Authors Note: Well this is my first Lord of the Rings work, so I do hope that you will enjoy it. There are just a few housekeeping notes before I let you get to the good part. First this is an AU that takes bits and pieces from both the movies and books. Second, I am aware that Tolkien stated that the elves of Beleriand did not fight in the war of wrath. I have always found that hard to believe and so have written otherwise for this story. Lastly, to SerenLyall who without this fic would have never been and who also betaed this chapter into a readable work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. If anyone who has found their way to this fic but has not read hers I recommended them without hesitation.
Disclaimer: I like many of us simple playing in the sand box of the master piece that Tolkien wrote before I was even born.
Elrond watched as the last hope of the free peoples of Middle-earth began their long trek towards the land of doom. His prayers for their success were interrupted by the powerful touch of his mother-in-law's mind.
*The odds of their success are low. Mithrandir knows this and is willing to try. He has always been one to play the odds. You are not, however; not with the lives of those you love in the balance. You speak of the time of the elves being over, yet Imladris's house guard has grown to levels not seen since the last alliance. Tell me, son of my heart, where does your fate lie?* Galadriel's voice carried the power of the light of the Two Trees.
*My heart lies torn in two, for I fear that I will not see Celebrían again in this life. I have chosen once again, this time as Elros once did. When the time comes I will stand by Aragorn's side as I once promised my brother. I will keep my oaths. All those in Imladris who wish to sail will leave within the week.* Elrond's mind carried his conviction over the long distance to Lothlorien.
*Then those who are left will go to war against the darkness one last time? Thrice will we deny the shadows' dominion over this land* Galadriel finished the peredhel's thought, and she felt Elrond's affirmation.
*Lothlorien will stand with you.* With that final promise her touch faded, leaving Elrond with the impression of plans being quickly made.
He came back to full awareness as Glorfindel approached and clasped his arm. "Elrond?" The warriors vice was soft in order to avoid drawing unwanted attention from the crowd, which was only just beginning to disperse.
"Lothlorien will stand with us when the time comes," Elrond stated. He too kept his voice down.
"That is good news indeed. With Legolas's message from Thranduil that means for the first time in an age, the three kingdoms will stand united." Glorfindel replied.
"The final stand of the elves." The murmured words were Elrond's.
Together Elrond and Glorfindel walked among the residents of Imladris as the crowd dispersed, the elves hurrying to get back to their tasks. Hasty bows showed their deference to their lord.
'For an age this place has been a beacon of light and hope – a home for all, no matter their race. That a simple outpost could turn into one of the most renowned places of this world… you'd be so proud of him Gil-galad. I fear that this will be its end, yet it shall be an end that we can be proud of.' Glorfindel glanced about, studying the valley that had become a home to him, as it had too many others.
The pair walked in silence until they reached Elrond's office. While his lord asked for tea to be sent, the golden warrior turned to study the peredhel that he had served for more than an age.
They had been working together every morning, first sparring together, and then going over all of the strategic data that was left from the Last Alliance. The first part was going well; if anything, his lord was a better warrior now than he had been in the entire last age. Moreover, despite the twins' belief, Elrond had not stayed sheltered in the valley. Against both his and Erestor's advice, Elrond had taken to leading a patrol every month for the past age. Elrond had claimed that it was because every leader should know their men, but Glorfindel had wondered even then – and now thought it was clear – that their lord had wanted Rivendell to be ready should the One Ring ever reappear.
The second task was harder, for the time after Gil-galad's death had been tumultuous and frantic. Even an age later, the records from that time were haphazard and poorly written, besides still being difficult to locate and decipher. Still, day after day, they had painstakingly combed through them, finding and copying down anything that might be of use.
A knock at the door heralded the coming of the tea that Elrond had requested, shaking Glorfindel from his thoughts. He hurriedly crossed the room to open the door, allowing the elf bearing a tray into the study.
"Not that it's my business, but why did you not tell Aragorn of your plan?" Glorfindel asked Elrond after the elf had left. "I understand the need for secrecy, but surely he of all people should be allowed to know of your plans?"
