Late afternoon neared as the small rescue party hastily raced back towards Imladris. It had been several hours since they rescued Lady Celebrían from the clutches of Azgad barely escaping with their lives in tow. No singing, talking or merrymaking could be heard among the now small and desolate party. More than half of their kin had been slain that day including the young twin brothers Raithon and Radhron who sacrificed themselves so the rest of them could escape.

Only now the weary group could finally slow down now that the enemy did not pursue them any longer. As they made their way back, Glorfindel risked looking at his friend who had not spoken a single word since they escaped with his wife who had been severely beaten and appeared to be fading as a result.

As his eyes rested upon Elrond, he could feel his himself break at the sight before him. The raven-haired lord could barely keep his emotions from materializing. His face distorted in such pain it was almost unbearable to look at. Elrond did not even notice Glorfindel watching him for his mind was preoccupied with his wife who still lay unconscious, her body in a crumpled heap against his chest. She made no sound nor made any movement since being rescued. In fact, at first glance, one would have thought she was dead if it had not been for an occasional twitch or soft moan which would leave her mouth.

Elrond tried to hold back his anguish, but the more he stared down at the unresponsive form, the more he was unable to hide his pain. Even now thoughts of guilt raided his mind. Thoughts he had failed her overwhelmed him. Why did he let her leave? He should never have given into her pleas to let her go. Maybe if he had listened to his intuition, she would not have been captured and tortured. Perhaps if he had gone with her or even sent his sons, this would have never happened. The more Elrond thought of these possibilities, the more he began to lose his composure.

As the golden-haired warrior watched the scene unfold before him, he began to worry for the Peredhel family. What if Celebrían failed to survive her ordeal? Would the rest of the family one by one succumb to their grief and follow her to the Halls of Mandos? Glorfindel shook these thoughts from his mind. No, she had to live, there was no other alternative. Finally, Glorfindel could no longer keep his eyes on the heartbroken Elf–lord, and he fixed his gaze on the twins who rode in the back of the group. They had decided to remain in the rear as to keep an eye out for any Orcs which might have followed them.

As he continued eyeing them, he noticed the brothers did not look much better than their father. The only difference was their gray eyes held a hint of deep rage which threatened to consume them. Glorfindel knew this fury would help to keep the twins from wallowing in their grief but for how long he knew not. And as much as he hated to admit this, he was comforted slightly by it for he knew as long as they had this anger, they would continue to live.

As Glorfindel watched them, he was interrupted by a chilling scream from the front, turning quickly towards the source of the noise he noticed Celebrían screaming and writhing in pain, her pale, bruised face contorting with every movement. No longer able to hold back his tears, Elrond attempted with all his might to calm her down.

Glorfindel could no longer remain still, and he quickly rode over to Elrond who at first would not allow his friend to help her, but after several minutes of not being able to quiet his wife he relented and allowed Glorfindel to aide him. The golden-haired warrior slowly and carefully laid his hands on her forehead and began to murmur soft words of healing over her. After a few seconds, the words started to have an effect on her, and Celebrían once again quieted down.

Shakily, Elrond sighed a breath of relief, but it seemed short lived as he noticed her breathing slowed and became more labored. Holding Celebrían closer, Elrond pleaded for her to please hold on. Glorfindel tried to comfort his friend who started to give into his sorrow. "Do not despair, she will make it. Celebrían has shown great strength already by surviving this long; please do not abandon hope now." However, Elrond did not seem to hear him and continued to beg and plead for Ilúvatar to please spare his wife.

As Elrond's voice began to rise, several of the other Elves turned and looked with anguished looks on their faces. Glorfindel knew that if Elrond did not calm down, he would risk the enemy hearing them, so he continued to try comfort and reason with his lord. As he kept trying to contend with Elrond, he looked back to check on the twins who hearing their mother scream and witnessing their father's grief began to ride back and forth pure hatred forming on their faces. Glorfindel knew he could not leave Elrond right now. However, he made a mental note in his mind to not allow the twins to stray too far from his sight. The last thing he or any of them needed was for the twins to lash out and end up doing something reckless and irresponsible. Eventually, Glorfindel was able to calm Elrond, and they continued riding towards Imladris with as much speed as they could afford to spare.

As evening approached, the group was forced to finally stop for a while much to the disappointment of Elrond. He wanted to continue riding until they made it back home, but Glorfindel managed to convince him that some of the other Elves were injured and their horses needed to rest as well. Realizing his friend was right, he ordered the company to set up camp for a few hours. As soon as they had a small fire going, they rubbed down their horses and gave them a drink of water before they sat down around the fire themselves.

While they were busy eating, Glorfindel sent a few of his Elves to scout out for any signs of enemy pursuit. While they were away, Elrond took this time to check over Celebrían, who finally opened her eyes. Elrond still noticed her breathing seemed slower than usual, but she did not appear to be in any real pain.

