Chapter 15
Legolas looked at Ethrin, his worries and fears obvious in the look in his eyes, though his face was expressionless. Ethrin was breathing hard, and more blood poured from her mouth. Whiteshadow felt the desperation in his master's mind, and ran faster than he'd even done before. Ethrin would have marveled at his speed, though it could never match Starlight's.
The morning drew on, and the small company began descending from the mountains. Legolas tried to look forward, and not keep on looking down at the she-elf leaning against him, loosing strength. He could feel her faint heartbeat, could feel a bit of warmth in her body, but far less than it should have been. The morning turned to night, and they were already nearing Lothlórien. But the faint heartbeat was going slower and slower.
Then, Legolas couldn't hear it anymore…
"Frodo, are you alright?" Diamond asked, seeing that Frodo was passing out.
"I'll…be…" Frodo replied, before going into some sort of trance. He heaved, and his breath was coming hard.
"What is the matter?"
"I do not know, but let's hurry up and get him to Lothlórien," Gimli said, picked Frodo up, and started walking fast in the direction of the golden woods.
"We cannot rest. Demons are still ahead, and they may have caught up to the others. Can you all run for a while? I'm afraid that the rest of the horses might have to be left here, for they are more of a stall than a help," Aragorn said. So the horses were set free, and they continued, forever fearing the demons would not be in sight, yet wishing they were, so no surprise would come.
"A horde of demons has been spotted over the horizon," the messenger reported. Elrond closed the book he was reading and stood up.
"Tell Entenal to gather the forces and take Glorfindel's place. I'll be down in a few minutes," Elrond replied. The messenger nodded and ran off to report.
Elrond walked to the edge of the valley. There, standing next to a waterfall, he saw the demons. Cat-like creatures, wolf-like creatures; evil that crawled, and evil that slithered. The wailing and the screeching, the growling and the howling; all reached his ears, though he stood by the waterfall, which would have usually drowned out all other sound if stood by. Elrond saw Entenal gather troops, and walked down from the waterfall. The elves were gathered, and their ages ranged from 17 (which is REALLY young for an elf) to 6 or 8 thousand. Entenal saw Elrond approaching and walked up to him.
"I think half of the troops should line up at the edge of Rivendell, on the slopes, and shoot arrows at the demons. The other half will stay on the ground with knives and swords drawn," Entenal said.
"I will leave it up to you now to plan the defense and attacks. I will come back, for I have some business to attend to now," Elrond replied. Entenal bowed a bit, and then walked back towards the troops. Elrond watched him go, and then turned back to the heart of Rivendell.
A worry and confusion had been at Elrond's mind for a time. Why were they able to see the demons, although they weren't in Rivendell's borders? Hadn't the note said that the spell only worked inside the borders? Or were the demons just trying to show off strength? Usually Elrond could figure all these things out, but now this new threat was different. Demons and dark creatures used fire and poisons. Orcs just used weapon. Demons hadn't attacked in all of Elrond's time, so none really knew how to defeat the demons exactly, nor did they understand the demon's behaviors. The demons now held more power.
Elrond was walking to the study where Arwen was, when he heard screams. An elf maiden was attacked by a demon! The elf-maiden cried in pain and the demon jumped back hissing. It crouched, putting its head down, the horns on its head sticking out sharp. It's hind legs braced, and it charged straight towards her. Elrond drew out his bow and shot an arrow at it. The arrow knocked the thing onto its side. It quickly jumped up and ran towards the mountains. Elrond was about to shoot it again when it disappeared completely, though Elrond could still hear its light footsteps fading.
The elf-maiden sat down, clutching her arm where the demon had bit her. Her blood was a blue-black color. Elrond carried her to the nearest bed and put her in it. He ran back into his room and got whatever medicine he need. Then he went back to the she-elf.
"Lortil must be using her powers to support the spell. SO if the spell isn't working anymore, then that must mean that she is extremely hurt or even dying…" Elrond thought while healing the elf. When he had done all he could, he said to her, "rest a while. The poison will fade. But I don't know what scars will be left. But don't worry Urenquil you will be alright." She nodded.
Elrond decided to call a council together. Soon, a gathering of elves came.
"There are demons inside of Rivendell that cannot be seen. Today, Urenquil was attacked, but is now recovering. But it is not known how many are still in Rivendell. They can make themselves invisible, but if they are focusing on attacking, they will become inside. When Lortil was here, she cast a spell where the demons are supposed to be visible inside Rivendell's borders. The spell is either wearing off or its maker is nearing death," Elrond said.
"I'd say that we should have guards around the place, so if a guard does get attacked, then the rest of the guards can kill the attacking demon," one elf said.
"But then the other demons can pass the guards, because there must be more than one. We don't know how many are in Rivendell," another said.
"And what of the soldiers? They could be attacked on both sides. The horde of demons coming towards Rivendell might just be a distraction," said someone else.
"Then the troops have to be warned. Go tell Entenal of the invisible evil," Elrond said to the second speaker. He got up and ran off with the message. "The rest of you get a few guards together to protect the homes." They got up and went to a room to do the rest of the planning. Elrond watched as the second council in two weeks ended. Never had two councils been called together within such close times. Elrond went back to his study to look, again, for the meaning of the one word that would be either the savior or destruction of Middle-Earth.
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* URENQUIL AND ENTENAL ARE MADE UP BY ME. AND EACH DEMON IS MADE UP BY ME. PLEASE DON'T USE THEM IN ANY OF YOUR STORIES