Warning: Yeah I brought Celebrimbor back but I want to warn everyone that his past is extremely dark and there will be triggers such as rape, forced breeding, death in childbirth, and torture in his past. This is your warning.
The lone elf lumbered through the depth of the halls, his body trembling as he searched through the caverns deep under the mountains. He needed to get out of those orc infested tunnels, he longed to see the sky again. It had been so long since he had seen even a single blade of grass.
Perhaps an entire age had come and gone since the dark haired elf had been held by orcs and tortured. He hardly remembered a time when his body wasn't in pain. He'd gotten used to it by now. When the underground lair he was being held in had been suddenly abandoned, he thought he was dreaming. He dared to hope that maybe Sauron was defeated and that he was never going to return and enact pain on his broken subject. He scarcely wanted to believe it.
And yet, here he was, wandering the deep caverns in silence. He hadn't encountered a single orc in perhaps half a century. He had been hiding here, deep in the depth, for he had lost his way. He didn't know how to get to the surface and he feared he would be doomed to wander in darkness forever, never to see the light again.
The elf glanced at the two rodents that he had caught. Not much of a meal, but it would have to do. He wouldn't be eating it anyway. It would be a while longer before he could think of himself.
"Strange to find an elf in these parts," came a voice, suddenly, from a cavern to his left. The elf whirled, putting up his sword, a flimsy blade he had carved out of stone, in defense. The other creature had taken him by such surprise that they could have simply grabbed him and been done with him.
But, as the being moved out into the elf's path, and the light of the billions of glow worms above them illuminated his figure somewhat, the elf found himself cocking his head in confusion. The being was no orc, no troll, and certainly no goblin. He was slender, the pointed ears of an elf, but with deep ebony black skin, and an absurdly large, wide brimmed hat with a large plume feather in it. He wore a brilliantly colorful cape, one that lit up the cavern even more as it glowed in the dark. His boots clonked loudly as he approached the elf. His eyes glowed red.
He held up his hands when the elf pointed his crude weapon at him. "I would rather not have our first meeting come to violence," he offered as he took off his hat, brushing it forward in a low bow, revealing a shiny bald head. "My name is Jarlaxle." He guesterd to his side where another figure came out of the shadows, a short, thin man with a jeweled dagger on his belt. "This is my associate, Artemis Entreri."
"Celebrimbor," the elf responded, holding his blade back as he regarded the strange elf like male and his human companion. "Why do you linger in the depth of the earth?"
"Ahh but it is the depth where my kin are most comfortable," Jarlaxle replied, his tone was calm and disarming. "But you do not seem as comfortable, my dear elf."
Celebrimbor sighed, not sure if he should tell a pair of complete strangers his story. But, as he glanced down at his rodent meal, he remembered the urgency of his hunting trip. "I must get back," he explained. "I have someone waiting for these rodents I have caught."
"A poor meal," Jarlaxle commented. "Perhaps this would be more to the liking of your kin?" He moved aside to reveal the carcass of a small cow-like creature that Celebrimbor had never seen before.
"What is that?" Celebrimbor asked, his stomach growling at the sight of such a large meal. He couldn't remember a time when his belly had been full.
"A rothe," Jarlaxle explained. "A delicacy in my land. We would be happy to dine with you this evening in exchange for some information."
Celebrimbor regarded the dark skinned elf for a moment. So it was information he wanted. The elf wondered if he had erred in letting down his guard. But the promise of a meal not only for him but also for the one he cared for was something he couldn't pass up. He sighed and guestered towards the corridor, leading the way. Entreri hoisted the rothe carcass up as he carried it along with him.
"If you make any false moves, I will kill you," Celebrimbor promised dryly as he moved cautiously through the corridors.
"As if we are frightened," Entreri scoffed, his voice dark and intimidating. Celebrimbor paused to consider the man before Jarlaxle held up a hand.
"You'll have to forgive my friend," he explained. "He is quite a formidable warrior but I am afraid he lacks a certain charm."
Celebrimbor said nothing and just continued along his way. He paused when he came to the entrance to a deep tunnel that seemed to have been burrowed out in the rock. He turned to his companions. "This is where I will have your promise not to come to violence," he warned.
