Six weeks ineveryone! What a fun journey it's been and we're still not done yet. Thank you for all the wonderful support you continue to give me every single day. I have the best readers/reviewers on all of Fanfiction and I love each and every one of you! I hope you're all still enjoying this story because Malorn's journey isn't over!
Enjoy as always and I can't wait to hear how you liked it in the reviews!
"Find a way down there and do it now", Glorfindel bellowed. "I want them found before the wargs get to them!"
The warriors and students who weren't tending the wounded fanned out and scouted the whole of the cliff edge, searching for anything that might offer them a safe way down the sheer drop. They looked and planned for over half an hour, coming up with absolutely no way to get down into the ravine from where they were, short of cutting a path down.
"Master Glorfindel, with all due respect, there is simply no way down from here", Palar said finally. "We have several who are wounded from the wargs and need care and it is not safe here for the younglings. We should start back down the mountain and return to safer areas before nightfall."
"I hope you are not suggesting we simply leave them down there", Glorfindel growled, whirling on the warrior.
"Of course not, my lord, but the others do need to be brought to safety", Palar said. "Let me take a group of ten scouts and we will follow the ravine until we can find a way down. We will backtrack here once we are down in the ravine and rescue Malorn and Ascal."
Glorfindel considered the plan for a long moment before nodding. "Very well, but you shall lead the others down the mountain. I shall take the scouts and find Malorn and Ascal. Send three healthy warriors back to Imladris to get some help. I know not how long it will take to find a safe passage down and we may end up having to construct a way ourselves. Hopefully a band of warriors will be able to make it here by tomorrow afternoon if they ride hard."
"As you wish, master", Palar said, bowing.
"Master Glorfindel, please, let me go with you to find Malorn and Ascal", Vamir pleaded. "I shall not hold you back. Please, I want to help my friend!"
"I know you do, Vamir, but it is far too dangerous and you are not yet as skilled as my warriors", Glorfindel said. "However, you are a very skilled rider, so if you would like, you can accompany the warriors that will be returning to Imladris to bring back help."
Vamir grudgingly agreed, wanting to be of some help, and hurried back to the campsite to join the warriors that Palar was sending back to Imladris. Glorfindel followed and picked out ten of his finest scouts to accompany him in his search of the ravine.
"The four going to Imladris for help are to ride hard there and back. Come as quickly as you possibly can", Glorfindel instructed them. "The rest of you make your way back to Imladris at a pace more suitable for the wounded and young ones. The healthy are to protect the students and injured at all costs. Get them home safely."
"Yes, Master", they said together.
Glorfindel nodded to them and then headed out swiftly with his ten warriors to find a way down to Malorn and Ascal. Vamir hurried to the horses with the three warriors he was accompanying and started to mount his steed. He stopped however when he saw Sûllaer standing with the rest of the horses and pawing restlessly at the ground. Vamir changed his mind and, with a quick explanation to his own horse, ran over to Sûllaer, taking hold of the horse's bridle and calming him down.
"Sûllaer, I need your help", Vamir said. "Malorn has fallen off the cliff and may be hurt. We must go to Imladris and get help quickly for him. I have heard how quickly you carried Lord Elrond home with Malorn when he was hurt on their way to Imladris last spring. Will you please lend me your might and speed now so that we can bring aid back to Malorn?"
Sûllaer whinnied loudly and turned to present his back to Vamir.
"Thank you, mellon nin", Vamir said, vaulting up on the horse's back. He and the three warriors started down the mountain at the fastest possible pace that was still safe on the slick, steep ground.
"Hold on, my friend, please", Vamir begged. "I swear I will bring you back help as soon as I can!"
Malorn groaned softly as awareness began to return to him. His whole body ached and it felt like there was a dwarf hammering the inside of his skull. Slowly he opened his eyes and blinked up into the snow, falling gently down through the thick fog that was settled in the ravine. One by one the memories of recent events returned to him, the avalanche, the wall, the wargs…Ascal!
Malorn rolled over onto his hands and knees and looked around for his fellow student. His eyes first found the warg that had caused this whole mess and he felt no small satisfaction when he realized the evil creature had died, impaled by one of the sharp rocks the littered the ravine floor. He only hoped the same thing had not happened to Ascal.
Carefully, he got to his feet, testing all his limbs for broken bones as he rose. To his relief, he seemed to have come away from the fall with no more than a few painful bruises and sore muscles. He did not feel dizzy or nauseous as he rose so he figured if he had a concussion, it was only mild. Once he was convinced he had no serious injuries, Malorn scanned the immediate area for Ascal and his eyes soon found the other ellon several feet away, lying unconscious and still in a pile of snow, but otherwise looking relatively unharmed. Malorn breathed a sigh of relief. Problems or not, Malorn would never have wished injury or death on Ascal.
"Ascal", Malorn called, kneeling down by the student's side. "Ascal, come on, wake up! Wake up!"
Ascal groaned and his eyes slowly opened, blinking up at Malorn's face in confusion.
"Wh…What happened", he asked, sitting up while holding his head with a hand. "Wh…where are we?"
"The warg knocked us off the cliff edge", Malorn said, helping Ascal sit up. "We are at the bottom of the ravine. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"My shoulder hurts where that foul thing bit me", Ascal grumbled. "Everything else feels as it should after taking a hundred foot fall down a mountainside."
"Here, let me tend to your shoulder", Malorn said, reaching to examine the wound.
"Save it, princeling", Ascal growled, batting Malorn's hands away. "I do not need your help."
Malorn glared at Ascal. "Now is not the time to let petty pride and an old quarrel rule our decisions, Ascal! We are separated from our companions, hurt, and lost at the bottom of a mountain ravine in the middle of winter with no food, warmth, or shelter. If we do not work together, we will die out here. Can we not put away our differences long enough to survive this? Then if you wish to continue hating me forever you may, but let us not lose our lives over a ridiculous and insignificant argument!"