"Celebrían, can you hear me? It is me, Elrond. Do you know where you are at?" he asked her softly caressing her forehead. Celebrían just stared off into space not responding to any of his questions. Elrond started to make her a slight sedative when she began giggling. Everyone looked at her unsure of why she was laughing before exchanging worried glances with one another.

Sitting the cup down, Elrond started smoothing her forehead. "Celebrían, what do you find so amusing my love?" The Half-Elf's voice held concern in it; perhaps she was losing all sense with reality. As he bent down closer to her, she looked at Elrond a smile playing on her cracked lips.

Celebrían's eyes locked on with Elrond's but still looked off with a faraway gaze. "Elrond, are they not beautiful?"

Confused Elrond looked at Glorfindel who shook his head in confusion as well, turning back to his wife he placed his arm around her shoulder. "Are who beautiful?"

Celebrían rolled her eyes and laughed. "Our newborn sons of course! We still need to name them. What do you think we should call them?"

The twins heard their mother and walked up to Glorfindel. He stared at them for a moment, all three mirroring the same worried looks. Not sure just what was going on, he gently pulled Elrond aside. Before Glorfindel could ask what seemed to be the matter with Celebrían, Elladan cut in no longer able to hide his fear. "Father, what is wrong with mother? Why does she think she has just given birth to us?" the young ellon asked looking back and forth between his parents'.

Elrond did not exactly know what was going on other than she appeared to be hallucinating and losing grips with reality. "I am not sure what is going on Elladan, but it seems your mother is confused but why I am not certain."

Glorfindel just started to respond when one of his scouts returned a worried look evident in his eyes. Glorfindel did not want to upset either Elrond or Celebrían, so he excused himself and went to meet the returning scout.

Saluting, Túon started to give Glorfindel his report, his voice slightly carrying. "My Lord Glorfindel, I have grave news."

Glorfindel motioned for Túon to lower his voice. The last thing they needed was for Celebrían to overhear and to start losing control. "What is it Túon?"

Lowering his voice, Túon proceeded to tell him of his findings. " It would appear that we are not alone out here. We have come upon some Orc tracks; however, it is hard to tell if they are close by or not."

Glorfindel closed his eyes his voice carrying a hint of irritation. "More Orcs? That is just what we need. Thank you Túon, please go gather the others and return here immediately."

Túon bowed. "Yes, my lord."

After he left Glorfindel approached Elrond and told him the news. "What do you want to do?" Glorfindel knew whatever they did they had to be careful. For one, they could not afford to lose any more of their people and two; they could not risk Celebrían' life. She was already nearing death as it was.

Elladan gripped his sword his fingers itching to fight and cut down as many Orcs as he could. "I say we hunt them down and slaughter them where they stand. Give them the element of surprise. They will not know what hit them," he said his face contorting in anger. Elrohir agreed with his brother. Why wait until they the enemy found them? If they could catch them unaware, then they could wipe them out with no problem.

Elrond looked at his wife who remained half awake still muttering incoherently. No, he knew to do so would be folly. They were in no position to fight especially since they had no idea of their number. "We will pack up and go a long way around back home. I will not risk endangering your mother any further nor our people."

"But why? We…" Elrohir started to protest, but one look from their father gave them no room for argument.

"Be patient my son, we will avenge your mother, but right now we must get her home, she cannot withstand another attack."

The twins bowed their heads in respect and left to tell the others to pack up their belongings for they were leaving at once. Once the company packed everything up, they mounted their horses and started off heading towards the back way to Rivendell. The route home this way proved tough as many steep hills, loose rocks, and dips covered the ground. Plus, recent rain caused the dirt to become thick mud and the horses had trouble walking through it. Nevertheless, the weary group managed to make it through with little problems.

They had been traveling this way for little over a day when numerous scouts galloped quickly back and reported signs of Orcs on this way home as well. It appeared they were being tracked and the enemy was attempting to cut them off in every possible way they could. At this, Elrond grew furious and lashed out at the scouts. "How could you not know there were Orcs on this path? You should have known this and warned us beforehand!" he shouted his eyes growing dark causing both his wife and the others to recoil.

Feeling his wife drawback slightly at his voice, Elrond knew he had been wrong to lose his temper. "Forgive me, please. It is not your fault; there was no way you would have known enemies traveled on this path. I suggested this way, but Orcs or no Orcs we must continue this way for my wife is getting worse." The scouts bowed their heads, and the group resumed their journey.

As Elrond looked down, he saw his wife looking off into the distance laughing once more as she pointed to the horizon. "Elrond look at Elladan and Elrohir. They are teaching Arwen how to climb a tree." Suddenly her face became serious. "I hope she does not fall. It is an awfully long fall if she does."

Elrond looked to where his wife was pointing and was now completely panicking. Not only was her breathing becoming slower and more labored but she now seemed to be hallucinating. He had no idea what was causing these symptoms, but he knew if he did not get her home and fast he could lose her entirely.