"You have our word," the dark elf agreed. As he spoke, a bright light seemed to flicker on from inside the tunnel and a small head peered out.
"Father," the young elf crawled through the tunnel to the opening and stood up. She started toward Celebrimbor but froze and tensed when she saw the two strangers.
"Ah, my greetings, milady," Jarlaxle began with another low sweeping bow. "I hope you will forgive our unannounced visit. In payment, we have provided a fine meal."
The young female glanced nervously at Celebrimbor. "What are they, father?" she asked cautiously as she stood in front of the illuminated tunnel.
"I am a drow," Jarlaxle explained before Celebrimbor could respond with an 'I don't know.' "I'd be happy to chat about my rather misunderstood people, but perhaps we should continue our conversation over this fine meal we have brought to share."
Celebrimbor sighed and nodded and they all entered the tunnel. They found a deep circular room at the end of the tunnel, not large enough for any of them to stand up straight, but with a fire pit in the center which the girl had already been tending to, and the source of light, a small jewel encased in a vial resting near the two piles of moss which Celebrimbor and his daughter had used as bedding in this place.
Before long, they all sat around the fire and chucks of meat were being roasted upon rocks that served as cookware. As if this strange drow wasn't already full of surprises, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole bottle of wine. Celebrimbor suspected magic at work because he was certain that the pocket wasn't deep enough to conceal the bottle.
"Drow green wine," Jarlaxle explained. "A very expensive delicacy among my people." He even produced a quartet of goblets and handed them out.
For a long moment, no one spoke. They ate and drank in silence, each of them regarding one another. Celebrimbor couldn't hide the weariness from his eyes. The weariness he felt deep in his core. The perceptive drow regarded him.
"I take it you have been in these tunnels for quite some time?" he surmised. Celebrimbor sighed. He and his daughter, Chandrelle, had been down here a long time, but it was nothing compared to the millennium that he had spent in captivity.
"We don't know how to get to the surface," he explained. "I'm not even certain I know where we are on Middle Earth."
"Middle Earth," Entreri commented, glancing at Jarlaxle. "At least we have one riddle answered."
Celebrimbor cocked his head in confusion. "You said you wanted information."
Jarlaxle only chucked in response. "I'm afraid that we are lost, you see," he began. "We were escaping some disgruntled associates of ours and in my haste, I am afraid I misjudged the distance of my transport spell."
"They would not have been disgruntled if we had not been in that land in the first place," Entreri grumbled.
"Ah but to miss out on the adventure, my dear friend, how could we have refused?" Entreri only growled at Jarlaxle's comment.
Celebrimbor glanced at Chandrelle. She had grown into a beautiful and intelligent young elf, with dark hair, and medium brown skin, her eyes were a gold color. Every day, she reminded him of the elf who had once shared Celebrimbor's dungeon and who died giving birth to his child.
"We want to get back to our own lands," Entreri explained. "You will show us a way back."
"Charm will get you further than demands, my friend," Jarlaxle told him before looking at Celebrimbor. "I believe we know a way to the surface," he told him. "I could just use a teleportation spell, but my magic has been unpredictable lately, given that it brought us here."
Celebrimbor glanced at Chandrelle and saw the look of hope in her eyes. He swallowed. The idea of seeing the surface again filled him with desire. It seemed that Jarlaxle picked up on that look of hope.
"We will help you get to the surface," he told them. "If only you tell us about this land and its inhabitants. I should say that is a fair trade."
Celebrimbor nodded and for many hours, they exchanged stories. Stories about Middle Earth and about Faerun, the land Jarlaxle and Entreri called home. When Celebrimbor finally went to bed that night, he felt hopeful that he would soon see the sky and that perhaps he had found friends. He knew that thousands of years had passed, he wondered what the surface would look like. What things had changed? What of Eregion, his kingdom? Had it managed to survive the wars after he had been captured? Had Galadriel and Elrond and the many other elves he knew had come to his aid back then be alive and well? And most of all, what had happened to Sauron? He hoped that he would soon find out, and that his daughter would see the light of the stars for the very first time in her life.