Ascal glared back at Malorn for a long moment, but the truth was, he was terrified of being lost in this ravine with orcs and wargs potentially all around and he had no desire to die cold and alone here.
"Fine", Ascal muttered. "We will work together to survive this, but do not think this will change my feelings toward you."
"Feel as you will", Malorn said with a shrug of indifference. "At least you will be alive to feel anything at all. Now that wound will become infected if not tended properly, so let me look at it."
He took Ascal's arm again and this time the other ellon did not pull away. Malorn examined the wound, relieved to find it wasn't much more than shallow scratches from the warg's teeth.
"It is not bad", he told Ascal. "Let me clean and bandage it. It may be painful when I have to clean it though."
"Just do what you have to so it can be done", Ascal said.
Malorn nodded and scooped up some of the clean, white snow that laid nearby. He quickly but thoroughly cleaned the area. Ascal sat still and quiet but the knot of muscle in his jaw belied just how much pain he was truly in. Once the wound was cleaned to Malorn's satisfaction, he ripped off a piece of his tunic and bandaged the wound.
"There, it should not get infected now", he said, stepping back. "We need to find some shelter, firewood, and food. There is no telling how long it will take for someone to come rescue us."
Ascal nodded his agreement as he rose to his feet. "I shall look for shelter, you look for firewood. We shall both look for food and can meet back here after two hours."
"Fine, as long as we do not travel too far from each other", Malorn agreed. "There may be orcs and more wargs down here."
Ascal agreed and they parted ways. Malorn traveled further down the ravine in hopes of finding wood closer to the forests below and Ascal travelled up it to find a cave or something that would shield them from the elements. After the two hours had elapsed, Malorn returned to the area they were to meet at to find Ascal already waiting on him there. Malorn had been successful in his search for firewood, finding enough dead wood to hopefully keep them warm through the night. He hoped Ascal had been just as successful in his search for shelter.
"There is a crack in the wall a ways up the ravine", Ascal said, fulfilling Malorn's hopes. "It is tiny, but there should be enough room for us to squeeze inside and still have room for a small fire."
"Anything is perfectly fine with me as long as it shields us from the wind", Malorn sighed in relief. "Come let us go."
The pair made the trek back up to the cave without incident. Ascal had not exaggerated the size of the crack, however. The opening was so small that they both had to crawl on their sides to get in. Further back it opened up a bit and provided enough room for them to sit up straight and move around on their hands and knees. There was no room to stand up, but the narrow opening kept much of the wind out and they would be able to better conserve their firewood. Since the cave was so small, it would not take much to heat it.
Ascal crawled in first and then Malorn handed in their meager supplies to him before crawling in himself. They quickly got a fire going and eagerly held their frozen fingers over the warm blaze. Once they had begun to get warm, Malorn dug into the middle of the firewood pile and pulled out the treat he found. It was a mountain rabbit, skinny and tough, but it was food. They cooked the rabbit and hungrily devoured the meat as the sun began to sink down. The darkness brought a new level of cold to the mountain and the two ellons had to stoke up their fire to twice what it had been during the day in order to keep some their cave warm enough.
"We have to do something different", Malorn said, tossing more wood on their fire. "We are not going to have enough wood to last the night if we keep using it at this rate."
"There are rocks all around here", Ascal said. "Perhaps we can find one big enough to cover the entrance with so the heat will not escape so easily."
Malorn nodded his agreement and the pair crawled out into the darkness to look for a rock they could cover their cave with. Together, they managed to find a flat rock and move it over to the entrance. It was large enough to cover the hole, but light enough that they could roll it into place from the inside. With their new "door" in place, the cave soon began to warm up and both ellons flopped down on either side of the fire, exhausted from the extremely trying day.
"We should still keep watches through the night", Malorn said after a long while of just lying quietly. "Orcs and wargs might be drawn to the light of our fire. I will take the first watch, Ascal. Get some sleep and regain strength after that bite wound."
"I am not an invalid, princeling", Ascal growled. "I will work with you on anything that contributes to our survival but I do not need you mothering me like a child."
"Why are you so angry with me, Ascal", Malorn asked. "What have I done to offend you so? Tell me and I will repent of my actions."
"My feelings and reasons for them are none of your business", Ascal snapped. "Just know that I will never let you become superior to me in any way and I will never allow you to do anything for me that will force me to be indebted to you. I have to always be the best. I have to stand out. Now you go to sleep and I will keep watch first to earn my rest."
Malorn shook his head sadly at Ascal's stubbornness but let him have his way. He curled up as close to the fire as was safe and fell asleep in seconds.
Halfway through the night, Ascal shook Malorn awake for his watch and took the young prince's place by the fire, also falling soundly asleep in mere moments. Malorn sat quietly and listened to the wind whistling outside and the fire crackling inside. Now that he wasn't fighting for immediate survival, he let himself realize just how scared and lonely he was. He missed the drone of conversation from his fellow warriors and Glorfindel's booming laugh that would envelope the campsite. He wished he could see his father's star to remind him he was never truly alone, but the night sky was obscured completely by tons of cold stone.
Suddenly a warm stirring in his fëa surprised Malorn and he pressed a hand to his heart, savoring the feel of his father's love and protection even when he couldn't see his star. With renewed determination, Malorn sat up straight and cast his awareness out to his surroundings, resolved that no matter what, he would do all he could to make sure he and Ascal survived and returned home safely.
Elvish Terms:
Ellon – A male elf
Fëa – An elf's spirit
Mellon Nin – My friend
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