Elrond sighed and walked over to the window, which overlooked the valley that he had spent so long ruling. It was a long moment before he answered his friend's question. "To find his true strength, Aragorn must feel alone. Only then will I know if my brother's strength still remains in the blood of men." He turned around and leaned against the window frame, focusing his attention on Glorfindel. "Everything will have been in vain if, once the elves are gone, the race of men falls."
"I did not lie when I said the time of the elves is over," Elrond continued. "Those that survive what is to come will sail to the Undying Lands, never to face the sorrow of this land again. Then the Secondborn will be alone. What then? Will they stand? Or will they fall? What Aragorn finds on this journey will save them or condemn them." Elrond's voice was soft and sad.
The pain visible in his friend's eyes made Glorfindel pause before speaking, "Yet it cuts you to the core to make him think that you no longer care for this land, and that Arwen's choice has driven all love for this land from you, as once happened to Celebrían."
"There was no choice," Elrond said, and if anything his tone was even more sorrowful.
Elrond's face shuttered and he once again became to unreadable master of Imladris. "Has the Dwarven contingent made a decision?" he asked, purposefully switching topics abruptly.
Accepting the change from friend to lord with the ease of ages, Glorfindel too shifted mindset. "A message came just as the Fellowship were about to leave. I put it on your desk."
Watching Elrond flick through the messages on his desk, Glorfindel's mind began to wander once more, this time back to when they first met. Elrond had been still, by the elf's count of time, just a child, but both he and his brother had been warriors fighting against Morgoth. Glorfindel had known then that he had made the right choice in asking to come back. Both of the twins had quickly become fast friends, and they had fought and learned together – he about the world around him, a world seemed like a new one from the one he had lived in, and Elrond of the past and of his family.
'From a strange child, to Herald to the High King, to a Lord and Commander in your own right. We have walked a strange path, you and I, but I am honoured to have walked it with you.' Glorfindel's musing was cut off by the scrape of Elrond's chair.
"Well?" he asked
The darker of the pair nodded. "The dwarfs are ready and will march once we send word. Every race I have been able to contact is ready." Elrond answered.
"An army the likes of which has not been seen since the War of Wrath," Glorfindel mused. "Sauron will have not forgotten the army that destroyed Morgoth's. His eye will be fixed on us. That is the true purpose of this army, is it not? You know that we cannot destroy Sauron and his evil with an army even ten times the strength of that which we can now marshal, and yet you call all the Free Peoples of Middle Earth to arms. So you plan to allow the Fellowship a chance unlike anything that they could have hoped for." With realisation dawning, Glorfindel felt a cold shiver travel down his spine. "A ring bearer challenging him directly Sauron could never refuse. So you plan to use your own life as a distraction." The golden warrior's voice faded out, yet he knew he spoke the truth when his Lord would not meet his eyes. "So this is why you have refused to tell me your full purpose," Glorfindel added bitterly.
"As you said, a distraction that Mithrandir could have never hoped for," Elrond said as shadowed eyes finally meet Glorfindel's, ignoring his friend's last statement. "I fear that it is also the only chance for the Fellowship to succeed, for the lines of fate in which they are victorious fade more each day. If they are to complete their mission, they will need the support of all Arda Marred." The pain in Elrond's voice conveyed how many of his visions had ended all too clearly. "I will not allow that future to happen! Even if it means my own death." The strength behind Elrond's voice would have shocked anyone who had not known him as Herald to the High King.
"Then with your blessing, I will return to the role as your Battle-Brother," Glorfindel murmured, his voice thick with emotion, "To ensure that you may sail whole and unshadowed by time in the Halls of Mandos to the maiden who waits for you in the West." Glorfindel stood and bowed as he finished speaking.
"It will be honour to fight by your side once more, old friend," replied Elrond as his first true smile of the day lit up his face.
Returning to his chair, Glorfindel's thoughts turned on the future, and began to trace out logistics in his mind. "Have you told the twins of your plans yet?" he asked.
