Chapter 3

Estel woke up still trembling from the events in his dreams. There had been orcs everywhere, closing in on Imladris from all directions, invading the forest, crossing the rivers, and no one had been there to stop them. No one had seen them coming.

It was not the first time the smallest member of Elrond's household had been plagued with dreams of orcs, as the vile beasts had come back often in the young boys nightmares, and had slain his father time and time again. Those dreams had had the young boy crying for many times, even made him scared to sleep at some point in his life, but somehow none of those dreams had felt as awful as this one had felt.

None of those dreams had felt as much as a warning.

Though he feared the darkness the young child climbed out of his bed, he feared his dreams more at the moment and he would not go back to sleep until he had seen with his own eyes all was alright. That he was well protected.
His mother was still sleeping when he snuck past her. By the look on her face he could see she had a good dream, and he was careful not to wake her.
His mother did not have good dreams very often, her dreams were worse that his, and almost always about Ada Arathorn, he knew, for she screamed his name in her sleep, begging him not to leave her.

The hall was empty when he reached it, empty and cold in a way it had never been before, and there were no elves laughing or whispering in the corners he could not see. It was deserted.

Estel was shivering again, not only from the cold but also from the feeling of dread that grew in him.
It had never been this dark in the house of Elrond. The elves had lit up the walls with their gentle light; they had driven the shadows away with their laughter and singing voices.
Now it was so dark he could not even see his own hands.

When a soft blue light lit up the room, Estel turned toward it in relief, expecting to see an elf that had just entered. But then another light appeared, and another, and another, and Estel could see that it were not elves that shone, but every single decorative sword on the walls that were warning him:

Orcs.
Orcs are near.

It did not take the boy long to find his father, as lord Elrond was where he had always been ever since Estel had accidentally hurt the stone elf; never far from the motionless elf's side.

Estel stormed in, not seeing anything other than his father's face, incredibly relieved that Ada Elrond was still alive.
"Ada!" he yelled and jumped into his father's arms.

The Elf lord barely took the time to catch him before he placed the young human back onto the ground. "Not now, Estel." His voice sounded strange, the words did not come out entirely right and he spoke so softly.
"But.."
"Please… Estel… not now, sweetheart." His hand brushed lightly over Estel's dark hair. "Tonight I have no time for hope, young one." Estel did not think he had ever heard his father speak in a sadder or softer tone. It was as if all the grief of the world was making it impossible for his father to speak. "My son is dying."

"But… Ada… Orcs!"

"Estel!" the young human had not noticed Glorfindel until he spoke "Just go back into your room and ask your mother to sing you a song, little one. The nightmares will go away when she does." The blond elf seemed to forget about the child right after he had spoken and placed his hand on the shoulder of his old friend. "Perhaps it is better to just let Elladan go, Elrond. You know he shall never be happy here. Don't force him into a life he does not want, my friend."

But Elrond did not seem to hear anything anymore, and held the stone elf, as if he was afraid the motionless figure would lift off any moment and disappear.

Estel stood in the room, lost and forgotten.

Apart from his father, Glorfindel and the stone-elf there were other elves in the room, most of them Estel recognized as warriors or healers.
None of them seemed to have eyes for anything other than Elrond or the stone elf, none of them seemed to even notice him.

They all had the same kind of worried, sad expression on their faces that the young boy recognized from when he had just come to live in Imladris, when his mother had been wounded still and no one had been certain she would live.
"Excuse me…" he said softly, not daring to speak up in the sad silence of the room. No one seemed to hear him. He spoke again louder now. "Excuse me, but there are orcs! Orcs are coming!"

One of the healers looked up from his work. "Go away, boy!"
"But- ORCS! PLEASE…"
The healer glared at him "GO! Lord Elrond has no time for your nightmares right now. And how dare you remind him of orcs on a time like this! His son is dying."

Estel glanced at his father, expecting Elrond to look up and glare at the healer, to tell the elf that Estel was his son too. But his father didn't move, he had eyes for nothing but the pale stone elf, who now lay into his chair with closed eyes.

And suddenly Estel did not want to be in the room anymore. It was filled with all the people that should have protected him from all harm; his father, Glorfindel, the warriors, the healers, the stone elf, who should have been a Vala.

How could he not be a Vala? How could he not get up right now and protect Imladris? How could he just… just… sit in a chair and… die…now that Estel needed a guardian more that anything?
Why couldn't he just be a Vala?

The young boy suddenly felt the need to kick the elf, to scratch him, hurt him in every way possible. How dared he be nothing but a dying elf?
How dared he betray Estel's hope like this?

He wanted to bite, hurt something, someone, his father, Glorfindel… until they listened, until they heard what he had to say.
He wanted to scream until he had no voice left; until someone came to help him, until the Valar sent their warriors.

Instead he turned and left, feeling more alone than ever before.

Thanks to Niniel for editing,.. and evryone who reviewed for doing so.

Liek