru!" To my shock, Maedhros pulled me into a crushing embrace. "I was so afraid when I couldn't find you. All the terrible things that could have happened... I'd never forgive myself." Maedhros was crying. He was actually crying. So was I, I realized.
"I don't think I want to go hunting again for a while," I said when he finally, reluctantly, let me go.
"Good," Maedhros answered, "because I won't let you."
After retrieving his sword and checking Elros over, he picked up the bundle that was my twin and we set off for home.
In the years that followed, I became much closer to Maedhros, and while his strict discipline still got on my nerves, I understood that all he wanted to do was to protect us.
"Did he ever let you go hunting again?" Elladan asked.
Elrond laughed. "Of course, he did. He even taught us how to wrestle an alligator."
"An alligator!?" Elrond's twin sons cried.
"Yes, but when we were older. I tell you these things so you understand why I will not allow you to fight with the Edain, not yet."
The twins' faces fell.
"I am not saying 'no'. I am saying 'later'. I am also saying that I understand how you feel for I felt just the same way at your age. It may be that you would not have the same unfortunate experience as my brother and I but you need to understand that the danger is real."
"I guess you're right," moped Elrohir. "And if we did get captured, you can't shoot flames from your eyes and rip orcs apart with your teeth.
Elrond raised his eyebrows. "That remains to be seen."
The twins exchanged a dubious look.
"Okay, we'll wait," Elladan agreed and Elrohir nodded in affirmation.
Elrond couldn't help but smile. His sons were, indeed, emerging from adolescence and becoming very fine, responsible adults.
"Thank you for understanding, my dear ones," Elrond said as he pulled his sons into an embrace, which set them to squirming and grumbling. "How about we get some tea and cakes and I'll tell you about wrestling alligators."