"Not yet. They are due in from the Dúnedain settlement within the week. I will tell them as soon as they return, for they will need time to prepare," Elrond responded.
"In more ways than one," Glorfindel observed wryly. "Have they ever seen you in battle?" As he asked the question Glorfindel scanned his memories.
"Skirmishes only, never a pitched battle, or as the commander of a large force. Indeed, I feel that they think the stories of my time as Ereinion's herald have been greatly exaggerated." Elrond spoke as his pinched the bridge of his nose to hold back the oncoming headache back.
"A lot is going to change very quickly. They'll adapt, just as you always have." Glorfindel's calm voice helped Elrond centre himself.
"They will have to," Elrond replied heavily. "I need them as unit commanders. The Dúnedain will march with us, and Elladan and Elrohir will be their connection to the Elven contingent." As he spoke Elrond moved the various official documents of his desk and spread out a very large map.
Glorfindel grabbed a large box from the bookshelf, where it had lain for almost an age opened so rarely for an age that a layer of dust had gathered on it. Opening it, he let the multiple internal shelves to spread open, revealing different shaped and sized wooden blocks in a multitude of colours.
Grabbing two large, black cylinders, he placed them on the map's marks for Mordor and Isengard. "So Saruman at Isengard and Sauron in Mordor means we must either split our forces or concentrate on one, fully destroying it before moving on to the other, which will then have had time to prepare. " Glorfindel tapped different marks as he talked and pulled three small black cubes from the shelves.
One Elrond placed on Dol Duldur, another at Minas Morgul, where the Witch King's forces remained. The third, marked with the elvish symbol for nine, was placed at the Imladris ford crossing.
"The Nine will take some time to recover their strength after losing their horses and being pulled down river by the Bruinen. We have that on our side at least," Glorfindel said as he circled around the table.
A large White block was placed on Minas Tirith, and a smaller one on Osgiliath. "The Gondorians will hold for as long as possible, but I fear that cannot be for long. Lord Boromir's news was grave indeed," Elrond spoke up.
Light green blocks were removed from the box this time, placed at Edoras and at Helm's Deep. "If threatened King Théoden will retreat to Helm's deep," Elrond frowned as Glorfindel spoke, "Yet they lie between Isengard and Gondor. Saruman cannot let them be if he wishes to march his army to Gondor. It would be foolish indeed to discount the horse lords." Glorfindel continued to circle around the map.
As a dark grey block was placed on the Lonely Mountain Glorfindel spoke up again. "The Dwarfs will first meet with the Mirkwood Contingent. There still may be bad blood between them."
"Thranduil gave me his word that he will keep his temper contained," Elrond replied. "We cannot afford dissension between the races, both of them know this. Thranduil also yearns with his whole being to rid Mirkwood of the evil that rests there and have it become known once again as Greenwood the Great. It will be up to his and Dain's warriors to do this and meet up with the rest once they are finished." Elrond rubbed at his temples as he spoke. Co-ordinating such a large group was difficult as the best of times, and adding in old feuds was making it that much harder.
Lastly, sliver blocks were placed on Imladris, Lothlórien, and Mirkwood. "Then we sweep South-east, gathering allies and eliminating enemies as we go. We make both Saruman and Sauron focus their full attention on us, allowing the Fellowship to slip quietly through," Glorfindel said as the studied the placement of the blocks.
"It is daring and will certainly get their attentions. The supply lines will be hard to maintain, however, as will order in the ranks. Neither the dwarfs nor the humans have seen an army of this size in living memory. We shall have our own problems too, for has been a very long time since we have had a mobilisation of this scale, and some of the younger elves have never been a part of such a large force. It will take time for everyone to adjust." Elrond stated the facts with ease, although there was a slight shade of worry and discomfort in his eyes that Glorfindel, only having known Elrond for as long as he had, could detect.
"We will show Mordor that the Free Peoples of Middle Earth will fight it to the last for their freedom," Glorfindel swore, finally putting into words that which they had both been thinking.
A/N I hope you have enjoyed this little offering. If you have any thoughts, questions or comments; positive or negative please let me know via the review button.